Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom

Lorraine bristled. “What’s that about bigamy, Mr. Mason?”

Mason said, “You may as well face the facts. Garvin, you can run away from business, but there are other things you can’t run away from. This is an issue you’re going to have to face and face fast.”

“Edward,” Lorraine said coldly, “do you mean there’s any question about the validity of our marriage?”

Garvin looked uncomfortably at Mason.

Mason said, “I’ll give the facts to you straight from the shoulder. There’s all sorts of doubt about the validity of your marriage. In all probability, Ethel Carter Garvin is the only one who has any real claim to being Garvin’s wife.”

“Edward,” Lorraine said, “you told me that she had divorced you.”

“I thought she had.”

“Thought!” Lorraine exclaimed. “Why, of all the...”

“Just a minute,” Mason said. “Raising your voice isn’t going to help matters any, and this is no place for recriminations. I’m going to move my car. I suggest that you follow me. I may be able to help you.”

“How?” Garvin asked.

Mason said, “Let’s go to your hotel. You can get a bite to eat there if you have to have it before you start for Mexico. Get your bags packed, throw them in the car and get started for the border.”

“Why the border?” Garvin asked.

Mason said, “You were divorced in Mexico.”

“Well?” Garvin inquired.

Mason grinned. “Your Mexican divorce may not be recognized in California. Your Mexican marriage would be valid only in the event that the divorce was valid. But in Mexico, since you have a Mexican divorce and a legal marriage thereafter, you’re husband and wife.”

There was a moment of silence, then Lorraine Garvin said, “Well, don’t stand there like a dumbbell, Edward. Can’t you realize what Mr. Mason is saying? Get that car backed out of the parking place. Let’s get to the hotel, get our bags and get the hell out of here!”

Mason’s car followed Garvin’s convertible across the bridge below San Ysidro.

The lights of Tijuana below the far end of the bridge were an aura against which the steady stars for the moment pitted their brilliance in vain.

Garvin piloted his car down the wide main street and into a parking place where there was opportunity for Mason to run his car in beside theirs.

The lawyer got out, crossed over to Garvin’s open convertible and said, “Well, here we are. You’re now husband and wife once more.”

“Dammit, Mason,” Garvin said irritably, “tell me what I’m up against.”

Mason said, “I don’t know. I’m going to find out as much as I can. The best way to spike her scheme on these proxies is to have enough friendly stockholders there in person to control the meeting. A proxy is always revoked when the person who gave it is present at the meeting.

“That means you’ve got to give me a list of big stockholders who are friendly and I’ve got to phone them. I’ve prepared papers for an injunction which I can file in court tomorrow morning if I have to, but getting your friendly stockholders to attend the meeting in person is the best way. And I’m not entirely satisfied your president and your secretary-treasurer aren’t in on the scheme.

“So the next time you plan to skip out and leave business behind, let your lawyer know where you are. I had detectives scouring the country for you. One of them finally located a filling station attendant in La Jolla who remembered your convertible and said you’d been asking about a hotel. So I drove down.”

Lorraine Garvin said, “Well, I’m starved. Personally I’m going to have something to eat right now.”

“There’s a restaurant two doors down,” Mason told her. “You can find a place to stay here tonight. Tomorrow you can go on down to Ensenada if you want.”

Garvin said, “You folks start on. I want to put up the top on the car.”

While he was undoing the fastenings which held the cover of the top in place, Lorraine came close to Mason, said in a low voice, “I’m afraid you’re too strong, too resourceful, Mr. Mason. Somehow I just can’t feel afraid.”

Her hand squeezed his arm.

She looked over at Edward Garvin, said, “He’s nice, but frightfully newlywed, if you know what I mean.”

“How would I know?” Mason asked.

She said archly, “How would I know how you know?”

Garvin raised the top of the convertible, came to join them.

“When can we come back from Ensenada?”

“Any time you want to face a bigamy charge,” Mason said.

“And where does that leave me?” Lorraine asked, thoughtfully.

Mason smiled. “In the United States,” he said, “you are an interloper, a correspondent, a mistress, a woman living without legal status, in a state of sin. Here in Mexico you are a lawfully wedded wife.”

“That’s the damnedest thing!” Lorraine said angrily.

“Isn’t it?” Mason agreed. “Such are the ramifications of international law. When you go to the United States, Garvin, you’re married to Ethel; you are probably also guilty of bigamy. When you are here in Mexico, you are lawfully wedded to your present companion, and Ethel Garvin is nothing more than an ex-wife who has no legal status.”

“I think that’s the most absurd damn thing!” Garvin blazed. “I suppose I should build a big house, with the International Border running through the bedroom. I could have triple beds in the room. Ethel could be...”

“Edward,” Lorraine said frigidly, “don’t be coarse.”

“I’m not coarse; I’m mad,” Garvin yelled. “Damn it, I’m on a honeymoon and I don’t even know whether I’m a bridegroom!”

“Get just as mad as you want to,” Mason told him, “but it doesn’t affect your legal status. I’m trying to get it straightened out. Now let’s eat.”

Mason led the way to the restaurant, ordered large, tender steaks and when they were finished said, “There’s a new hotel I know here, the Vista de la Mesa. Let’s stay there and tomorrow morning you can give me the names of some of the large stockholders who are loyal to your interests, Garvin, and we’ll run up a telephone bill.”

Garvin said, “Mason, I’ll telephone the stockholders. I want you to make a property settlement with Ethel. Do the best you can. Start with fifty thousand, and...”

Lorraine said hastily, “Edward, dear, don’t you think you’d better let Mr. Mason be the one to determine the figure? He’ll get as low a settlement as possible.”

“I want action,” Garvin said. “I’m impatient when I want something. How will you locate her, Mason?”

“Through detectives,” Mason said, looking at his watch. “I can telephone her tonight and make an appointment for tomorrow morning.”

“You have her telephone number?” Garvin asked.

“Yes. She’s in 624 at the Monolith Apartments. There’s a switchboard there and I can get them to ring her. She was a little difficult when I talked with her yesterday. She thought she had a trump card in that bigamy prosecution. However, when I tell her that you’re safely ensconced here in Mexico, where she can’t touch you with the bigamy charge, and tell her that you’re planning on transferring your property interests, buying a large hacienda in Mexico and living there — well, that will give her something to worry about.”

Garvin’s eyes lit up. “That’s a splendid idea, Mason! It’s a pippin! That’s going to knock her for a loop!”

Mason said, “I’m taking it for granted that Ethel has acquired other romantic interests of her own.”

Lorraine’s eyes lit up. “Of course she has! Edward, we should have thought of that.”