Erle Gardner - The Case of the Postponed Murder

Mason said to Mae Farr, “Well, you always claimed that Anders was too conservative and wouldn’t do anything without taking advice. He seems to have cut the apron strings with a very sharp pair of scissors. I’ll leave you two for a few moments to fight it out.”

He arose from his chair and walked back along the aisle of curious, staring spectators to engage in a whispered conference with Paul Drake and Della Street. “Called your office, Paul?”

“Yes, just a minute ago,” Drake said. “I have a last minute report, but it doesn’t mean anything. I simply can’t get anything on Hazel Tooms. She’s apparently a playgirl who goes in for outdoor sports.”

Mason said, “She told me all that herself. Where is she now, Paul?”

“She’s under subpoena,” Drake said, “and should be here. Good Lord, Perry, you haven’t spirited her away, have you?”

Mason said, “No. Personally, I wish she were here.”

“How are things looking?” Della asked in an anxious whisper.

Mason’s eyes glinted with a frosty twinkle. “They look like hell, Della,” he admitted. “Eversel got a burst of courage and went to the police, claimed the negative had been stolen, evidently told them all about taking the picture. That put Mae Farr right in the middle of a very hot spot. The police will now claim that she had a gun of her own, that she went back to the Yacht Club, took out Frank Marley’s boat, overtook the Pennwent, killed Wentworth, returned to the Yacht Club, drove to the place where she’d seen Anders ditch the gun, and dropped the murder gun where it would be found as soon as the drainage waters evaporated.”

“Isn’t that going to make a strong case against her, Perry?” the detective asked.

“Very strong indeed,” Mason said dryly. “I hadn’t counted on Eversel overcoming his fear of publicity. Apparently, he’s determined to get me. He reported the theft of the negative to the district attorney’s office. Of course, the evidence about the taking of the picture gives them an entirely new slant on the case. They have left Anders out of it. They’re concentrating on Mae Farr — and on me.”

“Go to it, Chief,” Della Street said. “Tear into them.”

Mason grinned and said, “I don’t know just how much tearing I can do. However, I have one ace up my sleeve. If I can play it at just the right time and in just the right manner, I can probably take the trick I want. If I can’t, I’m hooked.”

“What’s the ace?” Drake asked.

“Just a hunch,” Mason said. “I’m going to put a witness on the stand without knowing in advance what he’s going to say. If he says the right thing, his very evident surprise will register with the JP. Otherwise, it will look like a desperate attempt to drag a red herring across the trail.”

Drake said, “Gosh, Perry, you did lay yourself wide open, going after that negative. Why the devil do you violate laws in order to get justice for your clients?”

Mason grinned and said, “I’ll be damned if I know, Paul. I guess I’m just made that way. When I start unravelling a mystery, I can’t seem to find a brake. Every time I put my foot down, it hits the throttle.”

“I’ll say it does,” Drake agreed.

Della Street said calmly, “As a matter of fact, Chief, I was the one who took that negative out of the house. They can’t get you for that.”

Mason grinned and said, “You did it under my instructions, Della. You keep out of this.”

“I will not,” she retorted. “I’ll take my share of the responsibility.”

Emil Scanlon finished reading his note, whispered instructions to his secretary, and said, “Very well, we’ll proceed with the preliminary hearing on the case of People against Mae Farr.”

Oscar Overmeyer got to his feet. “May it please the Court,” he said. “We understand your desire for an informal, expeditious hearing. However, within the last few hours, I may say within the last few minutes, the district attorney’s office has come into possession of evidence which materially changes the entire complexion of the case.

“We are now prepared to show by witnesses that the murder did not take place as was originally supposed. In fact, we might refer to it as the case of the postponed murder. What Harold Anders really believed to have been a shot and what Mae Farr said she believed was a shot was in reality not a shot, but the explosion of a flash bulb.

“We understand, of course, that the Justice wishes to move this hearing along as fast as possible. For that reason, we call our first witness, Sidney Eversel, and call the Justice’s attention to the fact that the testimony of this witness will be so pertinent, in fact I may say so spectacular, as to cause a complete change in our order of calling other witnesses.”

Scanlon frowned a moment in thought, glanced surreptitiously at Perry Mason, saw no evidence of an objection, and said, “Very well, for the purpose of getting to the bottom of this case in the shortest possible time, I’ll let you call Sidney Eversel.”

Sidney Eversel marched forward and was sworn.

“Do you,” Scanlon asked, “know anything about this murder?”

“I know this much about it,” Eversel said. “I know when it was not committed.”

“Exactly what do you know?” the Justice asked.

Sidney Eversel said, “I’m going to make a clean breast of things. I have long been in love with Juanita Wentworth. I met her and fell in love with her while she was still married to Penn Wentworth, while she was living with him as his wife. The intensity of my emotion made me indiscreet.”

Eversel paused and swallowed. Evidently he had memorized this much of his testimony but found the recital of it more difficult than he had anticipated. After a moment, he went on.

“Wentworth was diabolically clever. He found out all about our affair. I believe he was insanely jealous of me. He wanted Juanita — Mrs. Wentworth — to return to him. She had left him shortly after meeting me. He threatened that unless she did return, he would sue me for alienation of affections. He refused to give her a divorce. His entire actions were those of a man who is utterly selfish and acting without consideration.”

“Never mind that,” Scanlon interrupted. “Just what do you know?”

Eversel said, “I rankled at the injustice of it because I knew that Wentworth was entertaining numerous women aboard his yacht. I determined to get evidence which would put Wentworth on the defensive — in a position where he would be forced to listen to reason and give his wife a divorce without dragging my name into it.”

“What did you do?” Scanlon asked.

“On the night of the twelfth,” Eversel said, “I lay in wait at the Yacht Club watching his boat. I knew that Miss Farr had been a frequent visitor aboard that yacht. The night was hot and stuffy. Wentworth had the skylight in his cabin open. I crept closer and closer to the yacht, listening. When I thought the time was ripe, I boarded the yacht and looked down through the skylight. I saw Wentworth in a very compromising position. His face was away from the camera. I put my finger on the shutter release and called his name softly. He didn’t hear me the first time. I called a second time, and he looked up in alarm. At that moment, I pressed the trigger and a flash bulb, synchronized with the shutter of the camera, exploded, giving me a sharp, clear picture.”

“What did you do?”

Carl Runcifer whispered to Oscar Overmeyer, “This is the most incredible substitute for a legal proceeding imaginable. Are you going to let Scanlon get by with this type of hearing? Aren’t you going to object to his examining the witnesses?”

“Won’t do a bit of good,” Overmeyer whispered back. “This is the way Emil Scanlon always runs his show; and surprisingly enough, it always comes out okay.”