Suppose either Amelia Corning or Ken Lowry had been in that rented car, Drake said. Suppose fingerprints are identified.
Mason thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head. If either of them was in that car, he said, were licked.
Drake said, Somehow I have a peculiar feeling in the pit of my stomach over this one, Perry. I think theyre laying for you.
Well, Mason said, you wont have any difficulty getting the fingerprints of Ken Lowry. Hes at the morgue. Get somebody working on that right away.
I already have, Drake said. Let me have the lifts and Ill go down to my office. I instructed my office to get fingerprints as soon as the coroner had made them.
The coroner would let them go? Mason asked.
Sure, Drake said. They handle that stuff as a matter of course. They fingerprint every corpse that comes in for autopsy.
How was the murder committed, do you know?
A jab into the heart; a single stab wound, evidently a stiletto letter opener.
Where was the point of entrance, front or back?
Side, Drake said. It evidently caught Ken Lowry completely by surprise. He was with someone he trusted.
All right, Mason said. You start working on those fingerprints.
I can check on Lowrys fingerprints within a few minutes, Drake said. Let me call my office. Ill have the prints sent down here.
Drake called his office, said, Im in Masons office. Did you get the fingerprints of Ken Lowry from the coroner?... Good... Send them down, will you?
Within thirty seconds Drakes switchboard operator was at the door with the set of fingerprints and Drake sat down at the desk. Mason got the lifts from his briefcase and handed them to Drake.
Drake sat there with a magnifying glass, examining first one lift and then the other against the ten fingerprints which had been received from the coroners office.
Suddenly Drake looked up, an expression of dismay on his face. Hold everything, Perry, he said.
What is it? Mason asked.
Let me make sure, Drake said.
He held one of the lifts a few inches above the print which had been received from the coroners office, then slowly folded the magnifying glass, put it down on the desk, looked up at Perry and said, This time youve done it. Ken Lowrys fingerprint was one of those lifted from the automobile.
If you notify Lieutenant Tragg that you have that print youve given your client a one-way ticket to the gas chamber and if you dont notify him, youve put yourself in the position of concealing vital evidence in a murder case.
Mason thought the matter over for a minute, then said, Well do neither, Paul. Ring up your man who lifted the fingerprints. Tell him the car is figuring in a murder case and he should develop his photographs of the prints and take them to the police immediately.
Without letting anyone know that you suggested he do so?
Thats right.
That makes you vulnerable on both flanks, Drake said. The police have the information and you dont have the credit of turning over the evidence to the police as a potential defense.
Mason nodded. Well cross that bridge when we come to it, Paul. If the police start working on me they wont have so much time to work on Susan Fisher. Ill be a distraction.
Dont kid yourself, Drake said lugubriously, theyll take time to work on everyone, including me.
Dont kid yourself, Drake said lugubriously, theyll take time to work on everyone, including me.
Chapter 11
As Judge Burton Elmer entered the courtroom from chambers and stood for a moment while the bailiff proclaimed that court was in session, interested spectators noticed that Hamilton Burger, the district attorney, had seated himself at the right of his deputy, Harrison Flanders. Word had spread around through the county offices like wildfire that this was one case where Perry Masons client would be proven guilty so thoroughly that there could be no possibility the lawyer could win his case. Her ultimate conviction was considered a mathematical certainty, and there was not the slightest question that she would be bound over to the Superior Court after the hearing in Judge Elmers court.
Moreover, it was rumored that immediately following Judge Elmers order binding the defendant over to the Superior Court for trial, Perry Mason would be charged with having concealed material evidence and proceedings would be instituted against him.
One of the prominent columnists had gone so far as to predict in the morning paper that the case itself would be over in Judge Elmers court within two hours, and that before night the lawyer would find himself in almost as much trouble as his client.
Hamilton Burgers demeanor indicated the solemnity of one who is officiating at a trial which can only result in the death sentence.
People versus Susan Fisher, Judge Elmer said.
Ready for the People, Harrison Flanders said.
Ready for the defendant, Mason announced.
Flanders proceeded with the deft skill of a veteran trial attorney to lay the foundation of the case. He introduced evidence of the crime; the discovery of the body of Ken Lowry within a very short time after he had met his death; the introduction of maps and diagrams showing the exact location of the discovery; the identification of the body by a member of the family; the background of his employment by the Mojave Monarch Gold Mining and Exploration Company; the fact that this company was a subsidiary of the Corning Mining, Smelting & Investment Company.
When Flanders had finished with the last of the preliminary witnesses he made a bold stroke.
Call Endicott Campbell to the stand, he said.
Endicott Campbell came forward, was sworn, gave his name, residence, and his occupation as the General Manager of the Corning Mining, Smelting & Investment Company.
Did you know Kenneth Lowry, the decedent? Flanders asked.
I had met him briefly shortly before his death.
Were you familiar with the company, which to save time, we shall call the Mojave Monarch Mining Company?
In a general way.
What do you mean by that answer?
The company of which I am manager sent remittances to the Mojave Monarch Mining Company for the purpose of underwriting operations.
Do you know how much money had been sent this subsidiary during the last year?
Yes, sir.
How much?
Two hundred and seven thousand, five hundred and thirty-six dollars and eighty-five cents.
That is reflected on the books of the Corning Mining, Smelting & Investment Company?
It is.
Was there some unusual development in connection with this Corning Mining, Smelting & Investment Company, which to save time I will refer to as the Corning Company?
There was.
What?
Amelia Corning, the owner of some ninety per cent of the stock in the company, who has lived in South America for some years, was corning to this city for a personal inspection of the affairs of the company and the subsidiary companies.
Youre acquainted with the defendant?
Yes.
She was in your employ?
Thats right.
For how long?
For a period of something over eighteen months.
What was her capacity?
She was employed as my assistant. She was more than a secretary. She cooperated with me in running the affairs of the company
Calling your attention to Saturday, the third of this month, did you have a conversation with the defendant?
I most certainly did.
Where did that conversation take place?
Over the telephone.
Are you familiar with the voice of the defendant so that you can be sure it was the defendant who was talking?
Yes, sir.
What was the nature of the conversation? What did she say?
She told me that Miss Corning, who was not due until Monday, the fifth, had actually arrived unexpectedly on the third; that she had been trying to get hold of me and
Now wait a minute. You say that she had been trying to get hold of you. Do you mean Miss Corning or the defendant?
The defendant said that she, the defendant, had been trying to get hold of me but had been unable to reach me.
What else did she state?
She stated that my son, Carleton, aged seven, had been at the office with his governess, Elizabeth Dow, and had shown her a shoe box which he had claimed belonged to me; that she had inspected the contents of this shoe box and found that it was apparently filled with one-hundred-dollar bills, representing a large sum of money; that she had placed this shoe box in the safe without counting the money.
What else?
She further went on to tell me that Miss Corning had had her come to the airport and then she had taken Miss Corning to the hotel, following which Miss Corning had gone to the office and had spent some considerable time there going over the records and had actually removed some of the records from the office.
All this was on Saturday, the third?
Yes, sir.
Now, did you subsequently ascertain whether or not this was true?
I ascertained that at least in part it was not true.
What did you ascertain was not true?
My son did not give her any box or any other receptacle containing any money, and Miss Corning was not at the office. A woman who claimed to be Miss Corning did register at the hotel and the defendant did conspire with this woman to turn over to her
Just a moment, Mason interrupted, I object to the word conspire as being a conclusion of the witness and ask that it may be stricken.
It will go out, Judge Elmer said. Just relate the conversation and what happened as you know it.
Well, Campbell said, I, of course, made arrangements to get in touch with the defendant immediately and to get in touch with this Miss Corning. The person who was posing as Miss Corning promptly disappeared, the defendant showed up with Mr. Mason as her attorney and there was, I may say, a complete lack of cooperation as far as giving me any further information about the shoe box or container whatever it was that held a large sum of money.
Now then, shortly prior to this time, had you been in touch with Ken Lowry, the decedent?
I had, and I also got in touch with him again immediately after this incident.
What did you do?
I drove to Mojave.
And interviewed Mr. Lowry?
Yes.
This, then, was the second time you had met him personally?
Yes. The first time was around noon on Saturday, the third. The second time was nearly one oclock in the morning on the fourth. That second conference lasted for about an hour.
Yes. The first time was around noon on Saturday, the third. The second time was nearly one oclock in the morning on the fourth. That second conference lasted for about an hour.
Was there some reason for not having met him prior to the third?
I had been instructed to concentrate on the real-estate end of the Corning Companys activities and not to bother myself with the Mojave mine. I had been particularly instructed to leave this company entirely in the hands of Mr. Lowry.