“Borden Finchley never cared anything about me. I never let him know that I’d put by a goodly bit of money. I guess Ralph Exeter was the one who found out that I was fairly well-heeled.
“Borden was indebted to Ralph Exeter on a big gambling debt. Exeter was putting the screws on him. They came down to make a visit.
“The first time Borden and his wife had visited me in twenty-odd years. Then they got this devilish idea of getting rid of Daphne and started irritating me until I went off my rocker.
“You’ve no idea the things they did, the little things. And then they started giving me dope and the first thing I knew I was all mixed up... Well, I’ve got over that-now, I’m my own man. I’m going back and face the music. If I gave Ralph Exeter too much drug and he died, why that’s a responsibility I’ve got to take. But all I was trying to do was to get him to go to sleep so I could get out of there, and that’s the truth.”
Mason said, “The sleeping pills didn’t kill him. Somebody unscrewed the gas pipe and he was asphyxiated by gas.”
“What!” Shelby exclaimed.
Mason nodded.
Shelby paused for a moment, then sighed, “Well, I guess I’ve got to take the rap,” he said. “No one’s ever going to believe it the other way.”
“The police found out that you took a cab from the motel earlier. They knew that Daphne bought Chinese food for someone, and they thought that it must have been Ralph Exeter because they learned that vou had left earlier.”
“I left and then I came back,” Shelby explained. “And when I did that I broke my promise to Daphne. She wanted me to stay right there, but I just wanted to have the means of escape and I wanted to have a car so I could go places.”
Mason looked at his watch. “I have planes waiting,” he said.
Horace Shelby sighed, took a new suitcase from under the bed, started packing clothes.
“Okay,” he said, “it’ll take me ten minutes to be ready.”
Chapter 19
Court reconvened at nine thirty. Judge Kyle said, “People versus Daphne Shelby.”
Marvin Mosher was on his feet. “If the Court please,” he said, “I wish to recall Lieutenant Tragg for further direct examination.”
Lieutenant Tragg returned to the stand.
Mosher said, “There was some question yesterday about the evidence of tool marks on the pipe in the motel. You stated that you had not taken that pipe as evidence. I will ask you, Lieutenant, if there has been any change in the situation since yesterday.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What is the present situation?”
“I went to that unit in the motel this morning and removed the section of the connecting pipe. I have it here.”
Lieutenant Tragg handed the deputy prosecutor a section of pipe.
“We object, if the Court please,” Mason said, “on the ground that no proper foundation has been laid.”
“Just what do you mean by that, Mr. Mason?” the judge asked. “It was, I believe, your suggestion that because the police had not removed this pipe, they had not preserved the evidence.”
“That is true.” Mason said, “but the police can’t prove that this is now the same pipe that was in the unit at the time they discovered the body.”
“Oh, I think that’s a technicality,” Judge Kyle said. He turned to Lieutenant Tragg. “Was there any evidence that the pipe had been tampered with from the time you first saw it until you secured this section of pipe, Lieutenant?”
“None whatever.”
“Were the tool marks which appear on this pipe the same as the ones which were on the pipe when you first saw it?”
“They seem to be entirely similar.”
“Very well, I’ll admit the pipe in evidence,” Judge Kyle said.
“Cross-examine,” Mosher snapped to Mason.
Mason arise and approached Lieutenant Tragg. “Have you,” he asked, “examined these tool marks on the pipe through a magnifying glass?”
“No, sir, I haven’t. I just secured the evidence before coming to court. I thought if you wanted it, we’d have it.”
Lieutenant Tragg’s smile was almost a smirk.
Mason produced a magnifying glass from his pocket, studied the tool marks on the pipe, handed the glass and the pipe back to Lieutenant Tragg.
“I invite you to study the tool marks now,” he said. “Study them carefully.”
Lieutenant Tragg adjusted the magnifying glass, rotated the pipe in his hand. Suddenly he seemed to stiffen.
“See anything?” Mason asked.
“I believe,” Lieutenant Tragg said cautiously, “that there is evidence here that one of the tool marks is distinctive. One of the sharp edges on the jaws of the pipe wrench seems to have a flaw in it, a break.”
“So that the tool with which this pipe was disconnected can be identified?”
“Possibly so,” Lieutenant Tragg said.
“Then you admit that you overlooked a material piece of evidence?”
Tragg fidgeted uneasily, said, “Well, the evidence is now before the Court.”
“Thank you,” Mason said. “That’s all.”
“That concludes our case.” Mosher said.
“Is there any defense?” Judge Kyle asked. “It would certainly seem that there is at least a prima facie case against this defendant.”
“There will be a defense,” Mason said. “And I call as my first witness, Horace Shelby.”
“What!” Mosher exclaimed.
“My first witness will be Horace Shelby,” Mason repeated.
“If the Court please, this comes as a very great surprise to the prosecution,” Mosher said. “May I ask a fifteen-minute recess? I would like to report to the district attorney, personally.”
“I will give you fifteen minutes,” Judge Kyle said. “The case seems to be taking an unexpected turn.”
When the judge had left the bench, Mason turned to Daphne.
“Daphne,” he said, “you’re going to have to prepare yourself for a shock. I don’t want to tell you anything that’s coming. I want it to be a surprise to you. They’re going to be watching your reactions. I want them to see your surprise.”
“You actually have Uncle Horace where you can call him as a witness?” she asked.
Mason nodded.
“Oh, don’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“Because they’ll take him and put him back in the sanitarium. They’ll—”
“You must think I’m an amateur, Daphne,” Mason interrupted. “I’ve had three expert psychiatrists examine your uncle — one of them late last night, two of them this morning. Your uncle has had a good night’s sleep. He feels fine. He’s been pronounced absolutely sane and bright as a new silver dollar. You’ve no idea how that makes him feel.
“These doctors are experts. They’re the tops in their profession. The most that Borden Finchley could use to support his contentions was the testimony of general practitioners and this man who runs the rest home or so-called sanitarium. The men who say your uncle is normal are experts.”
“Oh, I’m so glad, so terribly glad!”
“You like him, don’t you?”
“I don’t know why, Mr. Mason, but I just respect and admire that man so much.”
“Well,” the lawyer said, “we’ll wait a few minutes and I think things will start working out for the better.
“You sit here, Daphne, and don’t talk with anybody. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Mason sauntered over to the place where Paul Drake was waiting. “Got your men shadowing all the subjects, Paul?”
Drake nodded.
Mason stretched, yawned.
“You must know what you’re doing,” Drake said.