“However, everything depended upon split-second timing. It was necessary to kill Meridith Borden precisely at a certain minute, so that Ferney could get back to the apartment house, climb up the fire escape and get into bed. The understanding was that he was to be aroused in order to keep his appointment with Dr. Callison.
“Ferney carried out his end of the bargain right on schedule. George Ansley’s visit had been unexpected. As soon as Ansley left and Borden had telephoned the inspectors, Ferney lured Meridith Borden up into the studio and killed him. Then he waited impatiently for the arrival of the car with Dawn Manning.
“For reasons that we know, that car didn’t arrive.
“That called on Ferney to do some quick thinking. For one thing, he decided he’d have to change the time of the murder to a time when Loretta Harper would also have an alibi. Dr. Callison was going to be his alibi.
“It wasn’t until the next day, after it was seen how far their original plan had gone awry, that it was decided to plant the murder gun in the glove compartment of George Ansley’s automobile and blame the murder on him. For a while they thought they could get away with it. Then, when it appeared that I was knocking holes in their case against Ansley, Loretta Harper, who was the shrewder of the pair, signaled Frank Ferney to go back to their original plan and blame the crime on Dawn Manning.”
The telephone rang.
Della Street picked up the receiver, said, “It’s for you, Paul.”
Drake took the phone, listened for several moments, then said, “Thanks, let me know if there are any more details.” He hung up and turned to Mason.
“Well,” he said, “your hunch was right. Ferney has just broken down and confessed. The details are just about the way you figured them. Ferney knew that he was trapped, so now he’s trying to blame Loretta as the originator of the scheme. The D.A. found a witness who saw a man going down the fire escape from the fourth floor of the Dormain Apartments. If the police had been on the job, they’d have had the information long ago, because the witness telephoned in to the police station to report a prowler. The Mesa Vista police went out, looked the place over and then did nothing more about it.”
“Well,” Dawn Manning said, “I’ve heard of people getting out of trouble by the skin of their eyeteeth. I never thought it would apply to me.”
There was a twinkle in Della Street’s eye. “Not your eyeteeth,” she said demurely.