Caffee coughed, said, “After all, Mr. Ingle, there are circumstances in this case which...”
“Now let’s not misunderstand each other,” Ingle said hastily. “Whatever the responsibility may be for having failed to stop and render assistance, we are now discussing only the property damage.”
“That’s right,” Mason said. “We’re not compounding a felony or conspiring to conceal a crime.”
There was a moment’s uncomfortable silence.
Mason said, “However, in the event any action should be taken against Mr. Caffee, he would doubtless want to apply to the Court of Probation, and the Court would be very much influenced by the sort of settlement which had been made.”
Ingle said, “Well, of course...”
Caffee said, eagerly, “Why do you say ‘in the event’ there should be any criminal action?”
Mason stretched and yawned. “Well, of course, someone would have to sign a complaint in order to start a criminal prosecution. I don’t know that anyone’s going to sign a complaint. On the other hand, I don’t know that anyone is going to fail to sign one, so I said, ‘in the. event.’”
Caffee looked at Ingle. Ingle looked at Caffee.
Ingle said, “Well, of course, as far as the insurance company is concerned, we can’t consider these extraneous matters. We have...”
“You can consider the circumstances in a case, can’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“The bearing they’d have on a jury?”
Caffee coughed nervously. “I wonder if I could speak with Mr. Ingle privately, Mr. Mason. I think...”
“Sure,” Mason said. “Della, show the gentlemen into the law library. Take your time, gentlemen.”
Della Street arose and, crossing the room, opened the door into the law library.
Ingle and Caffee filed out of the office.
Mason closed his right eye in a wink at Della Street.
She closed the door, came back and said, “What’s going to happen when they find out there have been two settlements, chief?”
“Damned if I know,” Mason said. “After all, we don’t have much in the line of a precedent in such matters. It’s usually hard enough to get one settlement, let alone two.
“Right now, Della, the important thing is to get this settlement cleaned up while we’re free to work on it.”
“You mean while we’re free?”
“That’s right,” Mason said. “Ingle thinks I’m pretty crude, but if he could only look under my hair and see what’s going on in my mind, he’d probably faint.”
“I’ll say he would!”
Mason said, “We’re practicing law with a stop watch in one hand and a time bomb in the other — a hand grenade with the pin pulled.”
Mason started pacing the floor.
The door from the law library opened. The two men returned to the room. This time Caffee was in the lead, and Caffee did the talking.
“We’ll make that settlement, Mr. Mason,” he said. “The insurance company doesn’t care to establish a precedent in such matters. It’s angry with me for having given you that check and statement last night I’ll give you my check for the balance, and I’ll make an adjustment with the insurance company later.”
“Just so we get the money,” Mason said.
Caffee whipped out a checkbook.
Mason said, “Let me look at those releases, please, Mr. Ingle.”
While Caffee was making out checks, Mason looked over the releases. “These seem to be all right,” he said.
Mason signed the releases, accepted the checks.
Caffee said, “I hope we understand each other, Mr. Mason.”
“I think we do.”
“You... well, Mr. Ingle says it will be better if I don’t have any definite understanding.”
“Exactly,” Mason said, and shook hands.
Caffee said, “I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am this happened. It’s been a lesson to me.”
“I know,” Mason said. “You probably didn’t sleep any last night.”
“Frankly, I didn’t, Mr. Mason.”
“We live and learn,” Mason told him, arising and ushering them to the door. “I have sleepless nights myself.”
Ingle said over his shoulder, “You’re a fast worker, Mr. Mason.”
Mason said, “Well, there’s no use dillydallying around.”
“No,” Ingle said, as he was being all but pushed out into the corridor, “you don’t dally, but you certainly are a dilly, Mr. Mason. Good morning!”
“Good morning,” Mason said, closing the door.
Chapter 17
“Do you want me to run down and deposit those checks?” Della Street asked.
“No,” Mason said. “I’m going to do that job myself. It’ll give me a legitimate excuse to be out of the office for a while.”
“And after that?” she asked.
“And after that,” he said, “I’m going to have to think up another one. If I can’t think of a legitimate excuse, I’ll think of an illegitimate one and have to make it sound legitimate.”
“Bad as that?”
“It may be.”
The unlisted telephone rang. Della Street picked up the receiver, listened, said, “It’s Paul Drake, chief. He wants to talk with you.”
Mason walked over, picked up the receiver, and said, “Okay, Paul, let’s have it.”
Drake said, “You remember I was telling you about this man Hansom who’s the proprietor of the Rushing Creek...”
“I remember,” Mason interrupted.
“Well, the police decided they’d talk with him. Apparently they had a hunch somewhere, so they brought him down here and went over his gun register with him, and they don’t like the looks of what they find.”
“What do they find, Paul?”
“Well, in the first place, while the signature purports to be that of Ross P. Hollister, and the address and everything matches, the name on the gun register apparently was written by someone else. The specimens don’t agree with Hollister’s handwriting.”
“What else?”
“And among other things, the police found that Lucille Barton was playing around a bit with a man by the name of Arthur Colson. Exactly what his relationship is isn’t clear, but in any event, when Hansom was confronted with Arthur Colson, he made an immediate and positive identification. He says that’s the man who bought the gun.”
Drake quit talking, and Mason was silent for a while.
“You there?” Drake asked abruptly.
“I’m here,” Mason said. “I’m doing a little thinking. Anything else, Paul?”
“That’s all at present.”
“What does Arthur Colson say?” Mason asked after a moment.
“Arthur Colson says it’s a case of mistaken identification. He’s squawking his head off. He said that if the police wanted to make any sort of an identification they should have put him in a line-up, and let this man Hansom identify him. Of course, the police realize that he has a point there. The police were simply exploring around when they stumbled on to this. However, they don’t like what they’re finding, and they’re going to keep digging.”
“Any chance it is a false identification, Paul?”
“Not a chance in the world. As I get the story, this fellow Hansom is a pretty shrewd old duck. He knows most of the customers who come in the store, that is, the regular customers. Along during the fishing season, there’s quite an influx of people buying fishing licenses and all that, but this was off season. He remembers the transaction and he’s absolutely positive of his identification. He certainly impressed the police.”
“Why would Colson have signed Hollister’s name?” Drake went on. “Have you any idea?”
“He had to sign some name,” Mason said, “and since she’s going to marry Hollister, or thinks she is, she’d hardly want to have a gun register showing the name of some other chap... From Colson’s standpoint Hollister was the best and safest alias he could use.”