“They certainly should be.”
“That’s cutting it rather thin,” Judge Kent said. “I’m going to terminate this conference at this time. I am going to go to the lunch counter here in the building and get a quick sandwich. I will be back here in exactly twenty minutes — well, let us say twenty-five minutes. I will expect you gentlemen to meet me here, and when young Robert Selkirk comes in, I am going to suggest that I handle the interrogation of the young man. I don’t want any interruptions. I don’t want any suggestions from anyone. I am going to ask a few questions and, as you can readily understand, I don’t intend to have the young man understand the object of those questions. I want to find out what actually happened and what he knows.”
“You will understand,” Selkirk said, “that I have so conditioned his mind that he actually knows only that he fired the gun. He doesn’t know the person who ultimately received the bullet from that gun.”
“I’ll talk with him myself,” Judge Kent said. “And since we are working on a very close time schedule, I will suggest that we terminate this conference at once and that we meet here in exactly twenty-five minutes. Is that satisfactory, gentlemen?”
Burger nodded.
“Quite satisfactory,” Horace Selkirk said.
“I’ll be here,” Mason observed.
Chapter Sixteen
At exactly twenty-five minutes after Judge Kent had adjourned the meeting, the parties regrouped in the judge’s chambers.
Judge Kent, who had evidently given the matter a great deal of serious thought during the intermission, regarded Horace Selkirk thoughtfully. “You are prepared to go ahead, Mr. Selkirk?” he asked.
“I am.”
“My bailiff tells me that the woman and the boy whom you summoned are waiting in the witness room. They asked that word be sent to you.”
“Very well.”
“Do you wish to go and get them?”
“You can have the bailiff bring them in,” Selkirk said. “I believe you said you wanted to be the one to examine the boy, and I don’t want you to feel that I have been talking with him or telling him what to say.”
“Very well,” Judge Kent said. “The couple will be brought in. I am going to ask that you gentlemen remain quiet and let me ask the questions. I don’t want any prompting, any suggestions or any instructions. Regardless of what the facts may show, this is a serious situation and a particularly serious situation in the life of a young man.”
Judge Kent plugged in the intercommunicating speaker and said to his bailiff, “You may bring the woman and the boy in now.”
There was a moment of tense, strained silence, then the door opened. A tall blonde woman and a seven-year-old boy entered the room; the boy looked a little dazed, the woman completely self-possessed.
“Come in,” Judge Kent invited, “and sit down. Now, as I understand it, you’re—”
Horace Selkirk’s chair crashed over backwards as he jumped to his feet. “Those aren’t the ones!” he shouted.
Judge Kent looked at him with annoyance. “It was understood that I—”
“Those aren’t the ones! That isn’t Robert! That isn’t the woman! That — who the hell are you?” Selkirk shouted at the woman.
“That will do,” Judge Kent rebuked. “We’ll have no profanity here and no browbeating of this woman. May I ask who are you, madam?”
“I’m a detective,” she said to Judge Kent. “I’m employed by the Drake Detective Agency. I have been instructed to occupy rooms 619 and 621 at the Anandale Hotel. I have done so.”
“Who gave you those instructions!” Horace Selkirk shouted.
“Paul Drake.”
There was a tense silence which was broken by Hamilton Burger’s chuckle.
“This is no laughing matter, Mr. District Attorney,” Judge Kent rebuked.
“I beg your pardon,” Burger said, in a voice which showed no regret. “It is amusing to me to see someone else experiencing annoyance at the unconventional tactics of a certain well-known defense attorney.”
“What became of Grace Hallum and Robert Selkirk who were in those rooms?” Horace Selkirk demanded.
“I’m sure I don’t know,” the woman said calmly. “I am a licensed detective. I act within the law. I followed the instructions of Paul Drake. I was told to go to the Anandale Hotel, to take my seven-year-old son with me and to remain there until I received further instructions.
“A short time ago I was advised that Judge Homer F. Kent had instructed me to leave the hotel and come here to his chambers. I promptly called Paul Drake for instructions and was advised by him to go to Judge Kent’s chambers, take my son with me and give him my true name.”
Horace Selkirk, his face livid, turned to Perry Mason. “This is once you can’t get away with it!” he shouted. “I don’t know what you’ve done with my grandson and the woman who has his custody, but this time you’ve really violated the law. You’re guilty of kidnaping, at least technically.”
Hamilton Burger surveyed Selkirk with speculative eyes. “Do you wish to charge Mason with kidnaping?” he asked. “If you do, and are willing to sign a complaint, we’ll see that one is issued.”
Horace Selkirk said with cold fury, “You’re damn right I’ll sign a complaint.”
Judge Kent said dryly, “I once more want to caution you against profanity in these chambers, Mr. Selkirk, particularly in the presence of a child — now it is rapidly becoming apparent that this is a situation which should never have developed in this case. I feel that an attempt has been made to prejudice me by appealing to my sympathies and my desires to save a seven-year-old boy from an emotional shock. This inquiry has now gone far afield and if we are not careful I am going to be disqualified from continuing with this case.”
Hamilton Burger got to his feet. “I think that is a point which could well have been made earlier in the case. I’m going to ask this woman and the boy to come with me. My office wants to ask some questions about what happened here, and if Mr. Selkirk wishes to take the responsibility of signing a complaint charging Mr. Perry Mason with kidnaping, I can assure him that the personal element in the situation will make no difference to my office. We will proceed without fear or favor.”
Burger nodded to Selkirk and started for the door. “You come with me,” he said to the woman detective.
Mason got to his feet, bowed to Judge Kent. “I’m sorry these matters had to interfere with your lunch hour,” he said.
Judge Kent regarded Perry Mason with puzzled eyes. There was a faint hint of admiration back of his bewilderment.
Chapter Seventeen
Court reconvened promptly at two o’clock. Hamilton Burger now sat in the prosecutor’s chair alongside Manley Marshall.
“It the Court please,” Hamilton Burger said, “I am going to call a witness who will eliminate any doubt in this matter. Call Millicent Bailey.”
A woman in her late twenties came walking down the aisle. She was slender-waisted but well curved, and the rhythm of her walk showed that she was fully conscious of those curves. There was an almost defiant air about her as she entered the railed enclosure, held up her hand and took the oath.
She seated herself on the witness stand.
Hamilton Burger himself conducted the examination.
“Your name is Millicent Bailey?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Miss or Mrs.?”
“Mrs.”
“Are you living with your husband?”
“I am not. I’m divorced.”
“I am going to call your attention to the night of the seventeenth and eighteenth of this month. Do you remember the occasion?”
“You mean the night of the seventeenth and the early morning of the eighteenth?”