“You may want to look on it for fingerprints,” Mason said, “although it probably won’t do you any good. Even when a gun hasn’t been buried, there’s only small chances of finding any fingerprints on it.”
“I know, I know,” the sheriff said. “Nevertheless, I’ve got to see what this is. It looks to me as though this had been planted.”
“Oh, it does, does it,” Mason said.
That’s right, it does,” the sheriff announced grimly, swinging the cylinder out to the side. “One exploded cartridge,” he said, “44 caliber.”
“Now then,” Mason told him, “you’ve botched up this case so far. Here’s some significant evidence. Let’s see what you do with it.”
“I don’t need any of your advice,” the sheriff said angrily.
Mason moved his men over toward the section of beach opposite the French doors. The men put up a rather small-mesh, tilted screen.
Mason, studying the house, mapped out an area. “Just sift the sand here, boys.”
“Say, what the hell are you looking for now?” the sheriff asked.
The fatal bullet,” Mason said.
“Well now that’s different. You boys go right ahead, only remember I’m here now and you can’t plant a thing.”
The men carefully dug up the hght sandy soil, let it sift through the screen.
“Say, there may be something to this,” the sheriff said. “We could have done this, I s’pose. Only it didn’t seem there’d be any need of… Hey, wait! There it is! There’s the bullet!”
The sheriff scrambled forward, retrieved a somewhat battered lead bullet which had faint, reddish discolora-tions on its -point.
“Okay, boys,” Mason said cheerfully. “We can knock off now.”
“Say, what caliber is this?” the sheriff asked.
“I have an idea it’s a bullet from this forty-four,” Mason said.
“Look here, if you think I’m going to fall for all this hocus-pocus, you’re crazy,” the sheriff stormed. Tm not going to monkey with all this red herring mess of planted clues!”
“Well, of course,” Mason said casually, “you’re the one who has the friends on the jury, Sheriff. You’re the one who has to run for reelection. If you want to get thoroughly discredited, go right ahead. You’ve done fine so far. “Come on, boys. Let’s go.”
Chapter 21
SEATED IN HIS OFFICE, MASON GLEEFULLY READ THE MORNING NEWSPAPERS.
Headlines announced j-SECOND MURDER WEAPON IN ALDER CASE FOUND, and down below these headlines UNEXPLAINED BULLET LODGED IN RIDGEPOLE!
“Well,” Della Street said, watching Mason’s smile, “are you going to read it aloud?”
Mason nodded, said, “I’ll give you a few of the highlights here and there. Listen to this one
“Sheriff Leonard C. Keddie disagreed sharply with ballistics experts. The bullet which was found in the ridgepole was, he insisted, one which had been planted there subsequent to the murder. How, he demanded, could a man be shot through the neck with the fatal bullet going straight up in the air? The bullet, he insisted, could not have come from the gun found under Alder’s body.
“On the other hand, Hartley Essex, the ballistics expert employed by the district attorney’s office, is equally positive that regardless of how the bullet arrived at its destination it is a bullet fired from Alder’s gun. Moreover, he now feels positive the .44 bullet found by searchers is probably the fatal bullet. A small fragment of dried human tissue was still adhering to the bullet when it was found.
“It has been established that the .44 bullet was fired from the gun found buried in the sand. This poses a most embarrassing series of questions for the prosecution. Which bullet killed Alder? If the one in the roof, Alder must have been leaning forward, bent over, when the shot was fired.
“On the other hand, if the .44 bullet was the fatal one, the whole theory of the prosecution needs revising. Even if someone stood in front of George S. Alder and fired the fatal bullet with the forty-four, how did the bullet from Alder’s own gun, found under his body, get into the ridgepole?
“It is also to be remembered that medical testimony already introduced by the prosecution is to the effect that the fatal bullet was a .38 caliber. It is understood a host of experts are available to the defense, anxious to testify that the hole of an entrance wound made by a bullet is almost always smaller than the caliber of the bullet, due to the elasticity of the human skin, which is pushed far inward before the bullet actually penetrates.
“However, if the prosecution should now change its contention as to the caliber of the fatal bullet, the defense will have a field day with the experts who have already testified.
“The .38 caliber double action unquestionably belonged to George S. Alder in his lifetime. Not only had Alder secured a permit to carry a gun and mentioned the numbers of this gun in his application for such a permit, but records show that the weapon was sold to George S. Alder some two years ago, and Alder’s signature appears on the record of firearms sold.
“Hartley Essex, the ballistics expert, explained that bullets in poing throurh a human body are quite frequently deflected by bones and will do extraordinary things but obviously he is not too happy about the position of the bullet in the Alder case, or about the prospect of facing further cross-examination by Perry Mason when the case reopens Monday morning.
“Dr. Jackson B. Hilt, the autopsy surgeon who per-formed the post-mortem on the body of the deceased, insists that the course of the bullet, while ranging slightly upward, showed no evidence that the bullet had been deflected by bony structures of the body. Assuming that the man was standing in an approximately upright position at the time the fatal shot was fired, the course of the bullet was such that the point of exit was approximately two inches higher than the wound of entrance. Yet a plumb line suspended from the place where the bullet was found shows that it points almost directly to the center of the bloodstain which indicates the position where the body was lying.
“Further statements were not forthcoming because District Attorney Claud Gloster clamped the lid down as soon as it appeared that there was an official variance of opinion between the sheriff and the ballistics expert. Shortly after statements were made by these men, they suddenly became as quiet as though a legal muzzle had been clamped over their mouths. When asked for an elaboration of his original statement concerning the bullet, Hartley Essex, the ballistics expert, merely gave a tight-lipped no comment.’
“Sheriff Keddie, obviously restless under the admonition of the district attorney, said, ‘I’m not going to say another word.’
“‘Does that mean that you’ve changed your opinion that the bullets you found were planted?” he was asked.
” ‘No, it doesn’t,’ he announced, grimly. I may be keeping quiet but I’m not changing my opinions.’
“The unexpected developments in the case followed an examination of the premises by Perry Mason, attorney for the defendant, Paul Drake, a private detective employed by him, and several deputies armed with devices designed to detect the presence of metallic substances below the surface of the earth.
The .44 revolver, when located, was found to be fully loaded, with one empty cartridge case in position under the hammer, indicating that only the one bullet had been discharged from the gun.
It is, therefore, quite evident that interesting possibilities have been opened up by this somewhat tardy discovery of the fatal bullet, provided it is the fatal bullet.
“It is assumed that Perry Mason may now attempt to show that George S. Alder must have committed suicide, or was the victim of an accidental discharge of his own gun. Despite the fact that Mason’s client has insisted she was not on the premises that night, despite circumstantial evidence indicating that this statement is, to put it mildly, subject to some correction, Perry Mason is in the advantageous position of being able to conform his courtroom strategy to whichever direction the cat may jump.