“Anders swears that the Pennwent was moored at the float when he left. As you know, the yacht was subsequently found cruising off San Diego, steering a course which would have taken it into the Mexican coast in the vicinity of Ensenada. The body of Penn Wentworth was found fully clothed. Nevertheless, Anders states that Miss Farr insisted that during the struggle with her, he was clad only in his underwear.
“Now then, Mr. Mason — oh yes, one thing more. The police officers naturally wished to check Anders’ story. They went to the place where he said he had thrown the gun. He was in the car and indicated the exact spot. You’ll remember that there was a thundershower last night, Mr. Mason, and the officers were surprised to discover that someone had made a very thorough search of the ground where Anders had thrown the gun. The footsteps were quite plainly evident in the soft mud which covered much of the field.
“The officers made plaster casts of those footprints, and your shoes make identical marks. Now then, Mr. Mason, there is no other conclusion which seems logical other than that you went to the Yacht Club, that you and Miss Farr, and perhaps your secretary, Miss Street, boarded the Pennwent, that you found Penn Wentworth dead, that you desired to keep Miss Farr’s name out of the case and to protect her good name in the event she should be dragged into it. Therefore, you placed clothes on Wentworth’s body, started the yacht, took it out to the headland, set the automatic steering mechanism on a course to Ensenada, and then left the yacht.”
“That’s interesting,” Mason said. “How did we leave?”
“Probably by having some other boat come alongside.”
“Then what?” Mason asked.
“Then you returned to search for the gun, found it, and removed it.”
“All this,” Mason asked, “is predicated on Anders’ story?”
“His confession.”
“What did he confess to?”
“Being aboard the yacht, armed and, as he admitted, looking for trouble.”
“That’s not much of a crime,” Mason said. “What did he do?”
“According to his story, he didn’t do anything.”
“And all that you have against me,” Mason said, “is that he told you I left for the Yacht Club with Miss Farr, and he surmised that I had done this and that. Is that right?”
“His surmises are quite reasonable.”
Mason said, “Well, I’m sorry I can’t help you. I didn’t go aboard the Pennwent. I didn’t dress the corpse. I didn’t have anything to do with it. I don’t know who did.”
“You knew that the dead body of Penn Wentworth was aboard that yacht, Mr. Mason?”
“No.”
“You didn’t? Why, Anders insists that Miss Farr told you.”
“As far as the conversation which occurred between my client and myself is concerned,” Mason said, “it’s confidential. I have no right to repeat any statements which she made to me or any advice which I gave to her. Therefore, it’s out. You can’t inquire into it here. You can’t inquire into it before a grand jury, and you can’t inquire into it in court.”
“Subject to certain specific qualifications, that,” Runcifer admitted, “would seem to be correct. However, the law of privileged communications is subject to certain well defined exceptions.”
“All right,” Mason said. “I’ll advance the law. You advance the exceptions. I’m telling you you can’t question me concerning the advice I gave a client.
“Now then, we come to the rest of it — a claim by Anders that I went to the Yacht Club and he thinks I must have done certain things while there.”
“His deductions are most logical,” Runcifer insisted.
Mason said, “You’ll pardon me if I fail to agree with you.”
“What is your explanation?” Runcifer asked.
“I have none.”
“Well, I’ll put it this way, Mr. Mason. Wherein do you find any departure from logic in Anders’ statement?”
Mason said, “That’s something I’ll argue in front of a jury.”
“But look here, Mr. Mason, you were in that field walking around looking for a gun.”
“What if I was?”
“You had no right to do that. You should have reported the crime to the officers.”
“How did I know there was a crime?”
“You had been advised of the shooting.”
Mason said, “Let me ask you a question. Why did you go and look for the gun?”
“We wanted to check up on Anders’ story.”
“In other words, you thought that it was open to some doubt?”
“Well, it was rather unusual. We thought perhaps he was keeping something back.”
“All right,” Mason said. “Suppose I say I also felt his story was open to some doubt and decided to confirm it?”
“The gun constituted a complete confirmation.”
“What gun?” Mason asked.
“The gun that was there.”
“What,” Mason asked, “makes you feel that a gun was there?”
Runcifer said somewhat irritably, “Mr. Mason, I didn’t come here to bandy words with you. You know perfectly well that the gun was there.”
“You looked for a gun this morning?” Mason asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We wanted to check on Anders’ story, I tell you.”
“In other words,” Mason said, “you went out to look because you weren’t certain that a gun was there. I should certainly have the same privilege.”
Runcifer said, “I don’t think that’s a fair answer, Mr. Mason. It was the duty of the officers to search for that gun in order to find it and preserve it as a part of the evidence.”
Mason said, “So far you’ve talked about Anders. Why don’t you give me the benefit of the story that Miss Farr told?”
“Unfortunately,” Runcifer said, “Miss Farr refuses to make any statement whatever. That, I consider, is very much opposed to her best interests.”
“You told her about Anders’ statement?”
“Naturally,” Runcifer said. “We—”
“For God’s sake,” Sergeant Holcomb interrupted, “we came up here to get information, not to hand this bird everything we know on a silver platter.”
Runcifer said, “That will do, Sergeant.”
Sergeant Holcomb took two indignant strides toward the exit door of the office, then checked himself and stood with flushed countenance and angry eyes.
Runcifer said, “I don’t think your attitude shows a desire to co-operate, Mr. Mason. I have been perfectly fair and frank with you. Because you are an attorney, I don’t want to have you placed under arrest without giving you an opportunity to explain.”
Mason said, “I appreciate your sincerity and your motives, Runcifer. However, you have nothing to say about it. You’re acting under orders. You don’t determine the policy of your office. You came here with certain specific instructions. Those instructions were given to you for a purpose. Your office isn’t as considerate as you are. If there’d been any grounds on which they could have arrested me, they’d have done so. However, they can’t do it. All Anders knows is that I suggested to Miss Farr that we should go to the yacht harbour. I had a right to do that in order to verify her story. That much you will certainly grant.
“As for all this cock and bull yarn about dressing the corpse and putting the yacht out to sea, your office has one thing and one thing alone on which to act — the cockeyed guess of a man who tells a rather remarkable story, namely, that he had been watching Wentworth’s yacht, lying in wait with a gun in his pocket; that the girl he loved boarded Wentworth’s yacht; that he claims he heard sounds of a struggle taking place, started to run aboard the yacht, and fell into the drink; that at the exact moment when his ears were submerged under water, and his sight of the yacht had been blotted out by a cross section of the Pacific Ocean, some obliging individual stepped aboard the yacht, shot Wentworth, and then withdrew; that Anders, climbing from the water to the float, completed his journey to Wentworth’s yacht only to find that the woman he loved was straightening her disarrayed clothing.