“As soon as I realized that what you had taken for the flash of a pistol was probably the release of a flashlight bulb, I knew that the murder had been postponed from that moment until a later one.
“Once I had that theory, it was easy to reconstruct what must have happened. Hazel Tooms won the second place medal in the tennis finals. She went down to Wentworth’s yacht to be congratulated. Knowing what we do of Wentworth, we can be sure that his idea of congratulations would require the use of lipstick by Hazel Tooms after those congratulations were received. When she had repaired the damage, she put the medal and the lipstick on the shelf in the cabin.
“Wentworth then told her of his plan to sail to Ensenada that night and asked her if she’d like to go with him. She was delighted but pointed out that she’d have to get some clothes and that they needed some provisions. So she left the Pennwent, drove home to pack, and on the way back stopped to pick up the provisions.
“During the time she was gone, you, Mae, boarded the Pennwent and had your struggle with Wentworth. Eversel boarded the boat and took the photograph of Wentworth in a compromising position, then left. Anders boarded the boat to rescue you. Then you two left.
“Some time after that, probably not long after, Hazel Tooms returned with the provisions, boarded the Pennwent, and she and Wentworth set sail for Ensenada.
“Wentworth was undoubtedly angry and upset. He knew he had been photographed. He reacted instinctively by doubling up and covering his face. He could guess that that photograph might make it very much more difficult for him to arrange a divorce on reasonable terms when he met his wife the next morning. He probably told Hazel Tooms all about it.
“Whether or not Wentworth had promised to marry Hazel if and when he got his freedom, I think Hazel assumed that was his intention and he made it plain that was a ridiculous assumption. For whatever reason, she was filled with murderous rage. He was probably sitting there laughing at her when she pulled the gun and shot him.
“She thought she’d killed him outright. The impact of the bullet must have knocked him out before he came to and wandered around. And she had to get off the boat. I believe she carried one of those canvas bags people take aboard instead of suitcases — just as I believe she always carried a gun in case one of the yachtsmen she picked up got too rough. I think she took off her clothes, stuffed them in the bag along with the tennis medal, the lipstick, and the gun, set the automatic pilot on the course for Ensenada if that hadn’t already been done, dove overboard with the bag, and swam ashore.
“At first, I couldn’t understand why she would have taken along the murder weapon instead of dumping it overboard. Then I put myself in her place and realized what she was up against. She’d arrive on shore naked at some strange place. She’d have to put on her wet clothes and find some motorist who would pick her up as a hitchhiker and take her to within walking distance of the Yacht Club where she had left her car. As a matter of protection, she decided to keep her revolver with her.
“She got back to the Yacht Club in time to see Mae Farr coming in aboard the Atina. Then she went home. The next morning, in the news coverage of the murder, she learned where Anders had thrown his gun. She drove down and ‘planted’ the murder weapon. Sometime that morning she also told Frank Marley about seeing Mae Farr bringing in the Atina.”
“That’s quite a reconstruction, Perry,” Paul Drake said, “but I still don’t see how you can figure that a normal, well balanced, athletic girl like Hazel Tooms would commit murder.”
“She might have fooled me if it hadn’t been for one thing, Paul.”
“What’s that?”
“No matter what other facts we may get by surmise, one fact stands out as absolutely true. The person who killed Wentworth took the murder weapon down to the place where Anders had thrown his gun and planted it in hopes that it would clinch the case against Anders. In other words, the murderer was quite willing to send Anders up for a life sentence or a death penalty for a crime he hadn’t committed. That showed that the person who had done the killing knew that there was some possibility a subsequent investigation might be made, that that person might be suspected, and strove to forestall both the investigation and the suspicion by deliberately trying to build up an iron clad case against Anders.”
“That,” Drake said, “is right.”
“What’ll they do with her?” Mae Farr asked.
Mason said, “Well, that depends. First, they’ll have to catch her, which I don’t think will be easy. Then, they’ll have to convict her, and that’s going to be quite a job. That photograph Eversel took will come pretty close to getting her an acquittal if she testifies that Wentworth made the same sort of attack on her that he made on you.”
“Planting that gun will look like the devil as far as her case is concerned,” Drake said.
Mason grinned and said, “In one way, yes, but — oh come on, Paul, you can’t convict a woman with a figure like hers of anything worse than manslaughter.”
“How about Eversel?” Drake asked.
“He shook hands and made up,” Mason said. “He was so darned afraid I was going to accuse him of the murder and make it stick that the real solution came as a great relief to him. He’d been scared stiff. Moreover, when he realized that because of my activities, an innocent woman had been liberated, he began to think I wasn’t such a bad egg after all. In fact, Della, he’s invited us down for dinner next week.”
“Are we going?” she asked.
“Why not?” Mason asked. “In the meantime, let’s climb in the car and go places.”
“Where?” she asked.
“Oh, take a trip,” Mason said. “Why not drive up toward North Mesa and look that country over?”
“Would you risk it?” Mae Farr asked.
“Risk what?”
“You’ll probably come to blows with Hal’s family lawyer.”
“Fiddlesticks,” Mason said. “I have no feelings like that. Actually the man was right.”
“Well,” she said, “I’m going that way myself this afternoon.”
“You are?” Della asked in surprise.
She nodded.
Mason said, “Well, well, well! How did that happen?”
She flushed and said spiritedly, “It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind, isn’t it? Maybe I’ve changed mine about Hal.”
Mason said, “He does seem to have developed a lot of independence lately.”
Mae Farr laughed nervously. “Yes. He’s picked up quite a few ideas of his own. I think this murder case may have been a good thing — for him. I wish you would come and have dinner with us tomorrow night, Mr. Mason. It’s going to be a special occasion.”
Mason looked at Mae Farr with a twinkle in his eyes. “A sort of celebration?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’m going to tell Hal I’ll marry him.”
“Good girl!” Mason said, then he turned to Della Street. “How about it, Della?”
“Leaving it up to me, Chief?”
He nodded.
“Let’s go to North Mesa,” she said, “if you really want us, Miss Farr.”
“Oh, but I really do,” Mae Farr said eagerly.
Paul Drake got to his feet, fed a stick of gum into his mouth, and said, “Well, nice to have known you.”