“What do you mean what about her?”
“How well did you know her?”
“Very well indeed.”
“You asked her advice about things?”
“Yes; she was a few years older and I looked up to her.”
“You double-dated with her?”
“Yes.”
“You talked over your affair with Harmon Haslett?”
“Yes.”
“You told her you were pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“She knew about your getting the thousand dollars?”
“She was the only one who did know.”
“Did you tell her that actually you weren’t pregnant?”
“Of course not. I was pregnant; I was having morning sickness. That’s how Maxine happened to find out about it in the first place. She became terribly suspicious and started cross-examining me, and finally I had to tell her.”
Mason said, “Now she swears that you told her you weren’t pregnant, that it was all a racket to try and get Harmon Haslett to marry you.”
“I know. Life hasn’t been very kind to Maxine and someone has come along and dangled a lot of money in front of her. When there is two two million dollars involved, Mr. Mason, you can expect almost anything to happen.”
“You can say that again!” Mason said.
“Maxine is going to swear that it was all a part of a scheme for a shakedown?” Ellen asked.
“Not a shakedown; just that it was a part of a scheme to force Harmon Haslett into matrimony. She’s already given her testimony. The only thing is that she identified the wrong person as being you. Now that put her in an embarrassing position when she made the statement. But, actually, it only means she made a wrong identification, which, after twenty years, is something anyone could do.”
“You got her to identify the wrong person?”
“Well, I laid a trap for her and she walked into it,” Mason said.
“And you’ll go see Agnes Burlington with me?”
Mason sighed wearily. “All right,” he said, “I’ll go see her and listen to what she has to say. But I’ll warn you of one thing. I’m not going to represent you until after I’ve satisfied myself about a lot of things.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Mason said, “a person accused of crime is entitled to a defense whether he’s guilty or innocent. But a reputable lawyer doesn’t want to get involved in a case of this kind where a client may be trying to put across a fraudulent claim.”
“I can readily understand that, Mr. Mason. And if there were anything fraudulent about my claim, I wouldn’t want you to represent me. I wouldn’t even be coming forward.
“Even as it is, there was a while when I didn’t want to set forth the claim. That is, not my claim but my son’s claim. You can testify to that.”
“I can remember what you said,” Mason told her, “but it now seems your actions point in one direction, your words in another.
“As far as I’m concerned, you could be a very, very clever woman who pretended she was pregnant some twenty years ago, who tried to force Harmon Haslett into marriage, who failed in that attempt, who settled for a thousand dollars hush money, who came out here and got a job and worked her way up — but always with the idea that at the proper time she’d try and make a claim to the Haslett estate or make some kind of settlement.
“You looked around and found the Bairds, who were having a child at just about the date your child would have been due if your story had been correct.
“From that time on, you simply waited your time to cash in.”
“But I couldn’t do anything like that, Mr. Mason!”
“Why not?”
“It’s completely, utterly foreign to my character! Can’t you understand I’ve made good in the business world? I’ve worked up until I’m chief buyer for French, Coleman and Swazey in the big department store. And then there’s the testimony of this nurse.”
“That testimony,” Mason said, “will probably be the determining factor if it’s genuine.”
“But the minute you talk with her you’ll find out that she’s telling the truth. Of course, she won’t like to admit the blackmail. But Wight can testify that she called at the house when the Bairds were out and asked for the Bairds and asked him to describe his mother. He was about twelve or thirteen at the time, and he’ll remember it.”
“You’ve talked it over-with him?”
“No, but I’m quite sure he’ll remember, because he told me all about it, and he told the Bairds.”
“And she called on them?”
“Just on August Baird.”
“And asked him for money?”
“Asked him for loans.”
“And Baird paid off?”
“Yes, he had to.”
“Did he have the money?”
“Yes.”
“And he made the loans?”
“Yes.”
“By check?”
“No, it was always handled on a cash basis.”
“And August Baird is now dead?”
“Yes.”
“And Melinda Baird is dead?”
“Yes, I told you they were killed in a car crash.”
“Then we have your story,” Mason said, “supported by absolutely nothing in the world except your uncorroborated statement and perhaps the testimony of this nurse. Opposed to that, we have the testimony of Maxine Edfield.”
“Maxine is a liar!” Ellen said with feeling. “She has sold out!”
Mason said, “Well, I’ll go and see this Agnes Burlington with you, but I warn you I’m going to give her a cross-examination.
“If this is all a lie, if you have concocted this story and intend to use Wight Baird as a pawn in the game, I warn you that I’m going to find out about it.”
“And if you come to the conclusion that I’m not on the square?”
“I won’t represent you,” Mason said. “Right now you’re not my client and I’m only considering the case. I’ll go so far as to talk with Agnes Burlington with you and that’s all!”
“When can you go?”
“When is it convenient?” Mason asked.
“Well, I think she’s working days. We’ll have to get her at night.”
“This evening?” Mason asked.
“Why not?”
“You want to call her up and make an appointment?”
“No, that wouldn’t be the smart thing to do. I think we should call on her and you should tell her that you’re my attorney and ask her about the money she borrowed from August Baird and from me.
“Then she’ll probably deny that she ever got any money from August, and I’ll ask her about her conversation with Wight, and finally we’ll get her to tell her story.”
Mason shook his head. “I don’t think I want to go at it that way, but I’ll play it by ear. I’ll meet this woman and talk with her.”
“At eight o’clock tonight?”
“At eight o’clock tonight,” Mason said. “Now you may be followed as soon as you leave this office. You made a mistake coming back here. You may have walked right into a trap. When you leave here... Did you come by car?”
“No, I took a bus.”
“All right,” Mason said. “Take a bus; ride on it until you come to a taxi which is parked at a stand where there is no other taxi. In other words, keep riding for an hour if you have to, until you come to a place where there is just one taxicab at the curb.”
“And then?” she asked.
“Then,” Mason said, “get out and take that taxicab. Make sure that there is no one following you with an automobile. When you feel that no one is following you, go home by a circuitous route.
“Now, then, tonight when I pick you up, Della Street and I will be out in Hollywood, driving along La Brea. We’ll be driving south. At the corner of Beverly we’ll bring the car into the curb at exactly eight o’clock.