“And you get immunity for that.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Provided your story stands up,” Mason said.

  Kelsey said, “You just try to punch a hole in it, Mister. I’m telling you the truth and you just try to find a loose joint in what I have told you. I’m not foolish enough to make a deal with the DA and then try to hold out anything and get my neck in a noose. If my story stands up, I get immunity. If it doesn’t stand up, I don’t. They can say lots of things about Kelsey but they can’t say he’s too dumb to know which side of the bread has the butter.”

  “So you have quite an interest in bringing about the conviction of the defendant in this case,” Mason said.

  “I have quite an interest in being sure I tell the truth,” Kelsey said. “I don’t care what effect it has. If it ties Mrs Bancroft up with murder, that’s her hard luck. But on the kind of a deal I have, I’m telling the truth and I don’t care who gets hurt.”

  “You know Gilly was going down to the yacht club to meet Mrs Bancroft?”

  “I knew what he told me, yes.”

  “And when he didn’t show up you didn’t make any attempt to go down there to the yacht club?”

  “I did not. I stayed right in that house and waited for him to come back. I figured I’d give him that much of a chance to shoot square.”

  “And if he had given you half of the three thousand, would you have given him half of the three thousand you were going to get from Eve Amory?” Mason asked.

  “Oh, Your Honour,” the district attorney said, “I think this question is argumentative and is entirely outside the field of legitimate cross-examination. I’ve given the defendant every latitude with this witness because I realize the man is one whose background makes his story open to question.

  “If there’s any loophole in his story I’m just as anxious to find it out as defence counsel. But certainly, asking him about what he intended to do in the event he’d been successful in blackmailing Miss Amory into giving him a document on which he could subsequently collect the three thousand dollars that was in the hands of the authorities, is hardly within the issues in the present case.”

  “I think it’s argumentative,” Judge Hobart ruled. “However, I felt that in a matter of this sort, and dealing with a man of this sort, defence counsel should have every latitude. I think I’ll overrule the objection. Answer the question.”

  “Well,” Kelsey said, “I’ll put it this way. If Gilly had played square with me, I think I’d have cut him in on that other three grand. Yes, I think I would have. I’ve got a reputation to sustain – but I was pretty suspicious of Gilly after he’d tried to double-cross me by boosting the ante from fifteen hundred to three thousand and figuring that he’d get the first crack at that coffee can, dip out the extra fifteen hundred and destroy the note – Well, I didn’t feel too friendly toward the boy. I just made up my mind he was a chiseler and I’d even up with him on this deal and then I didn’t want any more to do with him.

  “We have a code of ethics in my business, the same as any other, and the people I’m doing business with are entitled to rely on my reputation – only, I’m not going into my business, Mr Mason. I’m just talking about this one deal and that’s all.”

  “Thank you,” Mason said, smiling. “I think I have no further questions.”

  District Attorney Hastings said, “I will call as my next witness Dr Morley Badger, the coroner’s physician and autopsy surgeon.”

  Dr Badger took the stand.

  Mason said, “We will stipulate Dr Badger’s professional qualifications subject to the right of cross-examination.”

  “Very well. Thank you,” the district attorney said.

  He turned to the witness. “Dr Badger, you were called on the eleventh of this month to perform an autopsy?”

  “I was.”

  “On whom did you perform the autopsy?”

  “Willmer Gilly; at least, it was a cadaver whose fingerprints have been introduced in evidence as being those of Willmer Gilly.”

  “What did you find as to the cause of death?”

  “A .38 calibre bullet had penetrated the man’s heart. It had entered the chest, penetrated the heart, and lodged against the spine.”

  “What can you say in regard to death?”

  “It was instantaneous, as nearly as one can measure those things.”

  “What about motion after the shot?”

  “There would have been no motion after the shot. The bullet not only went through the heart but lodged in the spinal column. The only motion would have been a falling motion due to gravitation. The man fell where he was struck and died where he fell.”

  “What time did you perform your autopsy?”

  “About nine-thirty on the evening of the eleventh.”

  “How long had the man been dead?”

  “Approximately twenty-four hours.”

  “Can you fix it any closer than that?”

  “Medically, I would say the man had died between eight and eleven p.m. of the preceding day; judging from extraneous evidence, I can pinpoint the time of death a little more accurately.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “The man had died within approximately an hour and a half to two hours after ingesting a meal of canned pork and beans.”

  “You may inquire,” the district attorney said.

  “No questions,” Mason said.

  “What!” District Attorney Hastings exclaimed in surprise. “No cross-examination?”

  “No cross-examination,” Mason said.

  “If the Court please,” Hastings said, “I see it is approaching the hour of the noon adjournment and that is our case. We only need to show in a preliminary hearing of this kind that a crime has been committed and that there is reasonable cause to connect the defendant with the crime. I think we have abundantly established our case.”

  “It would seem so,” Judge Hobart said, “unless, of course, the defendant wishes to put on a defence.”

  “The defendant would like to have an adjournment,” Mason said, “until tomorrow morning.”

  “Do you intend to put on any defence?” Judge Hobart asked. “It is, of course, unusual in preliminary examinations of this sort and I warn counsel that once a prima-facie case has been established, mere conflict of evidence would have virtually no effect on the ruling of the Court. It is this Court’s duty to bind a defendant over when there is reasonable cause to believe the defendant has perpetrated a crime. The question of credibility of witnesses in the event of a conflict in the testimony is exclusively within the province of the trial jury.”

  “I understand, Your Honour,” Mason said. “However, the defence is entitled to a reasonable continuance and I would like to have a continuance until tomorrow morning in order to ascertain whether we wish to put on testimony.

  “I would also like to make a public statement in court at this time. Inasmuch as the defendant has sustained some damage in the press because of her refusal to make any statement whatever to the investigating officers, and inasmuch as I have been largely responsible for that attitude on the part of the defendant, I would like to announce that immediately following the adjournment of this case there will be a press conference at which the defendant will tell a full and complete story to the newspaper reporters as to exactly what happened on the night of the murder.”

  “Your Honour!” Hastings shouted, getting to his feet, “this is ridiculous. This is making a travesty of a judicial investigation. The defendant sits tight and makes no statement whatever on the advice of counsel. Then after the prosecution has rested its case, the defendant announces that she will, in effect, give her testimony to the public press.”

  Judge Hobart said thoughtfully, “I know of no law which prevents the defendant from making a statement to the press at any time the defendant desires, and I certainly know that under the law the defendant does not have to make a statement to investigating officers.

  “Under the circumstances, Court will take a recess until tomorrow morning at ten o’clock, at which time this hearing will be renewed. In the meantime the defendant is, of course, remanded to the custody of the sheriff. However, if the defendant desires to make a statement to the press at this time, I see no reason why the sheriff cannot arrange for such an audience here in the courthouse.”

  Judge Hobart arose and left the bench.

  District Attorney Hastings came barging over to Mason’s counsel table. “Look here, Mason,” he said, “you can’t pull a stunt like this!”

  “Why can’t I?” Mason asked. “You heard what the judge said. It’s legal.”

  “Well, if you’re going to have a press conference, I’ll be there and I’ll ask some questions,” Hastings said. “What you’re trying to do is to enable the defendant to tell her story without being cross-examined by the prosecution.”

  “Are you representing a newspaper?” Mason asked.

  “You’re damned right I am – that is, I will be. I’ll have credentials from a newspaper in five minutes.”

  “Get them,” Mason said coldly, “and you’ll be entitled to attend the conference.”

  “And I’ll ask some questions that the defendant can’t answer – or won’t answer.”

  “If,” Mason said, “you are a member of the press, you will be welcome.”

  The courtroom was seething with excitement. Newspaper photographers, crowding close to Mason’s table, took photographs of the irate district attorney and the smiling defence counsel.

  Hastings turned to the reporters. “I never heard of anything like this in my life,” he said. “It’s fantastic! It’s ridiculous! It’s also suicidal, but it does have the effect of building up public sympathy for the defendant. If she was willing to tell her story, why didn’t she tell it when the officers were investigating?”

  “Because,” Mason said, “the officers made a slipshod investigation.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They didn’t send a diver overboard and investigate the bottom of the bay where the boat had come to anchor.”

  “How do you know what’s on the bottom of that bay? You may find evidence that would completely exonerate the defendant. You may find the murder weapon.

  “Any reasonably expert investigating technique would call for divers to go overboard at that point, at least to look for the murder weapon. The natural assumption is that the murderer, whoever he was, threw the weapon overboard.

  “But what have you done?” Mason went on. “You and the sheriff investigated the case and didn’t even mark the spot where the boat was anchored. Now you have forever lost what may be evidence vital to the defendant in the case. Therefore the defendant exercised her right to choose the time when she would tell her story.

  “We have always said we would tell the defendant’s story at the proper time and in the proper place.”

  “You just wait,” Hastings sputtered. “I’m going to get to a telephone and get the proper press credentials, and if you’re so firmly convinced there’s evidence around the bottom of the bay where that boat was anchored, why don’t you get a diver and go look for it?”

  “We don’t know where the place is,” Mason said. “The boat was towed away under the direction of the sheriff.”

  Hastings started to say something but was too angry for words. His mouth quivered in a nervous spasm. His face was dead white. His hands were clenched.

  Abruptly he turned and strode away in the direction of the telephones.

  Mason said to the sheriff, “If you would be so kind, Sheriff, as to arrange for a conference in the law library within say, five minutes, we will have duly accredited members of the press present.”

  “Now, wait a minute,” Sheriff Jewett said, “you’re accusing me of incompetence.”

  “I’m not accusing you of incompetence,” Mason said “I have made the statement that your methods of investigation were slipshod.”

  “Well, it amounts to the same thing.”

  “All right,” Mason said, “if you want it that way, then I’m accusing you of incompetence.”

  “I don’t know whether I care to co-operate with you in connection with a press conference or not,” the sheriff said.

  “Hey, wait a minute,” one of the newspaper reporters said, “What are you trying to do, squelch the biggest story of the year? What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I’m running my office,” the sheriff said.

  One of the other newspaper reporters said, “Sure, you’re running your office, Sheriff, but don’t forget your friends. We took off our coats and went to work for you at election time and we intend to keep in your corner, but we sure as hell don’t want to lose out on a story of this magnitude.

  “Do you realize what it means? Here’s a wealthy woman accused of murder, with overtones of blackmail in the case. The wire services will eat it up. The metropolitan papers will be screaming for news. It means a big personal income to every reporter here in the courtroom. You can’t throttle a story of that sort – moreover, you can’t keep the defendant from talking if she wants to talk. All you can do is throw a monkey wrench in the machinery so it will handicap the local reporters who have been in your corner all along, and who will be sidetracked by reporters from the big metropolitan dailies who will come thronging down here by airplane the minute word gets out that Perry Mason is going to let his client talk.”

  The sheriff thought things over for a moment, then said, “All right. In ten minutes we’ll let her make her statement to the press in the law library.”

  “And we’ll see to it that only accredited press representatives are there,” Mason said. “Otherwise, my client won’t talk.”

  “The sheriff and his deputies will be there,” the sheriff said.

  “Of course,” Mason smiled. “We want you there.”

  “Very well, ten minutes from now in the law library,” the sheriff said.

  Chapter Twenty

  Perry Mason said, “Now, Mrs Bancroft, if you’ll just sit down here behind this table facing the representatives of the press, I’m going to ask you to tell your story.”

  Bancroft tugged at Mason’s sleeve. “Mason,” he said in a whisper, “do you think this is wise? To me it seems suicidal.”

  “I think it’s wise,” Mason said. “It may be suicidal, but it’s a calculated risk.”

  The lawyer turned to Mrs Bancroft. “Now, go right ahead, Mrs Bancroft. I’m going to ask you a few preliminary questions first … You were being blackmailed by Gilly?”

  “Yes. I had paid him the sum of one thousand dollars.”

  “When?”

  “About the eighth, I think it was.”

  “I’m going to ask you to avoid telling what the blackmail was about, but I am going to ask you this. Was it because of anything you had done?”

  “No.”

  “It was because of some information which he threatened to release, which you felt would affect the happiness of other people?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Now then, after you had paid Gilly this money, when did you next see him?”

  “Aboard my yacht, the Jinesa, on the tenth.”

  “You had been aboard the yacht previously with someone else?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who?”

  “With Irwin Victor Fordyce.”

  “You had taken him down to the yacht?”

  “Yes.”

  “And he was the young man that Drew Kirby had seen with you that night?”

  “Oh now, just a minute, just a minute,” Robley Hastings interposed. “I’m here representing the press but I don’t like to have you lead the witness into all these statements. You couldn’t do it in court and I don’t think you should do it here.

  “I now see why you have staged this elaborate press interview. It’s so you can put words in the witness’ mouth.”

  Mason said, “You’re here as a representative of the press, not as the district attorney. I’m conducting this interview in my own way. Now sit down and shut up.”

  “As a representative of the press I don’t have to either sit down or shut up,” Hastings said.

  “All right,” Mason said, “I’m running the show. I’m giving the conditions under which Mrs Bancroft will tell her story. How about it, gentlemen, do you want her to go ahead and tell it my way, or do you want to have the interview called off because the district attorney, who is here masquerading as a representative of the press, thinks that my questions are irregular?”

  A chorus of voices said, “No! No! Handle it your way. We want the story. We’d like to question her afterwards.”

  “You can question her all you want afterwards,” Mason said, “but she’s going to tell her story under conditions which are fair to her. And she isn’t going to be browbeaten by the district attorney, nor am I going to be browbeaten by him.”

  “Let her go ahead,” one of the reporters said.

  “I still protest,” Hastings said. “I–”

  “Shut up, Hastings!” one of the newspaper reporters interrupted. “You keep on talking and you’re going to kill a hell of a good story. Now shut up!”

  “How dare you talk to me that way?” Hastings asked.

  “I dare to talk to you that way because I’m a working newspaperman. I’m a representative of an out-of-town newspaper but still in the county. My rag fought against you when you were running for office and we’re going to fight against you when you run for office again. In the meantime you’re not going to kill a good story with a lot of courtroom technicalities.”

  Hastings started to say something, then subsided into silence.

  “Now then, go on, tell us what happened,” Mason said to Mrs Bancroft. “What were you trying to do with Fordyce? Why did you take him down to the yacht club?”

  “Because I wanted him to take our yacht and go to Catalina in it.”

  “Why?”

  “I wanted him where Gilly couldn’t find him.”

  “And why did you want him where Gilly couldn’t find him?”

  “Because I thought Gilly had – well, I thought Gilly wasn’t to be trusted. I thought Gilly would try to find him and get information from him and use that information against me and against people I care for.”