The Case of the Horrified Heirs (18 page)

"I fought the steering wheel, trying to keep the car from going over the bank, but I felt the car going. I shouted to Lauretta Trent to open the door and jump, and I opened my door and jumped."

"Then what happened?"

"I don't know what happened immediately after that."

"You were unconscious?"

"Yes."

"Do you know when you regained consciousness?"

"No. I had no way of knowing the exact time. I know about the time of the accident but I didn't look at my watch to determine the time until sometime later. I was upset and excited and I was feeling bad. I had a terrific headache and I was… well, I was groggy."

"How long do you think you were unconscious?"

"Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial and no proper foundation laid, calling for a conclusion of the witness," Mason said.

"The objection is sustained," Judge Grayson ruled.

"Oh, if the Court please," Caswell said, "there are certain ways by which a person can tell how long he has been out-certain bits of circumstantial evidence."

"Let him give the circumstantial evidence then and not the conclusions he has drawn from that evidence."

"Very well," Caswell said. "Now, when you regained consciousness, what was your position?"

"I was sprawled out on the ground, face down."

"How near the road were you?"

"I don't know the exact distance, probably about ten feet, I would estimate."

"Who was there?"

"An officer of the highway patrol was bending over me."

"Did he assist you to your feet?"

"Not right away. He turned me over. They gave me some sort of a stimulant, then they asked me if I could move any toes. I could. Then they asked me if I could move my fingers. I could. Then they had me move my legs slowly, then my arms. Then they helped me to a sitting position, then to my feet."

"Do you know where they had started from?"

"Only from what they told me."

"How long was it after you regained consciousness before you were helped to your feet?"

"A couple of minutes."

"And then you looked for the Trent car?"

"Yes."

"Did you see it?"

"No. It was gone."

"And you told the officers what had happened?"

"It took me a little while to collect my senses. I was rambling a little at first."

"Then what happened?"

"Then there was the sound of sirens, and a wrecking car came up, and shortly after that another car came, divers went down into the water and located the Trent car in about twenty-five feet of water. The car was lying on its right side with the front end down; the left-hand doors were open. There was no one in the car."

"How do you know there was no one in the car?"

"I was there when the car was brought to the surface. I ran to it and looked inside. There was no sign of Lauretta Trent."

"Now, if the Court please," Caswell said, "I would like to withdraw this witness temporarily in order to ask questions of another witness. However, I am aware of the fact that when I start to prove admissions made by the defendant, the objection will probably he made that no corpus delicti has been established. I wish to state to the court that we are prepared to meet this objection here and now; that the corpus delicti means the body of the crime and not the body of the victim.

"There are several instances on record where murderers have been successfully prosecuted, convicted and executed where the body of the victim was never found. It is proper to prove the corpus delicti by circumstantial evidence just as any other factor in the case and-"

"You don't need to try to educate the court on the elementals of criminal law," Judge Grayson said. "I think under the circumstances a prima facie showing has been made. If Mr. Mason wishes to adopt the position that no corpus delicti has been proven, I think he has the laboring oar."

Mason got to his feet and smiled. "On the contrary, Your Honor, the defense feels certain that the evidence now introduced is sufficient to prove the death of Lauretta Trent. We intend to make no issue in this case of corpus delicti as far as the missing body is concerned. However, the Court will bear in mind that the corpus delicti consists not only of proof of death but proof of death by unlawful means.

"So far, it appears that Lauretta Trent's death could well have been an accident."

"That is why I wish to withdraw the witness at this time and put on another witness," Caswell said. "By this witness I can prove that this was a crime."

"Very well," Judge Grayson said. "However, the defendant is entitled to cross-examine the witness on the testimony he has given at this time, if he so desires."

"We will wait with our cross-examination," Mason said.

"Very well. Call your next witness," Judge Grayson said.

"I'll call Lieutenant Tragg to the stand," Caswell said.

Tragg came forward and was sworn.

"Were you at the jail when the defendant was brought in and held for investigation?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did you have any talk with the defendant?"

"I did. Yes, sir."

"And did you advise the defendant of her constitutional rights?"

"Yes."

"And what did she say by way of explanation?"

Tragg said, "She told me that Lauretta Trent had telephoned her and arranged a meeting at the Saint's Rest. That she went up there and claimed she had been there for considerably more than an hour. That she became nervous and telephoned Perry Mason. That Perry Mason went up there to join her at the motel. That after he arrived he suggested that they go out and look at her car."

"And then what?" Caswell asked.

"Then they found that her car had been damaged. That a headlight had been knocked out and a fender bent."

"And did Mr. Mason make any suggestions?" Caswell asked gloatingly.

"She said that Mr. Mason told her to get in her car and drive out of the exit, to then turn around and come right back into the entrance. That when she did this, Mr. Mason jumped in his car and ran into her car, thereby compounding the damage so that it would be impossible- "Just a minute," Mason said, "I object to the witness giving conclusions. Let him state the facts."

"I'm asking him what the defendant said," Caswell said. "Did the defendant say why this was done?"

"Yes, she said it was done so that it would be impossible to tell when her car was first damaged."

"What else did she tell you?"

"She said that George Eagan, Lauretta Trent's chauffeur, had approached her about forging a copy of a will."

"What sort of a will?"

"A will purported to have been made by Mrs. Trent."

"And did she say what she did in connection with that?"

"She said that she accepted five hundred dollars; that she forged two wills on the stationery of Delano Bannock, an attorney at law, now deceased, who had done work for Mrs. Trent and by whom she had been employed."

"Did she offer any proof of that statement?"

"She said that she had mailed herself a letter by registered mail containing the sheets of carbon which were used in making the forgeries. She said that following the advice of Perry Mason she had used fresh carbon paper so that it would be possible to read the terms of the forged will by holding the carbon papers to the light."

Judge Grayson said, "Now, just a minute. This is asking for confidential advice given a client by an attorney?"

"It is, Your Honor," Caswell said. "It would be manifestly improper for me to show this conversation except by calling for what the defendant had said. In other words, if the defendant should be on the stand and I asked her what her attorney told her, that would be calling for a privileged communication, but with Lieutenant Tragg on the stand, I may ask him what the defendant said in regard to her actions and in regard to explanation. If at the time of that conversation the defendant chose to waive the privilege of the confidential communication and state what her attorney has told her, then the witness can repeat that conversation.

"That is a chance an attorney has to take when he advises a client to do things which are for the purpose of confusing the law enforcement officers and, in this instance, for the purpose of compounding a felony.

"We will proceed against Mr. Mason in the proper tribunal and at the proper time, but in the meantime, we have a right to show what the defendant said her attorney told her."

Judge Grayson looked down at Mason. "You have an objection, Mr. Mason?"

"Certainly not," Mason said. "I have no objection to bringing out the facts in this case. At the proper time I will show that persons have deliberately framed a crime on this defendant and-"

"Just a moment, just a moment," Caswell interrupted. "This is not the time for Perry Mason to put on a defense, either for this defendant or for himself. He will have an opportunity to put on a defense for the defendant when I have finished my case and he will have an opportunity to defend himself before the proper tribunal."

"I think that's right," Judge Grayson ruled. "However, Mr. Mason has an opportunity to argue this point in regard to the objection."

"There hasn't been any objection," Mason said. "I want the witness to state what the defendant told him, to state everything the defendant told him."

"Very well, go ahead," Judge Grayson said. "I thought there might be an objection interposed on the ground that this was calling for a privileged communication. However, I can appreciate that once the client has waived the privilege of the communication and made a voluntary statement-Well, there seems to be no objection, go ahead."

"She stated that the witness, George Eagan, had been the one who called on her?"

"Yes."

"And positively identified him?"

"Yes."

"Cross-examine," Caswell snapped.

Mason said, "You were talking with this young woman late at night, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, she was not arrested until rather late in the evening."

"You knew that she was my client?"

"No."

"You didn't?"

"I only knew what she told me."

"And you didn't accept that as true?"

"We never accept what an accused defendant tells us to be the truth. We investigate every phase of the story."

"I see," Mason said. "Then you aren't prepared to state that what she told you about what I had advised her was the truth?"

"Well," Tragg said, hesitating, "there were certain corroborating circumstances."

"Such as what?"

"She gave us permission to pick up the registered letter which was sent to her and to open it."

"And you did that?"

"Yes."

"And found the carbon copies of the purported will just as she had told you?"

"Yes."

"And for that reason you became inclined to believe everything she told you?"

"It was a corroborating circumstance."

"Then why didn't you believe her when she said that I was representing her?"

"Well, if it's material," Tragg said, "I did."

"Then why didn't you notify me that she was in jail?"

"I told her she could call you."

"And what did she say?"

"She said there was no use. That she couldn't understand what had happened but that this chauffeur, George Eagan, was the culprit and that she was freely and voluntarily telling us all of these facts so that we could go and pick up Eagan."

"And did you?"

"Not that night. We did the next morning."

"And what happened then?"