JК
The Case of the Caretakers Cat :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
Страница: 144 из 146"
HamiltonBurger burst into the courtroom through another door. "Your Honor," he said, "halt this trial immediately. The district attorney's office demands an indefinite continuance. A man arrested as a car thief in New Mexico as Watson Clammert has telegraphed a confession, stating that he is really Peter Laxter; that he knows Edith DeVoe and Frank Oafley killed Charles Ashton and that Peter Laxter, invading Edith DeVoe's apartment to get evidence of that murder, struck the blow which killed Edith DeVoe. Panicstricken, he wanted to escape. It's all here in this telegram. He's now willing to come back and face the music."
Pandemonium broke loose in the courtroom.
Winifred Laxter, with a glad cry, ran toward Douglas Keene, whose open arms were waiting for her.
Perry Mason uncrossed his legs, smiled at the startled face of Judge Pennymaker, reached out and snapped his fingers at the cat.
"Hi, Clinker," he said.
Chapter 19
Perry Mason sat in his office. Della Street looked across the desk at him with starry eyes.
"Are you going to defend Peter Laxter?" she asked.
"If they prosecute him I am."
"I don't see how you knew what had happened."
"I didn't," he said, "at first. But I had a shrewd suspicion later on. There were two or three things which gave me a pretty good idea. Notice the manner in which Frank Oafley married Edith DeVoe. During the time he was living with Peter Laxter he said his courting was of necessity surreptitious because of Peter Laxter's objections. But he thought Peter Laxter was dead after the house had burned up. There was no necessity for having a secret marriage ceremony and no necessity for not going on a honeymoon, but returning to the Laxter home. I am forced to conclude, therefore, that the reason both parties were so anxious to have the marriage ceremony performed was due to the fact that they realized a wife could not be examined against her husband without the consent of her husband, nor a husband be compelled to give testimony against his wife. This was because they knew the conspiracy was likely to be discovered, and that means that, in some manner, they had found out Ashton had knowledge of the conspiracy. They thought Peter Laxter was dead. Therefore, Ashton was the only one who could have known it.
"But the really significant clue is the one of the crutch. The theory of the prosecution was that the person who murdered Ashton had taken the crutch to Edith DeVoe's apartment and then murdered Edith DeVoe.
HamiltonBurger burst into the courtroom through another door. "Your Honor," he said, "halt this trial immediately. The district attorney's office demands an indefinite continuance. A man arrested as a car thief in New Mexico as Watson Clammert has telegraphed a confession, stating that he is really Peter Laxter; that he knows Edith DeVoe and Frank Oafley killed Charles Ashton and that Peter Laxter, invading Edith DeVoe's apartment to get evidence of that murder, struck the blow which killed Edith DeVoe. Panicstricken, he wanted to escape. It's all here in this telegram. He's now willing to come back and face the music."
Pandemonium broke loose in the courtroom.
Winifred Laxter, with a glad cry, ran toward Douglas Keene, whose open arms were waiting for her.
Perry Mason uncrossed his legs, smiled at the startled face of Judge Pennymaker, reached out and snapped his fingers at the cat.
"Hi, Clinker," he said.
Chapter 19
Perry Mason sat in his office. Della Street looked across the desk at him with starry eyes.
"Are you going to defend Peter Laxter?" she asked.
"If they prosecute him I am."
"I don't see how you knew what had happened."
"I didn't," he said, "at first. But I had a shrewd suspicion later on. There were two or three things which gave me a pretty good idea. Notice the manner in which Frank Oafley married Edith DeVoe. During the time he was living with Peter Laxter he said his courting was of necessity surreptitious because of Peter Laxter's objections. But he thought Peter Laxter was dead after the house had burned up. There was no necessity for having a secret marriage ceremony and no necessity for not going on a honeymoon, but returning to the Laxter home. I am forced to conclude, therefore, that the reason both parties were so anxious to have the marriage ceremony performed was due to the fact that they realized a wife could not be examined against her husband without the consent of her husband, nor a husband be compelled to give testimony against his wife. This was because they knew the conspiracy was likely to be discovered, and that means that, in some manner, they had found out Ashton had knowledge of the conspiracy. They thought Peter Laxter was dead. Therefore, Ashton was the only one who could have known it.
"But the really significant clue is the one of the crutch. The theory of the prosecution was that the person who murdered Ashton had taken the crutch to Edith DeVoe's apartment and then murdered Edith DeVoe.