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The Case of the Caretakers Cat :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
Страница: 36 из 146Come on down to earth and…"
"Wait a minute, Paul," Perry Mason interrupted, "let's find out just what she means when she refers to exhaustfumes being put into a furnace."
"It isn't important unless a fire could be started that way," she countered evasively.
The lawyer, flashing a warning glance at the detective, nodded his head gravely and said, "Yes, I think perhaps a fire could be started that way."
"But it would have to be started several hours after the fumes were put into the furnace?"
"Just how were they put into the furnace?" Mason inquired.
"Well, it's this way: The garage was built into the house. It held three cars. The house was on a slope, and the garages were on the southwest corner, down the slope. I guess when they built the house there was that extra room under the hill and the architects just decided to put garages in there, instead of having separate buildings or…"
"Yes," Mason agreed hurriedly, "I understand exactly what you mean. Tell me about the exhaust fumes."
"Well," she said, "I'd been out for a walk and I was coming back to the house when I heard the sound of a car running in the garage. The garage door was closed, but the motor kept running. I thought someone must have gone away and left his motor running without knowing it, so I opened the door—that's a little door in the side—not the big sliding door that you open to let the cars out—and switched on the lights."
Mason leaned toward her. "What did you find?" he asked.
"Sam Laxter was sitting in there in his car, with the motor running."
"The motor of his car was running?"
"Yes."
"Running slowly, as though it were idling?"
"No, it was running rapidly. I would say the motor was being raced. If it had been running slowly, I couldn't have heard it."
"How did that get exhaust fumes into the furnace?" Paul Drake inquired.
"That's the peculiar thing. I just happened to notice that there was a tube running from the car to the heating pipe. The furnace was a gas furnace which supplied hot air. It was in a basement in the back of the garage."
"How did you know the tube from the exhaust led into the pipe?"
"I saw it, I tell you! I saw a tube from the exhaust running along the floor and then up into a pipe. You see the pipes from the furnace—that is some of them—ran up through the garage."
"Did Sam Laxter know you'd seen the tube running from the exhaust?" the lawyer asked.
"Sam Laxter," she said very emphatically, "was drunk. He could hardly stand. He switched off his motor and spoke roughly to me."
"What did he say?" Mason asked.
"He said, 'Get the hell out of here.
"Wait a minute, Paul," Perry Mason interrupted, "let's find out just what she means when she refers to exhaustfumes being put into a furnace."
"It isn't important unless a fire could be started that way," she countered evasively.
The lawyer, flashing a warning glance at the detective, nodded his head gravely and said, "Yes, I think perhaps a fire could be started that way."
"But it would have to be started several hours after the fumes were put into the furnace?"
"Just how were they put into the furnace?" Mason inquired.
"Well, it's this way: The garage was built into the house. It held three cars. The house was on a slope, and the garages were on the southwest corner, down the slope. I guess when they built the house there was that extra room under the hill and the architects just decided to put garages in there, instead of having separate buildings or…"
"Yes," Mason agreed hurriedly, "I understand exactly what you mean. Tell me about the exhaust fumes."
"Well," she said, "I'd been out for a walk and I was coming back to the house when I heard the sound of a car running in the garage. The garage door was closed, but the motor kept running. I thought someone must have gone away and left his motor running without knowing it, so I opened the door—that's a little door in the side—not the big sliding door that you open to let the cars out—and switched on the lights."
Mason leaned toward her. "What did you find?" he asked.
"Sam Laxter was sitting in there in his car, with the motor running."
"The motor of his car was running?"
"Yes."
"Running slowly, as though it were idling?"
"No, it was running rapidly. I would say the motor was being raced. If it had been running slowly, I couldn't have heard it."
"How did that get exhaust fumes into the furnace?" Paul Drake inquired.
"That's the peculiar thing. I just happened to notice that there was a tube running from the car to the heating pipe. The furnace was a gas furnace which supplied hot air. It was in a basement in the back of the garage."
"How did you know the tube from the exhaust led into the pipe?"
"I saw it, I tell you! I saw a tube from the exhaust running along the floor and then up into a pipe. You see the pipes from the furnace—that is some of them—ran up through the garage."
"Did Sam Laxter know you'd seen the tube running from the exhaust?" the lawyer asked.
"Sam Laxter," she said very emphatically, "was drunk. He could hardly stand. He switched off his motor and spoke roughly to me."
"What did he say?" Mason asked.
"He said, 'Get the hell out of here.