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The Case of the Howling Dog :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
Страница: 57 из 146If you'd turn out the lights and sit in the dark and think for a while, it would do you a damn sight more good than sitting around in a circle and looking at my face."
"Well, it's not a face I'm crazy about looking at," Sergeant Holcomb said irritably.
"How about Thelma Benton?" asked Perry Mason. "What was she doing?"
"She's got a complete alibi. She can account for every minute of her time."
"By the way," said Perry Mason, "what were you doing at that time, Sergeant?"
Sergeant Holcomb's voice showed surprise.
"Me?" he asked.
"Sure, you."
"Are you going to try and make me a suspect?" he asked.
"No," said Perry Mason. "I was just asking you what you were doing."
"I was on my way up to the office, here," said Sergeant Holcomb. "I was in an automobile, somewhere between the house and the office."
"How many witnesses can you bring to prove it?" asked Mason.
"Don't be funny," Sergeant Holcomb told him.
"If you'd use your noodle, you'd see that I'm not being funny," Mason remarked. "I'm serious as hell. How many witnesses can you bring to prove it?"
"None, of course. I can show when I was at my house, and I can show the time I arrived at the office."
"That's the point," said Mason.
"What is?" asked Sergeant Holcomb.
"The point that should make you suspicious about this perfect alibi of Thelma Benton's. Whenever a person can show an iron clad alibi covering what they've been doing every minute of the time, it's usually a sign that they've taken a great deal of care to perfect an alibi. A person who does that either participates in the commission of a murder and fakes an alibi, or else knows a murder is going to be committed, and therefore takes great pains to make a perfect alibi."
There was a long moment of silence. Then Sergeant Holcomb said, in a voice that was almost meditative, "So you think Thelma Benton knew Clinton Foley was going to be murdered?"
"I don't know anything at all about what Thelma Benton knew or didn't know," Perry Mason remarked. "I merely told you that a person who has a perfect alibi usually has a reason for it. In the ordinary run of a day's business, a person doesn't have an alibi for every minute of the time. He can't prove where he was, any more than you can prove it. I'll bet there isn't a man in the room who can prove, absolutely, by witnesses, what he was doing every minute between seventhirty and eight o'clock tonight."
"Well," Holcomb remarked wearily, "it's a cinch you can't.
"Well, it's not a face I'm crazy about looking at," Sergeant Holcomb said irritably.
"How about Thelma Benton?" asked Perry Mason. "What was she doing?"
"She's got a complete alibi. She can account for every minute of her time."
"By the way," said Perry Mason, "what were you doing at that time, Sergeant?"
Sergeant Holcomb's voice showed surprise.
"Me?" he asked.
"Sure, you."
"Are you going to try and make me a suspect?" he asked.
"No," said Perry Mason. "I was just asking you what you were doing."
"I was on my way up to the office, here," said Sergeant Holcomb. "I was in an automobile, somewhere between the house and the office."
"How many witnesses can you bring to prove it?" asked Mason.
"Don't be funny," Sergeant Holcomb told him.
"If you'd use your noodle, you'd see that I'm not being funny," Mason remarked. "I'm serious as hell. How many witnesses can you bring to prove it?"
"None, of course. I can show when I was at my house, and I can show the time I arrived at the office."
"That's the point," said Mason.
"What is?" asked Sergeant Holcomb.
"The point that should make you suspicious about this perfect alibi of Thelma Benton's. Whenever a person can show an iron clad alibi covering what they've been doing every minute of the time, it's usually a sign that they've taken a great deal of care to perfect an alibi. A person who does that either participates in the commission of a murder and fakes an alibi, or else knows a murder is going to be committed, and therefore takes great pains to make a perfect alibi."
There was a long moment of silence. Then Sergeant Holcomb said, in a voice that was almost meditative, "So you think Thelma Benton knew Clinton Foley was going to be murdered?"
"I don't know anything at all about what Thelma Benton knew or didn't know," Perry Mason remarked. "I merely told you that a person who has a perfect alibi usually has a reason for it. In the ordinary run of a day's business, a person doesn't have an alibi for every minute of the time. He can't prove where he was, any more than you can prove it. I'll bet there isn't a man in the room who can prove, absolutely, by witnesses, what he was doing every minute between seventhirty and eight o'clock tonight."
"Well," Holcomb remarked wearily, "it's a cinch you can't.