JК
The Case of the Velvet Claws :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
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Bill Hoffman kept his eyes onGriffin’s face. “Never mind him. Go on. What happened?”
“Well,” said Griffin, “Uncle George made that single crack about him and his wife not being on the best of terms, and he held out a paper which he had in his hands, and which seemed to be all in his handwriting, and asked Mr. Atwood as a lawyer, if a will made entirely in the handwriting of the person who wrote it, was good without witnesses, or whether it needed to be witnessed. He said that he’d made his will, and that he thought there might be a contest because he wasn’t leaving much of his property to his wife. In fact, I believe he mentioned the sum of five thousand dollars, and he said that the bulk of the estate was to go to me.”
“You didn’t read the will?” asked Sergeant Hoffman.
“Well, not exactly. No, not in the way that you’d pick it up and look it through, word for word. I glanced at it, and saw that it was in his handwriting, and heard what he had to say about it. Atwood, I think, read it more carefully.”
“All right,” said Hoffman, “go ahead. Then what?”
“That was all,” saidGriffin.
“No, it wasn’t,” Hoffman insisted. “What else?”
Griffin shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, well,” he said, “he went on to say something else, the way a man will sometimes. I didn’t pay any attention to it.”
“Never mind that line of hooey,” pressed Hoffman. “What was it he said?”
“He said,” blurtedGriffin, his face coloring, “that he wanted it fixed so that if anything happened to him, his wife wouldn’t profit by it. He said that he wouldn’t put it past her to get his fortune by expediting his end, in the event she found she couldn’t get a good slice of it through divorce proceedings. Now you know everything I know. And I don’t think it’s any of your damned business. I’m telling you this under protest, and I don’t like your attitude.”
“Never mind the side comments,” Hoffman said. “I presume that accounts for your comment when you were drunk, and right after you had first heard about the murder. To the effect that…”
Griffin interrupted, holding up his hand.
“Please, Sergeant,” he said, “don’t bring that up. If I said it, I don’t remember it, and I certainly didn’t mean it.”
Perry Mason said, “Maybe you didn’t mean it, but you certainly managed…”
Sergeant Hoffman whirled on him.
“That’ll do from you, Mason!” he said. “I’m running this.
Bill Hoffman kept his eyes onGriffin’s face. “Never mind him. Go on. What happened?”
“Well,” said Griffin, “Uncle George made that single crack about him and his wife not being on the best of terms, and he held out a paper which he had in his hands, and which seemed to be all in his handwriting, and asked Mr. Atwood as a lawyer, if a will made entirely in the handwriting of the person who wrote it, was good without witnesses, or whether it needed to be witnessed. He said that he’d made his will, and that he thought there might be a contest because he wasn’t leaving much of his property to his wife. In fact, I believe he mentioned the sum of five thousand dollars, and he said that the bulk of the estate was to go to me.”
“You didn’t read the will?” asked Sergeant Hoffman.
“Well, not exactly. No, not in the way that you’d pick it up and look it through, word for word. I glanced at it, and saw that it was in his handwriting, and heard what he had to say about it. Atwood, I think, read it more carefully.”
“All right,” said Hoffman, “go ahead. Then what?”
“That was all,” saidGriffin.
“No, it wasn’t,” Hoffman insisted. “What else?”
Griffin shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, well,” he said, “he went on to say something else, the way a man will sometimes. I didn’t pay any attention to it.”
“Never mind that line of hooey,” pressed Hoffman. “What was it he said?”
“He said,” blurtedGriffin, his face coloring, “that he wanted it fixed so that if anything happened to him, his wife wouldn’t profit by it. He said that he wouldn’t put it past her to get his fortune by expediting his end, in the event she found she couldn’t get a good slice of it through divorce proceedings. Now you know everything I know. And I don’t think it’s any of your damned business. I’m telling you this under protest, and I don’t like your attitude.”
“Never mind the side comments,” Hoffman said. “I presume that accounts for your comment when you were drunk, and right after you had first heard about the murder. To the effect that…”
Griffin interrupted, holding up his hand.
“Please, Sergeant,” he said, “don’t bring that up. If I said it, I don’t remember it, and I certainly didn’t mean it.”
Perry Mason said, “Maybe you didn’t mean it, but you certainly managed…”
Sergeant Hoffman whirled on him.
“That’ll do from you, Mason!” he said. “I’m running this.