"When you left Santa Barbara with Mr. Forbes and Mrs. Cartright," he said, "did Mrs. Cartright know of your capacity?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know what Mr. Forbes told her?"

"Naturally not."

"You had previously been the secretary of Mr. Forbes?"

"Yes."

"Had you," asked Perry Mason, "been more than a secretary?"

Claude Drumm was on his feet with a vigorous and vehement objection. Judge Markham promptly sustained the objection.

"It goes to show motive, Your Honor," said Perry Mason.

"The witness has as yet given no testimony which would make any such motive of the slightest importance," snapped the Court. "The ruling has been made, Counselor. You will proceed with the crossexamination and avoid such questions in the future."

"Very well," said Perry Mason.

"When you left Santa Barbara with Clinton Forbes and Paula Cartright, you were traveling by automobile, Mrs. Benton?"

"Yes."

"And in that automobile was a police dog?"

"Yes."

"A police dog named Prince?"

"Yes."

"The dog that was killed at the time of the murder?"

"Yes," said Thelma Benton with sudden vehemence. "He gave his life trying to defend his master against the attack of a cowardly assassin!"

Perry Mason nodded slowly. "And that was the dog that came with you in the automobile?"

"Yes."

"That dog was devoted to Paula Cartright?"

"Yes, he was quite friendly with her at the time we left Santa Barbara, and he became very much attached to her."

"And that dog previously had been in the household of Mr. and Mrs. Forbes?"

"That is correct."

"You had seen the dog there?"

"Yes."

"And that dog was also attached to Mrs. Forbes?"

"Naturally."

"The dog also became attached to you?"

"Yes, it was an animal with an affectionate disposition."

"Yes," said Perry Mason, "I can understand that. And the dog howled almost continuously during the night of the fifteenth of October of the present year?"

"It did not."

"Did you hear the dog howl?"

"I did not."

"Isn't it a fact, Mrs. Benton, that the dog left the house, stood near the garage addition which was under construction, and howled dismally?"

"He did not."

"Now," said Perry Mason, abruptly changing the subject, "you have identified the letter which Mrs. Cartright left for Mr. Forbes when she decided to rejoin her husband?"

"Yes."

"She had been confined to her room with influenza?"

"Yes."

"And was recuperating?"

"Yes."

"And she abruptly summoned a taxicab when Mr. Forbes was absent?"

"When Mr. Forbes," said the witness, with icy acidity, "had been decoyed from the house by a false complaint which had been filed against him with a district attorney, by yourself and Arthur Cartright, the woman rejoined Mr. Cartright. She did it surreptitiously."

"You mean," said Perry Mason, "that she ran away with her own husband."

"She deserted Mr. Forbes, with whom she had been living for a year," said the witness.

"And she left this letter behind?"

"Yes."

"You recognize that letter as being in the handwriting of Mrs. Cartright?"

"I do."

"Were you familiar with the handwriting of Mrs. Cartright before she left Santa Barbara?"

"Yes."

"Now," said Perry Mason, producing a piece of paper, "I show you a paper which purports to be in the handwriting of Mrs. Cartright, and ask you if that handwriting is the same as that on the letter?"

"No," said the witness slowly, "it is not." She bit her lip for a moment, then added suddenly, "Mrs. Cartright, I think, made a conscious attempt to change her handwriting after she left Santa Barbara. She was trying to keep her real identity from being discovered by anyone with whom she might come in contact."

"I see," said Perry Mason. "Now I show you a sheet of paper which purports to contain handwriting by Bessie Forbes, the defendant in this action. That is not the same handwriting as is contained in this letter that Mrs. Cartright left behind her, is it?"

"Certainly not."

"And," said Perry Mason, "may I ask that you write something on a sheet of paper, so that your handwriting may be compared?"

The witness hesitated.

"This is highly irregular, Your Honor," said Claude Drumm, getting to his feet.

Perry Mason shook his head.

"The witness," he said, "has testified as to the handwriting of Mrs. Cartright. I have the right to crossexamine her, by showing her other handwritings, and ask her opinion as to the identity of those handwritings, compared with the writing in the note."

"I think you are right," said Judge Markham. "The objection will be overruled."

Thelma Benton took a sheet of paper, wrote swift lines upon it.

Perry Mason examined the writing and nodded.

"I think we will both concede," he said, "that that is entirely different from the handwriting which appears on the letter which Mrs. Cartright left behind."

"Naturally," said the witness in a tone of cool sarcasm.

Judge Markham fidgeted uneasily.

"It has approached the hour of the usual afternoon recess," he said. "I believe you stated, Counselor, that you had no objection to an interruption of the crossexamination for the usual afternoon recess?"

"None whatever, Your Honor."

"Very well, the Court will take a recess for ten minutes. The jury will remember the admonition of the Court, not to converse about the case or permit it to be discussed in your presence."

The judge arose from his chair, flashed Perry Mason a curiously speculative gaze, then walked into chambers.

Perry Mason looked at his watch and frowned.

"Go over to the window, Frank," he said to Frank Everly, "and see if you can notice any unusual activity on the part of the newsboys at the corner."

The clerk walked to the window of the courtroom, looked down on the street.

Perry Mason, ignoring the concentrated gaze of the curious spectators, slumped down in his chair and bowed his head in thought. His strong, capable fingers made little drumming motions on the arm of the chair.

Frank Everly turned from the window, came running back toward the counsel table.

"There's a lot of excitement down there," he said. "There's been a truck distributing papers. It looks like an extra. The boys are calling them."

Perry Mason looked at the clock and smiled.

"Go on down and pick up a couple of the newspapers," he said.

He turned his head and nodded to Bessie Forbes.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Forbes," he said, "that you've had such an ordeal, but I don't think it will be long now."

She looked at him with puzzled eyes.

"Frankly," she said, "the talk that I overheard this noon was that the case was going very badly against me."

The deputy sheriff who had her in charge moved slightly forward in order to be at her side. Claude Drumm, who had been smoking a cigarette in the corridor, came stalking back into the courtroom, his importance entirely reestablished in his own mind. He strode with welltailored efficiency, a dignified superiority toward the criminal attorney who must needs make his living from the trial of cases, rather than bask in the dignity of a monthly salary check, issued with the clocklike regularity with which government officials expend the money of taxpayers.

Frank Everly came bursting into the courtroom with two newspapers, his eyes wide, his lips sagging open.

"They've found the bodies!" he shouted, and rushed toward Perry Mason.

Perry Mason picked up one of the newspapers and held it so that the startled eyes of Claude Drumm could see the headlines.

"Millionaire's Mansion is Murder Farm," screamed in glaring headlines across the entire front of the page. Lower, and in slightly smaller type, appeared the words: "Bodies of Cartright and wife discovered under floor of Forbes' garage."