Finch, who had been drinking something called an ‘Orange Squeeze,’ was quite sober. Cody, hitting the bourbon as usual, was just sober enough to make a maudlin appeal to the doctor’s common sense.
‘I said, “Doctor are you in love with Carole?” and he said, “Yes, very much.” I said, “I can see the handwriting on the wall. Killing your wife for money alone (
sic
) isn’t worth it. You ought to let her have every penny … you can take Carole to a new town and start up a new business, or up on a mountain-top and live off the wild. If the girl loves you, she’s going to stick with you.” But he said no, he wanted it done, that Mrs Finch had him in a bottleneck.’
There was also some rather sinister jocularity.
‘The doctor told me about his clinic. He said after this is all over, if I was ever on the lam or hiding-out, he could put me in his clinic. I said, “That is sort of silly, after I have killed your wife, to put myself at your mercy.… I’d just as soon stay out of your clinic.” And we laughed about it. But,’ Cody added grimly, ‘I meant it.’
After the doctor had gone, Cody downed another drink and gave Miss Tregoff some fatherly advice. ‘ “You’re twenty-two years old,” I told her, “and you don’t know what you’re getting into. Murder is a pretty big beef.” ’
Brushing aside this understatement, Miss Tregoff replied that he might back out, but that ‘if you don’t do it the doctor will, and if he doesn’t,
I
will.’
Some hours later Cody woke up on a plane going to Los Angeles. He had a hangover and eighty or ninety dollars more in his pocket than he thought he had had.
He spent another few idle days in Hollywood. Then, deciding that there was nothing to be gained from further encounters with Dr Finch—and possibly some front teeth to be lost—he left discreetly for Wisconsin.
It was a sensible decision. The doctor had by now leased an apartment in Las Vegas for Miss Tregoff—his ‘fiancée’ as he described her to the apartment house manager—and was driving up there more often. There were tactical as well as sentimental reasons for this. The doctor was at this time trying to evade service of the subpoena on the contempt charge. Until July 14 he was successful.
He was at the Medical Center when the document was served on him. It required him to appear in court nine days later on July 23. On Friday the 17th he left his car at a Los Angeles airport and flew up to Las Vegas.
On Saturday the 18th, he and Miss Tregoff drove down in her car from Las Vegas to West Covina. They went, according to subsequent statements of Miss Tregoff’s, in order to confront Mrs Finch with the fact of their relationship (of which Mrs Finch had been all too obviously aware for over a year) and to try to talk her into an out-of-court property settlement agreement.
They reached Lark Hill Drive shortly after ten in the evening and parked the car at the Country Club.
According to Miss Tregoff, the doctor went up to the driveway of his house, and then called down to her to come up and bring a flashlight with her.
She did so; but instead of taking just the flashlight, she ‘became confused’ and took up an attaché case of the doctor’s which she knew to contain a flashlight.
The attaché case was found near the garage the following day. It contained, in addition to a flashlight, two lengths of rope, an ampoule of seconal, a bottle of seconal tablets, two hypodermic syringes with needles, a pair of surgeon’s gloves, a sheet of rubber bandage, a wide bandage, a wide elastic bandage, and a carving knife with a six-inch blade. All this was later to be described as a ‘murder kit.’
When the doctor and Miss Tregoff reached the garage, they saw that Mrs Finch’s car was not there, and concluded that she was out. In fact, she had gone to the tennis club early that afternoon and had dined out afterwards at a restaurant with friends.
They decided to wait for her. They did not
‘I said, “Doctor are you in love with Carole?” and he said, “Yes, very much.” I said, “I can see the handwriting on the wall. Killing your wife for money alone (
sic
) isn’t worth it. You ought to let her have every penny … you can take Carole to a new town and start up a new business, or up on a mountain-top and live off the wild. If the girl loves you, she’s going to stick with you.” But he said no, he wanted it done, that Mrs Finch had him in a bottleneck.’
There was also some rather sinister jocularity.
‘The doctor told me about his clinic. He said after this is all over, if I was ever on the lam or hiding-out, he could put me in his clinic. I said, “That is sort of silly, after I have killed your wife, to put myself at your mercy.… I’d just as soon stay out of your clinic.” And we laughed about it. But,’ Cody added grimly, ‘I meant it.’
After the doctor had gone, Cody downed another drink and gave Miss Tregoff some fatherly advice. ‘ “You’re twenty-two years old,” I told her, “and you don’t know what you’re getting into. Murder is a pretty big beef.” ’
Brushing aside this understatement, Miss Tregoff replied that he might back out, but that ‘if you don’t do it the doctor will, and if he doesn’t,
I
will.’
Some hours later Cody woke up on a plane going to Los Angeles. He had a hangover and eighty or ninety dollars more in his pocket than he thought he had had.
He spent another few idle days in Hollywood. Then, deciding that there was nothing to be gained from further encounters with Dr Finch—and possibly some front teeth to be lost—he left discreetly for Wisconsin.
It was a sensible decision. The doctor had by now leased an apartment in Las Vegas for Miss Tregoff—his ‘fiancée’ as he described her to the apartment house manager—and was driving up there more often. There were tactical as well as sentimental reasons for this. The doctor was at this time trying to evade service of the subpoena on the contempt charge. Until July 14 he was successful.
He was at the Medical Center when the document was served on him. It required him to appear in court nine days later on July 23. On Friday the 17th he left his car at a Los Angeles airport and flew up to Las Vegas.
On Saturday the 18th, he and Miss Tregoff drove down in her car from Las Vegas to West Covina. They went, according to subsequent statements of Miss Tregoff’s, in order to confront Mrs Finch with the fact of their relationship (of which Mrs Finch had been all too obviously aware for over a year) and to try to talk her into an out-of-court property settlement agreement.
They reached Lark Hill Drive shortly after ten in the evening and parked the car at the Country Club.
According to Miss Tregoff, the doctor went up to the driveway of his house, and then called down to her to come up and bring a flashlight with her.
She did so; but instead of taking just the flashlight, she ‘became confused’ and took up an attaché case of the doctor’s which she knew to contain a flashlight.
The attaché case was found near the garage the following day. It contained, in addition to a flashlight, two lengths of rope, an ampoule of seconal, a bottle of seconal tablets, two hypodermic syringes with needles, a pair of surgeon’s gloves, a sheet of rubber bandage, a wide bandage, a wide elastic bandage, and a carving knife with a six-inch blade. All this was later to be described as a ‘murder kit.’
When the doctor and Miss Tregoff reached the garage, they saw that Mrs Finch’s car was not there, and concluded that she was out. In fact, she had gone to the tennis club early that afternoon and had dined out afterwards at a restaurant with friends.
They decided to wait for her. They did not
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