Read Online The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece by Erle Stanley Gardner - Free Book Online Page B

testify to… Here comes Sergeant Holcomb now."
    "Tell me," she said, grasping Perry Mason's wrist with cold fingers, "are you going to stand by Uncle Pete?"
    "I always stand by a client."
    "How far?"
    "If," he said, "your Uncle Pete committed a cold-blooded, deliberate murder, I'm going to tell him to plead guilty or get some other lawyer. If he killed a man while he was sleepwalking I'm going to go the limit for him. Does that satisfy you?"
    "But suppose he did commit a cold-blooded, deliberate murder, as you call it?"
    "Then he can either plead guilty or get some other attorney to represent him."
    "Who's going to decide whether he committed a cold-blooded murder?"
    "I am."
    "But you're not going to decide hastily. You won't jump at conclusions? Promise me you won't."
    "I never do," he said grinning. "Good morning, Sergeant Holcomb."
    Sergeant Holcomb, who had been striding down the corridor toward them, looked from Perry Mason to Edna Hammer. His eyes were glittering with suspicion. "It looks very much," he said, "as though you're instructing this young woman what to say."
    "So often appearances are deceptive, Sergeant," Perry Mason said suavely. "Miss Hammer, permit me to present Sergeant Holcomb."
    The sergeant paid not the slightest attention to the introduction. "How does it happen you're here?" he asked Perry Mason.
    "I'm negotiating an agreement between a chap by the name of Maddox, and Mr. Peter Kent."
    "And where's Peter Kent?"
    "I'm sure I couldn't tell you."
    "Why not?"
    "It would be betraying the confidence of a client."
    "Bosh and nonsense!"
    Mason bowed and said, "That's the way you feel about it, Sergeant. I feel that it would be betraying a professional confidence. That means, of course, it's merely another one of those differences of opinion we have so frequently."
    "And after you've said that," Sergeant Holcomb said, "then what?"
    "After that, I'm quite finished."
    "I still don't know where Kent is."
    "Doubtless," Mason said, "there are other sources of information available to you."
    Holcomb swung to Edna Hammer, "You're his niece?"
    "Yes."
    "Where's your uncle now?"
    "I'm sure I couldn't tell you."
    Holcomb's face darkened with rage. "I've sent for Sam Blaine, the deputy district attorney. You two come into the living room." Sergeant Holcomb turned on his heel and strode down the long corridor toward the living room.
    "You," Perry Mason told Edna Hammer, "had better tell them the truth."
    "I can't."
    He shrugged his shoulder, placed his hand under her elbow, walked down to the living room with her. They found the others assembled, a solemn, hushed group. Sergeant Holcomb looked at his watch, said, "Sam Blaine, the deputy district attorney, should be here any minute. I want to ask a few questions. Who's the dead man?"
    Duncan, raising his voice, said, "I'm an attorney. I think I can be of some help to you in this. I have some very valuable information."
    "Who's the dead man?" Holcomb asked.
    "He's Phil Rease, a half-brother of Peter Kent," Maddox answered.
    "Who are you?"
    "I'm Frank B. Maddox. I'm Mr. Kent's business partner, the President of the Maddox Manufacturing Company of Chicago."
    "What are you doing here?"
    "Straightening out some business matters with Mr. Kent, and this is Mr. Duncan, my attorney."
    "You're the one Mason was dealing with?" Holcomb asked.
    "Mr. Mason," Duncan observed pompously, "represented Mr. Kent. He was here last night, and he spent the night in this house. He had a doctor with him. Dr. Kelton, I believe the name was."
    Holcomb turned to Mason, asked, "Where's Kelton?"
    "He had some important cases. He couldn't wait. Naturally, you can locate him at any time you desire."
    Maddox volunteered a statement. "This man, Mason," he said, "Dr. Kelton, and Miss Hammer knew that some one had been murdered. They didn't know who it was. They were prowling around looking us over this morning. They thought I was the one that had the knife stuck in me."
    "How did you know someone was