The Case of the Duplicate Daughter

“He short-circuited the switch, started the car, drove to the mountain road, concealed Vera’s body, then returned Gilman’s car to the place where it had been parked, got in Vera’s car, drove up to where he had left the body, put Vera’s body in the car, drove the car over the cliff, hitch-hiked back and went about his business. He felt certain that when the body was found it would either be considered accidental death or, if it was considered homicide, Carter Gilman would be the one who took the rap.

“In the meantime, Elliott now had information that would enable him to blackmail several people but he didn’t dare make a move until the hue and cry over Vera’s death had died down.”

“How did they get a confession out of Elliott?” Mason asked.

“You can thank Lieutenant Tragg for that,” Drake said. “Tragg began to put two and two together and that stay in the tank on the contempt charge had really taken the starch out of Elliott. He caved in once they began to pour the questions at him.”

“And Maureen?” Della Street asked sympathetically.

“Apparently,” Drake said, “the Kimberlys are real people. According to latest reports, Harvey Kimberly is standing by Maureen and the family is standing by both of them. The wedding is going ahead as planned.”

Perry Mason took a long breath. “Well,” he said, “it just goes to show that a lawyer should always keep fighting.”

Della Street looked at him with an admiration that was almost worshipful. “Did you,” she asked, “have any idea of this?”

“I began to consider it a definite possibility,” Mason said, “when I kept thinking about the peculiar chart run by Nancy Gilman when she took that lie-detector test and was asked about a daughter.

“There could be no question that Glamis Barlow was her daughter and yet, when she answered the question that she had had a daughter, the chart showed an emotional disturbance indicating she was lying.

“But I confess it wasn’t until after I had finished talking with Alan Hancock on the phone that the definite possibilities of the situation began to dawn on me. Even at that, I had to stake everything on a gamble.”

“That took nerve,” Drake said admiringly.

Mason shook his head. “There was only one way to go,” he said. “If I had stopped I’d have been engulfed, and if I’d gone any other way I’d have fallen over a precipice... In fact, that’s the only technique to use... when you get in a fight, keep moving.”