You have the original, Mason said. In case I should ever be called upon to tell my story, I want to be sure that I tell it right. Now then, youre going to get out your portable typewriter, copy that letter, keep one copy for yourself and give me one copy. I thought the hat would have blown away, Dino chipped in, on the motorcycle. Judge Sedgwicks lips tightened. The Court is without power to prevent this situation if — Mrs. Harlan. You were talking dirty to my wife? A bleeding foot would have left a whole lot of smudges and smears. Something was wrong with the picture. At first my mind merely registered a vague uneasiness. Then I began to think about it, and it suddenly dawned on me that if the dog had stepped in a pool of blood and then been put back in the closet, those bloody smears would be in keeping with the picture—otherwise they simply didnt fit into the pattern of events. Well, Dino said, this is all living room. Lets turn it oververy carefully. I dont want my people to be greeted with a mess when they show up. He went to a desk on one side of the room, switched on the computer that sat on it, and while it booted up, began opening drawers. I can be persuasive. Theres more to it than that, of course. Was it locked or unlocked? It was unlikely she was used to this kind of politeness. Lance was stonily silent for a long moment. Then,How did you know that, Dino? Its highly classified. In the event Corrine should still be alive, the situation in regard to the control of the company might change very drastically. At the present time under the trust, I am merely a minority stockholder so far as votes are concerned. If Corrine were alive, I have reason to believe she would, perhaps, see things my way. Now that, Mason said, is something that I cant discuss. You can, of course, draw your own conclusions. Doxey knew that Mrs. Harlan was carrying one of her husbands guns in her glove compartment. He also knew from Lutts that she was at the beauty parlor that day. He had only to kill Lutts with one of Harlans guns, leave it where he knew it would be discovered at the proper time, then dash upto the parking lot, watch his opportunity to get into Mrs. Harlans car, jimmy open her glove compartment, take the gun, and that’s all there was to it. He had committed the perfect crime. Naturally. Not Daddy Lutts. He worries about something of that sort. He just couldnt understand why you wanted stock in the company, and the more he thought of it, the more worried he became. Hes a gambler at heart. A situation like this was made to order for him. When I say he was worried, I dontmean it the way you’d be inclined to take it. I mean that he was afraid there was something going on beneath the surface that he couldn’t get a line on — you know what I mean — that he couldn’t — well, if there were any gravy trains going by, he wanted to get aboard. And again you never mentioned that to us because... Shes dead..