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car to a place where he could turn around. He thought Graves might have been mistaken, but Graves insisted he couldn't have been mistaken. It was something he'd seen plainly. He insisted he was right. So Judge Purley drove back to the house, going pretty rapidly.
    "When we got there, the three of us rushed into the house and up the stairs to the study.
    "Norton was lying across his desk with the top of his head smashed in. His pockets were turned inside out. His wallet lay empty on the floor.
    "We notified the police right away.
    "There was a window in the dining room which had been jimmied open, and there were footprints outside in the loam. The prints were of very large feet, and the police think now that Devoe probably put a large pair of shoes on over his other shoes, in order to leave those prints and fool the police. You'll get the facts of the case when you go in."
    Perry Mason stared thoughtfully into the half-darkness of the shadowed hedge.
    "Why," he asked, "should Norton have accused his niece of stealing an automobile?"
    "Probably a misunderstanding," said Crinston, "I don't think Norton had any idea his niece was the one who had the car. He just knew the car was missing, and telephoned the police. They were working on that when they were advised of the murder. So they're making inquiries, figuring the car business may have had something to do with it."
    "Do they know that his niece had the car?" asked Mason.
    "Yes. She's admitted having taken it out," said Crinston.
    "It seems strange Norton would have wanted her arrested," persisted Mason.
    "Well, he did," Crinston said, "unless the police got the wrong name, and that isn't likely, because they got the right car numbers. But Fran is a peculiar girl. You can't tell what she will do. For heaven's sake, talk with her, and don't let her get mixed up in this thing."
    "You certainly don't think that she has anything to do with the murder?" asked Mason.
    "I don't know," said Crinston, then hastily added: "No, no, of course not, she couldn't have. She's got a temper and they had quite a fight after you left. But she wouldn't have had the physical strength to strike such a blow anyway. And if she had had an accomplice… Oh well, there's no use speculating about that anyway, because it's all foolishness. Devoe is the one that's guilty all right. But you know how a murder is. It's going to bring out a lot of complications. I want you to get in touch with Fran and keep her out of the complications."
    "Very well," said Mason, starting once more for the house. "But either you think she's mixed up in it, or else you're keeping something from me."
    Crinston grabbed Mason's arm.
    "As far as compensation is concerned," he said, "there's going to be a big difference now that Norton is out of the way. The partnership that Norton and I had has some assets, and then there's quite a bit of money in the trust fund which will go to the girl without any question, as I understand it.
    "I've got confidence in you and I want you to step right in the saddle as attorney for everything. Act as attorney for the estate, as well as for the girl, and stand between her and too much police questioning."
    Mason stopped still and turned to face Crinston.
    "You might just as well be frank with me," he said. "You seem to think that the girl can't stand too much questioning."
    Crinston's jaw snapped forward and his eyes met those of the attorney in a gaze that was every bit as steady as the gaze of the steely eyes which stared into his.
    "Of course, she won't stand too much questioning," he snapped. "Have I been talking to you all this time without giving you any idea at all of what I'm driving at?"
    "Why," asked Mason insistently, "won't she stand too much questioning? Do you think she's mixed up in the murder?"
    "I'm just telling you," said Crinston obstinately, "that she won't stand too much questioning. She hasn't got the temperament for it, in the first place, and she's a spitfire when she loses her