Judge Keyser smiled.

Hamilton Burger, his face somewhat red, said, "If there was any possible opportunity for Perry Mason to have been in any way connected with the return of that weapon to the powder room in The Big Barn, I would feel differently about it. As it is, I have only the word of a confessed murderer and his accomplice as to what happened and I am satisfied that regardless of the truth of what has been told me, the situation as disclosed by Sadie Bradford, who has now become a state's witness, is such that it would have been impossible for Perry Mason to have placed that gun where it was found. I feel Helman Ellis entertains a bitter hatred for Perry Mason because of the way Mason interfered with his well-laid plans for murdering his wife. In some way Ellis secured possession of that gun and returned it to the women's powder room, hoping to involve Mr. Mason.

"Quite obviously, Mr. Mason, who must have acted very unconventionally if not illegally, is not going to betray the confidences of his client. Since my own witnesses say Mr. Ellis must have had that gun in his possession and returned it to the washroom, and since the only witness against Perry Mason is now a self-confessed murderer with a vindictive hatred of counsel, and since it appears counsel's client is innocent, I am convinced that whatever happened it would be impossible to proceed against Perry Mason. If I did so, moreover, I would be questioning the integrity of one of the prosecution's own witnesses and weakening my case against Helman Ellis, who, incidentally, has now repudiated his confession and insists that it was obtained by coercion and promises of immunity."

Perry Mason said, "If the prosecutor is satisfied that it was impossible for me to have returned that gun, I certainly am not one to contradict him."

Judge Keyser gave the matter long and earnest thought, then finally shook his head. "This is a situation," he said, "which completely baffles the Court. However, it is now quite apparent that in view of the circumstances as disclosed by the prosecutor, whatever counsel did to protect his client who was completely innocent of any wrongdoing, resulted not only in the acquittal of an innocent person but the detection and arrest of the guilty person.

"Under those circumstances it seems that there is nothing for the Court to do except… dismiss the case against Ellen Robb, release her from custody, and take a recess."

Judge Keyser arose from the bench, started toward his chambers, paused, glanced thoughtfully at Perry Mason, shook his head and then hurried on into chambers.

Hamilton Burger, surrounded by reporters anxious to learn the details of Ellis' confession, had no chance to exchange any comments with Perry Mason, and Perry Mason, winking at Della Street, took advantage of the confusion to hurry from the courtroom.

"How in the world did you know?" Della Street asked him as they descended in the elevator.

"Because," Mason said, "it was the only thing that could have happened. From the time Ellen Robb got that gun from me she didn't have time to find the yacht, fire a bullet into the body of Nadine Ellis and return to the Surf and Sea Motel. Remember that Drake traced her movements from the bus depot to the motel.

"The only thing that could have happened was that the boat with the body of Nadine Ellis must have been taken to sea in two installments. First, a night cruise to some isolated cove in Catalina; then, in the second stage, being pointed out to sea and left to run out of fuel. The only place I could think of where the yacht could have made such a two-stage cruise was by stopping at Catalina and, quite obviously, Ellen Robb had no opportunity to get to Catalina on at least two different occasions.

"Moreover, once I stopped to think of it, I realized that the gun which was found in the cabin with Nadine Ellis must have been planted there after Mrs. Ellis had been killed. One shot had been fired from that gun, and the gun, fully cocked, was lying on the cabin floor near her hand.

"When a person tries to do accurate shooting with a double-action gun, he quite frequently pulls back the hammer so as to work the mechanism with a simple pull of the trigger, but when one is trying for rapid shots at close range, there is no time to cock the gun manually. Almost invariably, under such circumstances, a person uses the double-action mechanism and in so doing it would be impossible for the gun to have been fully cocked after the first shot had been fired. Therefore I began to suspect the gun had been a plant and if it had been planted, then the bullet fired into the woodwork of the cabin was designed to throw us off the trail.

"After that it was simple, once I realized that the bullet from the Anclitas gun must have been fired first. That meant that Mrs. Ellis must have been dead when I handed Ellen Robb the other gun. Then the yacht must have started to Catalina Island before Ellen Robb came to my office. This meant Helman Ellis must have been lying about that whole conversation he claimed he had with his wife on Wednesday morning. For one thing, the Ellises had only one car, and the evidence that Helman drove it to Ellen's motel Tuesday night precluded the possibility that Mrs. Ellis had driven it to Phoenix Tuesday evening. Once I started on that chain of reasoning, I knew what must have happened"

"But how did you know the bullet from the Anclitas gun was the first bullet?"

"Because I marked the barrel with an etching tool before it left our possession, and the bullet recovered from the body of Mrs. Ellis didn't show those marks which would have been on it if it had been fired after I marked the barrel with the etching tool."

"Well," Della Street said, "you certainly had your back to the wall that time. Is this going to teach you not to take chances on behalf of your clients in the future?"

Mason grinned and shook his head. "It's simply going to teach me to practice the art of concentration," he said. "I never thought as fast or as hard in my life as I did from the time court adjourned yesterday afternoon until I threw the crucial question at Helman Ellis in cross-examination last night.

"When I left that courtroom, I felt as though I had been put through a wringer."

Della Street looked up at him with admiration in her eyes. "Yet during all of that time," she said, "you never wavered in your loyalty to your client, despite the fact that you were virtually certain she had lied to you."

Mason heaved a sigh. "Della," he said, "whenever I waver in my loyalty to a client, do me a favor. Just close up the office, get some paint remover and erase the words ATTORNEY AT LAW from the door of the reception room."