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“About the way I’ve got him sized up,” said Drake. “What are we going to do?”
“Well,” said Mason, “we can take this picture and see if we can find some of the neighbors in the apartment who can identify her.”
“The newspaper picture isn’t so very good. I wonder if we can’t get a photograph,” Drake said.
“We’re working against time,” Mason reminded him. “Something may break in this thing almost any minute, and I want to keep ahead of the game.”
“We didn’t get very rough with him,” Drake pointed out. “He’s the kind of a man who would cave in if we went after him, hammer and tongs.”
“Sure,” said Mason. “We’ll do that when we get back. I want to get a little more dope on him if I can. I think he’ll turn yellow as soon as we put a little pressure on him.”
Steps sounded on thestairs.
“Wait a minute,” said Drake, “this looks like somebody coming.”
A thick-set man, with heavy shoulders, plodded patiently up the stairs and into the corridor. His clothes were shiny, and his cuffs were frayed. Yet there was an air of determination about him.
“Process server,” whispered Mason to Drake.
The man came toward them. His ma
He looked at the two men and said, “Are either of you Harry Loring?”
Mason promptly stepped forward.
“Yes,” he said, “I’m Loring.”
The man reached in his pocket.
“I guess,” he said, “you know what this is about. I have here a summons and a copy of a complaint, and copy of summons in the case of Norma Loring versus Harry Loring. I hereby show you the original summons, and deliver to you a copy of the summons and the complaint.”
He smiled wanly.
“I guess you know what it’s all about. I understood it was a case that wasn’t going to be contested and you were expecting me.”
Mason took the papers.
“Sure,” he said, “that’s all right.”
“No hard feelings,” said the process server.
“No hard feelings,” said Mason.
The process server turned, made a notation on the back of the original summons in pencil, and walked slowly and methodically to the stairs. As he went down, Mason turned to Drake and gri
“A break,” he said.
The two men unfolded the copy of the complaint.
“It’s an action for an a
They read down the allegations of the complaint.
“That’s the date of the marriage, all right,” said Mason. “Let’s go back.”
They pounded on the panels of the door to the apartment.
Loring’s voice sounded from the inside.
“Who is it?” he asked.
“Papers to be served on you,” said Mason.
Loring opened the door and recoiled as he saw the two men standing there.
“You!” he exclaimed. “I thought you’d gone.”
Mason pushed his shoulder against the door, and walked into the apartment. Drake followed him.
Mason held out the papers which he had taken from the process server.
“Listen,” he said. “There’s something fu
Loring said, eagerly, “Oh, that’s it, is it? Why didn’t you say so? Sure, that’s what I was waiting for. They told me to wait here until the papers came, and then to get out just as soon as they were served on me.”
Mason gave an exclamation of disgust. “Well, why the hell didn’t you say so instead of putting us to all this trouble? Your name is Harry Loring, and you married Norma Veitch on the date mentioned in this complaint. Is that right?”
Loring leaned forward to look at the date mentioned in the complaint.
Mason indicated it with his right forefinger.
Loring nodded his head. “That’s right.”
“And you separated on this date. Is that right?” said Mason moving his forefinger down to the next date.
“That’s right.”
“All right,” said Mason, “this complaint says that at the time you were married, you had another wife living, from whom you had not been divorced, and that therefore the marriage was illegal, and that the plaintiff wants to have the marriage a
Again Loring nodded.
“Now listen,” said Mason, “that’s not right, is it?”
Loring nodded.
“Yes, sir,” he said, “that’s the ground she’s getting the marriage set aside on. That’s right.”
Mason asked, “Is it true?”
“Of course it’s true.”
“Then it becomes my duty to arrest you for bigamy.”
Loring’s face blanched.
“He said there wouldn’t be any trouble,” said Loring.
“Who said that?” asked Mason.
“The lawyer that called on me. Norma’s lawyer.”
“Just stringing you along,” Mason declared, “so that they can get the marriage set aside and Norma could marry this fellow who’s heir to a couple of million dollars.”
“That’s what they said, but they said there wouldn’t be any trouble, that it was just a formality.”
“Formality be damned!” Mason told him. “Don’t you know there’s a law against bigamy?”
“But I wasn’t guilty of bigamy!” protested Loring.
“Oh, yes, you were,” said Mason. “Here it is set forth in black and white, over the signature of the lawyer, and the oath of Norma. It says right here that you had another wife living at the time of the marriage, and that you were never divorced from her. Therefore, we’ve got to ask you to go to Police Headquarters with us. I’m afraid you’ve got in serious trouble over this thing.”
Loring became nervous.
“It isn’t true,” he said, finally.
“How do you mean it isn’t true?”
“I mean that it isn’t true. I mean I was never married before. Norma knows that! The lawyer knows that! I talked with them and they said that they couldn’t wait to get a divorce, because that would take a long time, but that Norma had a chance to marry this man and that I would get a piece of change out of it if I let Norma go ahead and file this action. Then I was to file some kind of an answer in which I admitted that I had had another wife living, but claimed that I thought that I was divorced at the time of the marriage. They said that that would keep me in the clear, but it would fix things so she could get the marriage a
“And then rush the a
Loring nodded.
“Well,” said Mason, “it doesn’t ever pay to try and lie to people who are trying to get the facts of the case. Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place and save all this trouble?”
“The lawyer told me not to,” said Loring.
“Well, he was crazy,” Mason said, “we’ve got to make a report on the thing. So you’d better give us a written statement to that effect, and then we can turn it in when we make our report.”