Free The Case of the Sulky Girl by Erle Stanley Gardner Page B

engaged in making a survey of the business affairs of the murdered man.
    Don Graves, standing in front of the safe, turned to Perry Mason.
    "This compartment of the safe, sir, contains all of the documents relating to the partnership business of Crinston & Norton."
    "Very well," said Mason. "You're familiar with the details of those documents, I take it?"
    "Oh, yes, sir."
    "Generally, what is the financial state of the partnership?"
    "The partnership had a few rather unfortunate investments, sir. There were some commitments which ran into rather a large deficit, amounting to something around million dollars. But, aside from that, the affairs were in good shape. There was, I believe, something like eight hundred thousand dollars on deposit in various banks. Would you like the exact figures?"
    "You might give them to me," said Mason. "I want to get just a general idea of the financial set-up."
    Graves took a book from the safe, opened it, and read off a column of figures.
    "The account was in a little better shape than I thought, sir. There's a balance of eight hundred and seventy-six thousand, five hundred and forty-two dollars and thirty cents at the Seaboard Second National Trust Company, and two hundred and ninety-three thousand, nine hundred and four dollars and fifty cents in the Farmers and Merchants National.
    "There are notes, representing the partnership loss which are held at the Wheeler's Trust and Savings Bank in an amount of nine hundred thousand dollars, with some interest due on them, I believe, and there's a deposit in that bank of seventy-five thousand dollars."
    "How about the trust funds?" asked Mason. "The funds representing the trust in favor of Frances Celane?"
    "Those are in excellent shape," said Graves. "There is over a million dollars in stocks, bonds, and securities. There's a list of them in this ledger. Mr. Norton was particularly careful about his trust obligations, and kept the account right up to date."
    "Are there any liabilities in the trust account?" asked Mason.
    "No, sir. There's not a dollar of indebtedness. The assets are all net."
    "Then how about Mr. Norton's individual account; that is, outside the partnership of Crinston & Norton?"
    "That's something that I can't tell you very much about," said the secretary. "Mr. Norton kept his private business in such shape that it required but little bookkeeping, and carried most of it in his head. Virtually all of the commercial transactions were in the partnership of Crinston & Norton. Mr. Norton's private affairs were confined to the purchase of gilt-edged stocks and bonds, which he kept in a safety deposit box."
    "How about a will?" asked the lawyer.
    "Yes, sir, there's a will. I don't know where it is. I think it's somewhere in the safe here. I understand generally it leaves everything to Miss Celane. Mr. Norton had no close relatives, you understand."
    The police representative said casually, the words coming through an aura of cigarette smoke which seeped out from his mouth as he talked: "Pretty good thing for this Celane woman all around. She gets her trust account free and clear, and also gets a gob of money from the old man, himself."
    Perry Mason made no reply to the comment, but continued to address Don Graves.
    "Just where is the will?" he asked. "Can you find it?"
    "Most of his personal papers were kept in this pigeon-hole in the safe," said Graves, indicating a pigeon-hole.
    Perry Mason walked over to the safe, reached in the pigeon-hole, and pulled out a bundle of papers.
    "Life insurance policy with the Prudential," he said. "Amount, five hundred thousand dollars. The beneficiary is the estate."
    "Yes, sir," said the secretary.
    "You'll find several life insurance policies in cash to the estate. Those were taken out in order to have sufficient ready cash in the estate to pay inheritance taxes without necessitating a sale of securities at a loss."
    "Good idea," said the lawyer. "Here are some more policies. You can list those."
    He