The Case of the Grinning Gorilla

“You see, she’s still insane as far as the law’s concerned. There wasn’t a thing Benjamin Addicks could do. An action for divorce wouldn’t lie, and he couldn’t even clarify their property matters. And if he tried to do anything, it would necessarily have disclosed his true name and his true past.”

“What about his past?”

“He killed a man.”

“I thought that was his brother.”

“No. There was some garbled gossip to that effect. Benny kept track of Herman, but Herman thought Benny was dead.”

“Did your husband actually kill a man?”

“He claimed he didn’t really know. He never told me the details. When I learned how he felt I never asked for them.”

“But his wife kept in touch with him?” Mason asked.

“Certainly.”

“How?”

“The phone would ring. It would be a call from a pay station. It would be her voice. She’d direct him to put a certain amount of money in the form of cash in a package and leave the package at a certain place. It was all done as mysteriously as though she had been getting ransom for kidnaping.”

“And Addicks had some messenger he could trust who delivered the money?”

“Yes.”

“Certainly he didn’t dare to put you in that situation.”

“No. It was Mortimer Hershey who did that. Sometimes it was Nathan Fallon.”

“Did they know what they were doing?”

“I don’t know, Mr. Mason. I don’t think they did. Benny was so afraid of being blackmailed. Heavens, I’m telling you this whole story and I had no intention of doing it, but I’ve been so lonely, and then — now Benny’s gone. He’s all I had a tie to and...”

“Now wait a minute,” Mason said, “let’s control the emotions for a little while, Mrs. Barnwell. Let’s get down to brass tacks on this thing. What about Josephine Kempton? Did she know about you and Mr. Addicks?”

“She suspected.”

“You read about the supposedly stolen property being discovered?”

“Yes, I did. I certainly should have guessed the correct solution myself. Good Lord, I had all the facts available. It just never occurred to me to suspect a monkey. That little mischievous devil! And I’m so fond of him, too — but he’s a devil.”

“Where’s the monkey now?” Mason asked.

“He’s... he’s being taken care of. Don’t worry, he’ll have a home.”

“Do you think Josephine Kempton is telling the truth about...?”

“She never told the truth about anything in her life. She’s a congenital liar. She’s a plotter, a sneak, a vicious, backbiting, nasty-minded woman, and she killed Benjamin Addicks. I know it just as well as I know I’m sitting here.”

Mason said, “How do you know it?”

“I don’t know it by any evidence, but I’m absolutely certain that’s the case.”

Mason said, “You don’t want to be interviewed by the newspaper reporters, do you?”

“No.”

“All right,” Mason told her, “start packing.”

“What do you mean?”

Mason said, “I’m going to put you in a place where you’re safe for the time being. You were crazy to think that you couldn’t be found in a place of this sort. You left a broad enough trail to...”

“I guess I did at that,” she said, “but I was... well, I was emotionally upset and — and, frankly, it never occurred to me that in a show-down Benny really would marry me. I thought he’d support the child — I don’t know, I thought he might be proud of him.”

“Of him?”

“Yes. He’s a fine strapping boy,” she said. “He’s going to have all of Benny’s intelligence, and if I have anything to do with it, and I think I’ll have a lot to do with it, he’s not going to have any of Benny’s phobias — you see, Mr. Mason, Benny made a big mistake. He ran away. When a man starts running away from things in life he builds up a whole chain of complexes and fear.

“My son isn’t going to be like that. He’s going to face things squarely!”

“All right,” Mason told her. “I’ll do what I can to help.”

“Just what are you going to do? What can you do?”

Mason said, “You’re going to pack up. Della Street is going to take you and your child to another motel. Della Street is going to register in that motel. You’re going to be her sister. You’re not going to use the name Addicks. You’re not going to use the name Barnwell.”

Mason looked at his watch. “You probably have fifteen or twenty minutes. I wouldn’t push my luck any more than that. Della will help you pack.”

“When you come right down to it, Mr. Mason, why shouldn’t I come out in the open right now? I have suddenly realized that I’m starting to do the same thing Benny did. I’d be running away...”

Mason interrupted sharply, “There’s a difference between retreating until you can fight at the right time and at the right place and just running away.

“There’s a crazy woman who wants to kill your child. It’s all right to be courageous, but let’s find out more about this woman before we take chances on that young life it’s your duty to protect.”

She hesitated for a moment, then took some clothes, went to the bathroom, said, “Let me dress,” and closed the door.

“Chief,” Della Street said, “do you dare to hide her?”

“I have to hide her, Della.”

“Why?”