The Case of the Queenly Contestant

“Well, what does a thunderstorm have to do with it?” Lieutenant Tragg asked.

“It might have to do with the closed windows,” Mason said. “The weather reports show that the night was very humid, hot and oppressive. I note that there is no air conditioning in this house. Therefore, one would expect to have found the windows open, unless they were closed because of the thunderstorm.”

“Not when a woman is taking or about to take a bath,” Lieutenant Tragg said. “She would pull the drapes.”

“A bullet could not have gone through the drapes without leaving a hole. There is no hole.”

“All of this doesn’t mean anything,” Dillon interposed. “The decedent could well have been alive at the time the thunderstorm occurred and could have put down the windows, which had been open prior to that time. She could have been killed several hours later, at two or three o’clock in the morning, as far as that’s concerned.”

“Judging from the manner in which the decedent was dressed,” Mason pointed out, “it is hardly possible that death would have occurred in the small hours of the morning. I suggest that we pull back the drapes, raise these windows, and take a look at the lower part of the window sash.”

“What good is that going to do?” Dillon asked.

Judge Elwell was frowning thoughtfully.

“It might do a lot of good,” Mason said. “It would fix the time of death. There is a very good chance that Agnes Burlington was engaged in the act of closing a window when she was shot.”

“About one chance in ten million,” Dillon said.

“No,” Mason said, “the chances are very good. Let us assume that Agnes Burlington had some visitor who was threatening her. She was holding a gun in her hand. A thunderstorm sent great gusts of wind and rain coming in the window on the west, billowing the drapes into the room. She went over to close the window, and the moment she turned her back on her visitor, the visitor whipped out a gun and shot her.

“That would account for the so-called upward course of the bullet in the body. It would mean that the decedent, while closing the window, was actually bent over with her back partially turned to the murderer and that the drapes, blown by the sudden violent gust of wind, were billowing inward so they weren’t in the path of the bullet.”

“Here we go,” Dillon said; “one of these fantastic, far-fetched theories for which Counsel is noted, twisting the circumstantial evidence into a bizarre pattern of events, confusing the issues, and, in general, distorting everything in the case. All right, Ellen Adair could have killed Agnes Burlington at the moment the first gust of wind from the thunderstorm hit the open window and billowed the drapes, and that could have been thirty minutes after the decedent ate her scallops and peas — and we still haven’t proven anything.”

“Just the same,” Judge Elwell said, “that theory interests me. When we have a case where the police can’t find the fatal bullet which undoubtedly emerged from the body of the decedent. Counsel is certainly entitled to explore all the possibilities. Lieutenant Tragg, I’d like to have the drapes pulled back and that window raised, please.”

Lieutenant Tragg pulled the drapes, raised the window.

Judge Elwell leaned forward to examine the lower part of the sash and the screen.

“What’s this, Lieutenant?” Judge Elwell asked.

Lieutenant Tragg examined the lower screen where a small hole had been concealed by the lower part of the window sash.

“There seems to be a small hole in the screen. There’s nothing to show the cause.”

“That could have been made by a bullet?” Judge Elwell asked.

Lieutenant Tragg hesitated.

“And it could have been made by an astute individual who wanted to confuse the issue,” Dillon exploded. “This whole thing is too coincidental, altogether too pat to suit me.”

Judge Elwell regarded him thoughtfully. “It never occurred to you to raise the window and look at the lower part of the screen that was concealed by the bottom of the window?”

“Certainly not. The body was discovered in this room with all the windows closed and locked and the drapes drawn.”

“Under the circumstances,” Judge Elwell said, “and in view of the peculiar course of the wound in the body, indicating that the shot had been fired from a low angle or, more logically, that it had been fired while the decedent, was bending over, as would have been the case in closing a window of this sort, I think it was incumbent upon the police department to have investigated this phase of the case.

“The fact that it was suggested by Mr. Mason doesn’t make it any the less logical and, in view of this evidence which we have now discovered, I think the police should carry on a further investigation for the purpose of trying to locate that fatal bullet.