“ ‘Because I have this day entered into an agreement with my wife, Helen Watkins Sabin, by which it is agreed and understood that she is to receive the sum of one hundred thousand dollars in cash from me, by way of a complete property settlement, and which said sum is to be paid on the completion of divorce proceedings, and the delivery of a certified copy of a final decree of divorce, I direct that, in the event I should die before said sum of one hundred thousand dollars is paid to my said wife, Helen Watkins Sabin, that then, and in such event, my said wife is to receive, from such estate as I may leave, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars in cash. In the event, however, said sum of cash has so been paid to the said Helen Watkins Sabin prior to the time of my death, I then intentionally make no other provision for her in this, my will, because the said sum of one hundred thousand dollars is ample to provide for her, and adequately compensate her for any claims she may have on my bounty, or to my estate. “ ‘All of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, real, personal, or mixed, I give, devise, and bequeath, share and share alike, to my beloved son, Charles W. Sabin, who has, for years, maintained a commendable patience toward the vagaries of an eccentric man, who has ceased to regard the dollar as the ultimate goal of human endeavor, and to my beloved brother, Arthur George Sabin, who will probably not care to be made the object of my bounty.’ ”
Sabin glanced up from the notebook. “Suppose Dad died before the divorce was granted, does that,” he asked, “have any effect on his will?”
“No,” Mason said. “The way the will is drawn, Helen Watkins Sabin is completely washed up. Tell me about this brother.”
“I don’t know very much about Uncle Arthur,” Charles Sabin said. “I have never seen him, but I understand, generally, he’s something of an eccentric. I know that after Dad became wealthy, he offered Uncle Arthur an opportunity to come into the business, and Uncle Arthur indignantly refused it. After that, Dad visited him and became very much impressed with Uncle Arthur’s philosophy of life. I think that something of my father’s detachment from active business was due to the influence of Uncle Arthur, and I think that’s what he means in his will... Of course, you understand, Mr. Mason, that I want to make some independent provision for my father’s widow?”
“You mean Helen Watkins Sabin?” Mason asked in surprise.
“No, I mean Helen Monteith, or Helen Wallman, or whatever her legal name is. Somehow, I regard her as being my father’s widow, and much more entitled to recognition, as such, than the fortune hunter who hypnotized Dad into matrimony. Incidentally, Mr. Mason, Wallman is a family name. My own middle name is Wallman. That’s probably why my father used it.”
“Well,” Mason said, “as it happens, Helen Monteith, as we may as well call her, is in custody in San Molinas. The authorities intend to charge her with the murder of your father.”
Sabin said, “That’s one of the things I want to talk with you about, Mr. Mason. I want to ask you, fairly and frankly, if you think she murdered my father.”
Mason said, “I’m virtually certain that she didn’t murder him, but there’s some circumstantial evidence which she’s going to have a hard time explaining away — in fact, she may never be able to do it, unless we uncover the real murderer.”
“What evidence, for instance?” Sabin asked.