Abruptly, Mason, who had been watching her carefully, said, “I’m afraid, Miss Colton, that you’re getting a wrong impression. Mr. Drake isn’t very familiar with the various Leeds relatives, and apparently he’s made the mistake of confusing Jason Carrel with Harold Leeds... What you mean, Paul, is that Harold committed the murder.”
Inez Colton winced as though Mason’s words had been a physical blow. Consternation showed in her eyes. She said, in a stammering half whisper, “He... told me... you didn’t know.”
Mason’s low laugh was filled with calm confidence. “He really thought that?” he asked. “It’s what we wanted him to think, of course, until we had him trapped. That’s why I refrained from asking Jason Carrel whether he had loaned his car to his cousin.”
“Then you’re... you’re Perry Mason, the lawyer who’s representing Alden Leeds?”
Mason nodded.
“You can’t pin it on Harold.”
Mason said patiently, “ We’re not pinning anything on anyone — but Harold can never convince a jury he didn’t do it.”
She said, “Harold went downstairs to see him, and he was dead.”
“Went alone?” Mason asked.
“Yes.”