“On Della?” Mason asked.
Drake nodded.
Mason bent over the chair in which Mrs. Moar was sitting. “That,” he told her in a whisper, “just about blows up their case. Judge Romley doesn’t believe in binding defendants over when it will be impossible to obtain a conviction in the Superior Court. He’ll give you just as fair a hearing here as though you were on trial before a jury, and Aileen Fell’s testimony isn’t going to carry very much weight. All she saw was two figures struggling on the deck, and she saw them rather indistinctly.”
Mrs. Moar squeezed his hand gratefully.
“I have to run out on an important matter,” Mason said. “I’ll see you at three o’clock this afternoon.” He turned to Drake and said, “Okay, Paul, let’s go.”
Belle Newberry grabbed his hand as Mason started to leave the courtroom. “You darling!” she exclaimed.
Mason smiled down at her, patted her shoulder, and said, “You’ll have a chance to visit with your mother for a few minutes before the matron takes her back. I’ll see you later, Belle.”
Drake had a car waiting in front of the courthouse.
“All right,” Mason said eagerly, “what have you found, Paul?”
Drake said, “I don’t know, Perry. I don’t want to be the one to tell you. I’d rather you’d see for yourself.”