"Gardner, Erle Stanley - Perry Mason 072 - The Case of the Daring Divorcee" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gardner Earle Stanley)

"You can when you have convinced me that you're Adelle Hastings or Mrs. Garvin S. Hastings."
"But I can't convince you. You have all the proof--it's in the handbag and you have that."
Mason said, "And I'm not going to turn that handbag over to anyone until I'm positive of the identification."
She thought for a moment, said, "If you have my bag you have a folder containing my driving licenses."
Mason nodded.
"The California driving license," she said, "has a thumbprint on it and also my picture."
"The picture," Mason said, "isn't good enough to suit me."
"There's the thumbprint," she said. "That should convince you."
She walked over to a writing desk, opened it, spilled a little ink from a bottle onto a blotter, pressed her thumb against the blotter, then pressed it against a sheet of writing paper several times.
"I think these impressions are clear enough," she said. "You should be able to make a comparison from those."
"You don't happen to have a magnifying glass, do you?" Mason asked.
"No, I don't. I-- Wait a minute, I do, too. Just a moment."
She opened another drawer in the writing desk and rummaged around among some odds and ends and then produced a magnifying glass.
Mason opened his brief case, reached in, took out the card case, turned to the thumbprint on the California driving license and carefully compared the thumbprint with the thumbprints on the paper she had given him.
Satisfied, at length, the lawyer took the handbag from the brief case and said, "It's all here except the gun. I'm holding that."
"Why?"
"It may be evidence."
"Of what?"
"Murder."
She looked at him wordlessly, panic in her eyes.
"Where did you get the gun?" Mason asked.
"My husband gave it to me."
"Where did he get it?"
"He bought it."
"Why did he give it to you?"
"For my protection, because I do a little driving at night."
"What happened last night?"
"My husband and I reached an agreement."
"On a property settlement?"
"Yes."
"Know an attorney by the name of Banner?" Mason asked.
"Huntley L. Banner?" she asked, her voice dripping with distaste.
"Yes. Who is he?"
"He's my husband's attorney, and I think it is largely due to him that my marriage split up."
"It split up?"
She made an inclusive, sweeping gesture with her hand, indicating the apartment. "What do you think I'm doing here?" she said. "I'm establishing a residence."
"So you can get a divorce?"
"Yes."
"It's amicable?"
"Of course. My husband is paying all my expenses."
"I had a talk with Banner this afternoon," Mason said.
"_You_ did?"
"That's right."
"How did you happen to get in touch with him?"
"I didn't," Mason said. "He got in touch with me. He said that you had telephoned his office that you were going to put your affairs in my hands for the purpose of negotiating a property settlement."
"Why in the world would he say a thing like that? I never called him and there was no need for me to get a lawyer. My husband and I reached an agreement without any difficulty. We had been holding off to see what developed in connection with certain oil property."
"Banner said he had been authorized to make a deal on a property settlement," Mason said.
She said, "I just can't understand it."
"Understand what?" Mason asked.
"The fact that Garvin didn't call Huntley Banner and tell him that everything had been fixed up. . . . What time was it he called you?"