The people at the inn were all involved in the case now and Della and Perry were going to use their experience to watch them as they went through the turmoil of the murder and the trial to come.
Perry Mason was sure that something was not settling right. If there was no gold as the mayor had said why would someone want Dr. Kennedy dead? It had to be someone who stood to lose from his findings. Eugene Barber was someone that he now found to be a person of interest. He understood that the young man had been seeing Lisa and that he wanted to be supportive of her. ' But, had he discovered something?' he wondered
Lisa was doing all right with her life since she and Bonnie had split up. But Bonnie had found herself to be in a financial situation. Bonnie did not have someone to help her out as Lisa did. The property was worth money now. She would have no reason to want the man dead. He would have finished his findings and she might have been even richer. So why would she want him dead
Then there was the mayor and his father. They had the most to gain by the doctor's death. But the mayor had indeed been in a meeting all day. The father had been seen in town that afternoon also. Jared had been at the mechanics shop waiting for his car to be repaired during the murder. Perry wanted Paul to look into that. Perhaps he did leave, but it would have been at least an hour for him to go out to the mine and back. He was sure if he was gone that long the mechanic would have noticed it.
But then nearly everyone in town knew about the gold. Perhaps one of them had been interested and were thinking about the profits that could be made from the land that the girls owned. He would have Paul check around town and see what the people had to say.
Paul Drake had been busy talking to the people in town. He went to the bank where the bank manager assured him that that the gold had been given to him was indeed real gold that had not been processed. With what the mayor and his father had shown him, he was sure that the property was worth a great deal of money. He had the gold checked with the most of responsible professors and the gold had been verified. "If this mine is indeed going to produce this town could become a bustling metropolis once again. "Once the mines closed this town almost became a ghost town." Mr. Stevens told Paul.
Paul knew that the original owners of the land had been the owners of the inn Ann and Allen. He wondered if they would have had the time to go out and see the good doctor that day. He was going to have ask around the inn. He was pretty sure that Ann had been there busy all day, but Allen might have left for about an hour when he was gone.
But the next day was court and Perry and Della were very busy getting subpoenas and legal documents ready for the court. It was one thing that Perry Mason was known for. That was finding out who the murderer was before the case went to full trial. There were several people who had the motive and the opportunity to keep Dr. Kennedy from telling the truth and each and everyone of them needed to be in the courtroom tomorrow morning.
Paul spoke to Dr. Kennedy's partner who had not been given access to the information on the samples that Dr. Kennedy had taken from the mine. This puzzled Paul as the man was a very respected member of his specialty. He would be there to testify as to what the Doctor had been there to do and such and had no problem in going to court in the morning.
After all of the subpoenas had been served both Ann and Allen were surprised to find that they were on the list. Breakfast that morning was a little tense. Allen and Ann were nervous. Perry explained that they were just there to verify some information and that court would not be more than a couple of days. "Besides, all of your guests are going to be at court anyways."
As Perry Paul and Della came into the strange courtroom they were greeted by Lisa. She was dressed well in a grey suit and had done her hair and nails. As she sat down next to them at the desk she looked up at Mr. Mason with begging eyes.
Perry took his hand and patted her on the elbow. "Everything is going to be all right Lisa I promise."
Lisa looked over to Della who smiled at her and stood up as the court went in session and the judge entered the room. The judge was a woman in her fifties who had the kind of face that was very hard to read. She looked down at Lisa with soul seeking eyes.
Perry had never met the prosecutor before two days ago. His name was Clark Reeves and was known for winning cases. He was honored to be challenged by the famous Perry Mason. But, he was going to find this lady guilty. he had warned him.
The first witness that the prosecutor called was Dr. Wright. He was a well known professor and was familiar with Dr. Kennedy and his work. As he went over what he had found in the gold mine, he had a big surprise for Mr. Mason. Dr. Kennedy had indeed discovered gold and there was evidence that it was a large vein. The women's land was worth literally millions of dollars.
This changed everything as far as Perry Mason was concerned. He had thought that the land was worthless. The mayor and his father nearly fell over as they heard this, but Della could not help but notice the looks on Ann and Allen's face. They almost looked as though they weren't surprised at all.