It was a particularly good day for Natalie Henderson, a young 17 – year – old girl who was heading to USC law school that August of 1982.
"Aunt Joyce! Uncle Gregory! I'm home." She called as she walked into the apartment when she got home from school to only hear silence.
Huh, I know they don't have to work today. Where could they be?
She thought as she looked around the apartment and when she walked into their room.
It was eerily quiet as her heart began to pound out of her chest, she knew that her Uncle was a very loud snorer.
She didn't hear any snoring, so she assumed that he had gone to the doctor to fix it. But there was something else that bugged her. There was blood on the bedsheets, so she assumed that either of them had accidentally scraped against something and forgot to wrap the wound up. Natalie frowned,
They're too smart to not bandage their wounds. Then she screamed when she saw the knife by their feet as she picked it up before running to call the police.
"I… swear that I didn't!" She sobbed once the officers made it to the apartment as she looked down at her hand seeing that she hadn't let go of the knife.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Henderson. You're under arrest for the murder of your Aunt and Uncle." Lieutenant Drumm said sadly as Natalie began to shake in fear.
In the Mason Law Office,
"Perry, there's a young woman on the phone for you. She was just arrested for the murder of her Aunt and Uncle, and she's asking to speak to you." Della said as she poked her head into Perry's office as Perry picked up the phone,
"Perry Mason, speaking." Natalie sighed with relief on the other end of the phone,
"Mr. Mason, you've got to help me. My name is Natalie Henderson. I didn't murder Aunt Joyce or Uncle Gregory." Perry nodded,
"I'll be down there in a few minutes, we'll talk then. Will you be alright waiting?" Natalie nodded,
"Hurry, please." Once Perry hung up,
"Della, let's go downtown to meet Natalie." Della nodded with a steno pad in hand they went down to the jail,
"…Start from the beginning, Natalie." Perry encouraged after Della calmed Natalie down a little as Natalie nodded.
"I had just gotten home from school and normally when I announce that I'm home, I typically get an answer. I knew that they both had the day off. So, I went to look for them and when I saw the knife, me being my curious self, I picked it up to only find that I hadn't let go of it when the police came after I called them. I loved them very much, Mr. Mason. I lost my parents at 2 and 4 due to alcoholism. And this could screw my whole college deal. I'm headed to USC to study law in August, I've heard about the work you've done in the court room and I want to be like you. You've got to help me Mr. Mason."
Della and Perry looked to each other. Natalie had begun to cry again and Della felt her heart tug for the young woman. They walked out of the interview room,
"Perry, you've got to help her. If you're the reason she's going to USC to become a lawyer, it only makes sense." Perry nodded,
"I was thinking the same thing, Della. I can't let her college career not begin because of the murder charge. From what I've read from the police reports, there's no way that she could've murdered them. She was still in school. Her Aunt and Uncle had been dead for about 2 hours when she arrived home after school." Della nodded and went to tell Natalie that Perry would help her.
"Oh, thank you Mr. Mason." Natalie said as she walked out as Perry nodded,
"I need you to make sure that you get all your schoolwork done on time and not let this ruin your grades. I know that this is a scary thing to go through and you have to be brave for your Aunt and Uncle." Natalie nodded,
"Yes, sir."
