The Case of the Horrified Heirs by Erle Stanley Gardner Page A

being a frustrated actor, advanced a step, bowed slightly from the waist and extended a hand with great dignity. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Mason," he said, and then added after a moment, "and may I ask what you're doing here?"
    Mason said, "I came to see Mrs. Trent."
    "This is rather an unusual hour for a call," Kelvin said.
    Mason's smile was disarming. He said, "I have been able to order my life along unconventional patterns and no longer refrain from doing what I want to do simply because it is odd, unusual, distinctive or unconventional."
    The lawyer beamed at the two irate brothers-in-law.
    The men exchanged glances.
    "This is no occasion for levity," Kelvin said.
    "I am not being facetious. I am being accurate," Mason said.
    Briggs faced Dr. Alton, "Will you," he asked, "once and for all, tell us the reason for this?"
    Dr. Alton hesitated for a fraction of a second, then said, "Yes, I'll tell you the reason for it. I made a wrong diagnosis on Lauretta Trent's illness."
    "You did!" Briggs exclaimed in surprise.
    "That's right."
    "A mistaken diagnosis?" Kelvin asked.
    "Exactly."
    "And you admit it?"
    "Yes."
    Again, the men exchanged glances.
    "Would you kindly tell us the real nature of the illness?" Briggs asked.
    "We want to know if it's… serious," Kelvin supplemented.
    "I dare say you do," Dr. Alton said dryly.
    Briggs said, "Our wives have been out, but are expected back at any moment. They will perhaps be in a little more favorable position when it comes to… well… to getting information from you."
    "Demanding an explanation," Kelvin supplemented.
    "All right," Dr. Alton said angrily, "I'll give it to you. I made a mistake in diagnosis. I thought your sister-in-law was suffering from a gastroenteric disturbance induced by eating food that was tainted."
    "And now you say that was not the correct diagnosis?" Briggs asked.
    "No," Dr. Alton said. "It was not."
    "What was the correct diagnosis?" Gordon Kelvin asked.
    "Someone had deliberately given her arsenic trying to poison her," Dr. Alton said.
    In the shocked silence that followed, two women came bustling into the room, two women who looked very much alike, women who spent much time and money in beauty shops and had evidently just been at one that day.
    They were girdled so heavily they had an awkward stiffness of motion, their chins were held high and their hair was beautiful.
    Dr. Alton said, "Mrs. Briggs and Mrs. Kelvin, Mr. Mason; and Miss Street, Mr. Mason's secretary."
    Mrs. Kelvin, perhaps a few years older than her sister, but with keen inquisitive eyes, immediately took the initiative. "What's all this about?" she asked.
    Boring Briggs said, "Dr. Alton has just told us he made a mistake in diagnosing Lauretta's illness, that it wasn't food poisoning at all; it was arsenic poisoning."
    "Arsenic!" Mrs. Kelvin exclaimed.
    "Bosh and nonsense!" Mrs. Briggs snapped.
    "He seems certain," Gordon Kelvin said, "apparently--"
    "Bosh and nonsense! If the man's made one mistake, he could make two. Personally, I think Lauretta needs another doctor."
    Dr. Alton said dryly, "You might speak to Lauretta about it."
    Boring Briggs said. "Now, look here, is all this going to get into the newspapers?"
    "Not unless you let it get into the papers," Dr. Alton said.
    "You're communicating with the police?"
    "Not as yet," Mason said.
    There was a moment's silence.
    Mason went on calmly, "To a large extent, it's up to you folks. I take it this is a situation you wouldn't want to have publicized. I can also well realize that you have received the information with feelings of mingled emotion, but we are now facing facts, and one doesn't argue with facts."
    "How do you know they are facts?" Briggs demanded.
    Mason met his eyes and said coldly, "Laboratory facts. Positive evidence."
    "You can't get evidence of something that's past that way," Briggs said.
    Mason said, "Something that isn't generally known is that arsenic has an affinity for fingernails and hair. Once it gets in the