Case of the Fenced-In Woman

This case begins with one of the most bizarre premises of any of the books in the Perry Mason series. Vivian Carson is the soon to be ex-wife of Loring Carson. While married, they had purchased two adjacent lots. Later, Loring sold the lots to Morley Eden and a house was built that straddled both lots. In divorce court, it was determined that one of the lots was purchased with the assets of Vivian, so the judge ruled that one lot was hers and the other was Loring's. In an attempt to get revenge, Vivian had a barbed wire fence strung along the property line, dividing the house and obtained a restraining order against Loring and Morley. Vivian then raised the temperature by sunbathing in a skimpy bikini and having parties where lingerie was modeled. Since Morley was living in his half of the house at the time, this created some interesting scenarios. Perry Mason was retained by Morley to pursue legal action against Loring for fraud and Mason had just begun to work on that case. The complexity further increases when Loring is found dead, having been stabbed with a knife and the body discovered by Mason, Eden and a group of television reporters. This starts a twisted tale of deception, confusion and an attempt to frame Mason as complicit in the crime. Gardner holds the solution very tight, giving out few valid clues and a large number of potential ones that prove to be distracters. The likely scenario is revealed only at the very end when Mason and Tragg hold a private conversation. This is one of the better Mason courtroom dramas, because it does not rely on the police being stupid. Although they make some mistakes and Gardner has them play the tough act, it is generally above board. Having Tragg come to Mason for help at the end is a more realistic tactic than having the police simply bull over everything.

The Case of the Fenced-In Woman Morley Eden visits Perry Mason about his problem. A beautiful woman has run a barbed wire fence through the middle of his house! Morley Eden paid a contractor to build a house on a lot, but half the lot belonged to his wife, and now she has claimed her share. Chapter One explains how this happened. Perry visits Judge Goodwin to learn about his decision in this case. The Judge hopes to use this conflict against the contractor Loring Carson. Perry Mason visits Nadine Palmer to tell her about Morley Eden's suit against Loring Carson. Nadine was wrongly accused in Loring's divorce suit, and she will get unwanted publicity (Chapter Five). When the press conference is held inside Morley Eden's part of the house they find the dead body of Loring Carson. The reporters cluster around the body like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Perry calls the police, then Paul Drake so he can trace Nadine Palmer. Vivian Carson arrives home and is shocked to hear of the murder on the other side of the house. Perry questions Morley about his whereabouts. Lt. Tragg questions Vivian about her activities, then searches around the house and pool. Perry catches a plane to Las Vegas to talk to the woman who knew Loring Carson. Genevieve explains the policies of gambling (Chapter Ten). [Good advice for everyone!] Perry finds Nadine and talks to her until someone official shows up. In Chapter Eleven Perry finds a briefcase planted in his hotel room, and tries to neutralize it, then returns to the gambling tables. Perry finds that Genevieve just got back from Los Angeles. Then the police arrive to question Perry about a trip. The police don't believe his answers and advise him to leave. So Perry returns to Los Angeles. "The best defense to circumstantial evidence ... is the truth" (Chapter Twelve). Morley and Vivian will be charged with the murder of Loring. The newspapers report on this case of sex, mystery, drama, missing money, and an unusual setting. The high point is when Nadine testifies to what she saw at Morley Eden's house on the day of the murder (Chapter Thirteen). The cross-examination of Nadine begins in Chapter Fifteen. Perry asks a question that results in Nadine's fingerprints being taken. Perry calls Lt. Tragg to testify about the briefcase found in Perry's room and the unknown fingerprints on it. In his closing argument Perry uses the facts to arrive at a different explanation from the prosecution's theory. Finding fingerprints of a person will not tell you when they were made. Perry asks the jury to compare the sets of fingerprints and decide for themselves. The jury returned with a not guilty verdict. Chapter Sixteen provides a conclusion to this mystery. This story was published after Erle Stanley Gardner's death. Like other stories, it implicitly critiques the morals and lifestyles of middle-class entrepreneurs.

Mason's client has a problem. He comes home to find barbed wire strung through his house, a sexy woman in a bikini on the one side, complete with a court order allowing her to be there - and himself out of half of his own house. It seems the man who built the house put it partly on his own, and partly on his wife's separate property with the assurance he'd get clear title. Things get worse when the man ends up dead with a knife in his back - in his client's side of the house. Caught in a tangle, his client refuses to give his story to everybody - including Mason. It's up to Perry to clear his client's name by creating reasonable doubt - and capitalizing on a mistake by the prosecuting attorney.