The Case of the Sulky Girl

A young woman visits Perry Mason to inquire about a will; this will probably result in a court trial. Fran Celane's father's will would disinherit her if she married before age 27. Her uncle was the trustee; but if he died Fran would inherit everything. The secret is that Fran got married, and could lose a fortune when this was revealed. Mason rides with Fran to their country home, and talks with her uncle, Edward Norton. Uncle Edward is obstinate in preventing Fran from getting her inheritance. "Great riches, with the wrong temperament, frequently lead to great suffering." In Chapter V Perry gets a call from Fran late at night; her Uncle Edward has just been murdered! Norton's business partner had just left the house when Don Graves looked back and saw someone hit Norton; just a glance out of the rear window of a car. They turned back and found the body. As in other stories, people reveal their character through their statements. Chapter X provides an example of how a criminal lawyer could sell out his client for the right price. Paul Drake explains how private detectives use a "rough shadow" (Chapter XII). Chapter XIV tells how the police can lock up a material witness to prevent testimony to a defense attorney! Chapter XVI explains how news photographs are made. Chapter XVII tells how statements made right after the murder "disappeared". "The way to get to the bottom of a murder is to ... find the real explanation of that fact." Chapter XVIII tells how a prisoner can be manipulated into telling a false and incriminating confession! The trial of Fran and Rob starts in Chapter XIX. Chapter XXIII tells how newspapers reports are made for publicity. Chapter XXV explains the significance of having the spectators watching the defendants. Once again, Perry Mason vindicates his clients. Chapter XXVI tells of his successful attempt to raise a doubt in the mind of a key witness. Fran's unpleasant experience was educational and moral; it helped cure her temper. Mason was able to theoretically reconstruct the murder and solve the crime. [I suspected this conclusion in Chapter V, because of an eyewitness who had no corroboration for what was a self-serving statement.]

Frances was accustomed to doing things her way. However, under the terms of her father's spendthrift trust, she was powerless to marry until age 25 unless she risked being cut out completely. She retained Perry Mason to break the will, despite it's iron-clad terms which gave her uncle absolute power over the fortune in the trust.The will did leave a loophole - if her uncle died before the terms expired, Frances would get the money absolutely. So it was completely in her favor when Frances's uncle was murdered - until she found herself as the prime suspect. This was Mason's first recorded trial, though not the first book (The Case of the Velvet Claws was the first, and had no trial scene). He handles it expertly, but it all comes down to a typical Perry Mason trick to confuse a witness. It works, but not as well as some of his later works.