The Case of the Caretaker's Cat by Erle Stanley Gardner Page B

work in it for the help they employed."
    "What help was employed?"
    "There was Mrs. Pixley; a girl named Nora – I think her last name was Abbington – I can't be certain; and then there was Jimmy Brandon – he was the chauffeur. Nora was sort of a general maid-of-all-work. She didn't live at the place, but came every morning at seven and stayed until five in the afternoon. Mrs. Pixley did all the cooking."
    "And Charles Ashton, the caretaker – was he there?"
    "Only occasionally. He kept the town house, you know. He'd drive in at times when Mr. Laxter would ask him. He'd been there the night of the fire."
    "Where did Peter Laxter sleep?"
    "On the second floor, in the south wing."
    "What time did the fire take place?"
    "Around one thirty in the morning. It must have been about quarter to two when I woke up. The house had been burning for some time then."
    "Why were you employed? What was wrong with Mr. Laxter?"
    "He'd been in an automobile accident, you know, and it had left him quite nervous and upset. At times he couldn't sleep and he had a dislike of drugs. He wouldn't let the doctor give him anything to make him sleep. I'd been a masseuse, and I massaged him when he had those nervous fits. It relaxed him. A bath in a tub of hot water, with the water running over his body, then a massage, and he could relax and sleep. And he had some heart complications. Sometimes I had to give him hypodermics – heart stimulants, you know."
    "Where was Winifred the night of the fire?"
    "She was asleep. We had some trouble getting her up. I thought for awhile the smoke had got her. Her door was locked. The boys nearly broke it down before they were able to wake her up."
    "Where was she? In the north wing or the south wing?"
    "Neither. She was in the center of the house, on the east."
    "How about the two boys – where did they sleep?"
    "They were in the center of the house, on the west."
    "And the servants?"
    "All of them were in the north wing."
    "If you were there as a nurse for Mr. Laxter, and he was having heart trouble, why didn't you sleep where you would be near him in case he was taken with a spell?"
    "Oh, but I did. You see, he had an electric push button installed in his room, so that all he needed to do was to signal me and I could signal back, to let him know I was coming."
    "How did you signal back?"
    "A button that I pressed."
    "That rang a bell in his room?"
    "Yes."
    "Why didn't you ring that the night of the fire?"
    "We did. That was the first thing I did. I ran back and rang the bell repeatedly. Then, when we didn't hear from him, I started up the stairs. The fire must have burnt through the wires."
    "I see. There was a lot of smoke?"
    "Oh, yes, the central part of the house was simply filled with smoke."
    "What was the trouble about the day before the fire?"
    "What do you mean?"
    "There'd been a row over something, hadn't there?"
    "No… not exactly. There'd been some trouble between Peter Laxter and Sam. I don't think Frank was mixed up in it."
    "Was Winifred drawn into it?"
    "I don't think so. It was just an argument between the old man and Sam Laxter. Something about Laxter's gambling."
    "Have you any idea how the fire started?" Mason asked.
    "Do you mean did someone set it?"
    Mason said slowly and impressively, "You've dodged the issue long enough, Miss DeVoe – tell us what you know about the fire!"
    She took a quick breath. Her eyes faltered for a moment. "Is there any way a person could start a fire by feeding exhaust fumes into a furnace?" she asked.
    Drake shook his head. "No," he said, "not exhaust fumes. Come on down to earth and…"
    "Wait a minute, Paul," Perry Mason interrupted, "let's find out just what she means when she refers to exhaust fumes being put into a furnace."
    "It isn't important unless a fire could be started that way," she countered evasively.
    The lawyer, flashing a warning glance at the detective, nodded his head gravely and said, "Yes, I think perhaps a fire could be started that