Handlung

Bruce Jay works as a secretary for the old curmudgeon, Abner Gordon, who has promised him $50,000. When Abner is killed, the spotlight is on his niece at the beginning as she shot him. But he was dead beforehand, so Bruce is charged.

Perry Mason defends Bruce Jay who is accused of killing his employer, Abner Gordon. Bruce had already spoken to Perry about $50,000 Abner owed him from an industrial accident some years before. The Gordon household is not a happy one. Abner Gordon was a crotchety old man who treated everyone around him very badly. He was constantly threatening to change his will and had only recently demanded that his niece, Rachel Gordon, who has spent 15 years of her life caring for him, return some money she had taken for her lover, Tracey Walcott. Abner's physician, Dr. Lambert, confirms the family situation to Perry. Rachel had a good deal of sympathy from the household staff including the butler, Charles Norman, and his wife, housekeeper Sadie Norman, as well as nurse Phyllis Clover. Rachel had actually put three bullets in the old man but it was subsequently determined that he had been dead for several hours when she shot him. They've also determine he had been killed with Jay's own medication.—garykmcd

Abner Gordon threatens to press charges if his niece doesn't replace the money she lifted from his safe.