1937 Perry Mason

The Case of the Lame Canary

Client Rita Swaine
Victim Walter Prescott
Prosecution Hamilton Burger
Investigator Paul Drake / Lt. Arthur Tragg

Case Narrative & Plot Summary

A pet canary with its claws clipped too short provides the crucial clue when a snooping wife seeks an annulment and her husband is found shot in his apartment.

Courtroom Cross-Examination & Forensic Trick

Mason shows how bird behavior in darkness proves the precise moment a gunshot occurred.