Special Sub-Topic: "The Case of the Dangerous Dowager" Click Here To Play: "The Case of the Dangerous Dowager"

Why does Mrs. Matilda Benson tell Perry Mason that she is a "dangerous dowager"?

She's old enough and rich enough to do darn well as she pleases.. Matilda Benson is an original with a capital "O". She is sixty-eighty but looks a young fifty. Mrs. Benson tells Perry that after her rich husband died, she threw off all traces of convention and started living exactly how she pleased. She does not carry a .410 derringer-loaded cane, but Mrs. Benson has been known to pack a .38 automatic in her purse. First published in 1937, "The Case of the Dangerous Dowager" is one the early Perry Mason mysteries written by Erle Stanley Gardner, whose long career as a mystery writer spanned four decades. His Perry Mason mysteries were so very readable because Gardner was himself an attorney and knew all the legal ins and outs first hand.

Mrs. Benson wants Perry's help in discreetly redeeming gambling IOU's given at "The Horn of Plenty", an offshore gambling boat. Who do those IOU's belong to?

Sylvia Oxman (her granddaughter). Oh, what a tangled web that Mrs. Benson wants Perry to unravel! Her granddaughter, Sylvia Oxman, owes over $7,000.00 to Sam Grieb and Charlie Duncan, the owners of "The Horn of Plenty", a floating gambling casino out beyond the legal limit. The pressure is on Sylvia to pickup the IOU's, but she doesn't have the cash, and her not-so-nice estranged husband, Frank, is wanting the IOU's for his own nefarious scheme. Mrs. Benson wants Perry to redeem the IOU's without starting a bidding war between her and Frank Oxman.

On Perry's first trip to "The Horn of Plenty", Perry takes with him the private eye that does all his investigative work. Do you know the name of Perry's private detective friend?

Paul Drake. Perry Mason takes the man who he knows will back him up in a tight spot-and who knows how to keep his mouth shut-his friend, private detective Paul Drake. Perry's simple, but clever plan, is to let Grieb think Paul Drake is Frank Ozman and then offer Grieb a small premium for the IOU's. It would have worked, too, but in walks Sylvia! Archie Goodwin was Nero Wolfe's right hand man, but Saul Panzer was the man Wolfe trusted the most after Archie. Do you remember Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, one of the best of the hardboiled genre? Writing as A.A. Fair, Erle Stanley Gardner wrote the mystery series that featured Donald Lam and Bertha Cool, also.

Things really get hot when Perry returns to "The Horn of Plenty" alone. He finds Sylvia in the waiting-room and Sam Griebb in his office, deader than a doornail. Which of the following does Perry NOT do then?

Hides the pistol under a chair cushion. Perry is sitting on a hot seat of volcanic proportions! Sylvia Oxman was sitting in Sam Grieb's waiting-room, and Grieb was in his office, deader than a doornail. Perry spots Sylvia's IOU's, puts the $7500.00 in Grieb's desk drawer, and quickly burns the IOU's. Perry exits the office, and locks the door behind him. He tells Sylvia to scram. Perry then calmly takes a seat in the waiting-room. When Federal Deputy Marshall Perkins and Charlie Duncan show up and discover the body, Perry insists that he be handcuffed and strip searched to prove he's not trying to sneak anything away from the scene. Who but Perry Mason had the nerve to carry off such a caper?

What did Bert Custer and Marilyn Smith see being thrown off "The Horn of Plenty" on the night Sam Grieb died?

Pistol. Bert Custer and Marilyn Smith had stepped outside to do a little necking on deck when a pistol comes flying over their heads and splashes into the water. They were standing amidships right above Sam Grieb's office at the time.

All of the following were on aboard the "The Horn of Plenty" on the night Grieb died, but which one did NOT have a motive for killing him?

George Belgrade. Sylvia Oxman and Mrs. Benson definitely had a motive, they both wanted the IOU's. Charlie Duncan, as Sam Grieb's business partner, stood to gain Sam's share of "The Horn of Plenty". George Belgrade was one of Paul Drake's men so he alone had no motive for killing Grieb.

Perry's faithful secretary always called him "Chief", but do you know her name?

Della Street. Was there ever a more faithful "Girl Friday" than Della Street? As soon as she learned that the "Chief" had been present when Sam Grieb's body was discovered, she knew the police would try to serve him with a subpoena. She hurried right over to Perry's apartment and packed him a suitcase and arranges for him to hideout in the apartment adjoining hers. Then she hurries back to Perry's office and is there waiting for him when he shows up in the wee hours of the morning. Paul Drake told Della "Gee, Della, you're a good kid! I wish I could get someone who had just one percent as much loyalty for me as you have for Perry. How does he work it?"

What does Frank Oxman NOT say in his sworn statement to the police?

He saw Mrs. Benson throw a gun into the ocean.. Frank Oxman had 500,000 reasons to frame Sylvia, his estranged wife, for murder. Sylvia's $500,000.00 trust fund would then go to the couple's six-year old daughter, and Frank would get custody of both the child and the trust. Frank's motive for wanting Sylvia's gambling IOU's in the first place was so he could prove her incapable of managing it herself. "The Case of the Dangerous Dowager" was first published 1937 and $500,000.00 was a lot of money back then.

Which of the following statements was NOT made by Mrs. Matilda Benson to the Federal Grand Jury investigating Sam Grieb's death?

Perry Mason knew Sylvia shot Grieb in self-defense.. Mrs. Benson really dropped a bombshell at the hearing! She said she took a .38 automatic in her handbag aboard "The Horn of Plenty". Her plan was to shoot both Duncan and Grieb for blackmailing Sylvia. Looking into Sam Grieb's office from the waiting-room, she sees Charlie Duncan. Just as she takes aim at Duncan, he opens the safe-and out steps Arthur Manning! Not wanting to shoot Duncan while Manning is present, Mrs. Benson hurries up on deck and pitches her pistol overboard. The trademark of the Perry Mason mysteries is the courtroom scene where Perry winds the guilty party around his little finger and tricks him into confessing. Not this time-it is Mrs. Benson's story, a pack of clever lies, that did the job. Mrs. Benson was never actually anywhere near Sam Grieb's office the night he was murdered.

Now we come to the tricky part of the quiz. Can you tell me who murdered Sam Grieb and what the motive was?

Duncan wanted all the gambling action. He hired Manning to kill Grieb.. Charlie Duncan wanted rid of Sam Grieb, so he could have all the gambling action on the "The Horn of Plenty". He hires Arthur Manning, one of their employees, to murder his partner. Manning uses Grieb's own gun to shoot him, so the death will look like a suicide. It would have worked, but Manning heard Sylvia Oxman coming and jumped into the safe without dropping the gun. Then Perry comes in, leaves, and re-enters with Perkins and Duncan. When no gun is found, suicide is ruled out because Grieb could not have disposed of the gun after he was already dead. Thanks to the spectacular lies told to the Federal Grand Jury by Mrs. Benson, Duncan falls all to pieces and starts singing like a canary. When he realizes that she could not possibly have seen him with Manning in Grieb's office, it is too late. There are many plot twists and turns in "The Dangerous Dowager" and one or two red herrings. I hope that I have conveyed in the confines of this quiz just what a fun read this was. Thank you for taking my quiz, and remember: Never take little, white haired ladies for granted-they just might be dangerous dowagers!