Previous reviewers have given this episode a bit of a bad rap, citing it's difficult to feel sorry for a man accused of murder, who 10 years before had up and left his wife and very young children. He was a man who, for good or bad reasons, decided to marry a very wealthy woman, then found himself floundering in ways he never imagined. Perhaps he knew he was a bum, or perhaps realized that despite his best efforts, simply couldn't fit into the mold his wife had crafted for him. This episode leaves that to the imaginations of the viewers.
Whatever the case, this Lazarus realizes he's owed nothing. He also, I believe, had some warm feelings for the wife he abandoned, and who has now taken ill. Whether he was a louse, a fish out of water, or perhaps a little of both, he knew the man designated by his wife was a no-good so-and-so. At the very least, he could make the effort to save his children from him. He really was no good, as is revealed by the end of the episode.
I'm rating this as a 6/10 for the abysmal pace and depth of the script. Why did they see the defendant running away? What prompted him to do so? Did he stumble upon the body? With no explanation, we are compelled to assume this. Like many later episodes, this Perry Mason story is too much supporting cast and not nearly enough Perry, Della, Paul, Hamilton, and Sgt. Whatshisface (we less and less of Sgt. Tragg). It's too much interplay between everyone else, and this episode runs with it.