Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Lucky Legs

"And I take it we don't want Bradbury there?"

Perry Mason stared steadily at Paul Drake.

"Get this, Paul," he said. "We don't even want J.R. Bradbury to know anything about what we're doing."

The telephone on his desk rang.

Perry Mason picked up the receiver.

Della Street 's voice said cautiously, "J.R. Bradbury is calling. He says that he's found out you've left the court house for your office and that he's coming over unless he can talk to you on the telephone."

"Tell him," said Perry Mason, "that I am just coming in the door; that I will be occupied for five minutes; that if he will call at the end of five minutes, I will talk with him over the telephone; that he is not to come to the office until I send for him. Have you got that?"

"Yes, chief," she said.

Mason slammed the receiver back into place, looked up at Paul Drake.

"That guy," he said, "could become a firstclass nuisance."

"Bradbury?" asked the detective.

"Bradbury," said Perry Mason.

"He seems affable enough," the detective said.

Mason nodded wordlessly.

"Suppose Bradbury should call me?" Paul Drake asked.

"Tell him that you have reported in detail to me and that I have told you not to discuss what you have discovered."

"You mean refuse to tell him anything?"

"Certainly that's what I mean. What did you suppose I meant?"

"He may get sore."

"Leave that to me," Mason said. "Now, here's what I want: I want you to be in readiness to make a dash out to Patton's place with me just as soon as we get him located. I want you to be prepared to back my play, but I want to take the lead."

"I'm not worrying so much about that," Drake said, "as I am about the position it puts me in with my client. I've really collected information that I'm refusing to give him."

"You've given it to me," the lawyer told him, "and I'm taking the responsibility."

The telephone rang.

Perry Mason frowned at it, picked up the receiver and said, "What is it this time?"

"I want to come in. May I?" asked Della Street.

"Sure," he told her, and dropped the receiver back into place. He sat motionless, his eyes on the door to the outer office.

The door opened and Della Street slipped into the room.

"Dr. Doray is out there," she said quietly. "He insists that he must see you. I wanted you to know before Bradbury called back."

Perry Mason slitted his eyes in thought, then turned quickly to Paul Drake.

"Anything else, Paul?" he asked.

"That just about covers it," the detective said. "I'll know around eight o'clock tonight. Will you be here in your office?"

Mason nodded.

"You can go out," he said, "by that door which opens into the corridor."

Paul Drake slid his legs from the arm of the leather chair, got to his feet and moved toward the door.

"Bradbury," he said, "is almost certain to call me."

"Tell him what I told you," Mason said, and, turning to Della Street, he jerked his head toward the outer office.

"Tell Dr. Doray to come in," he said.

Paul Drake slipped out through the door into the corridor. Della Street held open the door to the outer office.

"You may come in, Doctor," she said.

Dr. Doray was tall, with dark hair, black eyes, high cheekbones, a mouth which was shapeless and a jaw which was thrust aggressively forward. He seemed oddly uncertain of himself as he stood in the doorway.

"Come in," said Perry Mason.

Dr. Doray entered the room, and Perry Mason indicated the big leather chair.

As Della Street closed the door of the outer office behind her, Perry Mason let his eyes sweep over Dr. Doray in frank appraisal.

"What was it?" he asked.

"You're the attorney who's been engaged to locate Marjorie Clune," said Dr. Doray without preliminaries.

"Who told you?" asked Perry Mason.

"That is something that I can't tell you," Dr. Doray said, fidgeting uneasily.

Perry Mason stared at him.

"Well?" he asked.

"I wanted," said Dr. Doray, "to have you give me some information. I thought that perhaps I could arrange to have you represent Margy—Miss Clune—in the matter. I don't know just what Bradbury has hired you to do."

"Unfortunately," said Perry Mason, "I can't accept any employment from you. I am, however, interested to learn how you knew that I had been employed, and what made you think it was Mr. Bradbury who had employed me."

Dr. Doray smiled with his mouth. His eyes remained black, glittering and unsmiling.

"You're not going to answer the question?" asked Perry Mason.

Dr. Doray shook his head.

"Under those circumstances," said Perry Mason slowly, "I would say that you had purchased a box of candy for Miss Maude Elton, the secretary in the district attorney's office."

Dr. Doray flushed and hastily averted his eyes.

Perry Mason nodded. "I think, Doctor," he said, "we understand each other perfectly."

"I'm not certain that we do," said Dr. Doray. "What I am particularly anxious to find out is —"

"Nothing that I can tell you," Perry Mason said.

The telephone rang twice. Perry Mason picked up the receiver.

"Excuse me a moment," he said to Dr. Doray, and then said into the transmitter, "Hello."

Bradbury's voice came over the wire.

"Have you learned anything?" he asked.

"Yes," said Perry Mason in a guarded voice, "I think that I am going to have some important information for you around eight o'clock tonight. I want you to be at my office by eight fifteen at the latest. I want you to bring with you the file of newspapers that you have."

"Have you located Patton?" asked Bradbury eagerly.

"I have not," Mason said.

"You've talked with Mr. Drake?"

"Yes."

"Has Drake located him?"

"No," said the lawyer. "He reports, however, that he is making progress."

"Can't you tell me anything more than that?"

"That's all. I want you to be at my office by eight fifteen, and I want you to have those newspapers with you."

"Can I see you before that?" asked Bradbury.

"No," said Perry Mason, "I'm busy. I'll see you tonight."

"Will you be there when I arrive?"

"I don't know. If not, you are to wait until I telephone for you to join me, or until I return to the office."

"I want to talk with you," Bradbury said.

"You can talk with me tonight," Mason told him. "Goodby." He pushed the receiver back into position.

Doray's black eyes were glittering as though with a fever.

"Was that Bradbury?" he asked hoarsely.

Perry Mason smiled at him.

"As I was saying, Doctor," he said, "I think we understand each other perfectly. There is nothing that I can tell you. You might, however, leave your address with my secretary."

"I have already done that," Dr. Doray said. "I had to do it before she would announce me. I'm staying at the Midwick Hotel. The telephone number is Grove 36921."

"Thank you," said Perry Mason, arising and indicating the exit door to the outer corridor. "You can go out through that door."

Dr. Doray got to his feet, hesitated a moment, took a quick breath as though about to say something, then changed his mind, turned and walked to the door.

"Good afternoon, Counselor," he said.

"Good afternoon, Doctor."

The door slammed shut. Perry Mason picked up the receiver of his telephone.

"Della," he said, "I want you to be at the office by eight fifteen tonight, perhaps a little bit before that. Have plenty of freshly sharpened pencils and a clean notebook. I may want you to take a statement."

"A confession?" she asked.

"It may amount to that," he told her, and smiled grimly as he dropped the receiver back into position.

Perry Mason latchkeyed the outer door of his office and switched on the lights. He looked at his wristwatch. The time was precisely seven fifty. He pushed off the latch of his office door, crossed the outer office, opened the door of his private office and pushed on the light. He sat on the edge of the desk and picked up the telephone receiver. A buzzing sound announced that Della Street had left the instrument plugged in on the outer line through the switchboard in the other office. Perry Mason dialed the telephone number which he had seen on Della Street 's memorandum in the file of the case of the girl with the lucky legs. His memory for telephone numbers was almost photographic, and his fingers moved swiftly and unhesitatingly.