Erle Gardner - The Case of the Phantom Fortune

Mason grinned. "You've beengossiping, Paul."

"I've been listening."

"No one has any idea where yougot these fingerprints?"

"I won't say that," Drakesaid. "No one knows anything from me, but it's possible I may have left aback trail."

"How come?"

"Getting that fingerprintcatering service last night."

Mason was thoughtful. "I see,Paul… Even so, I should think the authorities would be willing to live andlet live. They put Margaret Neely on trial and she was acquitted. What more dothey want?"

"They're after CollisterGideon."

"They got him."

"They got the emptyshell," Drake said. "They intimated that if Gideon wanted to cough upthe forty-seven thousand bucks he could get parole and a chance to bereleased."

"Gideon refused?"

"Gideon insisted he hasabsolutely no knowledge of the money. He insisted the safe was burglarizedduring the night."

"He claimed it was an insidejob?"

"No, he claimed very vehementlyit was an outside job. The combination to the safe was pasted on the bottomside of the drawer in his desk. The authorities found that the drawer had beenpulled out of the desk, the contents dumped on the floor, and burglars hadevidently secured the combination to the safe, opened it and taken out themoney"

"Any other evidence that theoffice had been burglarized?"

"Quite a bit, as I understandit. The lock on the door had been tampered with. About twenty dollars that MargaretNeely kept in her desk was missing, and the money from the petty cash drawer,amounting to about ninety-seven dollars, was gone and even the money from thestamp drawer, all of the dimes and pennies that had been put in by personstaking out stamps for personal correspondence."

"So Gideon wouldn't make a dealand take parole?"

"He said he couldn't. He saidhe didn't know anything about the money."

"How long's he in for?"Mason asked.

"He was released lastFriday" Drake said.

Mason was thoughtful. "And Isuppose the authorities have had shadows sticking to him like glue."

"That I wouldn't knowabout," Drake said, "but I can tell you this. It's one hell of a jobto keep a man under surveillance when he knows what the score is and doesn'twant to be shadowed. He can break away sooner or later.

"The best technique is to lethim make a first try and encourage him to believe that he's thrown off theshadows and then see what he does. For that reason authorities quite frequentlyhave a rough shadow who keeps the guy under surveillance in such a way that theshadow stands out like a sore thumb. Then the subject ditches the shadow bygoing into a crowded building which has several exits, or getting a car,driving through a traffic light or two just as it's changing, and all thefamiliar dodges. The rough shadow gets left behind and the smooth shadows takeover.

"Usually the subject will goand hole up somewhere in a little hotel under an assumed name and keepcompletely quiet for a couple of days. Then if he sees nothing suspicious, hethinks he has it made and goes out and walks right into the trap."

"Did this happen withGideon?"

"I don't know anything aboutGideon," Drake said. "The authorities aren't taking me into theirconfidence except to tell me that I'd better cooperate or else." Drakedrew an extended forefinger across his throat.

"You sit tight," Masonsaid. "If it comes to an absolute showdown where they threaten you withyour license, you can tell them that I gave you the fingerprints and that youreported to me. Let them talk with me and I'll tell them."

"Well," Drake said,"they'd still like the forty-seven thousand bucks."

"So they could make restitution?"Mason asked.

"Well, they would like to nailGideon again because of giving false information to officers."

"That's all been outlawed bythe statute of limitations a long time ago," Mason said.

"No, it hasn't," Drakesaid. "They played it smarter than that. They pulled out Gideon'sstatements about the office safe having been burglarized and so forth and toldhim they were investigating that crime. Gideon told them it had all beenoutlawed by the statute of limitations but they told him they wereinvestigating it anyway and asked him again to tell them about the burglary ofthe office and the loss of the forty-seven thousand dollars.

"They have some sort of statuteabout giving false information to officers who are investigating a crime and -"

Mason made an exclamation ofannoyance. "Gideon has served his time. He's paid his debt tosociety."

"But they don't like to have acrook get away with forty-seven thousand dollars and only serve a fewyears."

"I see," Mason saidthoughtfully. "Well, the police know that you know something aboutMargaret Neely You're going to have to handle the connection so all they haveis a blind alley."

"I'm terminating theconnection," Drake said. "I don't want any part of it. I'm washing myhands of the whole business."

Mason shook his head. "No youaren't."

"What do you mean by that,Perry? I have my licence at stake. I can't hold out information the police wantin the investigation of a crime."

Mason said, "The police aren'tgoing to prosecute anyone for anything. They'd like to impound forty-seventhousand dollars. That's all. I'd let you off the hook and get anotherdetective agency if I could, but I don't dare contact anyone else.

"Think what a mess would bestirred up if it became known Lorna Warren had been arrested! We can't let thathappen. We can't let that information get out."

"No one's letting it out,"Drake said. Mason was openly doubtful. "When the police get mad, Paul,their methods are sometimes pretty rough." Drake said nothing.

Mason said, "I want shadows,Paul. I want Mrs Warren kept under discreet surveillance. Don't let her get onto the fact she's being shadowed. Tell your men to let her get away rather thanarouse her suspicions.

"I also want Judson Olneytagged for a few days at least, and I want you to get a mug shot of CollisterGideon and see that all your operatives study the picture. If either of thepeople I've mentioned sees him, or if he gets in touch with them, I want toknow about it."

Drake groaned. "I was afraidyou'd have some idea like this. It's dangerous, Perry."

"Taking a bath is dangerous,Paul. Get started."

When Drake had left the office Della Street said, "Good heavens! You'd think she'dhave had more sense."

Mason said, "Look at it thisway. An impressionable young woman, she was completely hypnotized by an olderman's glib talk. She thought there was nothing wrong in what they were doing.She was fascinated by him, probably in love. It would have been relatively easyfor Gideon to have got her to take custody of the forty-seven thousandbucks."

"I know," Della Street said. "That part is all right, but shecertainly shouldn't let a misguided sense of loyalty to a clever crook trap herinto the present situation."

"Just what is the presentsituation?" Mason asked.

"Well," she said,"for one thing, her husband knows."

"Knows what?"

"About the forty-seven thousanddollars."

Mason said, "The chain ofcircumstantial evidence has some very significant missing links, Della. In thefirst place, the authorities don't know that Mrs Horace Warren is MargaretLorna Neely In the second place, the husband doesn't know anything about herpast, and in the third place, even if the authorities should question herhusband, he couldn't be interrogated as a witness because a husband can'ttestify against a wife, and she can't be forced to testify againstherself."

"All right," she said,"how about you? An attorney has to hold the communications of his clientprivileged, but that doesn't mean he can be inveigled into becoming anaccessory to a crime."

"A crime?" Mason asked.

"A crime," she said."Gideon was convicted. You can't conceal knowledge of a crime."