Erle Gardner - The Case of the Phantom Fortune

Della Street, Perry Mason's confidential secretary said,"Mr Horace Warren, an executive type who seems accustomed to getting whathe wants, is anxiously and impatiently waiting in the outer office."

"And what," Perry Masonasked, "does Horace Warren wish to consult me about?"

"That," Della said,"is a mystery"

"Well?" Mason asked."What's the mystery"?"

"All he'll tell me is that he'swilling to pay five hundred dollars to have you attend a buffet dinnertonight."

Mason said, "Tell him I'm not apaid entertainer, that I have a busy schedule today, and that I see clientsonly by appointment."

"I don't think that he wantsyou as a social lion," Della said. "He said he would like to have youget a feminine partner of your own choosing, and that he would like to have youobserve a certain person and give him your impression of that person."

Mason regarded Della Street thoughtfully. "Were you by any chancethinking of a buffet dinner?"

She nodded. "Withchampagne," she said.

Mason grinned. "Show Mr HoraceWarren in, Della."

Della Street flashed him a grateful smile, returned tothe outer office and a moment later was back with a man somewhere in his lateforties a man with steady grey eyes that flashed out from under bushy eyebrows.

"Mr Mason," he said,"I'm Horace Warren. I'm a businessman."

Mason smiled slightly "Astudent of character would so classify you."

"And you are a student ofcharacter?"

"Any trial lawyer likes tothink that he is. If he's at all successful he has to be. Won't you beseated?"

Warren sat down across the desk from Mason,regarded him thoughtfully, then leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk.His heavy shoulders and neck gave him an air of belligerency.

"That," he said, "isone of the reasons I came to you."

"What is?"

"That you're a judge ofcharacter. I want you to do some judging."

Mason said, "I take it thatwhat you want is a little unusual?"

"Do you," Warren asked abruptly, veering away from thesubject under discussion, "have some good detective agency that does yourwork?"

"Yes," Mason said,"the Drake Detective Agency, with offices on the same floor of thisbuilding. Paul Drake has done my work for years. He is highly competent andcompletely ethical."

"Does he know fingerprints?"Warren asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Can he classify fingerprintsand match them, things of that sort?"

"He has had some experience incourtroom cases," Mason said warily "He's never qualified as aspecialist in fingerprinting, but he is an expert and in touch with highlycompetent experts."

Warren hesitated a moment, then reached into hiscoat pocket and pulled out a slip of white cardboard. Attached to thiscardboard was a strip of transparent tape, and underneath the transparent tapewere the black whorls of a fingerprint.

"I want you to hire Paul Drakeand have him get busy right away," Warren said. "I want a report by five o'clock this afternoon. It is imperative that Ihave it by that time."

"Why don't you step down thehall and talk with Mr Drake yourself?" Mason asked.

"Because I don't want PaulDrake to know who your client is. I want Paul Drake to follow your instructionsand yours alone."

"Perhaps," Mason said,"you'd better tell me a little more."

"Tonight," Warren said, "my wife and I are giving abuffet dinner for a small, intimate group. There will be not more than sixteenor eighteen people. I want you to attend that dinner and bring with you somefeminine partner, and I want it to appear that your presence is very casual infact, if possible, unexpected.

"The manager of my enterprises,Judson Olney, will ostensibly be the one responsible for bringing you there.Olney will apparently have invited the woman who is with you to come and bringa male escort. You will be the escort she has selected.

"I don't want anyone to suspectyou are there in your professional capacity. You will be prepared for a blacktie, champagne buffet dinner. You will arrive at seven for cocktails, dinnerwill be at eight, and you can leave at ten. That will take three hours. I amprepared to pay five hundred dollars for those three hours, in addition towhatever the charge may be for this consultation, and, of course, whatever yourcosts for the detective agency"

Mason regarded the enigmatic greyeyes thoughtfully. "I don't like to go at things blind," he said.

"This is not the usual type ofcase," Warren hastened to assure him.

"So it would seem," Masontold him. "Now, what's all this about a fingerprint and why do you want adetective agency?"

Warren tapped the cardboard on which appeared thelifted fingerprint. "I want your man to find out to whom that fingerprintbelongs that is, who made it."

Mason shook his head.

"What do you mean, no?" Warren demanded.

"What you are asking is apractical impossibility," Mason said. "While the FBI and the policehave done wonderful work in matching single fingerprints in the cases ofwell-known and much-wanted outlaws, nevertheless single fingerprint identificationis an exceedingly difficult and tedious job, far beyond the range of anydetective agency

"What is not generally realizedis that complete classifications are made through ten fingerprints. Then thosefingerprints are broken down into a code so that the searcher using that codeis limited to a relatively few number of fingerprints from which to make amatch."

"If you had ten fingerprintsyou could tell who the person was?" Warren asked.

"There again, another factorenters into the picture," Mason said. "If the fingerprints of theperson in question are on file in the criminal side of the FBI, we could getsome police officer to make an inquiry for us by wire and get a match. If,however, the fingerprints are not on file in the criminal department, it wouldprobably be impossible because fingerprints which are filed for civilianidentification are considered confidential."

Warren nodded, his eyes half closed as thoughcontemplating some matter entirely disassociated from what Mason was saying.

Then abruptly he got to his feet,took a billfold from his pocket, extracted a cheque and handed it to Mason.

"Here," he said, "isa cheque for a thousand dollars. Five hundred dollars will cover yourattendance at dinner tonight. I have given the address to your secretary. Theother five hundred dollars will act as retainer.

"Now, in strictest confidence Iam going to give you some additional data on that fingerprint."

"It is always advisable to givean attorney all the facts," Mason said dryly

Warren said, "This fingerprint may have beenmade by one of the servants in my house, it may have been made by one of theguests who will be at the dinner tonight, or it may be that it was made by atotal stranger. Would it be possible for your man, Drake, to go through thehouse and get the fingerprints of the servants without their knowing? I believeyou refer to it as developing latent prints."

Mason shook his head. "I don'tthink that would be possible, and if you don't want Drake to know the identityof my client it wouldn't be at all feasible.

"Developing a latent print, MrWarren, is a matter which calls for the use of various coloured powders whichare dusted over the fingerprint Then the developed fingerprint has to bephotographed or, as was done in the case of the fingerprint here, lifted."

"Lifted?" Warren asked. "How is that done?"

"The fingerprint is dusted.Then transparent adhesive tape is placed over the dusted latent fingerprint.The adhesive tape is smoothed carefully so that it covers the entire surface,then it is peeled back off and placed upon a card having an appropriate colourso that the fingerprint will show in contrast.