Erle Gardner - The Case of the Borrowed Brunette

“That’s right.”

“My name’s Mason, and this is Mr. Drake. May we come in?” And Mason pushed on past the startled young man, seated himself, smiled, and said, “I was talking with Helen Reedley. I believe she told you about it.”

“She... Did she send you here?”

Mason’s face showed surprise. “You mean you didn’t know I was coming?”

“No.”

“Well, close the door and sit down; we may as well talk things over without taking the whole apartment house into our confidence. I want to find out what you can tell me about what happened when Orville Reedley cashed that five-thousand-dollar check. I believe you were the one who took the record of the numbers... ”

Arthur Clovis’s face showed relief. “Oh, that. That’s all been taken care of. A Lieutenant Tragg from the Homicide Division of the Metropolitan Police Force questioned me and drew up a written statement for me to sign.”

“You cashed the check for Reedley?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Worked in the bank for some time, have you?”

“Three or four years.”

“Know Orville Reedley quite well?”

“Only as a depositor.”

“Wait on him frequently?”

“Yes. As it happens, I’m in charge of the window R-to-Z and I often have dealings with Mr. Reedley.”

“Large cash withdrawals?”

“I’m afraid I’m not allowed to discuss the affairs of a client at the bank. But if you’ll get in touch with the account manager, he’ll doubtless—”

“I’ll do that later,” Mason interrupted. “I’m interested now in finding out something of the personal relationship.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re in love with Reedley’s wife.”

“Mr. Mason!”

“Come, come,” Mason said, “save the dramatics. Let’s just get down to brass tacks.”

“That remark is... ”

“The truth,” Mason finished, as Clovis hesitated.

“You are asking about something that is none of your business. Damn your impertinence anyway!”

“Let’s skip all this, Clovis, and find out what the score is. The last thing you want is to have this given any publicity. And, what’s more to the point, you know very well that it’s the last thing Helen wants. I have all the facts, so let’s not do any bluffing. We can save time being frank.”

“I understand you are an attorney,” Clovis said sullenly.

“That’s right.”

“Well, what business is this of yours?”

“I’m making an investigation on behalf of my clients.”

“Who are your clients?”

“Two women, Adelle Winters and Eva Martell. Do you know them?”

“No.”

“Then you shouldn’t have any hesitancy about answering questions.”

“It’s a matter I don’t care to discuss.”

“If necessary, I can subpoena you as a witness at the preliminary examination, put you on the stand, and get the information I want in front of a courtroom full of people.”

“I don’t think the law would let you do that.”

Mason lit a cigarette and said nonchalantly, “Lots of people disagree with me about points of law. Some of them are lawyers, too.”

“Just what do you want to know?”

“I want to know what the set-up is. I want to know why Helen Reedley arranged for a stand-in. I want to know why you’re so surreptitious about your affair with Helen.”

“Helen is a married woman, and there is no ‘affair.’ ”

“She’s left her husband.”

“Who is a particularly ruthless, determined man, unusually possessive and jealous.”

“And so you’re afraid of him?”

“Afraid of him?” Clovis exclaimed indignantly. “Hell, I’ve been wanting to go have it out with him for two months, but I refrained on account of Helen. She’s frightened to death of him. He has all but ruined her life. She’s becoming a nervous wreck.”

“Did you know about the woman who was impersonating Helen Reedley?”

“No.”

“You knew Helen wasn’t at her apartment.”

“She told me she’d let a friend have the apartment.”

“And gave you her new address at the hotel?”

“Yes.”

“You saw her there?”

“Yes.”

“Went out with her?”

“Yes.”

“Same old restaurants as usual?”

Clovis started to say “Yes,” then gave the question puzzled consideration, changed his mind, and said, “Well no, as a matter of fact, we were going to new restaurants.”

“I know,” Mason said, “but you didn’t have any idea of the purpose back of all this?”

“None whatever.”

“Until Hines came to see you,” Mason said.

Clovis jerked as though Mason had pushed a pin into him. “Hines,” he said, as though the repetition of the name would give him time to think.

“He came to see you?” Mason asked.

“What makes you think he did?”

“Did he?”

“Well, yes.”

“When?”

“The morning of the third.”

“What did he want?”

“I... Mr. Mason, you won’t think this is the truth, but it is. I simply don’t know what the man wanted.”

“Didn’t he say?”

“No.”

“Lay any foundation for meeting you at a later time under different circumstances?”

“No.”

“Any attempt at blackmail?”

“I don’t think there was.”

“Why don’t you know?”

“Because I wasn’t at the time aware of all the circumstances. And in such a situation, naturally, one is likely to overlook significant passages in the conversation, little hidden meanings that tie in with... ”

“Suppose you tell me exactly what happened.”

“I was on duty at the bank. Hines came to my window. It was during a slack period and there was no queue. When he gave me his name I told him he was at the wrong window, that I only handled only the R-to-Z deposits. He smiled and said, no, he thought he was at the right window.”

“Then what?”

“Then he started making enigmatic remarks. I couldn’t get what he was driving at.”

“Can you remember what he said?”

“Well, it was all rather mysterious. He said he might want to borrow some money, and that the person who would endorse his note would be a depositor whose name would be in the accounts that were handled at my window.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“I told him that notes were handled in an entirely different department in the bank. And then he asked, ‘I suppose you know Orville L. Reedley and Helen Reedley, his wife?’ I didn’t answer the question directly, though I was perfectly polite — I just told him that he would have to inquire at the Loan Department.”

“Then what happened?”

“He started to turn away from the window, then stopped and smiled pleasantly and said, ‘I’ve seen your face before,’ or something of that sort. I told him I didn’t remember him and he said that he had a girl friend who lived in the Siglet Manor Apartments and asked me if I knew the place.”

“What did you do?” Mason asked.

“I simply turned away. He smiled and walked out.”

“Do you know whether he went to the Loan Department?”

“No, he didn’t — he just walked out. I watched him.”

“He intimated to you that he would be asking to borrow money on a note signed by Helen Reedley?”

“Or Orville Reedley. That, of course, was just my guess. I don’t really know.”

“I understand.”

“There was no suggestion of blackmail?”

“Blackmail? Well — no. Only the smirking, insinuating way he approached me.”

“Was it threatening?”

“Not threat so much as unctuous assurance.”

“And what are you going to do, now that the cat’s out of the bag?”