Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Shapely Shadow

“Now then, Mrs. Theilman — that is, Carlotta Theilman, the first Mrs. Theilman — has so much stock that her holdings are very, very important. In fact, Mr. Theilman’s whole future may pivot on what she does with her stock.

“Now, naturally Mr. Theilman wasn’t in a position to approach her himself. He had quite a conference with Cole Troy over in Bakersfield about the whole situation and when he left Bakersfield Mr. Theilman was very, very much concerned about things. He had tried to approach Carlotta through dummies, but Carlotta said simply that she wouldn’t deal with anyone except with Mr. Theilman personally.

“Of course, now I realize why she adopted that position.”

“Why?” Mason asked.

“Because she’s changed her appearance so much she’s become really beautiful, the way she was when Mr. Theilman first married her. Heaven knows what sacrifices she’s made in the way of diet, exercise and how much she spent for beauty treatments, but she looks fifteen years younger and — well, you saw her figure. You’d never have believed that— Well, I think she must have weighed a good hundred and sixty pounds — and of course she’s done things to her hair and—”

“Never mind all that,” Mason said. “I want to know what happened after you telephoned me this morning.”

“Mr. Theilman telephoned me.”

“Telephoned you?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Right after I telephoned you, almost as soon as I had hung up the phone.”

“And what did he want?”

“He wanted me to go to a beauty parlor, get some money from the safe, go to Las Vegas, meet Carlotta Theilman and wait for him.”

“And where was he when he phoned?”

“At Palmdale subdivision — about twenty-seven miles out of Bakersfield.”

“What’s at Palmdale subdivision?”

“A subdivision that went broke. He and Troy picked it up for a song.”

“It’s property they are subdividing?”

“Well, it’s a long story. There had been a subdivision there and the subdivision had gone kaput. Mr. Theilman bought it for a song and he feels that it’s going to be immensely valuable in a few years. The only trouble is they started the subdivision too soon.”

“All right,” Mason said, “tell me some more about why you’re here.”

“Mr. Theilman told me that he wanted to keep entirely out of sight. He said that he must have Carlotta’s proxy — I call her Carlotta. I shouldn’t. It’s Mrs. Carlotta Theilman, the first—”

“Never mind the protocol,” Mason said. “She’s waiting and I’m waiting. Call her Carlotta or anything else, but tell me what happened.”

“Well, he told me to come here and meet Carlotta. He said he was going to have to see her personally and that his wife wouldn’t like that. He said I had to help him, keep the secret and be prepared to swear I was with Carlotta all the time if it ever leaked out.”

“What did you say?”

“I asked him where he’d been and told him his wife was frantic. That seemed to puzzle him. He said that she shouldn’t be, that he’d made arrangements to let her know he was going to be gone for a few days on a business trip. He said he’d phone her later on, but in the meantime I wasn’t to tell anyone I’d heard from him.

“He told me to go to the cash drawer in the safe and take enough money for expenses. He said I was to get myself dolled up and get up here to Las Vegas and meet Carlotta when she came in on the eleven-twenty train; that I was to tell her that he was going to come up here and join her, but I was to stay with her all the time.

“While he didn’t say so in so many words, I knew he wanted to fix things so if the present Mrs. Theilman learned about it, he could show that the whole thing was a business matter.

“On the other hand, I can see I’m going to have troubles because I see what that woman’s trying to do now. She’s made herself attractive and she’s preparing now to go into competition with the present Mrs. Theilman... Oh, Mr. Mason, it’s such a mixed-up business and I do so hope I can do the job right.”

“You got yourself all prettied up for the occasion,” Mason said.

“Yes, that was— Well, Mr. Theilman told me to and— Gosh, Mr. Mason, I get so tired of going around looking just plain efficient and, well, plain efficient. I—”

“I know what you mean,” Mason said. “How often do you break away and get yourself glamoured up?”

“This is the first time in two years that I’ve really gone all the way.”

“Has Mr. Theilman ever seen you like this?”

“Yes... of course... That’s why he told me to get myself prettied up and make myself as glamorous as possible.”

Mason looked at her with exasperation. “Why do you insist on making yourself look so drab?”

“I thought... I felt— That is, I think it’s expedient under the circumstances.”

Mason said, “All right. We’ll get the rest of the explanation afterwards. I’ve been put to more trouble over your intrigue and lack of frankness... Why didn’t you telephone me and tell me you’d heard from Mr. Theilman and everything was all right?”

“I was told not to tell a soul, Mr. Mason. I told Mr. Theilman about having been to see you. I confessed the whole thing and I told him that you were so nice to me, that you’d only taken a dollar and— Well, Mr. Theilman said to take two hundred and fifty dollars and told me to give that to you, and to tell you to send a bill to him for any expenses that you’d been to.

“Here.”

Janice Wainwright opened her purse, took out a roll of bills around which an elastic had been fastened, thrust it into Mason’s hands, said, “I hope you’ll forgive me, Mr. Mason.”

Mason turned to Della Street, grinned and said, “I guess the one I have to forgive is myself. My damned curiosity... All right, you go pick up Mrs. Theilman at the casino and have a good time... Now, you told Mr. Theilman that his wife was worried about him?”

“Yes.”

“And what did he say?”

“He said he couldn’t understand it because he’d arranged for her to have a message that he was going to be away for several days on a business deal. He seemed very much concerned about that. He promised me that he’d get in touch with her very shortly, and I assume that he did so.”

“Is there a phone up there in that subdivision, the place you refer to as the Palmdale subdivision?”

“No, not right there. The nearest one is at a service station about two miles down the road.”

Mason said, “Well, you go ahead and—”

A dry, husky voice from behind Mason’s shoulder said, “Of course I don’t like to interrupt, but if you’re entirely finished, Mr. Mason, I—”

Mason whirled. “Lieutenant Tragg!” he exclaimed.

Tragg smiled and raised his hat to Della Street. “How do you do, Della?”

Janice Wainwright looked from one to the other.

“Lieutenant Tragg, Los Angeles Homicide,” Mason said. “What are you doing here?”

Tragg smiled and said, “Permit me to introduce my companion, Lieutenant Sophia, of the Las Vegas police force.

“And now, answering your question, Mr. Mason, I am here to interrogate Janice Wainwright in connection with the murder of her employer, Morley L. Theilman.”

Janice Wainwright swayed slightly; her face grew white with emotion.

“Mr. Theilman... dead!”

“Murdered,” Lt. Tragg supplemented.

“Why, he couldn’t be. He was alive and well when I—”

“Just a minute, Janice,” Mason cut in. “Until we know more of the peculiar circumstances in this case, in view of what has happened, I don’t want you to make any statement whatever. No statement at all, do you understand?”