Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Shapely Shadow

“And did she tell you what she did?”

“She said she took the suitcase, that she took a cab and went at once to the office of Perry Mason; that she told Mr. Mason she suspected her employer was being blackmailed; that she produced her extra key to the suitcase; that Mr. Mason opened it in her presence and in the presence of Miss Street; that the suitcase was filled with twenty-dollar bills; that they spent several minutes reading numbers from the twenty-dollar bills.

“She said that they read these numbers into a dictating machine and also into a tape recorder; that they then closed and locked the suitcase and Mr. Mason retained the key; that the defendant and Della Street went to the Union Depot, put the suitcase in a locker, and that Della Street was the one who mailed the locker key to A. B. Vidal; that thereafter the witness returned to the office; and that shortly after her return and immediately after lunch, Mr. Theilman stated that he was going home. A short time later he phoned to say he wouldn’t be back in the office.

“The defendant further stated that she didn’t see Mr. Theilman after that, that was the last time she saw him alive; that at about eight-forty on the morning of the fourth she talked with Mr. Mason on the phone, telling him that police had been at the office asking questions about Mr. Theilman; that his wife had reported him missing; that Mason told her not to lie to the police but not to be too available, and not to tell them things unless she was specifically asked about those things.

“She said that almost immediately after she had finished talking with Mr. Mason, Mr. Theilman called her on the telephone.”

“Now, just a moment. Let’s not have any misunderstanding about this,” Ruskin said. “She said that Mr. Theilman called her on the telephone?”

“Yes.”

“And at what time?”

“Immediately after she had finished talking with Perry Mason. She placed the time of her call to Perry Mason at about twenty minutes before nine o’clock in the morning, and placed Mr. Theilman’s call at being perhaps two or three minutes after she had finished talking with Mr. Mason.”

“And what did she say Mr. Theilman told her?”

“Mr. Theilman instructed her to go to the safe, to take two hundred and fifty dollars out of the petty cash drawer, to get a ticket to Las Vegas on an evening plane that night and to meet the Union Pacific Domeliner, The City of Los Angeles, when it came through at eleven-twenty that evening; he told her that his first wife, Carlotta Theilman, would be on that train; that the defendant was to meet her and take her to a hotel Mrs. Theilman would designate.

“According to her story, after they were located in this hotel in Las Vegas, she was to go to the Western Union Telegraph office and send a telegram to Theilman, care of Western Union at Las Vegas, telling him where they were registered; that thereafter the defendant was to remain in the company of Carlotta Theilman until she received different instructions.

“The witness further stated that Theilman told her he was trying to consummate a stock deal with his former wife by which he would either get possession of the stock or be given the exclusive voting privileges on that stock.”

“That was all?”

“That was substantially all,” the witness said.

“Cross-examine,” Ruskin snapped.

Mason glanced at the clock, seemed tremendously bored, said, “I have no questions.”

“Very well,” Ruskin said. “Now, I don’t want to embarrass counsel by putting him on the stand as a witness in a case in which he is representing a defense client. I will, therefore, offer to stipulate with counsel that he and his secretary did make tape recordings and records of certain numbers on the twenty-dollar bills which were in the suitcase that was taken to his office by the defendant; that Mr. Mason and his secretary, Della Street, were subpoenaed on the fifth with subpoenas duces tecum ordering them to appear forthwith before the grand jury, bringing those records with them; that in response to those subpoenas Mr. Mason and his secretary did so appear and produced certain records in the form of tape recordings and the disc from a dictating machine.

“I will further stipulate that I have here a list of numbers of twenty-dollar bills which were taken from the tape recording and the disc. They are arranged for purposes of easy reference. I will assure counsel that these are an accurate transcription of the records which they surrendered to the grand jury and I will ask counsel to stipulate that they may be received in evidence as such, in order to avoid the embarrassment of having counsel or his secretary called as a witness.”

“We appreciate the situation,” Mason said, “and thank counsel for his courtesy. If the prosecutor will assure me that to his knowledge these represent an accurate transcription of the records which we turned over to the grand jury, we will so stipulate.”

“I make such representation and statement,” Ruskin said.

“Very well,” Mason said. “We will stipulate these lists may be received in evidence.”

Judge Seymour said, “It is so ordered. They will be received in evidence as People’s Exhibit, appropriate number. Call your next witness, Mr. Prosecutor.”

With an air of evident triumph, Ruskin said, “Call Dudley Roberts.”

Roberts came forward and was sworn.

“Where do you reside?” Ruskin asked.

“Las Vegas, Nevada.”

“Are you familiar with Perry Mason?”

“I am.”

“And his secretary, Della Street? I will ask Della Street to stand up, please.”

Della Street stood up.

“Yes, I know them both,” Roberts said.

“When did you first see them?”

“On the evening of Wednesday, the fourth.”

“Where?”

“In Las Vegas. They rented my cab.”

“Now then,” Ruskin said triumphantly, “I will show you a twenty-dollar bill, number G78342831A, and ask you if you have ever seen that currency before?”

“I have. It has my initials in the corner.”

“And where did you get that bill?”

“It was given me by Perry Mason in payment of cab fare,” Roberts said.

“Cross-examine,” Ruskin snapped.

Mason got up and walked over to stand in front of the witness. For a long moment he studied the witness carefully.

“Mr. Roberts,” he said, “how many times did I ride with you on the evening of the fourth after Miss Street and I started for the airport?”

“You and Miss Street rode with me from the Double Take Casino down to the police station. First you started to the airport; then you changed your mind and decided to go to the police station.”

“Exactly,” Mason said, “and when did you next have me as a passenger?”

“We waited at the police station and then you picked up a woman there at the police station and took off down the street. The police tried to stop you, but you told me to step on it.”

“And where did we go?”

“You told me to go to the first motel which had a vacancy sign and you stopped there.”

“And told you to wait?”

“Yes.”

“And you waited?”

“Well, I telephoned.”

“To whom did you telephone?”

“I telephoned the police station and told them that the man they had tried to stop had had me drive him to this motel and that you were inside. I have to live in Las Vegas and I’m not going to quarrel with the Las Vegas police.”

“So you deemed it necessary to tell them where I was.”

“I thought it advisable.”

“And then what happened?”

“Well, a police car came and the police car took you and the young woman with you down to the airport.”

“What did you do?”

“I took this woman who had been with you, the older woman, back to the Double Take Casino.”