Erle Gardner - Case of the Beautiful Beggar

“She’s had chocolate within the last hour or so,” Dr. Selkirk said, “but I doubt if the pills were ingested at the same time as the chocolate. I think that they were taken later.”

Mason said, “Would it be all right if I tried an experiment, Doctor?”

“What sort of an experiment?”

Mason raised his voice. “I’ve instructed Mr. Drake here, a private investigator, to fill the bathtub with warm water. I want to...”

Dr. Selkirk started shaking his head.

“I want to keep her from getting chilled by putting her in this warm water,” Mason said.

Dr. Selkirk started to say something.

Mason raised a finger to catch Dr. Selkirk’s attention then closed his eye in an unmistakable wink.

“Come on, Della,” Mason said, “get her in the bathroom. We’ll help you if necessary. Let her soak in that water for about ten minutes.”

“She’ll relax and go right to sleep, probably into a deep stupor,” Dr. Selkirk said.

“Let’s try it, anyway,” Mason said. “We can always pull her out.”

“I’m not going to strip the clothes off her,” Della said angrily. “You should have a nurse if you want—”

“That’s all right,” Mason said, “leave her clothes on, that is, both the robe and the night-dress, just dunk her in that warm water.”

Della said, “You’ll have to help me.”

“I’ll help you,” Mason said.

They picked Daphne up, carried her to the door of the bathroom, swung her around over the bath water.

“Are you awake, Daphne?” Mason asked.

The eyelids fluttered, but there was no other motion.

“All right,” Mason said, “drop her, Della.”

Mason let go of the shoulders, and Della Street let go of the feet. The girl splashed into the bathtub.

There was a shrill scream. Daphne exclaimed, “What the hell do you think you’re doing!” and came up out of the bathtub, pushing, clawing, fighting mad. “That water’s ice cold!” she screamed. “You son of a—”

“All right, Daphne,” Mason interrupted. “It was a good try but it didn’t work. Della will stay in here with you and help get you dry and bring you some clothes from the closet then perhaps you can come out and tell us what this is really all about.”

Mason stepped out and closed the door.

“I’m freezing,” Daphne said as the door closed.

“Get those things off,” Della ordered.

“Put some hot water in that tub. Get me a hot shower. I’m frozen to the bone.”

Drake said, “How the hell did you know, Perry?”

Mason said, “The first two steps she took when we started walking her were perfectly normal steps then she suddenly remembered and took all the spring out of her legs. A moment later, she was a dead weight. Then she came to again and tried it some more. She did a pretty fair job, but she didn’t know just what she was doing.”

“What about these stomach contents?” Dr. Selkirk asked.

“Forget them,” Mason said. “Flush them down the toilet and send me your bill. Doctor. I’m Perry Mason, the lawyer. I’ve found out all I want to know.”

“That was pretty strenuous treatment, a girl who expects to be immersed in warm water suddenly finding herself plunged into a bathtub full of ice cold water...”

“I felt there’d be a reaction.” Mason grinned. “But I didn’t think it would be quite as...”

He broke off as knuckles sounded on the door.

Dr. Selkirk looked questioningly at Mason.

“This is the girl’s room,” Mason said hastily. “I don’t think we should answer the door.”

The knocking became peremptory. Lieutenant Tragg’s voice called out, “Open up. This is the law!”

Mason shrugged his shoulders.

Dr. Selkirk said, “I’m house physician here at the hotel. We have to recognize a summons of that sort.”

He walked across and opened the door.

Tragg showed surprise. “Is a Miss Daphne Shelby in here?” he asked. And then, suddenly catching sight of Perry Mason, said, “Well, for heaven’s sake, what are you doing here?”

Mason said, “Miss Shelby is ill. She’s been poisoned with barbiturates. Della Street is with her in the bathroom. I want to talk with her when she comes out.”

“And I want to talk with her,” Lieutenant Tragg said.

He turned to Dr. Selkirk. “Who are you?”

“I’m Dr. Selkirk, the house physician.”

“What’s the matter with her?”

Mason said, “You have treated her as a professional man, Doctor. You should have the consent of the patient, I believe, before answering that question.”

Dr. Selkirk hesitated.

Tragg said, “Don’t let that sharp lawyer bamboozle you. Did she call you?”

“Somebody called me from this room,” Dr. Selkirk said.

“You’re the house physician?”

“Yes.”

“You’re representing the hotel,” Tragg said. “What’s the matter with her?”

“I... I’m not prepared to state at this moment.”

Tragg walked over to the pitcher which was on the floor by the bed.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Contents we pumped out of her stomach.”

“What are these pink things?” Tragg asked.

“Pills. Pills which have become partially dissolved.”

“Somebody tried to give her a drug?” Tragg asked.

“That was the reason I had the stomach contents pumped out,” Dr. Selkirk said, then hesitated.

“Well, I’ll be darned,” Tragg said.

“However,” Dr. Selkirk went on, “I would say that those pills had been ingested within the last fifteen minutes. We’ve been here almost that long. It is my considered professional opinion that those pills were ingested just before she opened the door to let these gentlemen in.”

A triumphant smile spread over Tragg’s face.

“Now that,” he said, “is exactly the type of evidence I was looking for. I didn’t know whether we’d find it so easy, but —

“Well, what do you know!”

Mason said, “Are you absolutely certain of your diagnosis, Doctor?”

Dr. Selkirk grinned. “You seemed to be absolutely certain of yours.”

Mason stepped to the door of the bathroom, said, “Lieutenant Tragg is here. He’s going to ask some questions, Daphne, and I don’t want you to answer a single question, not a word.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Tragg said, “tactics such as those are going to be responsible for making a lot of trouble for this young lady.”

“What sort of trouble?”

“I’ll take her up to Headquarters.”

“Under arrest?”

“Possibly.”

“You won’t take her from here unless you do arrest her,” Mason said and then added, “And if you arrest her, your face is going to be awfully red if you have to back up in the light of subsequently discovered evidence.”

Tragg thought things over for a moment, then walked over to the most comfortable chair in the room and seated himself.

“Doctor,” he said to Dr. Selkirk, “I don’t want you to talk with anyone until I’ve had a chance to ask you some questions about this case. You may as well go now, if you think there’s no danger.”

“No danger whatever,” Dr. Selkirk said. “Her pulse is strong and regular, just a little rapid. Apparently she’s under some excitement. Her heartbeat is strong and clear. Her respiration is perfect. The pupils of her eyes react normally. Her stomach has been pumped out, and any barbiturates she may have taken will perhaps help her to get a good night’s sleep, but they aren’t in the least dangerous.”

Tragg went over to the writing desk, folded a piece of stationery so it came to a sharp point and started fishing the pills out of the liquid in the water pitcher.

“Rather a dirty job,” he said, “but I think this is going to be evidence, the sort of evidence I’ve been looking for.”