The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink

Chapter 4

Back in Mason’s office the lawyer said, “Get Lieu-tenant Tragg on the line, Della. We’ll see what he knows. Perhaps we can interview the terrified waitress and solve at least part of the mystery.”

Della Street put through the call, then said, “Hello, Lieutenant, how are you today? This is Della Street... What’s that?... Well, Mr. Mason wants to talk with you. Just hang on, please.”

Della Street nodded to Perry Mason. Mason picked up his telephone, said, “Hello, Lieutenant, how are you?”

“What kind of a deal did you get me in on?” Tragg asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Getting that girl in a private hospital with special nurses... The next time I pull any of your chestnuts out of the fire, you can...”

“Whoa, back up,” Mason said. “What’s eating you now?”

“You know damned well what’s eating me,” Tragg said, irritably. “You knew that if we handled the matter ourselves we’d have it so she couldn’t take a powder. You pretended that you wanted her to be completely safe and then put her in a position where she could...”

“You mean she’s gone?” Mason asked.

“You’re damned right, she’s gone.”

“Tragg, I give you my word the thing was on the up and up. It was just as I outlined it to you.”

“Yeah,” Tragg said sarcastically. “Just wanted to co-operate with the good old police force, didn’t you, Mason?”

“Look here, Tragg,” Mason said, “have I ever pulled a fast one on you?”

“Have you?” Tragg said. “You’ve pulled so many fast ones on me that...”

“I may have been on the other side of the fence a time or two,” Mason said, “but have I ever asked you for your co-operation on anything in order to take advantage of you?”

“Well — no.”

“And I won’t,” Mason said. “This is as much news to me as it is to you, and it bothers me. How did she work it?”

“Nobody knows,” Tragg said. “She was there one minute, and five minutes later she was gone. She was lying apparently asleep. The special nurse stepped down the hall for a sandwich and a cup of coffee. She said, of course, that she’d only been out of the room five minutes. It probably was around half an hour. The patient was resting easily and sleeping, and the nurse was looking in and out.”

“How seriously was the patient injured?”

“Apparently she was just knocked out. Possibility of a concussion, some bruises, a couple of broken ribs that were taped up, and some scratches and abrasions. The doctor wanted to keep her under observation for a while.”

“What about clothes?” Mason asked.

“Oh, hell,” Tragg said, “her clothes were in the closet. She put ’em on and walked out.”

“What about money?”

“She didn’t have a dime. The contents of her purse had been inventoried and left at the desk.”

“How could she have got away from the hospital without taxi money?”

“You asked me,” Tragg said. “What do you think I am, a mind reader? I’m telling you what happened.”

“Well, it’s all news to me,” Mason told him. “Now then, just to show you I’m on the up and up with you, I’ll put all of my cards on the table, if you want. I’ll tell you everything I know about the case, and...”

“Not me,” Tragg said, “not me. I’ve got enough on my mind. Turn it over to Traffic Department... I just tried to do you a favor, that was all.”

“You did, and thanks a lot.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“You don’t want me to keep you posted if there are any further developments?”

“I was doing you a favor,” Tragg repeated. “I don’t give a damn where she goes or what she does. As far as I’m concerned, she could have got up and walked out of the front door any time. It just made me look like something of a sucker, that’s all... When the case gets to murder, call me up. I’m in Homicide, remember?”

“I’ll remember,” Mason said, and hung up.