The Case of the Phantom Fortune

Chapter 3

Warren's house at 2420 Bridamoore Street was ablaze with lights. The house was setwell back from the road, and the semicircular driveway leading to the frontdoor was wide enough to furnish ample room for parking cars.

On the west side of the house andopening from the driveway was a wide lane leading to a three-car garage.

Perry Mason, slowing his car,glanced at Della Street and said, "Notice the driveway is fairly well filled with parkedcars, Della, yet we're right on time. Usually guests come straggling in atabout any time which suits their convenience."

"What significance is attachedto that?" she asked.

"It was planned that way,"Mason said. "He wanted all the other guests to be here when wearrived."

Della Street said, "Oh-oh! Look in the driveway tothe garage by the side door."

"I noticed it," Masonsaid, "The big catering van."

"But notice the sign," shesaid. "Drake's Catering Service"

Mason nodded. "The name ispainted on heavy paper which fits into a frame. The rest of the sign ispermanently painted. In that way they can change the name to suit the occasion.We'll have to kid Paul Drake about the service."

"Something new for Paul,"she said, "being a caterer."

"Well," Mason said,turning the car into the driveway, "it seems that we enter from the eastand find ourselves a parking place on the left-hand side of the driveway. Thishouse was evidently built with the idea of entertainment in mind."

"A house of headaches," Della Street said. "It takes lots of servants torun a place of this sort and getting domestic help these days is a realheadache."

Mason parked the car, got out andheld the door open for Della Street. "Well," he said, "in we go and try to play the part ofinnocent bystanders in a script which has been written by a rank amateur."

"You think anyone will suspectanything?" Della asked.

Mason said, "It depends onwho's present, Della, but if this is an intimate group that has been togetherfrom time to time, and I rather fancy it is, the presence of an attorney andhis attractive secretary will cause considerable comment, a great deal ofspeculation, and if a guilty person is present he won't be deceived for morethan ten seconds."

"Yes," Della Street said, as they walked up to the front door."I can imagine a blackmailer putting the bite on Mrs Warren and thenattending a party at which a noted attorney is introduced as one of the guests.It might be a good thing at that, Chief. It might frighten him out of any planshe might have for a shakedown."

"It might," Mason saiddubiously pressing the button which caused chimes to sound in the interior.

The door was flung open by JudsonOlney.

"There you are!" heexclaimed, taking both of Della Street's hands. "I've been waiting foryou."

He turned to Perry Mason. "Andthis is …?"

"Mr Mason," Della saidthen turning her face to Perry Mason, "My old friend, Judson Olney, Chief.I told you about him this afternoon."

"Oh, yes," Mason said,shaking hands. "How are you, Mr Olney?"

Olney expressed his pleasure, thenhalf turned toward the couple who were standing in the reception hall."Loma," he said, "this is the girl I was telling you about. MrsWarren, Della. And may I present Mr Mason – Mrs Warren, Mr Mason. And this isHorace Warren, our host. Della Street and Mr Mason."

Mrs Warren said, "Welcome. It'scertainly a pleasure! Judson told me all about meeting his cruising companionand said you were more beautiful than ever, and now I can well believe it.Judson, you aren't very smart to lose track of a young woman like this."

Olney knocked his head with hisknuckles. "Pure ivory," he said.

Warren regarded Mason thoughtfully. "Haven'tI seen you some place before?" he asked.

Mason looked him in the eyes, said,"Have you?"

Warren's brow puckered thoughtfully "I'veseen you or-Wait a minute, I've seen a picture of you … Mason, Mason, whyyou're Perry Mason, the lawyer."

"That's right," Masonacknowledged gravely.

"Well, what do you know," Warren exclaimed, awe and respect in his voice.

"Perry Mason!" his wifeejaculated. "Oh-oh! Perry Mason in person! Wait until my guests hear aboutthis! Well, this is something."

"Let me take your things,"Lorna Warren said to Della, "and come in and meet these people. It's arather small intimate group."

Horace Warren moved over to takeMason's arm. "Well, well," he said, "the great Perry Mason. Thisis indeed an honour, Mr Mason."

"Thank you," the lawyersaid dryly.

In the big living-room area half adozen people were chatting together, casually holding cocktail glasses. Throughhuge picture windows there could be seen a swimming pool illuminated bycoloured globes beneath the surface and by an indirect illumination above thesurface which gave the effect of soft moonlight to the wide cement apron andthe grass which bordered it.

Another eight or ten persons werestanding in groups or spread out in reclining chairs around the pool.

The sound of a dozen voices talkingat once, interspersed with occasional feminine laughter, greeted the ears ofMason and Della Street as they entered the room.

Horace Warren stepped to themicrophone of a hi-fi player and tape recorder and threw a switch which turnedit into a public address system.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I havean announcement to make," Warcen said.

From the manner in which the peoplelooked up with smiles of amusement, Mason gathered that Warren liked to hear his voice over the publicaddress system and quite frequently made announcements.

"This," Warren said, "is a romantic story, a storyinvolving my right-hand assistant, Judson Olney, who met a beautiful girl whilehe was on that South American cruise a few years ago, and then lost track ofher. Then, quite by accident, he found her again and with Mrs Warren's permission has invited her here tonight.

"He was gratified to find thatthis very pretty girl whom he had always visualized as one of the Hollywood stars and who had been a woman of mysteryon the cruise, was working in a law office as a confidential secretary. BecauseJudson is going to be occupied with business matters during a part of theevening, he asked this young woman to bring an escort of her own choosing. She choseher employer, and her employer, ladies and gentlemen – hold everything now -her employer is none other than the famous attorney, the one and only – thegreat Perry Mason! The young woman is the beautiful Miss Della Street. And here they are! Step forward,please."

Warren held out his hand, and Della Street and Mason stepped forward just as someonepressed a switch on a spotlight.

Warren still held the microphone. "Let's givethe newcomers a big hand," he said.

People dutifully looked around for aplace to put their cocktail glasses, then broke into spattering applause. Thespotlight went off.

Warren turned to Mason and said, "I hateformal introductions where you go around from person to person and group togroup. I make many introductions over a loudspeaker. Now, if you will justmingle around, people will give you their names and you can get themcatalogued. But first you must have a cocktail."

Mason said, "You have a veryremarkable voice, Mr Warren. That was a smooth, almost professional job you didin the announcement."

Warren's face flushed with genuine pleasure."Do you think so?" he said. "Thank you, very much."

"I'm quite certain," Masonsaid, "you must have had professional coaching."

Warren failed to take the bait. "Come thisway and have a cocktail. We have a catering service that is doing a realjob."

Warren led the way over to a portable bar where animpassive waiter took their orders, then lifted the lid from an insulatedcontainer.

"Look at this," Warren said. "The cocktail glasses are cooledalmost to the freezing point. What is your pleasure?"

"Both Miss Street and I would like Scotch-on-the-rocks,"Mason said.

The attendant took metal tongs,extracted glasses, put the glasses on a tray, put in ice cubes, poured inScotch and gravely extended the tray.

Della Street took a glass gingerly, apparently consciousof the fact that in touching the glass she left fingerprints.

Mason took the other glass.

"Now, if you'll excuseme," Warren said, "I have a telephone call I haveto make. Just make yourselves right at home. People are friendly here and it'sall an informal group."

Mason said, "Could you give mea guest list?"

"I have had one alreadyprepared for you," Warren said. "I thought you'd want one. One for you and one for yourcharming secretary."

Warren, somewhat surreptitiously, pressed a foldedslip of paper into Mason's hand, turned and slipped one to Della Street.

"How's the cateringservice?" Mason asked.

"Wonderful," Warren enthused. "Really, it's out of thisworld I hadn't realized it would be possible to have anything of this sort …And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of telephone calls to make."

Warren started away, turned, caught Mason's eye,gave him a quick wink and jerked his head in a signal that Mason was to follow.

Mason said in a low voice to Della Street, "I'll leave you to your own resourcesfor a little while."

Still carrying his glass, Masonmoved over to join Warren.

Warren said, "There's a shower out by theswimming pool. To the right of the shower there's a door leading to a bathroom.That door will be unlocked. Meet me there alone in about five minutes, orwhenever you can make it. Pretend that you're just exploring around. Go out andlook the house over. Move around the pool. Leave your secretary free tocirculate around."

"People will be talking tome," Mason said, glancing at his watch. "It's going to be a littledifficult to -"

"That's all right. I'll be waiting.I want to show you something."

Judson Olney came up to take Della Street's arm. "My gosh," he said,"it's good to see you again! You shouldn't have stepped out of my life theway you did."

"It was you who stepped out ofmy life," Della reminded him.

Mrs Warren, moving up, said,"Shame on you, Judson, letting a good-looking girl like that getaway."

Olney put his arm around Della Street's shoulders, drew her momentarily close tohim, said, "She hasn't got away – yet. Come on, we've got to meet people."

Perry Mason moved out to theswimming pool, pausing every few seconds to shake hands with people who came upto introduce themselves, trying to avoid getting involved in conversation.

After several minutes the lawyermoved around the swimming pool, looking admiringly at the house.

Nearly ten minutes elapsed before hehad a chance to open the door to the right of the shower without making theaction seem conspicuous.

The door opened into a sumptuousbathroom with a sunken tile tub, huge mirrors. Horace Warren was waiting.

"I want you to see somethingwith your own eyes," he said. Warren opened the left-hand door of the bathroom'stwo doors and beckoned Mason to follow him.

"Now this," Warren said, "is my wife's bedroom. We haveseparate bedrooms. I'm a restless sleeper and sometimes I'll place a dozenphone calls in the course of an evening. My room is soundproof and this room ispretty well insulated."

"Now, just a moment,"Mason said, "I feel rather – well, I'm a little embarrassed about this.Your wife doesn't know you're here, that you're showing me anything?"

"Heavens, no! I just want youto see this with your own eyes. Just take a look."

Warren led the way to a huge closet, slid back theend door, reached in, took out a locked suitcase.

"Of course," he said,"almost any key will open one of these."

Warren inserted a key, snapped back the lock andthe two hasps on the side which held it shut.

"Now just take a look inhere," he said, "and …"

Warren recoiled in surprise. "Goodheavens!" he exclaimed.

The interior of the suitcase wasfilled with old newspapers.

"Now, what the hell!" Warren said.

"That's what you wanted me tosee?" Mason said.

"Definitely not! Up to a shorttime ago this suitcase had forty-seven thousand dollars in twenties, fifties,and one hundred dollar bills."

"You counted it?" Masonasked.

"I counted it."

"Do you think there's anypossibility someone could have stolen it?"

"I don't know what did happento it."

"All right," Mason saidtersely, "here's a way to have a showdown. Take that receptacle out to thevan. Get the experts out there to dust it for fingerprints. Find whosefingerprints are on it."

"Mine are on it now," Warren said.

"Yours and probably someoneelse's," Mason said.

"But my wife's fingerprintswill also be on it."

"Hers and someone else's."

Warren shook his head. "I don't want to doit."

"Why?"

"She'd be apt to come here andmiss the suitcase and even after I brought it back she might find that it hadbeen fingerprinted. You said yourself that lifting fingerprints left atrace."

"They can oil that leatherafter they get done so it won't leave a trace," Mason said. "Theprints will be on the metal fittings."

"No," Warren said, "I don't want to take a chanceof her catching me at it. I'd have trouble getting it out of the house."

"There's a back way out, isn'tthere?"

"Yes."

"You could use that."

"But suppose she should comeinto the bedroom, looking for the suitcase and find it's gone? Then what?"

"Then," Mason said,"you could have a showdown with your wife. You could tell her what you'redoing and tell her you're trying to protect her."

"Never," Warren said emphatically, abruptly closing andlocking the suitcase. He put it back in the closet and slid the door intoplace.

"Unless my wife chooses toconfide in me," he said, "I don't want to force the issue. I did wantyou to see the money for yourself. I guess now the blackmailer has got in hisdirty work."

"Your wife has enough money ofher own so she could make a payment of that sort?" Mason asked.

"She's been convertingsecurities during the last ninety days that I know of and perhaps even beforethat. Yes, she's got enough to make that payment and if she converted all ofher securities she could make several such payments. I believe in financialindependence for both parties to a marriage, Mr Mason. For your information,I've been generous with my wife and I've been rather successful in a businessway" He waved his hand in an inclusive gesture. "As you can see fromthe sort of place we live in … I wouldn't have Lorna dream that I'd beensnooping around in here or that I had confided in you … or that you – Comeon, let's get out of here."

Mason said, "Very well,"and started following Warren toward the door of the bathroom.

Abruptly a door opened and LornaWarren stood on the threshold, a look of startled, incredulous surprise on herface.

Her husband came to an abrupt haltfor a moment, then said casually, almost too suavely, "I'm showing PerryMason through the house, dear. I took the liberty of just looking in on yourbedroom."

Warren turned to Mason and went on easily, "Now,my bedroom is on the other side here. We can reach it either through thebathroom or through the corridor. I have another bath opening off my room …Right this way, please." Lorna stood to one side.

"When you're finished,dear," she said, "the caterer wants to know about serving the meal.There's a charcoal broiler in the catering van and he wants to have abouttwenty minutes notice."

"That's fine," Warren said easily. "Tell him to go ahead andget things ready to serve. We should be about ready to start the buffet intwenty minutes."

"They've already brought in thecanapes," she said. "Fine, fine," Warren said. "It's a nice job of catering.Now, right this way, Mr Mason, and I'll show you the rest of this wing. Theguest bedrooms are in the other wing."

Out in the corridor Warren turned to Mason. "Gosh," he saidunder his breath, "that was close! Think what would have happened if we'dbeen carrying that suitcase."

"What would havehappened?" Mason asked.

"I shudder to think ofit," Warren told him. "It would put me in theposition of having to make explanations."

"It would also have put yourwife in the position of having to make explanations," Mason said. "Ifyou're going to protect a person it helps a lot to know the source of dangerand -"

"No, no, Mason," Warren interrupted, "that would have defeatedthe entire object of calling you in. I want this handled in such a way thatLorna doesn't have any idea on earth that you're here other than as a casualguest, and I don't want her to know that I suspect a thing about her financialproblem."

"All right," Mason said,"you're calling the shots, but quite obviously if she's being blackmailedshe's made one payment of approximately forty-seven thousand dollars. It's toolate to protect her from that."

"I know, I know, but the moneyis a minor matter," Warren said. "I want you to protect her from the blackmailer or whateverit is she's facing, and this is probably the last time we'll have anopportunity to chat together. As I told you, my business structure is verycomplex and calls go through a switchboard."

"How much does Judson Olneyknow?" Mason asked.

"Not a thing, not a thing, andI don't want him to know anything."

"But he knows that this wholeplant with Della Street is a fake."

"Certainly He thinks I wantedto introduce Della Street to a certain individual who is here tonight."

"Who?" Mason asked.

"Barrington," Warren said. "You'll find his name on theguest list. Now, this is my bedroom and-"

Mason stepped inside and closed thedoor. "All right, Warren," he said, "tell me about Barrington."

"Actually there's nothing totell," Warren said. "George P Barrington is the sonof Wendell Barrington, the great oil tycoon. George is playing around with someoil properties and I have some properties which can be leased. He's interestedin a lease on those properties.

"Confidentially, Mason, I don'tgive a hang whether he closes the lease or not but I invited him here tonightbecause he's been going with a trashy young woman who is no good at all.They've split up now. I told Judson Olney that I wanted him to meet Della Street."

"And how does Olney figure thatyou knew Della Street?"

"A couple of weeks ago," Warren said, "I addressed a meeting of theLegal Secretaries Association. I told Olney that Della Street was there, that Ihadn't met her but that I had been impressed by her beauty, had found out whoshe was, and that I would like to have him invite her to come this evening and,of course, bring an escort. I said that I wanted him to be particularly certainshe met George Barrington. Now, that's all Olney knows. "Now I've simplygot to get back to my guests, Mason. A casual tour of the place is one thingbut being away long enough to have a conference with you would be quiteanother. That would defeat the very purpose of all my planning."

Horace Warren firmly opened the doorand stood waiting for Mason to go through.

"What are you afraid of?"Mason asked.

"Me? Nothing. Why?"

"You're afraid to call yoursoul your own. You're frightened to death of having anyone think you'veconsulted me. Instead of running your office staff, you're letting the staffrun you. Now, what's the answer?"

"Just what I've told you,"Warren said hastily. "We have no time fordetailed explanations now, Mason."

"When will we have?"

"I don't know. Moreover, it'snot important. You know what you have to do. You have a free hand – a blankcheque. Just protect Lama."

Mason said, "You're a veryremarkable actor, Warren. Tell me about your training."

Warren seemed to relax and expand. "At onetime in my life I was stage-struck. I even acted as angel for a couple of shows-but don't let anyone know about that, particularly Lorna. She would think that- Well, you know the general type of thinking that is associated with … withthings of that sort."

"No, I don't," Mason said."Shows have to be financed and it's a business proposition."

"I know, I know, but – You're abachelor, aren't you, Mason?"

"Yes."

"That tells the wholestory," Warren said, marching firmly down the corridor and into the big living areawhere the cocktail party had now been in progress long enough so that themasculine voices were a little louder, the feminine laughter a little moreshrill.

"Now, if you don't mind," Warren went on firmly, "I'm going to keepaway from you for the rest of the evening."

"Where's Barrington?" Mason asked.

"The man over there who is sobusily engaged in talking to your secretary," Warren said.

Mason sized up the tall, slenderindividual in his early thirties who looked very much like a model of a shirtand collar advertisement broad-shouldered, slim-waisted, bronzed, highcheekbones, and an air of complete poise.

"I knew he'd fall for Della Street," Warren said. "Look at him, he's fallenhard."

Mason turned to Warren. "Now look here, Warren, I'm not certain I like this. I don't knowjust what sort of a game you're playing but quite apparently you're trying touse Della Street as bait of some sort for a deal with Barrington."

"No, no," Warren said hastily, "that's just the gambitI used with Judson Olney But I knew Barrington would fall for her hard. Now if you'llexcuse me, Mason …"

Warren turned and walked away

Mason stood for a moment looking at Barrington, studying the man's quite obvious attemptto impress Della Street.

Then a woman holding a cocktailglass in her left hand swooped down on Perry Mason and demanded to know themagic recipe which he used for winning all his cases. Within a moment she wasjoined by two more people and Mason found himself a centre of attraction.