The Case of the Blonde Bonanza

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Della Street said, "We saved it for you, Chief, but it's all cold. I didn't dare to keep it in the warming oven for fear it would be too well done."

"That's all right," Mason said. "I'll eat it cold."

"Oh, no," Della Street protested. "Let's have another hot one sent up. I'll-"

"There may not be time," Mason said. "You didn't eat much, Dianne."

"I didn't- Somehow I don't seem to be hungry."

"A little different from the way you were when I first met you," Mason said.

"Yes, I-"

"Something happened to change the picture?" Mason asked conversationally, seating himself and cutting off a piece of the steak. "You don't crave food as you feared you would?"

"I… I don't know. I guess I just lost my appetite."

"What did you come up here for?" Mason asked.

"To Riverside?"

"Yes."

"To see Mr. Boring."

"See him?"

"Not yet. Della said to come here. I know now after listening to her, that you should be the one to do the talking."

There was silence for a minute.

Della Street said, "The coffee is hot, Chief. I kept that going over the candle flame but it isn't fresh-it will only take a few minutes to get more coffee."

Mason shook his head, said to Dianne, "Right now Boring is either at the hospital or at the morgue."

"Why?" she asked, her eyes wide. "Did something happen to him?"

"Something happened to him," Mason said.

Dianne put her hand to her throat. Her eyes got large and round.

"Something happened to him," Mason said, "while you were talking with him."

"I… I…" She started blinking back tears.

Mason said, "Now look, Dianne. You're playing a dangerous game. It can possibly trap you into a life term in a prison cell. You can't afford to lie to your lawyer. Now, tell me the truth. What happened?"

"What do you mean, what happened?"

Mason said, "You went to the Restawhile Motel. You knew that Boring was in Unit io. You called on him. Now, did you find him lying on the floor or-"

"Lying on the floor!" she exclaimed. "What do you mean?"

"Go on," Mason said. "Tell me the truth. And don't ever lie to me-don't ever try to lie to me again, Dianne. If you do, I'm going to walk out on you."

She said, "All right, Mr. Mason, I'll tell you the truth. I wanted to tell you the truth all along. I did see him. I knew he was up here at the Restawhile."

"Who told you?"

"This man that told me so much about him. He told me where I could find him. He told me that the only thing to do was to make him give me back the other copy of that contract; that he had deliberately tricked me and that he didn't care a thing in the world about whether I put on one pound or fifty; that all of that stuff about being a model and building up my figure and all that was just so much eyewash, that he would use that contract to get me to go to South America and then suddenly cut me off without any funds and I'd have to.. - to sell myself. He said that as long as Boring had that contract with my name on it, he could ruin my reputation any time he wanted to."

"Did you tell him Boring had terminated that contract?" Mason asked.

"No, because I felt that so-called repudiation was just a part of the plan to get me in his power."

"What time did you see Boring?" Mason asked.

"Just before I came here."

"And did he tear up the contract?"

"He… gave it back to me."

"And then what?"

"Then I walked out."

"How long were you there?"

"The whole thing couldn't have been over five minutes."

"And when you left, what about it?"

"Then I came here."

"How long were you in there?"

"It couldn't have been-not over five minutes."

"You couldn't have been in there fifteen or twenty minutes?"

"Heavens, no, Mr. Mason. I don't think I was in there five minutes. Those things happen awfully fast. I don't think I was in there over two minutes. I just told him that I'd found out about him and found out about that contract and it was all a phony and I wanted to call things off and I wanted him to give me that other copy of the contract back."

"And then what?"

"And then he said that he didn't know who had been talking to me but he had my name on the dotted line and, as he said, he had me sewed up."

"And then what?"

"Mr. Mason, I've been over it. It's just the way I told you. He told me that he had me all sewed up and I told him that I knew he was a big phony, that the whole contract was a phony, that he didn't have any career as a model for me, that he just wanted to get me in his power, and he laughed and said I was in his power, and I told him I wasn't, that if he thought he could make me do anything that wasn't right just because of the money involved, he had two more guesses coming and that I had retained you as my lawyer and then he gave me the contract. That scared him."

Mason said, "Look, Dianne, this can be very, very serious. If you picked up a chair and clubbed him over the head while you were defending yourself, or if you used a weapon or if he tumbled and fell, all you have to do is to say so. You've got a good reputation, you can create a good impression and a jury will believe you. But if you try to tell a lie and get caught, it's going to mean you're going to be convicted of homicide; perhaps manslaughter, perhaps even second-degree murder."

She tried to meet his eyes but failed.

"Dianne," Mason said, "you're lying."

Abruptly she said, "I have to lie, Mr. Mason. The truth is simply too utterly devastating."

Mason said harshly, "You've wasted enough time trying to lie. You can't get away with it, Dianne. You're an amateur. You're not a good enough liar. You haven't had enough practice. Now, tell me the truth before it's too late."

"What do you mean, too late?"

"The police," Mason said. "They may be here any minute. Now, tell me the truth."

"I'm afraid you won't believe me."

"Tell me the truth," Mason said, "and get started- fast!"

"All right," she said, "I went to the motel unit and- well, I was all worked up and excited and indignant and-"

"Never mind all that," Mason said. "What did you do?"

"I went to the door and it was open just an inch or two and I could see a light on inside. I knocked and no one answered so I pushed the door open and-well, there he was, lying on the floor. The place reeked with the smell of whiskey and I thought he was dead drunk."

"You didn't hit him with anything?"

She shook her head vehemently. "Heavens, no! He was lying there. I thought he was drunk and so I looked around to try and find his signed copy of my contract."

"And you found it?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"In a brief case."

"You took it?"

"Yes."

"Then what?"

"I bent over him and it was then I noticed that he was hurt. The whiskey wasn't on his breath, it was on his clothes."

"Then what?"

"I ran out, drove to a phone booth about three blocks clown the street, called the office of the motel, told the woman who answered that the man in Unit Number io had been hurt, and then hung up the phone before she could ask any questions.

"Then I came up here."

"Dianne," Mason said, "you're still lying. You had to make quite a search to find that contract. You found Boring unconscious on the floor. You started looking through his baggage and through his clothes, trying to find that contract. You didn't find it until nearly fifteen minutes had passed, and you found ten thousand dollars in money and you took that along with the contract."

She shook her head. "It was just as I told you. I took the contract. I didn't see any money."

"How long were you in there?"

"I don't think it was two minutes."

"Then why did you try to lie to me at first?"

"I was afraid that- Well, I thought I could escape responsibility by making it seem that he was alive and in good health when I left and… well, you know, we parted friends."

"Did he make passes at you?" Mason asked.

"I tell you, he was unconscious. He was lying on the floor."

Mason said, "You're the damnedest little liar I've ever tried to help. For your information, the police are going to be able to prove that you were in that cabin for nearly fifteen minutes."

"I tell you, I wasn't! I didn't- Oh, Mr. Mason, won't you please believe me? I'm telling you the truth now. I swear to heaven that I am!"

Mason regarded her coldly.

"You're angry with me," she said. "You're not going to represent me. You-"

"I've taken your retainer," Mason said. "I'm going to represent you. Before I get done I'm going to give you a damn good spanking and see if I can whale the truth out of you.

"Now, Della has told you about the background of this thing, about your father being alive?"

She nodded tearfully.

Mason said, "You're in a mix-up and-"

The chimes sounded.

Mason frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then said to Della Street, "See who it is, Della."

Della Street opened the door.

A uniformed officer said, "You'll pardon me, but I want to talk with Miss Dianne Alder."

"What do you want of her?" Mason asked, stepping forward.

"Who are you?" the officer asked.

"I'm Perry Mason. I'm her attorney. I'm representing her on a contract over which there's been a dispute. What do you want of her?"

"We want to question her about a murder."

"Whose murder?"

"Harrison T. Boring. He was fatally injured earlier this evening. We want to ask Dianne Alder if she knows anything that would help us."

"Do you folks think she's in any way responsible?" Mason asked.

"We don't know," the officer said. "We're trying to piece together what did happen."

"And why do you want to talk with Dianne Alder?"

"We have a tip."

"Tips are a dime a dozen," Mason said.

"The chief sent me to bring her down to headquarters to answer questions."

"All right," Mason said, "she isn't going to headquarters. She's upset and nervous and she's had an emotional shock."

"In connection with this case?" the officer asked.

"Don't be silly," Mason said. "The emotional shock was in connection with the loss of a modeling contract which she had expected would lead to movie and television appearances. She's on the verge of hysteria."

The officer hesitated. "That may or may not be significant," he said. "I was sent to bring her in. I-"

"All right," Mason said, "you're not going to bring her in. For the time being she's not going to talk with anyone. She's going to have a strong sedative, and after she gets her emotions under control she'll talk with the chief of police, the prosecuting attorney, or anyone who wants to talk with her. Right now she isn't talklug."

"That's going to put her in rather a peculiar position. It may direct suspicion to her," the officer said.

"Direct suspicion and be damned!" Mason told him. "Do you want to adopt the position that the police force of this city is inhuman enough to question an emotionally upset, half-hysterical woman at a time when she's in such an emotional state she should be under the care of a physician?"

"I'll report to the chief," the officer said. "I don't think he'll like it."

"You do that," Mason told him, "and you can tell the chief personally from me, that Dianne Alder is going to be out of circulation until tomorrow morning. She isn't going to answer questions from the newspapers, from the police, or from anyone until she has her nerves under control and has recovered completely from emotional shock."

"We could take her into custody, you know," the officer said.

"That's your right," Mason told him. "Any time you want to swear out a warrant for her arrest you go right ahead. However, you know and I know that you haven't a scintilla of evidence against her. The only reason that you're here to question her is because you've received an anonymous tip from someone who is trying to add to her troubles. For your information, Officer, this young woman has been the victim of a colossal conspiracy. She's just discovered what has happened and the emotional shock is tremendous.

"If you can assure me that you have one iota of actual evidence against her, we'll try and get a physician to quiet her nerves and then see if we can get a statement from her. But if you are acting on the strength of an anonymous tip telling you to get hold of her and question her, I'm going to tell you that that anonymous tip comes from the same individuals who have been trying to muscle in on this young woman's property rights- individuals who have played fast and loose with her emotions with absolutely no concern for the outcome.

"Now, what do you want to do?"

The officer grinned and said, "I guess you called the turn, Mr. Mason. In view of that attitude we'll wait until she's in condition to be questioned."

The officer indicated the tearful, frightened Dianne Alder. "That is Miss Alder?" he asked.

"That's Miss Aider," Mason said, "and the young woman with her is Della Street, my secretary. I'm Perry Mason, her attorney."

"You'll see she doesn't leave town?" the officer asked.

"I'll be responsible for her," Mason said.

The officer turned to Dianne. "I'm sorry, Miss Alder," he said, and left the room.

Mason said to Della Street, "Get another suite fast, Della. Get Dianne out of here. Stay in that suite with her tonight. We won't let anyone know where she is. I'll close the door to this bedroom and if anyone who calls on me here jumps to the conclusion that you and she are behind that closed bedroom door, I can't help it."

Mason turned to Dianne. "Whatever you do," he said, "don't lie. Tell the absolute truth. When you are feeling better you can tell your story in detail to Della Street, but if the police should try to question you, tell them that you aren't going to make any statement except in the presence of your attorney, and send for me. Do you understand?"

Dianne nodded.

"I understand," Della Street said. "Come on, Dianne, let's go."