The Case of the Glamorous Ghost

Chapter number 3

From a pay station Mason called Paul Drake’s office.

“Drake in?” he asked.

“Is this Mr. Mason?”

“That’s right.”

“Yes, he’s here. I’ll put him on the line.”

A moment later Mason heard Drake’s voice on the line.

“Hello, Paul,” Mason said. “I have a job for you. It’s an emergency.”

“All your jobs are emergencies,” Drake protested. “What is it this time?”

“Been reading the newspapers?”

“I always read the newspapers. It’s part of my job.”

“Have you read about the glamorous ghost of Sierra Vista Park?” Mason asked.

“You mean the nearly nude ghost that was traipsing around the park?”

“That’s the one.”

“Now there’s the kind of an assignment a detective would like to have. If I’d had a pair of night binoculars and had been commissioned to sit out there in the moonlight and...”

“All right, Paul, here is where you go to work. The ghost is really Eleanor Hepner who was Eleanor Corbin. She left her home on the second of the month. Apparently she and Hepner went to Yuma, Arizona, and were married.

“Find out when and where. Get certified copies of the records.

“They were in an auto accident on the road. Get the facts on that. I want to know the name of the other party involved in the accident.

“After they were married, they went to Las Vegas. Cover the hotels and motels. Also I want you to find Hepner. He has a passport. Get what you can from the passport office. I’ll have pictures up at your office within an hour.

“Get some men lined up. Trace Hepner and get a line on what he does, how much dough he has and where he got it.

“On the night of the second he placed a call to his mother in Salt Lake City. That call was put in from a phone booth at a service station on the road to Yuma where they stopped for gas. We don’t know the place; however, figuring they started out with a full tank the place will probably be Indio or near Indio. Cover all calls from there to Salt Lake City on the night of the second.

“Find Hepner’s mother. See if she knows where he is now. Find Hepner. See why he and Eleanor have split up. Get a pipeline into police headquarters, find out all they are finding out about Eleanor and see if they are intending to do anything.

“Don’t waste time on Eleanor. She can’t give us much help at the present time. For your information she’s buried. I have her out of circulation.”

“Okay,” Drake said. “When do you want all this stuff, Perry?”

“Just as soon as you can possibly get it,” the lawyer said and hung up.