The Case of the Phantom Fortune

Chapter 7

It was shortly before five o'clock that the telephone rang and Della Street, picking up the instrument, said,"Yes, Gertie," then suddenly puckered her face in a frown. "Youknow I don't take personal calls here, Gertie -Just a minute."

Della Street put her palm over the transmitter, turnedto Mason and said, "Some woman who refuses to give her name states thatshe wants to talk with me about Judson Olney What do I do?"

Mason picked up his own telephone,said, "Gertie, put me in on Della Street's call but don't say anything about mybeing on the line."

"Okay, Gertie," Della Street said, "I'll take the call."

Mason, listening in, heard afeminine voice, harsh with emotion. "Look here, Miss Della Street, I want to know what you think you'retrying to get away with. For your information, I looked up the passenger liston the Queen of Jamaica at the time Judson Olney made the trip, and you weren'tlisted as a passenger. I thought the whole thing was phoney when I first heardthe story.

"Now, I want to know just whatyou you're trying to pull.

"Don't think you can get awaywith any fast one as far as my man is concerned. I'm the kind to light, andwhen I fight I fight dirty. Now, will you kindly tell me just what this is allabout?"

Mason motioned to Della Street to hang up the phone, and then hung upsimultaneously with her.

"Well," Della Street said, "that's another complication.Good heavens, Chief, she was certainly boiling mad."

Mason said, "That's the troublewith letting an amateur write a script and then trying to act it out. Who doyou suppose that was, Della?"

"I would say it was eitherRosalie Harvey or Adelle Chester. I couldn't recognize the voice."

Mason said, "Well, the fat's inthe fire. Someone went to the trouble to check on the passenger list when Olneymade that cruise. Amateur liars are always amateurish, Della. We let them writethe script. We shouldn't have done it."

"Now we're in a spot where…"

Gertie, the receptionist, appearedin the doorway to the inner office. "A Mr George P Barrington is waitingto see you, Mr Mason. He says he has to see you on a matter of the greatestimportance and I think he's all worked up about something.

"He said to tell you that hemet you at Mr Warren's."

Mason exchanged glances with Della Street.

"I came in personally,"she said, "because he's trying to pump me."

"In what way?" Masonasked.

"He's asking me about Della Street, about where she goes on her vacations, andif I remember the time she went to the Caribbean."

Mason said to Della Street, "Go in the law library, Della. Go outthrough the door from the law library and go home. I'll talk with Barrington alone. I think perhaps he said he wascalling to see me but he actually wants to talk with you. If he wants to talkwith you it'll be about that confounded Caribbean cruise … Why in hell can't clients bebetter liars?"

"He's nice," Della Street said.

"He may be nice," Masonpointed out, "but he fell for you like a ton of bricks and he had a youngwoman with him who seemed to be bored with it all but who was seething inside.She's probably told him you never were on that cruise with Judson Olney."

Mason said to Gertie, "Keep himwaiting about thirty seconds, Gertie. Don't let him inveigle you intoconversation about anything or anybody. As soon as Della gets out through thelaw library, I'll give the phone a jiggle and you can send him in."

"Yes, Mr Mason," Gertiesaid, her eyes big and round, looking from one to the other. Then, ratherreluctantly, she left for the outer office.

"Now you've done it," Della Street said. "Gertie loves mysteries. Shelikes to take a button and sew a vest on it. She'll work out some deep, darkintrigue that – "

Mason motioned toward the lawlibrary. "On your way," he said. "I'm going to tell MrBarrington you've gone home for the evening, and when I tell a lie i like tohave it the truth."

"On my way," Della Street said, grabbing her purse, pausing for aswift look in the mirror, then vanishing through the door to the law library.

Mason waited a few seconds, thenpicked up the telephone and said, "Okay, Gertie."

A moment later George P Barringtoncame hurrying into the office.

"Hello, Mr Mason," hesaid. "Nice of you to see me without an appointment. I am a littleconcerned about something that happened this afternoon."

"Yes?" Mason asked.

"Your secretary, is shehere?"

"She's left for the day,"Mason said.

"I received an anonymoustelephone call that bothered me a lot."

"Who called?" Mason asked.

"I don't know."

"Man or woman?"

"I can't even tell you that forsure, but I think it was a woman trying to make her voice deep … well,disguised."

"Recognize who was talking fromthe spacing of the words, or any little trick of expression?" Mason asked.

"No …Why?"

"I was just wondering,"Mason said. "What was the purpose of the call?"

"The purpose of the call was totell me that your presence at the gathering last night was in a purelyprofessional capacity, that Horace Warren had arranged for you to be there tokeep an eye on me, that Judson Olney hadn't been on any boat trip with DellaStreet and hadn't known her until a short time prior to that party."

"Well," Mason said,"that's very considerate of the young woman, isn't it? And just why wouldI be retained to keep an eye on you?"

"That was what I hoped youwould tell me," Barrington said.

"I can't tell you something Idon't know, and I can't waste my time answering anonymous telephoneaccusations."

"I hoped that you would saythat my informant was entirely in error, that you were there purely in a socialcapacity, and that Miss Street did know Judson Olney and had known him for some time."

"And that would have relievedyour mind?" Mason said.

"Frankly, it would."

"May I ask why?"

"Well," Barrington said, "I haven't related all of theconversation."

"Perhaps you'd better relate itall then."

"The person at the other end ofthe telephone rather intimated that Warren felt I had been on terms of intimacy withhis wife and that he was contemplating filing a divorce action."

"Under thosecircumstances," Mason said, "it would seem there was only one thingfor you to do."

"What?"

"Contact Horace Warren and askhim frankly."

"The devil of it is," Barrington said, "I – Well, my skirts aren'tentirely clean in the matter. I got mixed up in something that bothers me and Iwanted to put the cards on the table with you, Mr Mason.

"If there's anything to thispreposterous story and if Horace Warren has any idea I've been involved withhis wife in any way, I would – Well, it would be disastrous."

"But there is something youwant to tell me?" Mason asked.

"Well, yes, although I camehere to question you. You've managed to turn the tables on me."

"You wanted to tell mesomething," Mason reminded him.

"No, I didn't want to, I didn'tintend to."

"But," Mason said,smiling, "you're going to, now. You've gone too far to stop now."

Barrington cleared his throat, shifted his position,said, "I've known Horace Warren for some time. I've been at his house twoor three times, but we've never contemplated doing any business – that is,until recently."

Mason nodded.

"I got to know his wife, Lorna,and of course I got to know Judson Olney.

"About two months ago Olneycame to me and asked me if I would ascertain what certain unlisted securitieswere worth. He thought I was in a better position to find out than he was, andI'm quite certain I was. It was a company that was operating in territory withwhich I was familiar and near which I had some holdings. So I made a quietinvestigation and found that while the securities had no presently listedmarket value, there was a very high speculative value, and that a good fairaverage price would be around seventeen thousand dollars."

"And you so reported toOlney?"

"Yes."

"Then what happened?"

"Olney thanked me and I heardnothing more of it for a while. Then about two weeks ago Olney came to me andasked me if I could arrange to turn those securities into cash for him.

"I was instantly a littlesuspicious and asked him if they were his securities and if so, how he hadsecured them. He laughed and told me they were actually the securities of MrsWarren, that they represented some wildcat investment she had made, that her husbanddidn't like to have her making wildcat investments, but that she was always apushover for oil developments where there was a chance to make a big killing,even if the chance was only one in a hundred thousand.

"He said that Mrs Warren nowfound herself in a position where she wanted some money and didn't want herhusband to know it. Therefore she wanted to sell some of her securities, onesthat he didn't know she had."

"So what did you do?"

"I told Olney that I'd see whatI could do. I told him I'd be willing to write my cheque for seventeen thousanddollars but if I had the securities transferred to my name I might do evenbetter than that."

"So what did you do?"

"I had the securitiestransferred to my name and of course that started speculation on the part ofother stockholders in the company who knew about the transfer. The fact that Iwas buying in the company made them think that they had an even better chanceat success than they had realized."

"You sold the securities?"Mason asked.

"I sold them and got thewonderful price of twenty-eight thousand dollars."

"And what did you do with themoney?"

"Now, there is the thing thatbothers me," Barrington said. "At Olney's request I got this money in the form of cash -twenty, fifty, and one-hundred dollar bills – and turned over the cash tohim."

"Did you take any steps to findout that the cash went to Mrs Warren eventually?"

"Oh, yes. I was not thatstupid, Mason. At a luncheon when I met her I asked her about it."

"Now, did you ask herspecifically, 'Did you get the specific sum that I turned over?' or -"

"No, no, I didn't go intodetails. I simply told her that I felt I had secured a good price for hersecurities, and she told me that it was wonderful, that it was more than shehad expected and that she had made a very handsome profit on the transaction,and thanked me very sweetly."

"Did she ask you not to sayanything about it?"

"Actually she did. Not exactlyin those words, but she told me that she couldn't ask her husband to handle thetransaction because this was a speculation she had made on the side and shedidn't think her husband would approve of it. She told me he didn't like hergoing into those highly speculative investments, or something of thatsort."

"And now something has happenedto make you suspicious?" Mason asked.

"Well, that phone call andOlney pulling that business about being such an old friend of your secretaryand, through Miss Street, having you present at – Well, I just want to knowstraight out, Mason, is your connection with Warren a business connection, andif so, is there any possibility of… well, a divorce, and could I becomeinvolved in any way?"

Mason said, "You're abusinessman, Barrington. A moment's reflection would convince you that you are coming to thewrong place to ask those questions."

"What do you mean?"

"An attorney couldn't tell youanything about his clients or about his clients' business. If you feel thatHorace Warren is contemplating any legal action involving his wife, and thatyou might be dragged into it, the thing to do is to go to Horace Warren and askhim in so many words if he is contemplating any such action."

"And the minute I do that I letthe cat out of the bag."

"Exactly," Mason said.

"I – Well, frankly, I'mworried, Mason. I can't go to Warren, you know that."

"And you know that I can't tellyou what you want to know."

"Well, I was hoping youcould."

"If I had been employed by Warren in a business relationship and Warren wanted to conceal the fact that it was abusiness relationship, I would hardly be in a position to blab the informationto the first friend of Warren's who came to me and asked me."

"I'm not asking you to do that.I'm asking you to tell me whether… well, whether I'm in any sort of troubleover what I've done."

"I wouldn't think so,"Mason said. "What you have done seems to me to have been open and aboveboard, and if the circumstances are exactly as you related them to me, I can'tsee where anyone could take offense."

Barrington's face lit up. "Thank you very much,Mason," he said. "Thank you very much indeed. I realize that you'rein a position where you can't tip your hand."

"I can't even tell you whethermy presence at that party was purely social or business," Mason said."I can only assure you that Judson Olney came to this office to see Della Street, and told me the same story about thevacation trip, et cetera, that he subsequently told the others."

"Then there was no businessconnection, no significance connected with -"

"Now, just a minute,"Mason said. "I don't want you to put words in my mouth. I told you thatOlney came to this office to see Miss Street. That subsequently he told me this samestory."

"All right, all right. I guesssomebody has been trying to make trouble."

"Any idea who it couldbe?" Mason asked.

"Well," Barrington said, "I think it was a woman. I thinkthe attempt at disguising the voice was rather crude."

"Any idea what woman?"

"Oh, a person always hasideas," Barrington said, making a gesture with his hand, "but those ideas don'tnecessarily mean anything. As you attorneys say, it takes evidence, and Iwouldn't want to make any accusation, not even an intimation, withoutevidence."

"In other words," Masonsaid, "it's now your turn to be cagey"

Barrington got to his feet. "Thank you very muchfor seeing me, Mr Mason. I am sorry that I got all worked up about this."

"Not at all," Mason said.

"And you will regard my visitas confidential?"

Mason said, "From a socialstandpoint, what you have told me is confidential. From a business standpoint,I am representing clients. I have to represent those clients, and from time totime i have to give them whatever information I have uncovered."

"Now, wait a minute," Barrington said. "I didn't tell you this with theidea that you'd pass it on to any of your clients."

"Then you shouldn't have toldme," Mason said. "An attorney is the representative of his clients.He is their agent. He has to play fair with them."

"Well – Oh, all right," Barrington said. "I've come to you and put mycards on the table and I'm going to leave it that way I trust your discretionand … well, somehow I have an idea that you won't betray my confidence unlessit's necessary. Good afternoon, Mr Mason."

"Good afternoon," Masontold him gravely. Mason looked in the outer reception room, found that Gertiehad gone home. He closed up the office and stopped by Paul Drake's office onthe way to the elevator.

"Paul Drake in?" Masonasked the receptionist, who was busy at the telephone.

She nodded, gestured toward thewooden gate which led to a corridor and kept talking on the telephone.

Mason worked the concealed latch onthe wooden gate, walked down the long corridor with the rows of littlecubbyhole offices on each side where operatives could interview clients orwitnesses, and came to Paul Drake's office at the end of the corridor.

The office was barely large enoughfor Drake's desk and chair, two clients' chairs and a wastebasket. There werefour telephones on Drake's desk and he was talking on one of them.

He nodded to Mason, motioned for himto sit down, and said into the telephone, "All right, see what you canfind out but don't tip your hand any more than you have to. Handle it in relaysand see if you can find who else is on the job … I know it's difficult but dothe best you can."

Drake hung up and said to Mason,"I presume you want to know if we learned anything about the man who wasin your office."

"That's right," Masonsaid.

Drake grinned. "That guy iswearing tails like Halley's Comet."

"What do you mean?" Masonasked.

"Well," Drake said,"in the first place he was wearing a rough shadow. And on a job of anyreal importance that means at least two smooth shadows and sometimes as many asfive."

"Did your man spot the smoothshadows?"

"My men" Drake said."I put two on, with instructions to relay and telephone in information soI could be advised … I can tell you this, Perry. He knows he's beingshadowed, and I think he knows that my men joined in the procession, although Ican't be sure because we just have to guess at those things. But he sure ashell knows there's a rough shadow on the job."

"Yes, I know he does,"Mason said. "He's staying at a little hotel here, the Exman Hotel. That'sa little building they haven't got around to tearing down yet. It's sandwichedin between a couple of old-timers and the whole place is just waiting forsomeone to come along with a modem office building and tear the whole blockdown. In the meantime this Exman Hotel makes a specialty of cheap rooms."

"How's he registered?"Mason asked.

"Under the name of Newton, which I doubt very much is his realname."

"He went directly there from myoffice?"

"Led the whole procession ofshadows directly there," Drake said. "He knows of at least one shadowbut he isn't trying to ditch anybody."

Mason said, "Paul, when itcomes to dealing with a blackmailer, I'm ruthless."

"Who isn't?" Drake asked.

Mason said, "I would do thingsthat might be considered unethical if one looked at them in the cold light ofbusiness ethics."

"In dealing with a blackmailerone has to be unethical," Drake said.

Mason said, "For yourinformation, this man's name is Collister Damon Gideon, he's a blackmailer andhe's clever. Since he's just out of federal prison, he's in a vulnerableposition. If it weren't for that, he'd have me crucified. I've got to run abluff on him, but I have to play my cards as if I were holding four aces."

"Who's he blackmailing?"

"Me."

"You!" Drake said insurprise.

"That's right."

"What in the world does he haveon you, Perry?"

"He doesn't have anything onme," Mason said, "but he could make an embarrassing situation bycontinuing to come to my office."

"Oh-oh," Drake said."That accounts for it. The government detectives will think some client ofyours will lead them to the hidden money."

"Exactly," Mason said."They are naturally quite interested in all the people on whom Gideoncalls."

"So he has called on you, andnow you're a focal point of government interest."

"Perhaps not yet," Masonsaid, "but if he makes repeated calls I certainly will be. It's quitepossible the government will feel that I am acting as the go-between."

Drake frowned. "He's in aposition to put you in one hell of a spot, Perry."

Mason nodded.

"And," Drake went on,"there's not one damned thing you can do about it. If he just wants tokeep calling at your office, you can't very well stop him unless you want tomake a complaint that he's attempting blackmail, and you're not in a positionto do that – not if you want to protect your clients."

"That's why I said, Paul, thatin dealing with a blackmailer one uses any weapon one can."

"You have some weapon inmind?" Drake asked. Mason nodded. "You can get the original mug shotson Gideon?"

"Sure. They're in the policefiles."

"And you can get anartist," Mason said.

"An artist?" Drake asked.

"A police artist," Masonsaid. "Then get some of these police forms that they use in makingcomposite sketches of criminals. I want a couple of real good sketches ofGideon which look pretty much like him, but I want them made in the relativelycrude manner that characterizes the sketches made from the descriptions ofeyewitnesses. You know how these police composite pictures are put together.Get a police artist to sketch a picture of Gideon from his mug shot so it willunmistakably be Gideon, or that is, have an unmistakable resemblance toGideon."

"And then what?" Drakeasked.

"Then," Mason said,"I'm going to give him an opportunity to get away from his shadows – boththe rough shadows and the smooth shadows, so he'll be on his own."

"How are you going to dothat?"

"It'll take money," Masonsaid. "I'm going to give him money."

"Once you start giving himmoney it's a one-way street," Drake said. "It's like pouring it downa rat hole."

Mason shook his head and smiled."Then when Gideon has shaken the shadows he's automatically removed anypossible alibi he may have."

"And then?"

"Then," Mason said,"I'm going to flash this sketch on him and tell him that's a sketch madeby a police artist from the description of an eyewitness to a hold-up or murderor some crime that he will have read about in the papers."

"He'll know you're framinghim," Drake said.

"He may know it but there's nota damned thing he can do about it," Mason said. "The weak point inthe armour of a crook who has been convicted is the fact that his priorconviction can be brought out to impeach his testimony in the event he tries todeny committing the crime."

"But," Drake protested,"if he checks with police he'll find out that the sketch is purely asynthetic bit of evidence, that the police don't have that sketch in theirfiles and -"

"A blackmailer, an ex-crook whohas been to a lot of trouble to ditch the shadows, going to the police andasking to please inspect their files?" Mason asked.

Drake thought for a minute, thenbroke out laughing. "All right," he said, "you win."

"I haven't won yet," Masonsaid, "but I'm going to take that smooth, suave Gideon and jar him back onhis heels. I told him that when it came to dealing with blackmailers I wascompletely ruthless."

"Even so, you wouldn't frame aman for a crime he didn't commit," Drake said.

"I'm not talking aboutthat," Mason said. "I'm talking about making him think I'm framinghim for a crime that will either put him in the gas chamber or send him back toprison for life. When you start dealing with a blackmailer, Paul, there's onlyone thing to do and that's take the offensive."

"Okay," Drake said."How strong do you want me to go with these shadows?"

"Keep the shadows on him,"Mason said. "Get that mug shot, get the artist, and make me somepolice-type sketches of Gideon."

"Okay," Drake said,"will do."