The Case of the Singing Skirt

CHAPTER THREE

The Big Barn in Rowena was a two-story frame building, the front of which had been made to resemble the entrance to a barn. Double barn doors were half open. A recessed partition in the back of the doors, which was not over two feet deep but to which the ends of bales of straw had been fastened, created the impression of a huge barn crammed with baled hay.

A motel was operated in connection with the other activities, and a sign at the road blazoned TROUT FISHING POOL. RODS, REELS RENTED. FISH BAIT SOLD. NO LICENSE NECESSARY.

Perry Mason parked his car, assisted Della Street and Ellen Robb to the curb, then walked across to open the door to the night club.

After the bright sunlight of the sidewalks, the interior seemed to be encased in thick gloom. Figures moved around in the shadows.

A man's voice said, "I'm Miles Overton, the chief of police of Rowena. What are you folks doing here?"

Ellen Robb gave a little gasp.

"Where's George Anclitas?" Mason asked.

"Here I am."

George Anclitas pushed his way belligerently forward, his deep-set eyes glittering with hostility at Perry Mason.

Mason's eyes rapidly adjusted themselves to the dim light.

"I'm Perry Mason. I'm an attorney," he said. "I'm representing Ellen Robb. You threw her out of here last night without giving her a chance to get her things. The first thing we want is to get to her locker and get her belongings."

"All right, all right," George said. "You want to go to the locker. The chief of police is here. He'll search the locker."

"Not without a warrant he won't."

"That's what you think," the chief said. "When she opens that door I take a look. George Anclitas owns this place. He's given me permission to search any part of it I want."

"The locker is the property of my client," Mason said.

"She got a deed to it?" George asked.

"It was designated as a place where she could store her things," Mason said.

"While she was working here. She isn't working here any more. I want to take a look in there. I want to see what's in there. I'll bet you I'll find some of the money that's been missing from the cash register."

"You mean," Mason said, "that she would have taken the money from the cash register last night, then gone to her locker, unlocked the locker, opened the door, put the money in there, then closed and locked the door again?"

"Where else would she have put it?" George asked.

Mason regarded his client with twinkling eyes. "There," he said, "you have a point."

"You're damned right I got a point," George said.

"And you don't have a key to the locker?" Mason asked.

"Why should I have a key?"

"I thought perhaps you might have a master key that would open all of the lockers."

"Well, think again."

"You can't get in this locker?"

"Of course not. I gave her the key. She's got it in her purse, that little purse she keeps down in the front of her sweater. I saw her put it there."

"And you have been unable to open her locker?" Mason asked.

"Of course. Sure, that's right. How could I get in? She's got the key."

"Then," Mason said, "how did you expect to get her things out and send them by bus to Phoenix, Arizona?"

George hesitated only a moment, then said, "I was going to get a locksmith."

The police chief said, "Don't talk with him, George. He's just trying to get admissions from you."

"First," Mason said, "I'm going to get my client's things. I'm warning you that any attempt to search her things without a warrant will be considered an illegal invasion of my client's rights. I'm also demanding an apology from Mr. Anclitas because of remarks he has made suggesting that my client is less than honest. Such an apology will not be accepted as compensation by my client, but we are suggesting that it be made in order to mitigate damages."

George started to say something, but the chief of police said, "Take it easy, George. Where's Jebley?"

"That's what I want to know," Anclitas said angrily. "I told my attorney to be here. This tramp is going to show up with an attorney, I'm going to have an attorney. I-"

The door opened. For a moment the light from the sidewalk poured in, silhouetting a thick neck, a pair of football player's shoulders and a shock of curly hair. Then the door closed and the silhouette resolved itself into a man of around thirty-seven with dark-rimmed spectacles, a toothy grin and hard, appraising eyes.

"This," George Anclitas announced, "is Jebley Alton, the city attorney here at Rowena. The city attorney job isn't full time. He takes private clients. I'm one."

George turned to the attorney. "Jeb," he said, "this man is Mason. He says he's a lawyer and-"

Anclitas was interrupted by Alton 's exclamation. "Perry Mason!" he exclaimed.

Mason nodded.

Alton 's hand shot forward. "Well, my gosh," he said, "am I glad to meet you! I've seen you around the Hall of Justice a couple of times and I've followed some of your cases."

Alton 's fingers closed around Mason's hand.

"All right, never mind the brotherly love stuff," George said. "This guy Mason is representing this woman who's trying to blackmail me and-"

"Easy, George, easy," Alton warned. "Take it easy, will you?"

"What do you mean, take it easy? I'm telling you."

Alton said, "This is Perry Mason, one of the most famous criminal lawyers in the country."

"So what?" Anclitas said. "He's representing a broad who's trying to blackmail me. She claims I accused her of being dishonest."

"Oh, George wouldn't have done that," Alton said, smiling at Mason. And then turning to Della Street, bowing, and swinging around to face Ellen Robb, "Well, well," he said, "it's the cigar and cigarette girl."

"That's the one," George said.

"What's the one?"

"The one who's making the trouble. Ellen Robb, here."

The chief of police said, "There's been a program of pilfering going on in the place. George has run up against a whole series of shortages. He's asked me to make an investigation."

Alton 's eyes swept over the chief of police with skeptical appraisal. "The law of searches and seizures is rather technical, Chief," Alton said easily. "Several decisions of the Supreme Court in California and the Supreine Court of the United States haven't simplified matters any. I'll take charge here."

Mason turned to Ellen Robb. "Do you have a key to your locker?"

She nodded.

"Get it," Mason said.

Her hand moved into the front of her sweater, came out with a small coin purse. She opened it, took out a key.

"Let's go," Mason said.

Ellen Robb led the way. Mason and Della Street came next, then the chief of police. George Anclitas, striding forward, was checked by Jebley Alton who, laying a restraining hand on his client's arm, drew him back to one side and engaged in rapid-fire, low-voiced conversation.

Ellen led the way into a room marked Employees, through a curtained doorway which had the word Female painted over the top, and paused before a locker.

"Open it," Mason said.

She fitted a key and opened the locker. In it there was a cheap suitcase, a pair of shoes, a suit and a raincoat.

"These all yours?" Mason asked.

She nodded.

"Do you want to put those things in that suitcase?"

"They came in that way. They can go out that way," she said.

"You have some other things?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"There's a motel unit assigned to us girls. We sleep there. It's a sort of dormitory. Sadie Bradford, another girl and I share the unit. He wouldn't let me get my things out of it last night. I was virtually thrown out."

"Better start packing," Mason said.

She pulled out the suitcase and flung back the lid. "I think Miss Robb would like some privacy while she changes her clothes," Mason said. "My secretary, Miss Street, will wait with her and-"

Mason broke off at the startled exclamation from Ellen Robb.

"What is it?" he asked.

She instinctively started to close the lid of the suitcase, then checked herself.

"Let's take a look," Mason said.

"I'll take a look," the chief of police said, pushing forward.

"What is it, Ellen?"

Ellen Robb reopened the lid, then pulled forward the elastic which held closed one of the compartments in the lining of the suitcase. A wad of currency had been thrust hurriedly into this compartment.

"I'll take that into my custody," the chief of police said.

Mason moved so that he interposed a shoulder between the officer and the suitcase. "We'll count it," he said.

Ellen Robb glanced at him in questioning panic, then with trembling fingers counted the money. "Five hundred and sixty-eight dollars," she said.

"Good," Mason told her. "We'll give George credit for that on the amount of back wages due and our claims against him for defamation of character."

George, who had quietly entered the room with Alton at his side, started to say something, but just then the curtained doorway was flung back with such violence cloth was almost ripped from the guide rings on the overhead pole. A woman's voice said angrily, "Defamation of character, indeed! That's a laugh-pot calling the kettle black, I'd say!"

Her eyes blazed hatred at Ellen, then she turned back to George.

"But I didn't come here to see that husband stealer, I came to see you. Just what do you think you're doing to my husband?"

"Why Mrs. Ellis!" George said, stepping forward and smiling cordially. "This is-that is-we aren't really open for business yet. I had some people come in and- Come on with me and I'll buy a drink."

She ignored the man's proffered hand, said furiously, "You've been trimming my husband in a crooked game here and I am tired of it. He tells me you took him for six thousand dollars last night. We don't have that kind of money to lose, and I'm not going to let you make a sucker out of my husband. I want the money back."

"You want it back!" George said incredulously.

"That's right, you heard me. I want it back."

George said soothingly, "Your husband was in a little private game last night, Mrs. Ellis. I don't know how he came out. I believe that perhaps he did lose a little, but I haven't tried to figure up just how much. I can assure you that the game was on the up and up. I was in it myself. If we gambled with people at night, let them take a chance on winning the place, and then, if they weren't lucky, gave them back the money they had lost the next morning, it wouldn't be very long before I'd be selling apples on the street corner."

He laughed at the idea, his mouth making the laughter, his eyes anxiously watching her, appraising her mood.

"As far as I'm concerned, that's exactly where you belong," Mrs. Ellis said. "I want our money back. That's money my husband earned, and I have other uses for it than giving it to you. I'm not going to let you cheap crooks rob us of that money and get away with it."

The chief of police said, "I hope I don't have to take you into custody for disturbing the peace, Mrs. Ellis. If you continue to make abusive statements of that sort in public, I'll have to take action."

"You!" she snapped at him. "You fatheaded nincompoop! You're just a shill for these gambling houses. George Anclitas has you right in his hip pocket. You don't dare to hiccup unless he gives you permission. Don't tell me what I can do and what I can't do!"

"You're using loud and profane language in a public place," the chief said.

"I haven't moved into profanity yet," she told him, "but I'm getting ready to, and when I do, I'm going to have some very biting adjectives and a few nouns that may startle you… you-"

"Just a minute," Mason interposed. "Perhaps I can be of some help here."

"And who are you?" Mrs. Ellis demanded, turning to regard Perry Mason belligerently. "You… I've seen your pictures… why, you're Perry Mason!"

Mason bowed, said, "I think it might be better to control your temper, Mrs. Ellis. Apparently you aren't going to get anywhere making a personal demand, and I think perhaps a written demand made in a more formal manner through an attorney would do you more good."

"What are you talking about, through an attorney?" George said scornfully. "You know as well as I do that when a guy loses money gambling he can't get it back."

"Can't he?" Mason asked.

George laughed sardonically. "You're damned right he can't. Even if the game was crooked, he can't. He was engaging in an illegal activity and-"

"Careful," Jebley Alton interposed. "Let us put it this way, George. There are certain contracts that are against public policy as far as the law is concerned. It's against the policy of the law to raise those activities to the dignity of legitimate business enterprises. Therefore, the courts are not open to persons who have participated in those activities."

"Never mind all that double talk," George said. "Let's give it to her straight from the shoulder. Tell her she can't get a dime back."

"That's right, Mrs. Ellis," Alton said with his toothy smile. "You can readily understand how things are in that regard. A man can't sit in on a game at night, trying to win money, and then come back the next day and say that the activity was illegal and that he wants the money back that he's lost. If he could do that, he'd keep all of his winnings and then whenever he'd lost he'd recoup his losses. Now, George is in a legitimate business and-"

"And they've rigged up a deal on my husband," she said. "They had already got him for something over four thousand dollars. I was willing to let that ride. He promised me that he wouldn't do any more gambling, but they started in easy last night and lured him into the game. Then they started to take him. He thought his luck was bound to turn and stayed with it and-"

"And there you are," Alton said, shrugging his shoulders. "He was trying to win. If he had won, he'd have pocketed his winnings and both of you would have been very satisfied this morning. But he didn't win, so-"

"So I want my money back," she said. "The game was crooked."

"You can prove that?" George asked ominously.

"I don't need to prove it," she said. "You know it was crooked. Everybody here knows it was crooked. You aren't running this place on the square. Don't be silly."

"Those are words that would lay you wide open to a claim for damages," George said. "I suggest you be more careful, Mrs. Ellis."

"All right," she said, raising her voice. "All I know is that my husband has lost something like ten thousand dollars here within the last few weeks and I'm not going to stand by and see him robbed. Now, are you going to give him his money back or-"

"Definitely, absolutely, positively not!" George Anclitas interrupted firmly. "Your husband doesn't get back a nickel, and in view of what you've just said and the scene you've created here, he doesn't even get back inside this place. I'm leaving orders with the doorman not to admit him. If you'd come to me like a lady and told me that you didn't want your husband gambling here, he couldn't have got in last night. But you never said a word about it. He came and went just like any other man and he gambled. He's a good poker player. He knows what he's doing but he just happened to have a run of bad luck last night. That's all there was to it.

"However, now you've said you don't want him gambling here, that's good enough for me. We won't ever let him sit in another game."

Jepley Alton said, "I think that's fair enough, Mrs. Ellis. If you didn't want your husband gambling, I'm quite certain that George wouldn't have wanted him sitting in on the games. I don't think you ever said a word to George about not wanting Helly to gamble. After all, he's been trying his best to win. You don't have any legal recourse and-"

She whirled to Perry Mason. "Will you take my case against this crooked outfit?"

Mason smiled and shook his head. "That's not in my line," he said, "and I'm pretty well tied up with cases right at the moment. However, I suggest you do get an attorney."

"What are you trying to tell her?" Jebley Alton asked scornfully. "You know that an attorney wouldn't do her any good. A man can't recover money he's lost in gambling. That's one of the most elemental features of the law."

"That's right, Jeb," George said. "Make this guy put up or shut up. It's easy for him to say a lawyer can get the money back, but he don't dare to back up his words. Now, go ahead and pin him down if he thinks he's so damned smart. Personally, I'd like to hear how some smart lawyer can get gambling losses refunded."

"Do you have a pen and notebook handy?" Mason asked Mrs. Ellis.

She looked puzzled for a moment, then said, "Yes, there's one in my purse."

"Take this down," Mason said. "You can tell your attorney about it, and you, Mr. Alton, might like to look up some law on the subject."

"I've looked it up," Alton said. "What kind of a run-around are you trying to give us? Ellis can't sit in a game trying to win and then come back and recover the money he lost."

Mason said, "Mrs. Ellis, if you'll just take down this citation to give to your attorney when you call on him, it may make a little difference.

"You see, Mrs. Ellis, there's a peculiar situation in the law of California. Ordinarily, gambling debts cannot be recovered, and since the gambling activity is against public policy, the courts leave the parties in the same status where they find them.

"However, as your attorney will tell you, in California where we have community property-that is, property which is acquired after marriage as the result of the joint efforts of the husband and wife-the husband has the care and management of the community property. In business transactions it is presumed that his judgment is binding upon the wife. But he does not have authority to give away the property of the community or to squander it without a consideration.

"So in a case where your husband lost community property gambling, you may well be able to recover it."

"What are you telling her?" Alton asked angrily.

"I'm telling her," Mason said, "to make a note of a most interesting case, the case of Novo versus Hotel Del Rio, decided May 4, 1956, and reported in 141 C.A. 2nd at page 304. It's in 295 Pac. 2nd 576. In that case it was held that a husband has no right to gamble with the community property. His action is not binding on the wife. She can follow the community funds and recover them from the gambler who won them."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jebley Alton said. "A decision like that… why, that would put gambling out of business."

"I suggest you look up the decision," Mason said. "It's an interesting law point. It may well put certain types of gambling out of business."

"What were those figures again?" Mrs. Ellis asked.

" 141 C.A. 2nd 304," Mason said, "295 Pac. 2nd 576. Ask your lawyer to look up the decision."

Mason turned to George Anclitas. "I'll be in touch with your attorney about Miss Robb's claim for damages on defamation of character and on being discharged without cause, on being thrown out with only the sheerest of garments to cover her body.

"And as far as you're concerned, Mrs. Ellis, I would suggest that you get an attorney, preferably someone who is not living in Rowena and dependent on the local political machine for any favors."

Mrs. Ellis said with feeling, "If that's the law, if wives can get back what their husbands lose in these joints, there's going to be a cleanup in Rowena. I know a dozen women who are fighting mad over the way this thing's been run and the way their bank accounts melt away only to reappear in the hands of these men who run dives of this sort."

"It's a thought," Mason said. "The situation has very great possibilities, and that decision of the court may have far-reaching repercussions. Perhaps your attorney would like to appear before one of the local women's clubs and give a talk on California law and the management of community property."

Mrs. Ellis said, "I'm tremendously indebted to you, Mr. Mason."

"Not at all," Mason said.

"This guy's nuts," George Anclitas said to Mrs. Ellis. "I don't know what his idea is in filling you up with this stuff but I know what the law is. I've been in the gambling business for a long time and… "

His voice trailed away into silence as he got a look at Jebley Alton's face.

"What the hell, Jeb!" he said. "You don't think there's anything to that cock-and-bull theory, do you? I know what the law is in regard to gambling."

Jebley Alton said thoughtfully, "Apparently this case was decided in regard to community property. It may be there's a quirk in the law that-I'll go up to the office and look up the decision."

"You do that," Mason said, smiling. "It is a very interesting case."

George turned to Mrs. Ellis. "Now, you look here, Mrs. Ellis," he said, "you and I aren't going to get at loggerheads with each other. My attorney's going to look up that decision. There's no need for you to go getting a lawyer and you don't need to bring anyone in to make any talk before any women's club. That stuff is for the birds."

Mrs. Ellis laughed throatily. "What a wonderful coincidence," she said. "It happens that I'm in charge of the entertainment program for the next three months at the Rowena Women's Club. We have a regular monthly meeting about ten days from now, and I was wracking my brains, trying to think of some really entertaining program that would be of universal interest.

"This is a program that will bring everyone out. There must be dozens of women here who will want to learn about the law of community property as it relates to gambling."

"And now," Mason said, bowing to George Anclitas and his openmouthed attorney, "I think we'll go out to the car, Della, and let our client finish dressing. She can pack her things and leave here at her convenience."

Mason turned to Ellen Robb. "I'm quite satisfied you won't have any more trouble, Miss Robb."

"What about this money?" she asked, pointing to the money in the suitcase.

"Remember the amount," Mason said. "Give George credit for that as payment on account. Go to a hotel, get a room, and let me know where you are."

"They'll arrest me the minute you leave here," she said.

"I don't think so," Mason replied, smiling. "I think they'll treat you with every consideration."

Mason turned so that the others could not see him and gently closed his right eye. "As it happens, Miss Robb, I am primarily interested in the better administration of justice and don't care particularly about fees. I hate to see people pushed around just because they don't have political influence. In case you want to make some settlement with George Anclitas on your own, it's quite all right with me. Just make any kind of a deal you think is fair and don't worry about my fee. There will be no charges.

"If, on the other hand, the slightest indignity is offered you or any threats are made, don't fail to call me at my office."

Jebley Alton said, "I don't know what you mean by a settlement. As far as Ellen Robb is concerned, she's getting out pretty easy if she keeps that money and-"

"You get the hell back up to your office," George Anclitas interrupted, "and look up that damned decision. If that thing says what Mason says it says, there are certain things we've got to do-fast."

"It is," Mason said, "a decision which presents an interesting problem to you people who are making a living out of gambling."

Mason extended his arm to Della Street and together they left The Big Barn.

Mason held the car door open for Della, then walked around and got in behind the wheel.

The lawyer was chuckling as they drove out of Rowena.

"Chief," Della Street said in an awed tone, "does that case of Novo versus Hotel Del Rio lay down the law that you said it did?"

Mason smiled. "Look it up when you get back to the office, Della. The doctrine laid down may be limited in future cases, but in that case the court said very plainly that transfer by a husband of community funds in payment of a gambling debt was within the meaning of the law a transfer without the consent of the wife and without the receipt of any valuable consideration by the husband. It's quite a decision.

"I can imagine that when some attorney delivers a talk on the law of community property to the housewives of Rowena and reads this decision, the meeting will be very, very well attended."

"And you deliberately walked off and left Ellen Robb there so that George could make a settlement with her?"

"I thought perhaps under the circumstances he might have a change of heart. You know, Della, I wouldn't be too surprised if he didn't also reach some sort of an understanding with Mrs. Ellis.

"I think on the whole it's been a rather unprofitable morning for George Anclitas."

"Well," Della Street sighed, "you can't say he's the only one. We've lost half a day from the office, given some attorney a whole lot of fees on a silver platter, making him the fair-haired boy child for the women of Rowena. We've thrown any fee in the Robb case out of the window, in addition to gasoline and mileage on the car."

"I know," Mason said, "but think of the enjoyable morning, the sunshine, the fresh air, the scenery."

"Particularly the scenery," Della Street said sweetly.

"Yes, indeed, the scenery," Mason agreed. "And somehow, Della, I have an idea we'll receive a phone call from Ellen Robb shortly after we get back to our office."

"Wanting to know about what to settle for?"

"Something like that," Mason said.

"What should she settle for?"

"About anything she can get," Mason said. "I think George Anclitas has learned his lesson. I think Ellen Robb has been fairly well compensated for whatever inconvenience was caused her by being thrown out clad in nothing much but a sweater and stockings."

"She doesn't mind that," Della Street said. "She's accustomed to appearing in public with nothing much on. She likes it."

"Tut, tut," Mason said, "don't sell our client short."

"If it had been a man," Della Street asked, "would you have done as much in the interests of justice?"

Mason thought for a moment, then met her eyes. "Hell no," he admitted.

"Leotards," Della said somewhat wistfully, "are hardly suited for office wear, but they certainly can do things for a girl."

"They certainly can," Mason agreed.