The lawyer broke off as Paul Drake’s code knock sounded on the door.
Mason nodded to Della Street, who opened the door.
Paul Drake, tall, loose-jointed, deceptively mild of manner, gave a comprehensive grin by way of greeting.
Mason said, “Paul, this is Daphne Shelby. Sit down while I find out just what has happened. After I get this information from Daphne, we’ll make plans, but right now getting this information is too important to justify any interruption.”
Mason turned back to Daphne. “Tell me what happened when you went to the house,” he said.
“Well, of course,” she said, “I was worried and I was in a hurry to see Uncle Horace, so I didn’t wait for anything but just used my latchkey and ran right in and yelled, ‘Whoooo-hoooo! Here I am!”
“No one answered. I looked right away into the room Uncle Horace has and it was vacant, both his study and his bedroom. So then I ran up to my room and my room was locked.”
“You had a key to it?” Mason asked.
“Heavens, no. When I left there was a key on the inside of the bedroom door, but I never kept it locked.”
“But it was locked just now?” Mason asked.
“That’s right. So I went looking for Uncle Borden or Ralph Exeter or Aunt Elinor or somebody.”
“And who did you see?”
“Aunt Elinor.”
“And what happened?”
“Aunt Elinor smiled and said, ‘Oh, hello, Daphne. Did you have a good trip?’ And I said, ‘Yes. What happened? Where’s Uncle Horace?’ And she said, ‘Your Uncle Horace had to be taken away. He’s in a home where he’ll be given the best of care. And we suppose you, of course, will want to move out just as soon as you can get your things together.’
“So, then she smiled at me, a cold, frosty smile, and said, ‘We’ve locked up your bedroom so that your things will be safe. We’d like to have you out by tomorrow night because Borden is figuring on renting the house furnished. It will bring in a very tidy sum.’ ”
“Go on,” Mason said.
“Well, I just looked at her in consternation and said, “Why, this is my home. It’s been my home ever since I was a baby. I’m certainly not going to move out. I’m going to see Uncle Horace and find out what this is all about.”
“Then suddenly Aunt Elinor got hard. I’d never seen her get hard before. She was just like cold granite. She said, ‘Indeed, you’re not going to stay here, young lady! You’ve sponged off your uncle long enough.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean, I’ve sponged off him? I’ve been taking care of him and getting all rundown doing it. Why you, yourself, told me that I had been working too hard and I needed to take a three months vacation.’ ”
“What did she say to that?” Mason asked.
“She said that she had found out a lot of things about me since I had left and that her husband had been appointed conservator of Horace Shelby’s property and he certainly intended to conserve the property and keep it from being wasted and dissipated, or given to shrewd and designing persons. She said that she had evidence I was intending to play Uncle Horace for a good thing and get all of his money and that I had been too greedy even to wait for his death, but had been milking him right along and that his housekeeper, prior to her death, had been milking him and I had been standing in with her and helping her do it.”
“Then what?”
“By that time I was in tears. I guess I just made a horrible scene. I couldn’t stand up to her and I couldn’t listen to those awful things she was saying. I turned and ran out of the house and she called after me that I had until tomorrow night to move my things out of the house. Otherwise, she would move them herself.”
“And then?”
“I’m afraid I was hysterical. I— All I could think of was getting to you just as fast as I could, because.... because something horrible has happened.
“I know now that they are just schemers, that they moved in on Uncle Horace, took advantage of his generosity and good nature and got me out of the place on the pretext that I needed a rest and a vacation and then, just as soon as I was gone, they ganged up on Uncle Horace in such a way that they irritated him past all endurance. And Uncle Horace, of course, knowing that I needed a rest and a vacation, thought too much of me to tell me anything about it in his letters, but tried to act as though nothing was happening.”
Mason frowned thoughtfully and said, “The fact that your uncle sent you that check indicates that he thought he had a little more time than he did — or perhaps he felt you could take a plane back. In any event, they moved in more rapidly than he had anticipated and evidently had a court hearing.”
Mason turned to Della Street and said, “Della, get hold of the clerk of the court, find out what department the Shelby hearing was in day before yesterday, what judge granted the order, and the status of the case at the present time.”
He turned to face Paul Drake. “Paul, I want you to find out where Horace Shelby is now. They probably moved him by ambulance. They have some doctor who may or may not be in on the conspiracy, and they’ve probably been using dope of some kind.”
Mason said to Daphne, “Have either of your uncles or your aunt had any experience with medicine, or any medical education?”
“Why, yes,” she said, “Aunt Elinor was a trained nurse.”
“I see,” Mason said grimly. “There are some drugs that can calm an elderly person when he gets excited arid there are some that throw him entirely off his mental balance. I’m afraid you have been the victim of a rather deep-seated conspiracy... How much is your Uncle worth? Do you have any idea?”
She frowned thoughtfully and said, “Well, at least a million dollars. Probably more, what with his real estate, his stocks and bonds.”
Mason was thoughtful for a moment, then said, “Paul, I want you to find out something else. You have a pipeline into banking circles. They won’t give you confidential information, but they will give you all the information that isn’t confidential, everything that’s a matter of record.
“Now, I want you to get to this bank and find out just what happened to the account of Horace Shelby.”
Della, who had been on the phone, said to Mason, “The order appointing Borden Finchley as conservator for the estate of Horace Shelby was made by Judge Ballinger day before yesterday. Borden Finchley qualified with a bond and immediately proceeded to take charge.”
“All right,” Mason said, looking at his watch, “I happen to know that Judge Ballinger’s secretary stays in his chambers until twelve-thirty. Ring the secretary and see if I can make an appointment with Judge Ballinger for one-thirty, if possible. In any event, I want to see him before he goes on the bench this afternoon. Tell him it’s very important.”
Della Street nodded, got busy on the telephone, and after a few moments said to Perry Mason, “He isn’t expected in until just before court, but if you’ll be there at one-forty-five, you can at least see him for a few minutes before he goes on the bench. The judge had a luncheon engagement today and may not be back until just before court.”
“All right,” Mason said, “I’ll go to see him.”
He turned to look at Daphne Shelby’s forlorn face.
“Where’s your baggage?” he asked.
“Right in the taxicab,” she said. “I never did get it unloaded from the cab because I have no place to put it... I know all this is horribly expensive. I’m living on borrowed money and I guess I don’t have a cent to my name.”
“That’s all right,” Mason said. “We’ll see that you’re taken care of temporarily.”
She said, “I... I suppose I can get a job somewhere, but this is such a shock to me.”
Mason turned to Della Street. “Della, go down and help Miss Shelby get a room in one of the downtown hotels. Go to the cash drawer and get a couple of hundred dollars so that you’ll have plenty of money and leave her with enough to cover expenses.”