"I take it," Della Street said, "that we go to Riverside."
Mason grinned. "Get your things packed, Della. Put in some notebooks and pencils. We go to Riverside."
"And we see George D. Winlock?"
"We make some very careful investigations," Mason said, "and we are very, very careful indeed not to upset any apple carts, not to make any accusations, not to jump to any false conclusions, but very definitely we see George D. Winlock."
"And when we see him?"
"We see him as Dianne Alder's attorney, and the minute we do that I think you will find that Harrison T. Boring's blackmail has been dried up at the source. And, since Boring has repudiated his contract with Dianne, whatever we can get for her by way of a settlement will be pure velvet to her.
"How long will it take you to get some things packed, Della?"
She smiled. "Five minutes. I've been through this same thing so often that I'm now keeping an overnight bag in the coat closet."
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sid Nye, Paul Drake's right-hand man, was waiting for Perry Mason when he and Della Street arrived at the colorful Mission Inn Hotel in Riverside.
"Hello, Sid," Mason said, shaking hands. "You know Della Street. What's new?"
"Something I want to talk over with you," Nye said. "I talked with Paul on the phone and he said you were on your way up here and should be here any minute."
Della Street filled out the registration cards, and Mason, Nye and Della were shown up to the lawyer's suite. Mason ordered a round of drinks, and Nye, settling himself comfortably in the chair, said, "The fat seems to be in the fire."
"Just what happened?" Mason asked.
"I don't know all of the ramifications of the case," Nye said, "but it seems that you were having a Harrison T. Boring shadowed."
"That's right. What happened?"
"Apparently he got wise that he was being tailed, but it wasn't our fault. There was another man following him, and Boring first became suspicious because the other man was using contact shadowing."
"Go ahead," Mason said.
"You remember Moose Dillard?" Nye asked.
Mason frowned, then said, "Oh, yes. I place him now. The big fellow that I represented when he was in a jam over losing his license."
"That's right. That was when he lost his temper and flattened a politician who was calling him names. Personally I think the politician had it coming to him, but that's neither here nor there. The guy had political influence and Dillard has a hell of a temper. Anyway, Moose Dillard was tailing Boring. He put an electronic bug on Boring's car so the tailing could be done without giving Boring any cause for alarm, and there's no reason on earth Boring should have known he was being shadowed if it hadn't been for this other man using contact methods.
"Well, Boring spotted the other shadow and started out to ditch him, and did a good job of it. That other shadow was left way back in Hollywood somewhere, but it made Boring shadow conscious.
"Of course, with our electronic tailing devices, Moose Dillard had no trouble. Anyhow, when a guy once gets suspicious, Dillard is such a big guy it's hard to forget him. A tail should be an inconspicuous fellow who can mingle with the crowd, and Dillard has always had a little trouble fading out because of his build, but he's the best automobile tail in the business. He's a genius at handling a car. He wraps those big hands of his around the steering wheel and the car seems to be a part of him."
Mason nodded. "What happened?"
"Well, Boring decided to come back to Riverside. I don't know what it was, probably a telephone conversation he had with someone. Anyway, he was in Hollywood, then he threw a suitcase into his car and started out at high speed. He cut figure eights and lost the other shadow. Dillard kept on his tail. After they hit the freeway, Dillard kept pretty well in the background, relying on the electronic device to keep him posted."
"And what happened?"
"Boring went to Winlock's office, then to the Restawhile Motel here and registered in Unit io. Dillard waited awhile, then registered and got Unit Number 5, which is across the way from Unit io and would give a pretty good view of Boring's place.
"Now, here's the peculiar thing: Dillard checked in and drew the curtains across the window but left just a little crack in the curtain so he could see out, and after a while he saw Boring come out, cross over directly to Dillard's automobile, open the door and start prowling around."
"What did Dillard do?"
"He sat tight. He said he was inclined to go out and grab the guy by the collar and give him a good shaking but he remembered the trouble he'd been in before, so he just sat in there and took it."
"What was Boring looking for?"
"Presumably he was suspicious of Dillard and wanted to find out something about the registration of the automobile."
"Did he learn anything?"
"That's anybody's guess. The registration is in the name of Paul Drake as an individual and, of course, in order to comply with California law there's a certificate of registration in a cellophane window strapped to the steering post."
"So Dillard sat tight?"
"Dillard sat tight but he's afraid he's been spotted and he wants instructions."
Mason thought for a minute, then said, "Tell him to stay right there in the unit and keep his eye on the unit where Boring is staying. I want to know everyone who comes to see Boring and I want to know what time Boring goes out."
"But suppose Boring does go out. Does Dillard try to shadow him?"
"No," Mason said. "It would be too dangerous under the circumstances. He'd be spotted even if he was using an electronic shadowing device. He'll just have to sit tight."
"The guy hasn't had any dinner," Nye said. "He's a big guy and he gets hungry."
"Well, I don't want to take a chance on letting him go out, at any rate while Boring is there. Do you folks have a good woman operative up here?"
"Not up here but we could probably get one. What do you want?"
"A good-looking woman could go into Dillard's apartment looking as though she were some married woman on a surreptitious date and probably smuggle Dillard in something to eat. It wouldn't be what he wants, but she could get some hamburgers and a Thermos jug of coffee and carry them in. Then if Boring is turning the tables on Dillard and keeping an eye on Dillard's apartment, the fact that this woman goes in there with just the right furtive attitude will probably reassure Boring and, at the same time, give Dillard something to eat."
"Can do," Nye said. "But it will take a couple of hours."
"Anything else new?" Mason asked.
"That seems to be it at the moment, but probably you'd better call Paul, let him know that you're here and that you and I have been in touch-or would you rather I just reported to Paul?"
"No, I'll call him," Mason said. "Get him on the phone, Della."
Mason turned back to Nye and said, "Sit back and relax and tell me something about George Winlock, because I'm going to talk with the guy."
"There isn't much to tell. He's a chap who came here about fourteen years ago and got a job as a real estate salesman. He was a hard worker and a good salesman. He made a couple of big commissions; then he had a chance to tie up some property that he thought was good subdivision property and instead of simply taking a listing on it he took an option-paid every cent he had for a ninety-day option, then got busy and peddled it for a hundred thousand profit. From that time on he started pyramiding. The guy has brains, all right, and he's a shrewd operator. But he keeps pretty much in the background."
"What about his wife?"
"She's inclined to be just a little snooty; puts on airs, is just a little bit patronizing as far as the local society is concerned, and while they kowtow to her because of her social position, I have a feeling she wouldn't win any popularity contests if there was a secret ballot, but she'd probably be elected Queen of the May if the feminine voters had to stand up and be counted."