“Check on Orcutt, Paul.”
“That’ll be tough. My operatives won’t want to work on him. The guy’s pretty hard, Perry. Anybody that gets in his way is likely to become a casualty.”
“Well, see what you can do. And how about Helen Reedley’s calling on Clovis today? Why wasn’t he on his job at the bank?”
“Oh, he isn’t working today — he’s at home, sick. Probably all broken up over the way things are going for Mrs. Reedley.”
Mason got up and started to pace the floor. “Hang it, Paul, this begins to have ramifications. Why should Arthur Clovis be broken up?”
“Well, we’ve heard how sensitive he is, you know. And — after all — the bird was killed in Helen Reedley’s apartment.”
“Sensitive or not, Clovis must be a pretty good egg, or Helen wouldn’t have fallen for him. I’d guess that he would be willing to take the gaff if he had to.”
“Yes,” Drake said. “You may be right, at that.”
“Your man didn’t have much of a talk with him?” asked Mason.
“No talk at all — didn’t even see him. Didn’t have to, as it turned out. He was going to represent himself as coming from an insurance company to check on a policy application Clovis had made. But when he got to the house — But first let me tell you about the house. It’s one of those with no attendant in the lobby — just a whole string of bells in the vestibule. You ring the apartment you want, and a buzz signal opens the door and tells you to come up. And there’s a speaking tube in case the person upstairs wants to find out who it is, before buzzing the door open.
“Well, my man had planned to snoop around the apartment house for a while, get a line perhaps on how long Clovis had been there, and even see him if he could get in. But as he was standing there in the vestibule, checking up on the address and making sure that Clovis did live there, this woman came hurrying in from the street and jabbed her linger on Clovis’s bell. She gave it a short push, a long one, and then two more short ones. The buzzer sounded right away and she went on in. He got a pretty good description of her, and gave it to me.”
“How long ago did this happen?”
“Apparently some time within the last hour or so. He reported just before I came up here.”
Mason was silent for a few moments as he paced the floor, deep in thought. Then he said, “The thing just doesn’t click, Paul. There’s something wrong somewhere, some discrepancy in character... Of course, no one checks the accuracy of the lists turned in by the bank employees.”
“You mean the lists of serial numbers?”
“That’s right. A cashier’s cash has to balance at the end of the day; but he can take out all the hundred-dollar bills he wants, make up the amount with twenties, and report giving hundred-dollar bills to anyone.”
“You mean that those hundred-dollar bills that Hines had didn’t come to him through the husband?”
“I don’t know,” Mason said. “But when the assistant bank cashier who has reported giving hundred-dollar bills to a husband turns out to be the boy friend of the husband’s estranged wife, and those bills show up in the wallet of a man who was murdered in the wife’s apartment — well, after all, Paul... it does make me skeptical.”
“Hell,” Drake said, “when you put it that way, it makes me skeptical, too! Let’s go see the guy.”
Mason nodded. “I want to wait for Della. She’s gone down to pick up some cash.”
“Not in hundred-dollar bills, I hope?”
Mason grinned. “In hundred-dollar bills, Paul. And I only hope the bank keeps a record of them. Here she is now.”
Della Street breezed into the office. “Hi, Paul! Here’s the money, Chief.”
“Okay, get that letter written. I’m going out with Paul. Probably back in three-quarters of an hour.”
“Rumor around the courthouse is that Harry Gulling is laying for you, Perry.”
“Let him lay,” Mason said. “He may lay an egg.”
Chapter 16
Mason pushed the button opposite the name Arthur Clovis, giving a short ring, then a long, and then two shorts. Almost instantly the buzzing of the door signified that the electrically controlled catch had been released and Drake, who was waiting, pushed the door open.
“What’s the number?” Mason asked.
“Two-eleven.”
“An elevator?”
“I don’t know. But here are the stairs, anyhow.”
“Okay, we’ll walk up,” Mason said.
They climbed to the second floor, found the apartment they wanted, and Mason tapped gently.
The door was flung open. A man’s voice said, “Why, Helen, what brings you back—” He stopped in open-mouthed astonishment.
Mason thrust out his hand, his smile was affable. “Mr. Clovis, I believe?”
“That’s right.”
“My name’s Mason, and this is Mr. Drake. May we come in?” And Mason pushed on past the startled young man, seated himself, smiled, and said, “I was talking with Helen Reedley. I believe she told you about it.”
“She... Did she send you here?”
Mason’s face showed surprise. “You mean you didn’t know I was coming?”
“No.”
“Well, close the door and sit down; we may as well talk things over without taking the whole apartment house into our confidence. I want to find out what you can tell me about what happened when Orville Reedley cashed that five-thousand-dollar check. I believe you were the one who took the record of the numbers... ”
Arthur Clovis’s face showed relief. “Oh, that. That’s all been taken care of. A Lieutenant Tragg from the Homicide Division of the Metropolitan Police Force questioned me and drew up a written statement for me to sign.”
“You cashed the check for Reedley?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Worked in the bank for some time, have you?”
“Three or four years.”
“Know Orville Reedley quite well?”
“Only as a depositor.”
“Wait on him frequently?”
“Yes. As it happens, I’m in charge of the window R-to-Z and I often have dealings with Mr. Reedley.”
“Large cash withdrawals?”
“I’m afraid I’m not allowed to discuss the affairs of a client at the bank. But if you’ll get in touch with the account manager, he’ll doubtless—”
“I’ll do that later,” Mason interrupted. “I’m interested now in finding out something of the personal relationship.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re in love with Reedley’s wife.”
“Mr. Mason!”
“Come, come,” Mason said, “save the dramatics. Let’s just get down to brass tacks.”
“That remark is... ”
“The truth,” Mason finished, as Clovis hesitated.
“You are asking about something that is none of your business. Damn your impertinence anyway!”
“Let’s skip all this, Clovis, and find out what the score is. The last thing you want is to have this given any publicity. And, what’s more to the point, you know very well that it’s the last thing Helen wants. I have all the facts, so let’s not do any bluffing. We can save time being frank.”
“I understand you are an attorney,” Clovis said sullenly.
“That’s right.”
“Well, what business is this of yours?”
“I’m making an investigation on behalf of my clients.”
“Who are your clients?”
“Two women, Adelle Winters and Eva Martell. Do you know them?”
“No.”
“Then you shouldn’t have any hesitancy about answering questions.”
“It’s a matter I don’t care to discuss.”
“If necessary, I can subpoena you as a witness at the preliminary examination, put you on the stand, and get the information I want in front of a courtroom full of people.”