“Mr. Mason,” the man said, “my name is George Ansley. I was finishing a cocktail here earlier this evening just as you came in. I know you by sight. I dislike to intrude in this way, but... well, I’m in need of some legal advice. It’s a minor matter, something you can tell me offhand. Here’s my card. If you’ll just answer a question and then send me a bill, I’ll... well, I’ll certainly appreciate the favor.”
Mason said, “I’m sorry, but I’m—” Suddenly, at the look in Ansley’s eyes, he changed his mind. “Sit down, have a drink and tell us about it. This is Miss Street, my confidential secretary. For your information, Ansley, I do mostly trial work and I only take the cases that interest me. Somehow or other that has led me to gravitate toward the defense of persons accused of murder, and, unless you want to go out and commit a murder, I’m afraid you’re not going to interest me.”
“I know, I know,” Ansley said. “This is just a minor matter, but it may be important to me.”
“Well, what is it?” Mason asked.
“I was driving my car. I left here to keep a business appointment. The roads were wet, and a car driven by a young woman skidded into me and overturned.”
“Much damage?” Mason asked.
“Virtually no damage to my car, but the other car was, I’m afraid, pretty completely wrecked. The car was in a skid when it hit me, and it went off the road, through a hedge and rolled over.”
“Anybody hurt?”
“No, and— That’s what bothers me.”
“Go ahead,” Mason said.
“A young woman was driving the car. She seems to be a delightful personality and she... well, I guess she liked me and somehow I— To tell you the truth, I don’t know how I feel about her, Mr. Mason. When I was with her I felt that I liked her, and she certainly was attractive.”
“Go on,” Mason said.
“After I had left, I began to realize that there was something terribly peculiar about the whole episode. She sort of led me along and... I kissed her a couple of times and I didn’t think of too much else. I... well, here’s the point, Mr. Mason. She was unconscious for a while, and then she came to. She seems to be feeling quite all right, but I’ve heard a lot about these cases of concussion. I suppose I should notify my insurance company. I’ll take care of that all right, but what about the police? That’s the thing that bothers me. Should I report the accident to the police?”
“The young woman was unconscious?” Mason asked.
“That’s right.”
“And the car was damaged?”
“Yes.”
“What kind was it?”
“It was a good-looking Cadillac, a late model.”
“Get the license number?”
“Yes. It was CVX 266.”
“Notify the police,” Mason said. “Where did the accident happen?”
“That’s just it, Mr. Mason. I... I don’t want to notify the police unless I absolutely must.”
“Why?” Mason asked.
“Well,” Ansley said, “that’s something of a story and— Look here, Mr. Mason, I know you’re a busy man, I know you work under quite a strain, I know you’re trying to relax here tonight, and I feel like a heel, but the man who handles my legal business is out of town at the moment and I don’t know anyone else. I saw you here and... well, this may be very, very important to me. I need the best in the line of legal advice.”
“Why is it important?” Mason asked. “And why don’t you want to report it to the Highway Patrol?”
“Because I’m a contractor. I’m contracting on some city jobs and they’ve put the bite on me.”
“Who has?”
Ansley shrugged his shoulders and said, “How do I know? All I know is that the inspectors are making life impossible for me. I’ve been told to tear out a whole section of wall because a couple of pieces of structural steel were less than an inch out of place. I have inspectors hanging around the job looking things over with a microscope... Well, I knew the answer. I put off doing what had to be done as long as I could, but now it’s a question of whether I make a profit on the job or whether the thing wipes me out. This is one of my first big jobs. I’ve stretched my credit to the limit, and everything I have is riding along on that job.”
“I still don’t get what you’re trying to tell me,” Mason said.
“I was given the tip that the remedy for my troubles was to see Meridith Borden. I went out and saw him. The accident occurred just as I was leaving his grounds. The other car has rolled over and is on his grounds. I don’t want to make a report to the Highway Patrol which will show I was leaving Meridith Borden’s house. If it should get written up in the newspaper and— Well, you can see the position I’m in.”
“Forget it,” Mason said, “but notify your insurance carrier. And, of course, you’ve got to take a chance that the girl wasn’t hurt. She seemed all right?”
“She seemed all right,” Ansley said, “and yet there’s something that isn’t all right.”
Mason glanced across at Della Street’s disapproving face. “Now you’ve got me interested,” he said. “Tell me about it. Do you know the girl’s name?”
“Oh, yes, of course. I got her name.”
“What is it?”
“Beatrice Cornell. She lives at the Ancordia Apartments.”
“See her driving license?” Mason asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Well, that’s one of the things that I got to thinking about later. She acted so peculiarly about the entire accident. The— Well, it was a funny thing, but I know she lied about one thing. She was deliberately turning her car into the driveway to Borden’s house when she lost control of it, and it went into a skid. But she tried to tell me she didn’t know Borden and was simply driving along the highway when she swerved to avoid a cat or something on the road, and—”
“Tell me about it,” Mason said. “Start at the beginning and tell me the whole thing.”
Della Street sighed, produced a shorthand notebook from her purse, pushed the half-emptied glass of brandy and Benedictine to one side and started taking notes.
Ansley told the entire story.
Mason’s forehead creased in a frown. “You say this girl was unconscious?”
“Yes. There was a steady pulse, but it was thin and weak.”
“Then you started for the house and she screamed and you ran back?”
“Yes.”
“And the minute you ran back she seemed to be in full possession of her faculties?”
“Yes.”
“You saw this young woman when she was lying there unconscious with her legs and thighs exposed. Your flashlight was working then?”
“Yes.”
“What did she look like?”
“Well, of course, I had only a very general impression while she was lying there on the ground. Later on in the car I had a chance to see more of her.
“She was nice-looking, rather young — oh, say twenty-four or five and her hair was sort of a reddish brown. I think her eyes were dark brown.
She had even, regular teeth which flashed when she smiled, and she seemed to smile easily.”
“Now,” Mason said, “let’s concentrate on her shoes. Can you remember anything about her shoes?”
“Her shoes? Why?”
“I’m just asking,” Mason said.
“Why, yes, they were sort of a brown. They were sort of dark with open toes.”
Mason said, “All right. She told you she didn’t want a doctor. I’m going to let her tell me. I’m going to ring her up and tell her I’m your attorney, that I want to send a doctor around to look at her and make certain she’s all right.”
“She’ll refuse,” Ansley said.