“However, we have a regular clientele with whom we do business, and we have been very fortunate in dealing in property which was not stolen.”
“But smuggled?” Mason asked.
“I wouldn’t know,” Franklin Gage said, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t want to know. And, of course, smuggling is only a minor crime. There are embargoes against exportation. If a shrewd operator ships a dozen figurines out of Mexico without alarming the Mexican authorities, and then presents them at the United States border as copies which he has picked up for a nominal consideration in a Tijuana curio store, nobody is going to bother about it because there are curio stores selling copies of ancient figurines.
“Then when they get to this country, if it should turn out that the figurines are actually genuine, ancient figurines, we certainly aren’t going to ask how it happened that they were released from the embargo in Mexico. We simply say, ‘How much?’ And if the price is right and if we are satisfied as to the quality of the merchandise, we close the transaction.”
“Then these ancient figurines in your display windows are copies?” Mason asked.
Franklin Gage shook his head. “We don’t deal in copies, Mr. Mason. We deal in genuine, authentic articles.”
“But they come across the border as copies?” Mason asked.
“We have no idea how they come across the border, Mr. Mason...
“Now, may I say that we are genuinely concerned about Diana’s misfortune, the loss of her brother. I know that they were very close. I take it that this is a poor time to communicate with her, but, after the funeral, Mr. Mason... I think you will agree with us that this whole discussion should be postponed until after the funeral?
“Personally, I don’t see how any good can come of trying to intensify the feeling of grief, on the one hand, or of injured feelings on the other. Mr. Mason, I ask you please, as a favor to the company, as a personal favor, to hold this matter in abeyance for a few days. This is the end of the week and, as you say, Diana’s brother has passed away. That will mean funeral arrangements, and the poor girl has — Homer, see if you can get her on the phone and ask her if she wants any money. Ask her if she needs an advance.”
“Don’t try it today,” Mason said. “I have advised her to take sedation and shut off the telephone.”
“Yes, yes, yes, I see,” Franklin Gage said, “and, of course, tomorrow is Saturday but— I think it might be a little better, Homer, if you had one of the other girls in the office — surely someone must know her intimately and have a friendship with her, someone who could ring up in a few hours and express our sympathy in a perfectly natural way.”
Homer Gage shook his head. “Not Diana. She’s something of a loner as far as the others are concerned, but I’ll see what I can do.”
Franklin Gage arose and again held out his flesh-cushioned hand to the lawyer. “So nice to have met you, Mr. Mason, and thank you so much for dropping in to tell us what you had in mind. I am quite certain that it won’t be necessary for us to adopt any adversary position — not that I agree with you in any way, but — well, we’ll work out something somewhere along the line.
“And please don’t get the idea that we are engaged in an unusual type of business. I can assure you that every importing and exporting business these days has problems, Mr. Mason, and I think everyone has contacts.”
“What do you mean, contacts?” Mason asked.
“Well, brokers,” Franklin Gage said with a wave of his hand. “You know, Mr. Mason, we don’t give money to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who shows up with a load of curios. But we have certain people with whom we deal, and those people, in turn, deal with other people and... well, it’s not at all unusual for me to walk out of here, picking up five, ten, or perhaps fifteen thousand dollars in cash and contacting one of our brokers who will have a shipment of curios that we feel we can dispose of at a profit — Mexican figurines, carved ivories, or good jade.
“We know that the broker is only a middleman, and, of course, he is making a profit on the deal. We try to see that his profit is not exorbitant, but, on the other hand, we want him to make a fair profit because in this business everyone has to make a fair profit... Well, you can understand how it is.”
“I see,” Mason said.
Homer Gage did not offer to shake hands. He stood somewhat aloof and dignified.
Franklin Gage held the door open for Mason. “Thank you again for coming in, Mr. Mason. It’s nice that you felt free to come and explain the situation to us. I feel that it can be worked out. Good day, Mr. Mason.”
“Good day,” Mason said.
The lawyer walked across the office and, on his way out, paused momentarily at the counter to look at a piece of the carved ivory which claimed his attention. A small slip of folded paper had been placed by the carved ivory figure. The slip of paper had Mason’s name typed on it.
Mason leaned forward to study the figure more closely. As he did so his right hand unostentatiously closed over the paper. When he straightened he placed the folded paper in the right-hand side pocket of his coat.
Mason went through the gate to the outer display room and paused again to look at some of the figurines in the outer cases.
“They’re really very beautiful,” the girl at the switchboard said, smiling at him.
“Indeed they are,” Mason said. “They grow on you.”
The lawyer left the office, walked out to the corridor, and halfway to the elevator removed the small piece of paper from his pocket. A typewritten message was in his hand when he unfolded the paper.
The message read:
Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes. Diana is on the level and tops. There are things going on here that they don’t want you to know about. Be sure to protect Diana.
The message was unsigned.
Mason folded the typewritten slip of paper, put it back into his pocket, went to his hotel, and checked out.
11
On Monday morning Mason fitted a key in the lock of his private office and swung back the door.
“Well, hello, stranger!” Della Street said.
Mason smiled. “It isn’t that bad!”
“Pretty close to it, what with running up and down to San Francisco and working with detectives. What do you know?”
“Not a darn thing,” Mason said, “except that this Diana Douglas is a problem. I feel like throwing her out.”
“Why don’t you?”
“Well,” Mason said, “I have a professional obligation.”
“She’s lied to you all the way along the line,” Della Street said. “And when she hasn’t been lying, she’s tried to conceal things.”
“I know,” Mason said, “but the poor kid certainly was all wrapped up in her brother.”
“The one that had the automobile accident?”
“He died early Friday morning,” Mason said. “I guess the funeral is this morning. I told Diana to take some sleeping pills Friday; to go to sleep and forget the whole mess.”
“And you went to see the Escobar Import and Export Company?”
“I met a couple of very interesting men,” Mason said. “I’d like to know something about the inside operation of that company. I met Homer Gage and Franklin Gage and there you have a couple of real characters.”
“Smooth?”
“Puzzling... Homer Gage has to control himself with an effort every once in a while. Franklin Gage is synthetically suave. He gives you the impression of having tried all of his life to keep from showing his real feelings. When he shakes hands with you you feel there’s a cushion of flesh on his hand, a sort of sponge-rubber insulation that he uses to keep any magnetic current from penetrating.”