“I will show him,” Drake said.
Mason waited until Tragg had plugged into the line, then he said, “Yes, Mrs. Greeley.”
“What was that click I just heard? Did someone else...”
“I thought it would be better to use another telephone,” Mason said. “There were some people in my office. What is it?”
“Mr. Mason, I am afraid I have — well, I don’t know. I... I wanted to ask you about something.”
“What?”
“I feel very guilty.”
“Why?”
She said, “I may have done that young woman injustice.”
“In what way?”
“I... well, you perhaps know something of how I feel. Mr. Greeley and I were very close. I... I have been feeling so absolutely all alone and completely lost. Tonight I just felt I had to do something, so I started packing up some of my husband’s clothes to give away. I couldn’t bear walking into his room and seeing his clothes in his closet and everything, and...”
“Yes, go on,” Mason said.
“Something happened, and I... well, I found something.”
“What are you getting at?” Mason asked.
“I... well, Mr. Mason, one of my husband’s dress shirts has a long red streak across the front, and the smear made by a woman’s lips. I...”
“Where are you now?” Mason asked.
“Out at my flat.”
“How long ago did you find this shirt?”
“Why, just a few minutes ago — oh, perhaps five minutes. I found it in the bag of clothes he had ready to go to the laundry. I don’t think my husband could possibly have been driving that car, but... well, you understand, Mr. Mason, I want to be fair. I simply couldn’t put that young woman in a false position. I thought you ought to know.”
Mason said, “I would like very much to see that shirt at once, Mrs. Greeley. Suppose I drive out?”
“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
“No. I want to see that shirt at once — just as you found it.”
“Well, I... I will tell you what I will do, Mr. Mason. If you will be at your office for a little while, I will drive by on my way to dinner and bring it in.”
“All right,” Mason said, “and there is something else I want you to do.”
“Yes. What is it?”
“Check through your husband’s clothes that are in the closet. Find his tuxedo and bring that along.”
“I was just going to ask you about that, Mr. Mason, whether you wanted it.”
“Yes, I do.”
“It will take me half an hour to get ready. You will be there?”
“Yes, yes, I shall be here.”
“I wouldn’t want to make the trip unless...”
“I will be here.”
“Very well, Mr. Mason.”
The receiver clicked at the other end of the line.
Mason hung up the telephone, walked in to Della Street’s office where Tragg was still sitting at Della Street’s desk staring at the telephone.
“Well?” Mason asked.
“That’s your case,” Tragg said. “Put her on the stand tomorrow, and your client goes free as air.”
Mason said, “That is a load off my shoulders. How do you feel?”
“I feel like hell,” Tragg said.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t think Greeley stole Homan’s car. If Greeley was driving Homan’s car, he was driving it with Homan’s consent. That means I have got to go after Homan. And you know what that means.”
“You have certainly got enough to justify you in...”
“It isn’t a question of whether I am justified or not, Mason. Look here, how about getting you to be the goat in this thing?”
Mason said, “When the police department needs a cat’s-paw, it certainly does cooperate.”
“Nuts to you,” Tragg retorted. “Remember, I brought you those keys.”
“You did at that. What do you want?”
“Call Homan back to the stand tomorrow. Hold this dress-shirt evidence back, and go after him. Use these keys as a basis for your cross-examination. Rip him wide open. See if you can’t catch him in some contradiction, and when you do, put the screws on him.”
Mason said, “I think it is all right, Tragg, but I want to think it over a bit.”
Tragg said, “Well, I shall go out and grab that sandwich, Mason. You can think it over. How about it, Drake? Want to come with me?”
Drake grinned. “You are a great guy, Tragg — at times. But I can’t dance with you.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Della Street is coming back,” Drake said, “and Mason is going to buy a dinner.”
Tragg smiled. “Wise guy,” he said.
“Don’t be too certain,” Mason said. “The way things are breaking now, it looks like a busy night. We shall probably grab a hot dog and be lucky to get that.”
“Just the same, Perry, I shall wait.”
Tragg picked up his hat as he started for the door. “Well, personally, I am going to grab a sandwich while the grabbing is good. I don’t want to seem to be putting any high pressure on you, Mason, but it might not be a bad idea for you to give the department a break. You might need it sometime.”
“It is all right,” Mason told him, “if I can work it out so it doesn’t affect my client’s interests.”
“Shucks, she is out of it,” Tragg said. “You could send Mrs. Greeley to the D.A., and he would dismiss. You know that.”
“I shall think it over, Tragg. I think it is okay, but there are a couple of angles I want to check.”
“All right, be seeing you in about twenty minutes.”
Tragg went out. As the automatic door-closing device clicked the latch shut, Paul Drake turned to Mason. “Why not grab at it, Perry?”
Mason said, “It’s all right. I just didn’t want to seem to be too eager. I don’t want Tragg to get the idea he can use me as a stalking horse any old time he wants to and have me fall all over myself doing just what he wants.”
“Well, you have got your client out of the mess on this one.”
“As a matter of fact, Paul, I would do just about what Tragg wants, anyway — whether he had suggested it or not. I hate to see a man with money start putting the screws on a hitchhiker just to get himself out of a mess.”
“But why is Homan doing it? Just to avoid a few thousand dollars in civil liability? You would think that a man in his position and with his means would...”
“Throw money to the birdies for champagne,” Mason interrupted. “When he takes a bunch down to Tiajuana or Palm Springs on a party he does, but when it comes to something of this sort, he is tight as the bark on a tree.
“He...”
The telephone rang.
Mason said, “This will be Horty again... Hello.”
Hortense Zitkousky’s voice sounded harsh and high-pitched. “Is this Mr. Mason?”
“Yes.”
“Horty, Mr. Mason. You got a minute?”
“Why, yes.”
“Listen, could you get out here right away? There is — well, I can’t tell you over the phone what it is.”
“I am afraid not,” Mason said after a moment. “I am waiting for a woman to come to my office with some evidence which will put Miss Claire entirely in the clear. I...”
“Listen, can’t you please come? It is awfully important.”
“Where?”
“The Adirondack Hotel, room five-twenty-eight. If you could come quick, it would help a lot.”
Mason said, “It may mean a lot if I leave here. Can’t you tell me something of what it is?”
“I... No. You have got to come, right away.”
Mason said, “Wait for me in the lobby.”
“I think I would better wait here in the room, Mr. Mason.”
“All right.”
Mason slammed up the telephone.
“Who is it?” Drake asked.
“Hortense. Something has happened that is damnably important. I wouldn’t go for anyone else but that young woman has a most unusual and priceless possession — horse sense.”