“The night he went out to Lilac Canyon I knew he’d have the stock with him. I thought the payoff was to be that night. Then Miss Faulkner got in touch with me, and gave me a lot of information I hadn’t had before, also arranged for me to be at your office at one o’clock. I had intended to call the police to fix up my alibi, but you were a better bet. Coll knew where I lived and had a key to my apartment. I wanted to be certain he was out. I knew he’d be meeting Lynk out at Lilac Canyon. I shadowed Coll’s place until I saw him leaving, then I went to the lobby, telephoned you I’d been poisoned, and started for Lilac Canyon. On the way, I ate the unpoisoned candy out of the paper bag, so the stomach content would show chocolate creams. Just before I went to Lynk’s cabin, I took a big dose of veronal, put on a mask, and a raincoat.
“I knew Lynk was expecting a woman, from the way he answered my knock. When he saw my mask and the business end of the gun, he almost collapsed. I told him to get out that Lawley stock and put it on the table.”
“Did you have any trouble with him?” Mason asked.
“Only that he was frightened and his hands were trembling so I was afraid he couldn’t unlock the drawer that held the stock. Then, just as he did it, I heard a noise and looked back over my shoulder.”
“The other girl?” Mason asked.
“That’s right. You see I’d neglected to close the door behind me when I pushed Lynk back into the room. I’ll say one thing: she was dead game. I swung the gun around and tried to bluff her. She didn’t bluff. She came at me like a wildcat. She grabbed my right wrist with both hands and tried to wrench the gun loose. It was a double action. My finger was caught in the trigger guard. She kept pulling it back. I yelled at her to stop. She didn’t stop. The gun went off. That scared her, and she jumped back. The gun fell to the floor. And then we saw Harvey Lynk.
“My mask was still on. She didn’t know who I was. We made for the door. She left her overnight bag. I left the gun.
“I had an awful time getting home. The veronal was commencing to take effect. The last part of the drive I was having goofy ideas. I thought I’d dreamt the whole thing. I managed to get my car parked in the garage, got to my apartment where I’d left things all planted the way I wanted you to find them. I was asleep before I hit the floor. You know the rest of it.
“It wasn’t until I regained consciousness in the hospital that I realized I’d left the raincoat and the mask in my car. That mask was a giveaway. I was going to destroy it tonight.”
Mason nodded to Tragg. “All right, Tragg, go ahead.”
The police lieutenant said, “Both of you women ran out without waiting to see how badly he was hurt?”
“We didn’t need to examine him. He collapsed like a punctured tire.”
“What was he doing while you two were struggling for the gun?”
“Trying to get the stock back in the drawer,” she said. “He had his back turned toward us, but I saw he was fumbling with the drawer. Now I want you to do one thing.”
“What?” Tragg asked.
“Get that other girl and make her tell her story before she knows who I am or what I’ve told you.”
“Who is she?” Mason asked.
Her laugh was bitter. “That,” she said, “is the payoff. An empty-headed little fool who thinks being a gambling-house decoy on a commission basis beats working for a living. She wants my job, and I want hers.
“That’s the trouble with those empty-headed, high-spirited girls who have youth and looks. They think they’ll always have youth. Age is something that leaves its mark on other people. I remember when I felt that way myself — and you last quick in this game. When you’re thirty here, it’s the same as being forty in any other...”
“Who is it?” Tragg interrupted.
Esther Dilmeyer’s laugh was harsh. “Lois Carling,” she said, “—and that’s the payoff.”
Mason picked up the telephone and handed it to Lieutenant Tragg. “Call headquarters and tell them to release Carlotta Lawley,” he said.
Tragg took the telephone with a little bow toward Mason. “You win,” he said.
While he was waiting for the connection, he said, “And the next time you try to decoy me away from your sister, Miss Faulkner, don’t have a gun go off accidentally and don’t be such an obvious suspect. You had me fooled for a while, but after I got to know you well enough to know what a bright mind you had, I realized you were overplaying your part... Hello. Hello, Headquarters? Lieutenant Tragg of Homicide. We’re releasing Carlotta Lawley. Perry Mason is arranging to put her in a private sanitarium. Rush it through and cut the red tape.”
Chapter 15
It was late that night when Della Street snuggled up beside Perry Mason in the lawyer’s car and said, “Well, that’s one thing about Lieutenant Tragg. When he promises to co-operate, he co-operates.”
Mason nodded.
She wrapped her fingers around his right arm, a gentle, reassuring touch. “Did it occur to you, Chief, that Lieutenant Tragg is falling pretty hard for Mildreth Faulkner?”
“I’d have to be blind and deaf not to have had the thought occur to me.”
“She seems to be interested in him.”
“Why not? He’s a pretty shrewd individual.”
“I’ll say he is. Having him on Homicide isn’t going to be the cinch it was when Sergeant Holcomb was running things. You know, you’re going to have to watch your step. Tragg is filled with co-operation this time, but if he ever catches you pulling one of your fast ones, I don’t think he’d hesitate for a minute to throw the book at you.”
“Let him throw—”
“Will they convict Esther Dilmeyer?”
“Probably not,” Mason said. “Lois Carling came through and backed her story up. Of course, Esther went out there with a gun in order to perpetrate a felony, but — well, she’s a darn good-looking girl, and...”
“And a good-looking woman can get away with murder?” Della asked.
“Homicide,” Mason corrected, smiling. “There’s a distinction.”
“And you think Esther Dilmeyer’s testimony will win the Peavis lawsuit for Miss Faulkner?”
“Sure it will. She knows that Peavis had only made Lynk an offer for the stock. It’s a small point but damned important. And when I get done cross-examining Mr. Sindler Coll — well, I think Peavis will drop his suit.”
Della laughed. “That’s going to be a lovely cross-examination. Will you be able to show that the whole gambling thing was a crooked frame-up, in order to invalidate that transfer of stock?”
“Easy.”
“Where will that leave Mr. Magard?”
Mason grinned. “Right out on the very tip end of a limb over a very deep pool. In case you’re interested, we’re on our way to the Golden Horn right now. We’re going to order champagne, and I wouldn’t doubt in the least if Mr. Magard comes down and falls all over us trying to square himself. Tragg wouldn’t want much of an excuse to raid that place.”
“Won’t he do it anyway?”
“Probably.”
“Then is it good policy for you to go down and promise Magard you’ll...”
“I’m not going to promise Magard one single thing,” Mason said, “and when it comes to dealing with the police, he can make his contact with Lieutenant Tragg.”
She said uneasily, “I have a presentiment about Lieutenant Tragg.”
“What?”
“I think he’s going to be dangerous.”
“The man’s clever,” Mason conceded. “Part of his instructions from the Chief’s office are to keep an eye on me and hold me in line. I guess we’ll have a lot of fun from now on.”
There was no longer any good-natured banter in her voice. She said, “Says you. I don’t like it.”