The girl whirled to the tall detective and said, "You shut up! He'll get a lot farther with me than you would."
Drake said impersonally, "I know the type, Perry. You've got to keep them on the run. Get them frightened and keep them that way. Try to play square with them and they'll slip out from under."
She ignored the comment, turned to Perry Mason and said, "I'll play square with you. I answered an ad in a paper."
"And met the bishop that way?"
"Yes."
"What was the ad?"
She hesitated a moment, then tilted her chin and said, "He advertised for a trained nurse who was dependable and trustworthy."
"You're a trained nurse?"
"Yes."
"How many other people answered the ad?"
"I don't know."
"When did you answer it?"
"Yesterday."
"Did the bishop give his name and address?"
"No, only a blind box."
"So you answered the ad. Then what happened?"
"Then the bishop telephoned me and said he liked my letter and wanted a personal interview."
"When was that?"
"Late last night."
"So you went to the hotel this morning for that interview?"
"No, I went to the hotel last night, and he hired me."
"Did he say what for?"
"He said he wanted me to nurse a patient."
"You're a registered nurse?" Paul Drake interrupted.
"Yes."
"Show me," Drake said.
She opened the suitcase, took out a manila envelope, handed it to the detective and immediately turned her eyes back to Mason. She was more sure of herself now, more calmly competent, more wary, and more watchful.
"So Bishop Mallory hired you?" Mason asked.
For a moment her eyes wavered. Then she shook her head and said, "No."
"What paper was it in?"
"I can't remember. It was in one of the evening papers a day or two ago. Someone called the ad to my attention."
"So Bishop Mallory hired you?" Mason asked.
"Yes."
"Did he say what was wrong with the patient?"
"No, he didn't. I gathered that it was a case of insanity in the family or something of that sort."
"Why all the packing up?" Paul Drake asked, handing back the manila envelope.
"Because Bishop Mallory told me I'd have to go with him and the patient on a trip."
"Did he say where?"
"No."
"And he told you to meet him in the hotel?"
"Yes. And I wasn't to talk with him in the lobby. He was to nod if everything was all right, and I was to go up to his room after five minutes."
"Why all the mystery?" Drake asked.
"I don't know. He didn't tell me, and I didn't ask him. He was a bishop, so I knew he was all right, and he was paying good wages. Also, you know how some mental cases are. They go wild if they think they're under treatment or even observation."
"So you went up to the room," Mason said. "What did you find?"
"I found things all topsy-turvy. The bishop was lying on the floor. He had a concussion. His pulse was weak but steady. I picked him up and got him to bed. It was a job-an awful job."
"Did you see anyone in the room?"
"No."
"Was the door locked or unlocked?"
"It was open an inch or two."
"Did you see anyone in the corridor?" Mason asked.
"You mean when I went up to see the bishop?"
"Yes."
"No."
"Did you see anyone coming down in the elevator just as you went up?"
"No."
"Why didn't you notify the hotel authorities when you found the bishop?"
"I didn't think there was any need. They couldn't have done anything. I went out and telephoned for an ambulance."
"And then came here and got ready to skip out?" Drake asked sneeringly.
"I wasn't getting ready to skip out. I'd done this earlier in the day because the bishop said I'd have to travel. He said the patient was sailing on the Monterey."
"What're your plans now?"
"I'm just going to wait here until I hear from the bishop. I don't think he's seriously hurt. He'll be conscious in an hour or two at the latest unless there are sclerotic conditions."
Mason got to his feet and said, "Okay, Paul, I think she's told us everything she knows. Let's go."
Drake said, "You're going to let her get away with this, Perry?"
The lawyer's eyes were stern. "Of course I am. The trouble with you, Paul, is that you deal so much with crooks you don't know how to treat a woman who's on the square."
Drake sighed and said, "You win. Let's go."
Janice Seaton came close to Perry Mason, placed her hand on his arm and gave it a friendly squeeze. "Thank you so much," she said, "for being a gentleman."
They stepped into the corridor, heard the door slam behind them. A moment later there was a click as the key turned in the lock. Drake said to Mason, "What's the idea in being such a softy, Perry? We might have found out something if we'd made her think it was a murder pinch."
"We're finding out plenty the way it is," Mason told him. "That girl's up to something. Make her suspicious and we'll never find out what it is. Let her think she's pulled the wool over our eyes and she'll give us a lead. Put a couple of men on the job. Run over to the Regal Hotel. Hand your friend the house dick a little more salve, and see if you can get a description of some man who came down the stairs to the lobby shortly after the girl went up on the elevator and before the house dick started after her."
"Anything else?" Drake asked.
"Follow the girl wherever she goes, and get that other dope for me just as quickly as you can-you know, the manslaughter business, a line on the bishop and all that. And remember to keep a tail on that bishop. Find out what hospital he's at and get a line on his condition."
"Bet you four to one he's a phoney," Drake said.
Mason grinned and said, "No takers-not yet. Call me at the office and keep me posted on developments."
Chapter 3
The five o'clock exodus of workers was swarming down the elevators into the vortex of swirling humanity which flowed along the concrete canyons of the city thoroughfares. Through the windows came the sound of police whistles directing traffic, the clang of signals, the impatient gongs of street cars, the raucous horns of stalled traffic, and the ever present throbbing undertone of sound which comes from idling motors.
Della Street, seated at her secretarial desk, making entries in a ledger, looked up at the grinning figure of Perry Mason as he entered the office. "Well," she asked, "did you have your meeting with Bishop Mallory and find out what it's all about?"
He shook his head and said, "No. The bishop isn't in any condition to keep appointments. He's temporarily indisposed, and probably will be for some time. Get all of the newspapers, Della, both today's and yesterday's. We have a job checking want ads."
She started for the door to the law library, then stopped and said, "Can you tell me what happened, Chief?"
He nodded. "We traced the bishop to his hotel. Someone had tapped him to sleep with a blackjack. We ran onto a redheaded spitfire who strung us along with a lot of fairy stories. But, every once in a while her face slipped and she told the truth, because she couldn't think up the lies fast enough."
"What do we look for in the newspapers?" she asked.
"The red-head said she got in touch with the bishop by answering an ad. She may have been telling the truth, because the bishop is probably a stranger in the city. At any rate, we're going to run that angle down and see what we can find. Look under the 'Help Wanted' ads and see if we can find where someone has advertised for a nurse, young, unencumbered, and willing to travel… Her name, by the way, is Janice Seaton."