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The Case of the Caretakers Cat :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
Страница: 15 из 146"You can't fool me for a minute,Perry Mason. You're using this cat as a blind. Winifred wants to contest the will, and…"
Perry Mason took two quick steps towards him. The little lawyer danced away, turned and scuttled for the doorway. He pulled it open and shot through it.
"We'll fight!" he called back over his shoulder. "I'm just as tough a fighter as you are, Perry Mason."
"Yes," Perry Mason sighed, "you act like it."
Samuel Laxter hesitated for a moment, as though about to say something, then turned and walked out of the office, followed by Oafley.
Perry Mason met Della Street 's smiling eyes with a grin. "Go on," he said; "say, 'I told you so. "
She shook her head. "Fight that little shyster off his feet!" she said.
Mason looked at his watch. "Ring up Paul Drake and ask him to be here at two thirty."
"And Ashton?" she asked.
"No," he told her. "Ashton's got enough to worry about. I think this is going to be a matter of principle all around."
Chapter 3
The clock on Perry Mason's desk showed two thirtyfive. Paul Drake, head of the Drake Detective Agency, sat crosswise in the big leather chair, his knees draped over one arm, the small of his back propped against the other. His mouth turned up at the corners, giving an expression of droll humor to his face. It was as though he were on the point of breaking into a smile. His eyes were large, protruding, and glassy.
"What's the grief this time?" he asked. "I didn't know there'd been another murder."
"It isn't a murder, Paul, it's a cat."
"A what?"
"A cat, a Persian cat."
The detective sighed and said, "All right, then, it's a cat. So what?"
"Peter Laxter," Mason said, "probably a miser, had a house in the city that he wouldn't live in. He stayed in his country place at Carmencita. The place burned up, and Laxter burned up with it. He left three grandchildren: Samuel C. Laxter and Frank Oafley, who inherit under his will, and a granddaughter, Winifred Laxter, who was left out in the cold. His will contained a provision that Charles Ashton, his caretaker, was to be given a perpetual job during his lifetime. Ashton had a cat. He wanted to keep the cat with him. Sam Laxter told him to get rid of the cat. I sympathized with Ashton, wrote Laxter a letter and told him to leave the cat alone. Laxter went to Nat Shuster.
Perry Mason took two quick steps towards him. The little lawyer danced away, turned and scuttled for the doorway. He pulled it open and shot through it.
"We'll fight!" he called back over his shoulder. "I'm just as tough a fighter as you are, Perry Mason."
"Yes," Perry Mason sighed, "you act like it."
Samuel Laxter hesitated for a moment, as though about to say something, then turned and walked out of the office, followed by Oafley.
Perry Mason met Della Street 's smiling eyes with a grin. "Go on," he said; "say, 'I told you so. "
She shook her head. "Fight that little shyster off his feet!" she said.
Mason looked at his watch. "Ring up Paul Drake and ask him to be here at two thirty."
"And Ashton?" she asked.
"No," he told her. "Ashton's got enough to worry about. I think this is going to be a matter of principle all around."
Chapter 3
The clock on Perry Mason's desk showed two thirtyfive. Paul Drake, head of the Drake Detective Agency, sat crosswise in the big leather chair, his knees draped over one arm, the small of his back propped against the other. His mouth turned up at the corners, giving an expression of droll humor to his face. It was as though he were on the point of breaking into a smile. His eyes were large, protruding, and glassy.
"What's the grief this time?" he asked. "I didn't know there'd been another murder."
"It isn't a murder, Paul, it's a cat."
"A what?"
"A cat, a Persian cat."
The detective sighed and said, "All right, then, it's a cat. So what?"
"Peter Laxter," Mason said, "probably a miser, had a house in the city that he wouldn't live in. He stayed in his country place at Carmencita. The place burned up, and Laxter burned up with it. He left three grandchildren: Samuel C. Laxter and Frank Oafley, who inherit under his will, and a granddaughter, Winifred Laxter, who was left out in the cold. His will contained a provision that Charles Ashton, his caretaker, was to be given a perpetual job during his lifetime. Ashton had a cat. He wanted to keep the cat with him. Sam Laxter told him to get rid of the cat. I sympathized with Ashton, wrote Laxter a letter and told him to leave the cat alone. Laxter went to Nat Shuster.