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The Case of the Lucky Legs :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
Страница: 13 из 154"You're going to find Patton; you're going to find Marjorie Clune. We're going to interview them. We're going to get a confession out of him, and the district attorney here is going to prosecute, and the district attorney in Cloverdale is going to prosecute."
"When you say it fast," Paul Drake said, blinking his expressionless eyes, "it sounds easy."
"I believe in working fast," Mason told him.
"I think I can find Frank Patton," Drake said. "I've got a good description of him. He's tall, heavy set, dignified, fiftytwo years of age, has gray hair and a closeclipped gray mustache. There's a mole on his right cheek. Bradbury has a file of the Cloverdale Independent in his rooms at the hotel. There are ads in there that will be evidence, and a photograph we can use.
"My theory is that this racket is too well thought out to have been used in one town. I can find where it's been used in other towns and through some of those other towns I can get a line on Patton."
"All right," Perry Mason said, lighting a cigarette, "go ahead."
"But," the detective inquired, "then what's going to happen?
"How do you mean?"
"Just how far can we go?"
Mason grinned and said, "That's what I've been down to the district attorney's office for. The sky's the limit."
"Should we tell Bradbury that?" asked Paul Drake.
"We should not," Mason told him, speaking with swift emphasis. "We'll tell him nothing of the sort. When we locate Patton, we keep that location to ourselves. We interview him. After we've interviewed him, we tell Bradbury what we have done; we don't tell him what we are going to do, at any stage of the game."
"I'm supposed to make reports to my client," Drake said uneasily.
"That's easy," Mason said. "I'm your client's attorney. You make the reports to me, and I'll take the responsibility."
The detective watched Perry Mason with meditative speculation.
"Can we get away with that?" he asked.
"I can," Mason said.
"And the district attorney doesn't care how we get a confession?"
"Not a bit," Mason said. "You understand, the district attorney's office can't use improper methods; we can use almost any method."
"You mean violence?"
"Not necessarily; there are better ways. We can put him in a spot where he'll have to start talking. Then we'll crowd him into a position where he'll think we're working on a charge of using the mails to defraud in connection with the picture show contract, and get him to make some admissions about the picture business.
"When you say it fast," Paul Drake said, blinking his expressionless eyes, "it sounds easy."
"I believe in working fast," Mason told him.
"I think I can find Frank Patton," Drake said. "I've got a good description of him. He's tall, heavy set, dignified, fiftytwo years of age, has gray hair and a closeclipped gray mustache. There's a mole on his right cheek. Bradbury has a file of the Cloverdale Independent in his rooms at the hotel. There are ads in there that will be evidence, and a photograph we can use.
"My theory is that this racket is too well thought out to have been used in one town. I can find where it's been used in other towns and through some of those other towns I can get a line on Patton."
"All right," Perry Mason said, lighting a cigarette, "go ahead."
"But," the detective inquired, "then what's going to happen?
"How do you mean?"
"Just how far can we go?"
Mason grinned and said, "That's what I've been down to the district attorney's office for. The sky's the limit."
"Should we tell Bradbury that?" asked Paul Drake.
"We should not," Mason told him, speaking with swift emphasis. "We'll tell him nothing of the sort. When we locate Patton, we keep that location to ourselves. We interview him. After we've interviewed him, we tell Bradbury what we have done; we don't tell him what we are going to do, at any stage of the game."
"I'm supposed to make reports to my client," Drake said uneasily.
"That's easy," Mason said. "I'm your client's attorney. You make the reports to me, and I'll take the responsibility."
The detective watched Perry Mason with meditative speculation.
"Can we get away with that?" he asked.
"I can," Mason said.
"And the district attorney doesn't care how we get a confession?"
"Not a bit," Mason said. "You understand, the district attorney's office can't use improper methods; we can use almost any method."
"You mean violence?"
"Not necessarily; there are better ways. We can put him in a spot where he'll have to start talking. Then we'll crowd him into a position where he'll think we're working on a charge of using the mails to defraud in connection with the picture show contract, and get him to make some admissions about the picture business.