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The Case of the Lucky Legs :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
Страница: 15 из 154"He's going to run in to tell me about this Bradbury matter. He thinks he's got the information that we want. It's important that no one disturbs me until I've finished with Drake. That means, particularly, that I don't want to talk with Bradbury."
"Okay, chief," she said.
"Come right on up," Mason told Drake, and slid the receiver back into place.
Two minutes later, Paul Drake pushed his way through the door to Perry Mason's private office.
"What have you got?" asked the lawyer.
"I think I've got the thing sewed up," Paul Drake said, dropping into the big leather chair and lighting a cigarette. "I've found out that fellow Patton put on the same sort of a racket in Parker City. The peculiar thing is that he didn't use an alias. That is, he pulled the same racket in Parker City and gave his name as Frank Patton. The motion picture company that signed the contract was the same as the one that figured in the Cloverdale contract."
"Who did he hook in Parker City?" asked Perry Mason curiously.
"The same outfit—the Chamber of Commerce and the merchants."
"No, that isn't what I mean. Who was the girl that got gypped?"
"That's where we're going to get our lead on Patton," the detective said. "She's a girl named Thelma Bell, and she's living here in town. We've got her address and telephone number. She's living at the St. James Apartments, a cheap apartment at 962 East Faulkner Street, and the telephone number is Harcourt 63891. She's got apartment 301, but she's out right now. We've been telephoning and trying to get in touch with her. We've got evidence that leads us to believe she's keeping in touch with Frank Patton."
"When can you get in touch with her?" Mason asked.
"Around eight o'clock some time. She's working somewhere, I don't know just where. She's been in chorus work, and I gather that she may be a bit hardboiled. She won the leg contest in Parker City and came on here with a picture contract, the same as Marjorie Clune had. When she found out she was stung, she went into chorus work and has done some posing as an artist's model."
"And she's kept in touch with Frank Patton?" asked Perry Mason, frowning.
"Yes, apparently she's the kind of a kid that takes things as they come. She figured that Patton was running a racket and couldn't be blamed for that. She put it up to him to do the best he could for her here in the city. That's the way we figure it out, according to the story we get from the girl's friends."
"And she's going to be in around eight o'clock tonight?" Mason asked.
"Okay, chief," she said.
"Come right on up," Mason told Drake, and slid the receiver back into place.
Two minutes later, Paul Drake pushed his way through the door to Perry Mason's private office.
"What have you got?" asked the lawyer.
"I think I've got the thing sewed up," Paul Drake said, dropping into the big leather chair and lighting a cigarette. "I've found out that fellow Patton put on the same sort of a racket in Parker City. The peculiar thing is that he didn't use an alias. That is, he pulled the same racket in Parker City and gave his name as Frank Patton. The motion picture company that signed the contract was the same as the one that figured in the Cloverdale contract."
"Who did he hook in Parker City?" asked Perry Mason curiously.
"The same outfit—the Chamber of Commerce and the merchants."
"No, that isn't what I mean. Who was the girl that got gypped?"
"That's where we're going to get our lead on Patton," the detective said. "She's a girl named Thelma Bell, and she's living here in town. We've got her address and telephone number. She's living at the St. James Apartments, a cheap apartment at 962 East Faulkner Street, and the telephone number is Harcourt 63891. She's got apartment 301, but she's out right now. We've been telephoning and trying to get in touch with her. We've got evidence that leads us to believe she's keeping in touch with Frank Patton."
"When can you get in touch with her?" Mason asked.
"Around eight o'clock some time. She's working somewhere, I don't know just where. She's been in chorus work, and I gather that she may be a bit hardboiled. She won the leg contest in Parker City and came on here with a picture contract, the same as Marjorie Clune had. When she found out she was stung, she went into chorus work and has done some posing as an artist's model."
"And she's kept in touch with Frank Patton?" asked Perry Mason, frowning.
"Yes, apparently she's the kind of a kid that takes things as they come. She figured that Patton was running a racket and couldn't be blamed for that. She put it up to him to do the best he could for her here in the city. That's the way we figure it out, according to the story we get from the girl's friends."
"And she's going to be in around eight o'clock tonight?" Mason asked.