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The Case of the Lucky Legs :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
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"Why coming back?"
"I told him I'd look up a little law."
"Have you looked it up?"
"No, but it's going to make him feel better handling it that way."
"In other words, you're washing your hands of the whole affair?"
"Of course. We aren't washing Cloverdale's dirty linen, and there was nothing pulled here. This is where the girl is, that's all."
"The motion picture company's here," Mason said.
"What of it?"
"Nothing, perhaps; again, perhaps quite a bit of it."
"It's Cloverdale's money, and the Cloverdale merchants are the ones to make a squawk," Manchester went on. "We've got enough troubles of our own. What are you going to do, Perry?"
"That depends," Mason said, "on what I can do."
"What are you driving at?"
"If," Perry Mason said, "I could get a confession from Patton, stating that this was the general scheme he had built up to defraud merchants in Cloverdale and elsewhere, it might change the complexion of the situation."
"Listen," Manchester said, "that bird, Patton, is a smooth individual. He knows what he's doing. He isn't going to make any such confession."
"That depends," Perry Mason said.
"Depends on what?"
"Depends on the way he's approached."
Carl Manchester looked shrewdly at Perry Mason, then took the cigarette from his lips and ground out the end in an ashtray.
"Now," he said, "I'm commencing to get your drift."
"I hoped you would," Mason said.
Manchester looked frowningly thoughtful.
"Look here, Mason," he said at length, running his fingers over the corners of the law book, and letting the pages riffle through his fingers, "we're not washing Cloverdale's dirty linen; that doesn't mean that we're sticking up for Patton. The man's a crook; there's no question of that. I've gone into the evidence enough to know it. I don't know whether we can prove anything; I doubt it. The district attorney at Cloverdale passed the buck; that's a bad sign. We don't want to monkey with it. We've got enough stuff to bother us, as it is, without borrowing trouble. But if you want to take this man to pieces, you go ahead."
"How strong can I go?" asked Perry Mason.
"Just as strong as you damn please."
"Suppose he makes a squawk?"
"Get me right on this," Manchester said. "I know the setup. It's one of those legalized rackets. A lawyer has advised Patton just how far he can go and keep out of jail. Perhaps the lawyer was right; perhaps he's wrong.
"Why coming back?"
"I told him I'd look up a little law."
"Have you looked it up?"
"No, but it's going to make him feel better handling it that way."
"In other words, you're washing your hands of the whole affair?"
"Of course. We aren't washing Cloverdale's dirty linen, and there was nothing pulled here. This is where the girl is, that's all."
"The motion picture company's here," Mason said.
"What of it?"
"Nothing, perhaps; again, perhaps quite a bit of it."
"It's Cloverdale's money, and the Cloverdale merchants are the ones to make a squawk," Manchester went on. "We've got enough troubles of our own. What are you going to do, Perry?"
"That depends," Mason said, "on what I can do."
"What are you driving at?"
"If," Perry Mason said, "I could get a confession from Patton, stating that this was the general scheme he had built up to defraud merchants in Cloverdale and elsewhere, it might change the complexion of the situation."
"Listen," Manchester said, "that bird, Patton, is a smooth individual. He knows what he's doing. He isn't going to make any such confession."
"That depends," Perry Mason said.
"Depends on what?"
"Depends on the way he's approached."
Carl Manchester looked shrewdly at Perry Mason, then took the cigarette from his lips and ground out the end in an ashtray.
"Now," he said, "I'm commencing to get your drift."
"I hoped you would," Mason said.
Manchester looked frowningly thoughtful.
"Look here, Mason," he said at length, running his fingers over the corners of the law book, and letting the pages riffle through his fingers, "we're not washing Cloverdale's dirty linen; that doesn't mean that we're sticking up for Patton. The man's a crook; there's no question of that. I've gone into the evidence enough to know it. I don't know whether we can prove anything; I doubt it. The district attorney at Cloverdale passed the buck; that's a bad sign. We don't want to monkey with it. We've got enough stuff to bother us, as it is, without borrowing trouble. But if you want to take this man to pieces, you go ahead."
"How strong can I go?" asked Perry Mason.
"Just as strong as you damn please."
"Suppose he makes a squawk?"
"Get me right on this," Manchester said. "I know the setup. It's one of those legalized rackets. A lawyer has advised Patton just how far he can go and keep out of jail. Perhaps the lawyer was right; perhaps he's wrong.