Mason said, “Now, wait a minute, Maxine. You can’t just walk out of the picture like this.”
“I’ll be back,” she said. “I’ll keep in touch with you but right now something terrible has happened and I — well, I just can’t be around, that’s all.”
Mason caught Paul Drake’s eye and winked.
“Where are you calling from, Maxine?” he asked.
“I’m not calling. You’re calling me.”
“I know,” Mason said, “but where are you? We’re calling you back. This is the number you left. Is it your apartment?”
“It’s— You can’t try to trace me, Mr. Mason. No one must know where I’m going.”
Mason said patiently, “I’m just asking where you are now, Maxine, because I’d like to see if there’s any possibility of seeing you personally.”
“I’m... I’m in a telephone booth at the bus terminal. I’ve been waiting here for what seems interminable hours.”
“You’re not at your apartment?”
“No, no, no.”
“Can I meet you at your apartment later on?”
“No, no. I’m not going back to my apartment, Mr. Mason. I can’t... I can’t explain. It’s— No, I won’t be back at my apartment.”
“All right,” Mason said. “Now look. I want you to do one thing for me. That is, it’s not for me, it’s for Mr. Rankin. You know Rankin has befriended you and I think you are human enough to feel at least a certain amount of gratitude toward him.”
“I do.”
“All right,” Mason said. “Now, I’ve been out with Miss Street. We’ve been working on a case and we went to dinner and did a little dancing and I’m taking her home now... Do you have a car?”
“Yes. I have my car near here.”
“All right,” Mason told her. “I want you to meet us at Miss Street’s apartment house. Now that will be private enough so no one will be looking for you there in case you want to keep out of sight, and you can leave your car parked with the dome light on. Miss Street and I will drive up and we can at least talk things over. You owe that much to Lattimer Rankin.”
She hesitated a moment, then said in a thin, threadlike voice, “Yes, I guess I do.”
“You’ll be there?” Mason asked.
“Where is it?”
“It’s in the Crittmore Apartments on West Selig Avenue. We’ll be there in about... Well now, let’s see... It will take me about forty-five minutes to get there. Will you be there and wait for us?”
“Well... yes, I guess so.”
“Now look, Maxine,” Mason said. “It’s terribly important. You be there, will you?”
“Yes,” she said, I’ll be there.”
“You won’t take a powder and run out on us?”
“No, Mr. Mason. If I say I’ll do a thing, I’ll do it.”
“All right,” Mason told her, “that’s a good girl. Remember, Lattimer Rankin has done a lot for you and you can’t go away and leave him holding the sack.”
“Oh, I... I do wish I–I’ll be there, Mr. Mason. I’ll try to tell you about it.”
“Okay,” Mason said. “Forty-five minutes.”
“Forty-five minutes,” she said, and hung up.
The three receivers in Drake’s office clicked simultaneously.
“Well,” Mason said, “what do you think of the button and the vest now, Paul?”
“Damn it, I don’t know how you do it,” Drake said. “I guess it’s some kind of extrasensory perception, but you certainly called the turn.”
Della Street said, “I’ve seen you pull these things often enough, Chief, so I should have known, but this time I’ll admit even I was a little skeptical.”
“You were plenty skeptical,” Mason said. “Damn it, I want to pace the floor... Get on the phone, Paul, get your men going and have them down there.”
“Will my operatives need any more of a description than the one I have?” Drake asked.
Della Street said, “She’s blonde with blue eyes, plenty of curves and—”
“Hell’s bells,” Mason interrupted, “you don’t need to know what she looks like, Paul. If she’s there, she’ll be in a car with a dome light on, and Della Street and I will drive up and stop and talk with her. Your men can have us spotted and when she drives away they can follow her. If she isn’t there, that’s all there is to it.”
“You’ve got a point there,” Drake said. “Okay, get the hell out of here so I can start getting men on the job. I’ll have the neighborhood of the Crittmore Apartments crawling with operatives.”
“Get them fast,” Mason said. “Come on, Della, it will only take us twenty-five minutes to drive out there. Well have to give Paul time enough to get his men on the job. That’ll give me a few minutes to think.”
Mason held the door of Drake’s office open, and Della Street hurried ahead of him, opened the wicket gate, smiled at the night exchange operator and then held the outer door open as Perry Mason, taking a latchkey from his pocket, hurried down the corridor to his own office.
Once inside, the lawyer switched the light on and began pacing the floor.
Della Street, her eyes on her wrist watch, said, “Are you going to let her skip out, Chief?”
“Of course I am,” Mason said. “That’s why I want Drake’s men to tail her. I want to know where she goes and what she does.”
“If she’s in on the fraud, could you have her arrested and—”
“And get in the same spot the jeweler gets in?” Mason said smiling. “No, Della. I’m just going to ride along for a while and see what it’s all about.”
“It looks to me as though you know pretty well what it’s all about right now.”
“Let’s take it one step at a time,” Mason said. “All I know is that Durant was putting on an act, and now that Maxine has picked up her cards and is playing them according to the old formula, I feel my suspicions were justified. I’m not going any farther than that right at the moment.”
The lawyer resumed a rhythmic pacing of the floor, his thumbs hooked in his belt, his head thrust slightly forward.
Della Street, knowing that at such times he concentrated to the best advantage, sat watching him, keeping silent and from time to time glancing at her wrist watch.
“The thing all fits into a perfect formula,” Mason said at length, “so darned perfect that it’s almost a classic example.”
Since he had addressed the remark to no one in particular and obviously did not expect a reply, Della Street said nothing.
The lawyer kept on pacing.
“You can see the position I’d have been in,” he said. “I can just see the headlines now. MILLIONAIRE SUED BY ART DEALER FOR HALF MILLION DOLLARS... Olney’s attorneys wouldn’t want to take the blame. Hollister would say that I had put them up to filing the suit... Word would get around in legal circles, and everyone would be chortling at the idea of Perry Mason, the smart criminal lawyer, being played for a sucker by a couple of bunco artists.”
“Just what do you intend to do now?” Della Street asked. “Surely you’ve got to take some steps to protect yourself.”
Mason paused and said, “The best protection is a counter-offensive, Della. I want to wait until they’re ready to start their punch and then beat them to it... What time is it?”
“You have another five minutes,” she said.
“I don’t need it,” Mason told her, grinning. “I think I’ve got it doped out now, Della. Come on, let’s go.”
“Well,” Della Street said, turning out the lights, “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better.”
Mason chuckled. “In fact, Della, I think I’ve got it licked.”
Della Street squeezed his arm reassuringly. “Leave it to you to come out on top,” she said.
Mason put his arm around her, patted her shoulder, and together they walked down the corridor.