“Oh, certainly,” Mason observed. “I’m sorry that I bothered you. I can assure you I only did it because it was imperative...”
“That’s all right,” Coll interrupted hastily. “I understand. Good night, Mr. Mason.”
Mason said, “Just one more thing. Do I understand you don’t know whether Miss Dilmeyer was here tonight?”
“That’s right.”
“Then you weren’t here in your apartment?”
“Not all the time. Look here, I’m not going to be questioned on my own personal affairs.”
“When was the last time you saw Miss Dilmeyer?”
“I don’t know... I can’t be bothered with all that stuff now, Mr. Mason. I tell you I can’t help you. I don’t have any idea who sent her poisoned candy. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Mason...”
He made an attempt to close the door, but Mason’s shoulder blocked him.
Coll said, with cold anger, “Mason, I don’t want to get tough about this, but I’m going to bed!”
He put force against the door.
“Why, certainly,” Mason said, abruptly withdrawing his shoulder and letting the door slam shut.
Mason walked rapidly down the corridor. The elevator was rattling upward in the shaft.
Instead of standing in front of the elevator, Mason walked some twenty feet beyond, to stand in the dimly lit hallway, flattened against the wall.
The elevator came to a stop. The doors slid smoothly open. A short, chunky man in full dress with dark overcoat and silk hat stepped out into the corridor with the rapidity of a man going some place in a hurry. He turned to the right, walking quickly down the corridor, looking at the numbers on the doors. He stopped at the far end of the corridor, looked back over his shoulder, then tapped on Coll’s door.
As the door opened, light streamed out to give Mason a good view of the man’s face. He had the thick neck and heavy features which go with broad shoulders and a beefy build. Mason heard Coll say, “Come in.”
Chapter 8
Mason tapped at the door of Mrs. Dunkurk’s room in the Clearmount Hotel and went in. Morning sun, streaming through lace curtains, splashed pale orange on the counterpane. Through the open windows drifted the muffled sounds of distant traffic. Within the room, the labored breathing of the woman on the bed dominated all other sounds.
Mason said, “Good morning, Mrs. Lawley.”
She managed to smile.
“How are you feeling?”
“Not... not good.”
“You have some medicine?”
“Yes.”
“Some that you took from the house?”
She nodded.
“And some clothes?”
“A few.”
Talking was evidently an effort. She had held up well under the excitement of the night before, but now reaction had set in. There were dark circles under her eyes. The lids were a bluish gray. Her lips were distinctly blue.
“Did you sleep?” Mason asked.
She shook her head.
Mason said, “I’m going to get you a doctor.”
“No, no. I’m — I’ll be all right.”
“I have one I can trust.”
“He’ll know who I am.”
“Certainly he will. You’re Mrs. Charles Dunkurk of San Diego. You’re here to consult me on a very important matter. The excitement has undermined your health.”
Mason crossed over to the telephone and called Dr. Willmont’s office. He found the doctor was at the hospital, and left word for him to call Mrs. Dunkurk’s room at the hotel. Then he went back to talk with Mrs. Lawley. “Feel up to telling me what happened?” he asked.
She said, “I had a shock.”
Mason’s nod was sympathetic. “Don’t talk any more than you have to. I can tell you most of it. There are only one or two details I need to have you fill in.”
“What are they?”
Mason said, “Your sister came to your house last night. She said enough to make it seem your husband had been in some rather serious difficulties. He raised his voice in an angry denial, and you heard him, got out of bed, and started downstairs.”
“No,” she said. “I was eavesdropping. Millie and Bob never did get along. I always felt that she...”
“I know,” Mason interrupted. “Anyway, you heard enough to make you determined you were going to learn more. When your husband went out, you followed him.”
She started to say something, then checked herself.
Mason said, “Lynk was murdered up in Lilac Canyon. Your sister knows something which makes her think you did it.”
“That I killed Lynk?”
“Yes.”
“She wouldn’t think that.”
“Either that, or there’s some bit of evidence which makes her think the police will arrest you.”
The woman on the bed said nothing, but stared past Mason with a look of almost dreamy abstraction.
“Can you tell me what it is?” Mason asked.
“No.”
“Did you kill Lynk?”
“No.”
Mason said, “Lynk had some stock which he was holding as collateral security — stock in the Faulkner Flower Shops.”
“No, that’s a mistake. He didn’t have that.”
“He didn’t?”
“No.”
“Who does have it?”
“I do.”
“Where?” Mason asked.
“As it happens,” she said, “I have it with me.”
Mason pursed his lips in a silent whistle. “So that’s it,” he said after a moment.
“What is?”
“You got that stock from Lynk.”
“Don’t be silly. I had it all the time.”
“Remember,” Mason went on, “Lynk had a partner. Clint Magard put screws on Lynk yesterday afternoon, and found out everything that had been going on.”
“I don’t see what that has to do with me.”
“A great deal. Magard knows that Lynk had that stock with him last night when he went to Lilac Canyon.”
“He’s mistaken, Mr. Mason.”
He said, “I’m afraid I can’t help you, Mrs. Lawley. I don’t defend murderers. If I handle a case, I want some assurance that my client is innocent.”
She stirred uneasily on the bed. Mason said, “I’m sorry. I’m not going to put you to any more strain. I’d like to help you, but the way things are now, I can’t.”
She sighed, closed her eyes, interlaced her fingers, and said wearily, “I’ll tell you... how it happened.”
“Cut out all the trimmings, just give me the bare facts.”
“After Millie left, I wanted to ask Bob some questions, but I didn’t want him to know I’d been listening. I went back to my room and dressed. I heard Bob moving around downstairs. He did some telephoning. He talked with a friend of his named Coll, and he kept dialing some number that didn’t answer. About eleven-thirty, I heard him go out. I hesitated for a while, wondering whether I dared. Then I decided to take a chance. My coupe was in the garage. I didn’t turn the lights on. I pulled out before he’d gone two blocks and managed to follow him.”
“Where?” Mason asked.
“Lilac Canyon.”
“You followed him?” Mason asked.
“Without any difficulty. He was completely engrossed. I didn’t have any trouble until he got up to Lilac Canyon. Then the road twisted and turned so much I couldn’t see which way he turned.”
“So you lost him?” Mason asked, keeping his eyes and voice without expression.
“I knew from what I’d overheard of his conversation over the phone that a man named Lynk had a place up at Lilac Canyon.”
“So you went to Lynk’s place?” Mason asked.
“Yes.”
“How did you find it?”