The Case of the Singing Skirt (10 page)

Mason turned on his lights.

Della Street came out to stand by the edge of the swimming pool.

Mason started his car, drove out of the alley, across the street and swung in close to the curb.

Della Street, moving rapidly, walked across to the car, jerked the door open and jumped in.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Everything okay," she said. "There was one other woman in the place. When she had the attendant occupied, I went to work. There was a washbowl with open plumbing, and I got the tube of ice suspended from the two shut-off valves just as you suggested. The gun's out of sight unless someone should happen to get down on the floor and look up."

"Okay," Mason said, "we'll be on our way."

"I see that you had company."

"The chief of police and a lobbyist for the gambling interests," Mason said.

"What do the gambling interests want?"

"To retain me," Mason said. "They think I'm working too hard. They'd like to pay our expenses to Acapulco and have us keep out of circulation for a while."

"And you told them?" Della Street asked.

"That I was busy," Mason said.

"And so, now?" she asked.

"Now," Mason said, "we get out of Rowena-fast."

CHAPTER EIGHT

Thursday afternoon, while Della Street was out of the office on an errand, the unlisted telephone in Mason's office buzzed its signal.

Mason, knowing that Paul Drake was the only outsider in possession of the unlisted number, dropped the book he was reading, picked up the telephone, said, "Hello. What is it?"

Paul Drake's voice, clipped with urgency, came over the phone. "Perry, have you heard from your client in that Rowena case?"

"Ellen Robb?"

"Yes."

"I haven't heard from her all day, Paul. Why?"

"Better get her," Drake said.

"What's happened?"

"I don't know for sure. I can give you some of it."

"Shoot."

"Mrs. Ellis boarded her yacht and took off for destinations unknown."

"I know," Mason said. "I talked with the lobbyist for the gambling interests, and he had an all-points bulletin out for the yacht. He thought it was due in Ensenada or in Catalina."

"Well, here's the thing," Drake said. "Sometime late this morning a submarine that was quite a ways out beyond Catalina Island noticed a boat in proscribed waters. It was drifting aimlessly. The submarine hailed the boat, got no answer and went aboard. The boarding officer found the cabin was locked, found the tanks were out of gas, that no one seemed to be aboard. He forced the cabin door and right away knew something had happened."

"Such as what?"

"Murder."

"Go on," Mason said.

"The body inside had been there for a while. It was the body of Mrs. Ellis. She had evidently tried to protect herself. There were evidences of a struggle. The gun that she had evidently tried to use was lying by her hand. One shot had been fired from it. The gun was cocked, ready for a second shot, which Mrs. Ellis never got a chance to fire. There were two bullet wounds in the body, apparently both of them chest wounds. Either one would have been fatal within a matter of minutes. There had been a massive hemorrhage, and the inside of the cabin was a mess.

"Now then, there's something that links Ellen Robb to the case. I don't know what it is, but I understand police are looking for hen. They have out an all-points bulletin and they're really making a search."

"Anything else?" Mason asked.

"That's all."

"Okay," Mason said. "I'll get busy. Where are you now?"

"At the office."

"Stay there," Mason said. "Hold a couple of good men in readiness. Now, you have bodyguards watching Ellen Robb's motel?"

"That's right."

"You've had a recent report from them?"

"Within an hour. She's at the motel."

"Any visitors?"

"Apparently she's been pure as the driven snow, if you mean has she been entertaining Helman Ellis in the motel."

"That's what I meant primarily," Mason said. "Anything else?"

"Nothing else."

Mason said, "I'm going down there, Paul, and you'd better pull your men off the job. When the police show up, if they find private detectives on guard, they'll start asking questions. We may not want to answer those questions."

"Okay," Drake said. "I'll get busy."

Mason called the receptionist on the intercom, said, "When Della comes in tell her to wait for a call from me, Gertie. I'm going out on an emergency. Cancel any appointments for the next hour and a half."

He picked up his brief case, grabbed his hat, left the office and drove to the Surf and Sea Motel at Costa Mesa. He tapped on the door of Unit 19.

"Who is it?" Ellen Robb's voice asked.

"Mason," the lawyer said.

"Oh," she said. Then, after a moment, "I'm not even decent, Mr. Mason."

"Get decent," Mason said. "This is important."

"How important?" she asked, sudden alarm in her voice.

"Important enough to get me down here," Mason said.

Ellen Robb turned the key in the lock. "Come on in," she said.

Mason entered.

"Don't mind me," Ellen Robb said. "I can stand it if you can. Did you bring the papers for me to sign?"

"I brought the papers," Mason said. "I want you to do two things."

"What?"

"Sign this complaint and get some clothes on."

"Which first?"

"The complaint."

She seated herself on the stool at the dressing table, took the papers that Mason handed her, said, "Is it all right for me to sign?"

"It is," Mason said. "You're suing George and Marcus for seven thousand, five hundred dollars. Sign now, then dress, and after you dress read the complaint carefully."

She signed, then pushed back the stool.

"Want to talk to me while I dress?"

Mason hesitated a moment, then said, "It's better you don't know what this is all about," he said. "Just get dressed. Now, remember, if anything happens before we leave here, I simply came here to have you sign these papers."

She regarded him with a puzzled expression as she carefully smoothed stockings up on her long legs, pulled a dress over her head.

"You're a deep one," she said.

Mason said, "Ellen, I want to know one thing. I want you to tell me the truth."

"What is it?"

"Were you cutting corners with Helman Ellis?"

"Why?"

"George Anclitas says you were. His partner, Slim Marcus, says you were."

"Slim!" she blazed. "He's a great one. That guy was making passes at me from the moment I came on the job, pulling the kind of stuff on me that the way to get ahead was to co-operate with the people who could help me and-"

"Never mind that," Mason said. "I'm talking about Ellis."

"Ellis," she said, "I think was… well, fascinated."

"How about you?" Mason asked. "Did you give him a tumble?"

"I strung him along a little bit. I was supposed to. I-"

Knuckles sounded on the door.

She looked at Mason in surprise, then called, "Who is it?"

"Police," Lt. Tragg's voice said. "Will you open up, please? We want to ask you some questions."

"This is it," Mason said.

She hurriedly buttoned her blouse.

Mason walked to the door, opened it and said, "Why, how are you, Lieutenant?"

"You!" Tragg said.

"Whom did you expect?"

Tragg took a deep breath. "I should have expected you. Where's Ellen Robb?"

"I'm Ellen Robb. What's the trouble?"

Ellen Robb stepped forward.

Tragg sized her up. "You know Helman Ellis of Rowena?" he asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"His wife, Nadine?"

"Yes."

"Any trouble with Nadine?"

"Now, wait a minute," Mason said. "Before you start throwing a lot of questions at my client, let's find out what it's all about."

"That's a good one," Tragg said. "No idea what it's all about, eh? What are you doing here if you don't know what it's all about?"

Mason said, "I am suing George Anclitas and his partners for claims which Miss Robb has against George for giving her a black eye, for kicking her out of her room and into the cruel, cold world when she was garbed only in her professional working attire, consisting of little more than a pair of tights and a look of extreme innocence.

"In case you want all of the details, I have just had the papers prepared in my office and I came here to get Miss Robb to sign them."

"We'll look around," Tragg said.

"Got a warrant?"

"That's right. Here it is."

"What are you looking for?" Mason asked.

"A murder weapon, in case you didn't know."

"Who's dead?" Mason asked.

Tragg smiled and shook his head.

"Now, you look here," Ellen Robb said, "you can't pin-"

"Shut up, Ellen," Mason said. "I'll do all the talking."

"That's what you think," Tragg told him. "You're leaving."

"Not until you've finished with the search," Mason said.

"Look around," Tragg told a plain-clothes man who was with him.

Tragg seated himself on the bed, looked from Mason to Ellen Robb. "It certainly is lucky finding you here. Let's take a look at those papers you say she just signed."

Mason opened his brief case, took out the signed copies, said, "Here you are, Lieutenant."

Lt. Tragg carefully inspected the signature of Ellen Robb. "It looks as though she had just signed it," he said. "Perhaps she did. I-"

"Lieutenant," the plain-clothes man said.

Tragg turned.

"This way," the plain-clothes man said.

Tragg stood, peering down at the revolver that had been uncovered in the suitcase.

"Well, well, well! What's this?" he asked.

"I don't know," Ellen Robb said. "It's a revolver that I found in my baggage when I left George Anclitas' place-you know, The Big Barn in Rowena."

"And when was that?"

"I left Tuesday night."

"And you noticed this in your things this morning?"

"Yes."

"And what did you do about it?"

"Let's not answer any questions about that gun right now," Mason said. "Let's wait until we know why Lieutenant Tragg is interested in the gun."

"I'm interested in it," Tragg said, "because it's a.38caliber Smith Sc Wesson revolver, and I want to know about it."

"My client found it in her baggage," Mason said. "She told me about it as soon as she discovered it. I advised her to leave it there."

"She didn't know anything at all about it, about where it came from or anything about it? It isn't her gun?"

"That's right. She just found it there. Someone evidently put that gun in her suitcase."

"How nice," Lt. Tragg said sarcastically. "How perfectly nice that Ellen Robb has an attorney representing her. What a happy coincidence that you were here."

"What's so important about the gun?" Mason asked.

"We'll tell you about that a little later," Tragg said.

"Well, let me give you a little advice," Mason told him. "Just so you don't stick your neck out too far, Tragg, don't make any statements about that gun until you know what you're talking about."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you'll find that gun has absolutely no significance whatever."

"What do you mean, no significance whatever?"

"Just what I said. I can't elaborate. I'm giving you a personal, friendly tip, Lieutenant."

"Thanks," Tragg said. "I could hardly hold down my job if it wasn't for your personal, friendly tips, Perry."

"This one may be a little more significant than you think at the moment."

"Why? What do you know?"

"Not very much as yet," Mason said. "But there is a chance I may know more than my client."

"Should you hold out on her that way?" Tragg asked sarcastically.

"It may be for the best interests of all concerned," Mason said.

Tragg said, "Miss Robb, would you mind letting me take your fingerprints so I can make a comparison with certain photographs?"

Ellen Robb looked questioningly at Perry Mason.

"Let him take your fingerprints," Mason said.