The Case of the Stolen Artifact
Chapter 1
1
Perry Mason had been busy non-stop since arriving back from Colorado, where he had defended a young woman of murder. He and Della Street had gone to a ski resort to relax, ski and enjoy the company of Hamilton Burger and his wife, as well as Paul Drake and his latest girlfriend. It did not take long before Perry and Della discovered Paul had become pretty serious about Tracy Hanton. Unfortunately, Paul had not known anything about her past as a prostitute.
When her pimp followed her to Colorado to squeeze more money out of her, he was shot dead on the ski slope. Once again, another vacation was interrupted as Paul asked Perry to defend Tracy of the murder. Although Mason had successfully defended Hanton from the murder charge, Paul and Tracy could not reconcile their problems caused by the secrets she had kept from him. Paul returned to Los Angeles without Tracy.
Since then, they had three murder trials to defend as well as whatever came their way. Della had pushed Perry to take on all three cases in order to keep Paul busy and his mind off of Tracy. Mason agreed since he cared every bit as much as Della did about the private eye.
Perry checked his watch. It was nearly five o'clock and nothing they were now doing was very pressing. He decided he and Della needed some time to themselves as most of their free time had been spent with Paul. It was long past due that he take Della to a nice romantic restaurant with champagne and dancing. Due to his and Della's unspoken rule, public displays of affection rarely happened between them. He would choose an establishment where they could have a good meal, drink the champagne and then Della could spend the evening in his arms as they dance the night away.
The lawyer smiled just thinking what a time they would have. He could get away with holding Della close to him as they swayed to the music.
The door to his office opened and the love of his life stepped in. "Perry, it is almost five o'clock. What do you say we get out of here before some woman with a sad tale comes in demanding your services?"
He chuckled, thinking how much they thought alike. It came from spending almost every waking hour together since Della walked into his office for the first time to interview for the job as his confidential secretary.
"And before a certain private detective knocks on that door over there," Perry added pointing to the private entrance.
"Now don't you be hard on Paul. He was heartbroken when Tracy went back to New York. He needed us," Della scolded.
Perry stood up and walked around the desk. Noticing Della already had her coat and purse in hand, he wasn't about to argue with the head of his office. "How about a nice romantic dinner with champagne and dancing?" he whispered in her ear.
"Mmmm, sounds very nice, Counselor."
Perry helped Della into her coat and then put on his own overcoat. Taking her by the elbow, he led her towards the door. Just as he got it open, Paul's code knock sounded on the private entrance door next to Mason's desk. "Let's pretend we didn't hear that," Mason suggested.
"Perry, he's hurting. He needs us right now," Della said.
The lawyer sighed and walked over to the door. Reaching for the knob, he turned and opened it. Paul Drake entered the office.
"Good, I just caught you. I was afraid I might miss you. Since you finished that last case, I haven't had much to do, so I figured you didn't either."
Looking at Della, Perry raised an eyebrow. Did Paul honestly think they did nothing but murder cases? Although it was most definitely his specialty, a lot more went on in his office. He handled most kinds of legal work and was always in big demand. Mason had to turn down more work than he actually handled. There just wasn't enough hours in a day to handle everything that came his way.
Nevertheless, Della gave him a warning glance. He knew he was about to give in. There went the romantic dinner, the champagne and holding Della close to his body while they danced all evening.
"Did you have something in mind, Paul?" Perry asked.
Drake pulled three tickets out of his pocket. "A jealous husband was elated that I could not find his wife cheating on him, so he gave me these tickets to the Los Angeles Lakers game. You two do like basketball, don't you?"
Perry rarely had time to watch sports, and the last thing he wanted to do was spend the evening at a noisy, crowded basketball game when he could spend a quiet, romantic evening with Della. He was about to turn Paul down when Della stepped in.
"I haven't been to a basketball game in ages," she said.
"Great! Why don't we stop at Clays for a bite first? I'll be just a minute. I have to get my coat. Here, you hold the tickets." Paul pushed them into Perry's hand.
After Drake was out the door, Della could not stop herself from laughing at the forlorn look on the lawyer's face. "Come on, Perry, it will be fun!"
"More fun than a romantic dinner, dancing and champagne?" he grumbled.
"Well, no, but … "
"Paul needs us. I know."
Della laughed again. "Let's meet him in the hall."
2
Robert Ironside looked over the plans for protecting the Chinese exhibit that would be arriving in a couple days. He was not actually in charge of its security, but he had not forgotten what had happened the last time this exhibit came to his town. They had almost lost a priceless artifact. It had only been thrown aside at the last minute by Alexandra Hughes. Fortunately, he had been able to return it and the exhibit left town with everything they had arrived with.
Alexandra Hughes … now there was a woman from his past. He had met her many years ago and they had started an affair. Robert Ironside would have asked her to marry him, but there had been a problem. He was a cop and she was a thief! They eventually had to go their separate ways. After all, there was no possible way they could continue the relationship when she refused to give up her "profession."
He had not seen her in years until she once again appeared in San Francisco. Alexandra showed up at the Chinese exhibit, the very exhibit in which Commissioner Randall had asked him to personally take charge of security.
He spent time with her, going to places that they used to share. He had even invited her to his office residence for dinner. His entire staff and commissioner Randall had attended.
Ironside had made the mistake of believing that he knew when she would make an attempt at stealing the Chinese artifact. Since she had followed her horoscope so closely, he believed that she would steal the artifact on Wednesday. She had outsmarted him by stealing it a day early.
The chief, along with Ed, Mark and Fran arrived in time to stop her from getting away with the artifact. Her two accomplices were arrested, but Alexandra had thrown the artifact out the window when Chief Ironside refused to get out of the way of her vehicle. He did eventually have no choice but to move; Alexandra sped away in her vehicle. Despite an attempt to capture her, she had been able to elude the police. From that time on, Ironside had not seen her again.
He thought about the house in the country they had looked at. He made every attempt to get her to stop what she was doing. However, Alexandra simply could not. It was not only the monetary gain, but also the thrill of being able to outsmart police departments and get away with being a thief.
The chief could not help but wonder if she would make a second try at an artifact that was worth millions. He wasn't sure how she would pedal it. Any fence would have trouble getting anything for it since it was famous and priceless. Nevertheless, Ironside knew that such an inconvenience would not stop Alexandra from making a second attempt.
The door to his office opened. Ed and Eve came down the ramp. Mark was busy making breakfast for his boss. They could smell the aroma of freshly brewed coffee coming from the kitchen.
Sanger gathered the bacon and eggs from the pan and placed them on a plate. With the plate in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, he headed for the main table in the office where Ironside normally worked.
Setting his breakfast down in front of the chief, Mark also gave him the coffee. He turned to his co-workers and said, "There is plenty of coffee in the kitchen. Help yourself."
Ed and Eve did not hesitate. They both headed to the kitchen to pour themselves a cup of the brew.
Upon returning to the table, Eve noticed that the chief had the plans for protecting the Chinese exhibit. Watching him study them prompted her to ask, "I did not think we had been assigned to protecting that exhibit. Why are you going over it with a fine-tooth comb?"
"We almost lost a very valuable piece of this exhibit the last time it was here. I do not want it stolen in my town."
"If I remember right, Alexandra Hughes was the one responsible for attempting to steal that cat," Brown stated.
"Cat?" Ironside questioned sarcastically. "Is that what you call a valuable Chinese artifact?"
"Chief, I know it's valuable. However, can you really argue with me that it is not a cat?" Ed asked.
"Ed, it is older than you are. It is an artifact, not a cat."
"Looks like a cat to me," Mark said.
"Eve, tell them!" Ironside said in exasperation.
"It is a Chinese artifact," Officer Whitfield said, "but it is also a cat."
Ed and Mark were grinning from ear-to-ear.
Ironside just shook his head. "Coming from your background, I would have expected you to show more taste than that. It is an artifact."
Eve winked at Ed and Mark, then changed the subject. "Do you think Alexandra Hughes will come back to town in hopes of stealing it successfully this time?"
"That is the reason why I have no intentions of sitting back and watching someone else handle the security. We are going to take it over."
"If that's the case, we better get started. It is coming in the day after tomorrow," Eve said.
"Now, you are making sense," Ironside said as he backed up his wheelchair, turned it around and headed towards the ramp. He looked back to see his staff still sitting at the table. "Well come on! Don't just sit there!"
Eve, Ed and Mark ran to catch up with their boss.
3
Alexandra Hughes looked out the window of the jumbo jet. She had flown to San Francisco reluctantly. She never wanted to come back to this city again. There were far to many memories in the town, many of which she wanted to forget, or at least attempt to suppress them to the back of her mind.
Each time she came to San Francisco, she was reminded of a love that she allowed to slip through her fingers. Why did she not take Bob Ironside up on his offer? If she had quit the business, she could have talked him into retiring, and they could have lived a quiet life somewhere in the country. She really did love the city of San Francisco, and as she had once told Bob, it was the only city she could call home; the only one she really felt at home in.
She thought back so many years ago about the time she has spent with him. Life was simple then, or at least she had talked herself into believing that. If the truth be told, it was actually very complicated. She had fallen in love with a police detective of all people! It made life very, very complicated.
The problem was Alexandra was a thief and a very good one. It was how she had made her living over the years. Sometimes she worked with a couple of trusted accomplices and sometimes she worked alone.
Obviously, due to what she did for a living, the relationship between she and Robert Ironside was doomed from the beginning. Yet, despite knowing she could never be with him; she had never stopped loving him.
A Chinese Art Exhibit had brought her back to San Francisco the last time she had been in the city. One artifact was of interest. It was worth millions of dollars and she was to split the money gained from it with her two accomplices. Unfortunately, even though she had spent much time with Bob, she had not fooled him a bit as to why she was in the city.
After casing the museum, she had discovered where the artifact was being kept. She reported it to the two men she was working with, and they arranged a "bomb" in the museum. The police naturally ushered everyone out to protect their safety. Her accomplices showed up as members of the bomb squad and carried the artifact out of the museum right under the noses of the police protecting it.
Alexandra always followed astrology when it came to choosing the time the thefts were to take place; Bob Ironside knew that. If she and her accomplices had followed astrology, they would have made the attempt on Wednesday. It was the original date she had chosen. When she found out Chief Robert T. Ironside would be in charge of security, she had to rethink that date. He knew her and he knew her well. Knowing Bob would think of her desire to do things according to astrology, he would go by that in determining when she would strike. It made perfect sense to steal the artifact before that date. So Alexandra had set it up for the day before.
They would have gotten away with it if they had left San Francisco immediately. Never should they have chosen to meet back at that house. She should have known better than to underestimate Robert Ironside. She had known Bob would trace the house they had been renting quickly. He was a brilliant detective. Of course, he was able to trace where they had been staying. His sergeant showed up and rang the doorbell. Both of the accomplices were caught, but Alexandra recognized Ed Brown's voice. She left the house by ways of another exit. With the artifact on the passenger seat of the car, Alexandra attempted to speed away from the scene. Unfortunately, Bob Ironside had wheeled his chair in the center of the driveway. She stopped momentarily and said to herself, "Move, Bob." Alexandra then floored the vehicle, picked up the artifact and threw it out of the car. With the car bearing down on him, Robert Ironside backed out of the way.
She had made previous plans on exiting the city as she knew the talents of this particular man. The only way she could be successful was to stay a step ahead of him. She had been able to do that in obtaining the artifact, but he had outsmarted her to get it back.
Alexandra Hughes had left San Francisco with nothing, no artifact, no money. Furthermore, she had lost Bob Ironside forever. She could never show her face to him again. If she did, it would mean her immediate arrest.
Why did she choose the decision she had made? Was stealing that artifact more important than a life with Robert Ironside? Not accepting his offer, forced her to continue in her life of crime … stealing.
As the plane landed, Alexandra pulled her suitcase down from the overhead bin. She followed the passengers out of the jet and headed straight for the rental car counter. Her eyes roamed back and forth checking the airport for police or plain-clothed cops. Over the years, she had learned to spot them by their demeanor. They were all too stuffy. They gave away themselves trying to go unnoticed, when what they really did was make themselves obvious.
She could only imagine what went through Bob's mind right now. He would probably be thinking about the last time the exhibit was in San Francisco. Alexandra did not know whether he was assigned to protect it or not, but even if he wasn't, she was not about to ignore the fact that he would be keeping track of it anyway. She was not about to underestimate Bob Ironside again.
When she finished paying for the rented car under a phony name and drivers license, Alexandra located the automobile and headed for the house that Eli Schneider and Louis Blaine had arranged for them.
Schneider and Blaine had been the two accomplices she worked with the last time the Chinese Art Exhibit was in San Francisco. Though she had gotten away, both of them had served. It just so happened the jail cells were so full the governor of California had released what he considered were not hardened criminals. That governor had since been arrested for drug peddling and murder. He was brought down by Robert Ironside and his lawyer brother, Perry Mason.
Alexandra didn't care how they got out of prison, they were the best their was. Although, she had tried to get out of this particular theft, they had threatened to tell Ironside where she was. Afraid that Bob's dedication to the law would be stronger than his love for her, she allowed them to blackmail her into a corner. She would do the job quickly, only this time she was out of San Francisco just as soon as the job was done. If Schneider and Blaine did not come through with part of the take, she would turn the tables on them and let Bob know not only where they were, but she would give the name of their fence. She had made it perfectly clear to them they would regret double-crossing her.
She pulled up in front of the house. Sitting there for a moment, Alexandra wondered why they had picked this particular house. It was rather plain and ridiculously small. It didn't matter, she would only be here for a couple days and then she would be gone. Alexandra would never step foot in San Francisco again. It simply held too many memories for her. The door of the house opened and Eli Schneider and Louis Blaine came out to greet her.
"Hello, Alexandra. It is so nice to see and work with you again," Schneider said.
"I wish I could say the same," Alexandra complained.
"Oh, Alexandra, don't be that way," Louis Blaine said. "We are going to be very rich, very soon."
"Or in jail at the hands of Robert Ironside. I cannot believe you two want to match wits with him again," she said, shaking her head. "You know how clever the man is. You are taking a very big chance coming back to San Francisco."
Eli chuckled. "What do you think Louis, has our girl lost her nerve? Or maybe she is still hoping to wiggle her way into Ironside's life. Too bad he found himself another woman. It looks like he wasn't that impressed with her to begin with."
Alexandra reached up to slap Schneider's face, but he was too quick for her. He grabbed her arm and pushed it away. "Getting a bit touchy aren't we?"
She turned away from him. "Where am I sleeping?"
Louis Blaine pointed down the hall. Third bedroom on the right unless you would like to share." He grinned at her.
Alexandra looked him square in the eye. "I'll take the third bedroom on the right. I trust it has a lock?"
"A lock," Eli laughed. "Don't you trust us?"
"Am I supposed to trust someone who is blackmailing me?" Alexandra asked.
Eli's easy going demeanor changed. "You owe us, Alexandra. We did hard time because of you. You should have stayed away from Ironside. No one that has an ounce of sense goes anywhere near that cripple. He's dangerous."
"Don't call him a cripple!" she snapped. "He's more man than you will ever be"
Louis did not like her tone. Was she still in love with the detective? Did they have to worry about her turning them into him? "He did not mean anything by it. Relax, pretty lady. We are not blackmailing you. Eli is right, you do owe us. After all, if you had not thrown away that damn cat, we would all be rich right now. We would have no reason to be here."
"I had no choice, Bob ... I mean Ironside would never have gotten out of the way if I held onto it."
"So why didn't you just run him over and keep going?" Louis asked.
"Because she has a crush on him," Eli laughed. Alexandra didn't say a word. She just wanted to get this over with and then she would never have to see either of these men again.
"Now, let's not argue. The past is the past. Let's think about the future," Louis said.
"I will scout the museum and then I am leaving San Francisco. I will leave word with you as to where you can send my cut."
Eli shook his finger back and forth. "No way, baby. This time you are going in there with us. If your boyfriend shows up, you get caught just the same as we do. That way, you will have no desire to betray us. I am betting Ironside won't care what your past relationship meant. He will put the law ahead of you as well."
"Eli is right. You are going in with us whether you like it or not. So, we suggest you make sure Ironside doesn't see you before or during the job," Louis said.
Alexandra didn't like it, but they would not change their minds so there was no use in arguing with them. She just wanted to get it over and get out of San Francisco before Robert Ironside caught up with them. That is what worried her the most. She couldn't bear to see him again. She just could not. She would have to be careful when she visited the museum. If he was the one assigned to protect the Chinese Exhibit, she had to avoid going there when he was present. Furthermore, she had to do something about her appearance. Ironside's staff would most definitely recognize her. Alexandra could not allow that.
Oh, how she wished Eli and Louis had not been able to find her. She wondered why if they could, why had Bob not found her. She hoped it was because he still loved her and had no desire to arrest her for what she did the last time she was in San Francisco.
4
Della began cleaning up the kitchen after a very nice candlelight dinner with Perry. It had been very romantic. The evening of dinner and dancing never manifested. When the elevator opened to the lobby of the Brent building, a woman stepped out. A big smile appeared on Paul's face. It was obvious that he knew her. They struck up a conversation and she invited him to dinner.
Perry could tell Paul wanted to accept her invitation; he was about to turn it down because of the plans he had made with the lawyer and his secretary. Mason did not hesitate, this was his chance to spend the evening alone with Della. That was something they had not done is some time. They had been so busy that when they got back to his apartment, it was late and all they wanted to do was turn in.
The lawyer encouraged Paul to accept her invitation; they could always go out another time. Drake looked relieved and quickly took Mason up on his suggestion. By the time Perry and Della reached his Cadillac, the idea of going out had lost its luster. They decided to go back to Perry's apartment, cook a nice romantic dinner and spend a quiet evening together.
While Della finished up in the kitchen, Perry checked out the newspaper, which had been delivered after they had left for work in the morning. One article in particular caught his eye. He began reading it. Before long, Della joined him on the couch with two glasses of wine.
When he did not turn his attention to her, she leaned over to see what had him so engrossed in the paper. It was an article about the Chinese Exhibit that would be arriving in San Francisco in a couple days.
"If my memory serves me correctly, this is the same exhibit Robert was assigned to protect some time back. One of the artifacts had been stolen. The thief was a woman," Della said.
"I remember Bob talking about it when we spent time with him and Barbara at Commissioner Randall's cabin. Apparently she had two accomplices who were caught, but she got away," Perry said.
"I remember the conversation, Perry. I got the feeling Robert knew the woman."
Perry nodded his head in agreement. "I think he more than knew her. I got the impression she was an old flame of his."
Della agreed. "So did I. Do you think there is any chance she will try again?"
"Not if she knows what is good for her. Bob will have that at the back of his mind, and I have no doubt he will be watching for her whether she shows up or not."
Mason finished the article, picked up his wine glass and took as sip. Placing his arm around Della, he glanced to his right at the flames dancing in the fireplace. It warmed up the room, although Perry didn't need it. The woman in his arms was warmth enough for him. Bending down to her, he kissed her temple.
"Is there anything in particular you would like to do tonight," he asked. Looking into her hazel eyes, his blue ones had a sparkle of mischief.
"Why don't we retire to the bedroom," Della suggested.
Perry stood up and gently pulled Della to her feet. "Just what I had in mind."
"I thought so," she said with a smile.
The couple headed for the bedroom with an arm around each other's waist.