Perry Mason and the case of the Money Launderer

by susan cousineau

This is my first attempt at a full story. I would appreciate reviews. I worked long and hard on this one.

Perry Mason had been a criminal attorney for over five years now, he had defended many

innocent people and making their lives whole again. He was a kind hearted man that stood at six
feet tall and weighed near to two hundred and eighty pounds. He had dark hair and dark blue

eyes that twinkled when he smiled, but would turn dark when he was angry or accusing someone

of a crime. He was a force to beware of, for if you were guilty of a crime he would find you,
Either he or , his personal assistant Della Street, or his good friend and one of the top private

investigators in the world Paul Drake would find you...

He lived in a penthouse apartment just two blocks from his large office in the downtown

section of Las Angeles. He had chosen the location because of the wide range or clients that

he would be able to serve. His office consisted of three large rooms with a large reception

area for people to wait to see him. He had a large law library in one of the rooms and if there

was to be a conference they would meet there in the library. The room had a large table that was

well suited for use in these circumstances and it made it easier for him to reference one of the

books for legal references.
.

It was a Monday morning and Della had just sat down to eat her breakfast when her sister Lori

came in. Her sister was just two years younger than Della but was much less mature. She was

always going out on dates and partying. Although, she too had gone to college and had taken a

good job she was not making plans for her future. Della on the other hand was looking very

forward to a life as a mother and husband.

Della and Lori lived in a small bungalow just three miles from Mr. Masons office. It was on a
neat tree lined street and they had a nice sized yard. The house had come with a two car garage

and when Della had found it, she took it right away. The housing market was going crazy around

LA and she knew that if she didn't buy a house at that time, she might never be able to afford to

buy a house on her own.

As Della got into her small ford, she looked around at her home and neighborhood. She was

happy working for Mr. Mason, but sometimes she felt that he thought more of her than just

an employee, but he had never even tried to kiss her. She wanted to let him know that she was

interested in him. Perhaps it was time that she made her move she thought to herself.

The office was on the seventh floor just outside of the elevator. When she walked in Gertie

one of the other secretaries was already there making coffee. There were four desks for the other

workers a copy machine several computers and two faxes. The room would soon be buzzing

with the motions of a large legal office. Perry Mason would soon be there also and Della wanted

get ready for him.

Della went into the office and started checking the messages on the answering machine.

Every morning this is what she did it was getting to be a habit, a habit that she had come to

like. As she had finished taking all the notes from the answering machine, she heard the familiar

sound of the turning of the key to the back door of the office.

Only three people had a key to the back door of Perrys office she Della Street, Perry Mason,

or their friend Paul Drake. Paul did all of the private investigations for Perry. He was his most

trusted helper, and had been involved in nearly every case that Perry Mason had been involved

with.

As the door opened Della turned around and saw her best friend and employer Mr. Perry

Mason. He was very handsome and looked at his friend and confident with a smile. "Good

morning Della." he told her .

Gertie knocked on the door and handed Perry his morning coffee. Gertie was a beautiful

lady with blonde hair and an hour glass body. She was efficient, and knew her job well, but

she didn't quite have the same qualities that Perry had found in Della. She had been the second

person that he had hired to work for him. He smiled at her and Gertie left the office to go back

to her desk.

Della and Perry were busy doing the work that a busy legal office needed to do everyday. It

was a never ending job of questions and the possibilities and Perry was one of the best. He was

the most sought after criminal attorney in the city perhaps in the United States.

Jeff Morrison had just gotten out of bed on this Monday morning not knowing that he was

starting the last day of his life. For today before it ended he would be murdered. He had gone

downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed himself some bacon eggs and a couple of pieces of toast.

He looked across the table sat his two children Marcus aged seven and Michelle who would be

five years old in another two weeks.

He lived in a nice home with a large kitchen and three big bedrooms. In the garage he had

his prize possession a large motor boat. Jeff was driving an older dodge charger and as he

left the home he kissed his wife Sally good-bye. Everything had been normal that morning and

no one in the home had any idea of the events that were to take place today.

Sally was a nice looking lady in her early thirties. She was five feet four and weighed about

one hundred and forty pounds. She had gone back to work once her youngest child Michelle had

started pre school. She dropped the children at school and headed out to her job at the local five

and dime store.

Sally was trying to help out with the bills. It seemed as though, the more money she made

the less money she had. Jeff had been very carefree with their money and she was beginning to

wonder if he had started to gamble once again. Five years before they had nearly lost everything

because of his gambling and she had thought that Jeff had learned his lesson. But, even she

knew that it was a habit and sometimes old ha;bits would come back to haunt you.

CHAPTER 2

Haamilton Burger had been the district attorney for over three years now. He had worked on

many cases and was well known for his success. Unfortunately for him there was a small thorn

in his side an attorney by the name of Perry Mason. Oh Mason was good and many times he

had solved many cases that he was sure might have sent the wrong person to jail, but it really

bothered him that if Perry Mason took you on as a client it was more than likely you were the

innocent person and that someone else was the guilty person. He had made it his habit of

making double checks every time Perry Mason was involved in a case that he would be

handling.
Hamilton was a good looking man that stood about five feet ten and weighed in at about

one hundred and fifty pounds. He was now thirty five years old and happily married to Marge

for the past nine years. Marge was always on his side no matter what happens she never

waivered in the belief that her husband was the best DA that LA had ever had.

Hamilton had decided to run for the office of the district attorney seven years ago. The

former district attorney had retired and since Hamilton had been the assistant district attorney

for the past three years he had felt that it was time for him to run for the office. But it was now

time for re-election and his opponent was running on the slogan that he was a non winner

and that there was still too much corruption in the city. What the commercials were saying about
him was starting to get to him. He knew that it was all the politics but he didn't like it just the

same.

Marge Burger was always happy to be the wife of a lawyer. Her husband was a brilliant

lawyer and had sent many criminals to jail and had saved many lives. They lived in a very

nice home with a huge yard. They had two children Ricky and Linda aged five and seven

respectfully. They had a good marriage a nice home and took some wonderful vacations

together, they had even taken the family on a cruise last year. Marge had been raised in a poorer

part of LA and had never taken a vacation outside of the city when she was a child. She was

glad to be able to give her children a better life. Once the children were a little older it was

her hope that she could go back to work as a school teacher, something that she had always

wanted to do.

Paul Drake had just gotten back from a week long investigation for a client, other than

Perry Mason, and was glad to feel the carpet under his bare feet in his own bedroom. He lived

in the wealthier part of town and owned a large home with a three car garage and a large fenced

in yard. He was the father of one child Paul Jr.. Paul was seven years old and in the second

grade. He was the apple of his dad and moms eye. He was married to Jean, his high school

sweetheart. They had married right out of high school, and unlike many marriages that began

when the husband and wife were only in their teens, had been very happy.

Paul had been born to a world of money, and had been sent to some of the best private

schools in the country. He had gone to Dartmouth College where he had been one of their star

swimmers.

Just after college Paul had gone to the police academy where he had become an officer for

the city of Las Angeles. The job had been a very interesting one to him and he had found himself

more into the detective part of the job, than the man on the street. Unfortunately for him the job

as a detective was a coveted one and he would have wait years to be able to even take the test to

become a detective.

He had found himself joining the navy seals just days after the Japanese had bombed

Pearl Harbor, and had stayed with the navy until he was discharged at the end of world war 2.

Paul had always wanted to be a good investigator and thought that even though his old

job had been waiting for him on the police officer, when he was honorably discharged

from the navy that is what he would do. But instead he had formed the Paul Drake Detective

Agency. It had been a rough first few years, but he had gotten his big break when he had met

Perry Mason his agency had become famous.

His mother had been a very famous journalist, and he learned many of the tricks of the trade

from her. He also had met many of the people who had the in with the in crowd of people with

the political pull to get him in with some of the best cases that would come to the people of the

city of Las Angeles.

He arrived at his office and found a note from Perry Mason, he wanted for Paul when he had

a chance to stop by the office. He had just finished a case and he had information for Paul so

that Paul would be able to finish up his caseload. It made it much easier for his secretary Nancy

for Paul to be able to give her the information.

Paul knocked on the back door of the office of his friend Perry Mason and was met by Perrys

secretary Della Street. "Good morning hon" he said to her. She smiled and showed him his seat.

Normally Della would not like someone calling her hon, but she knew that Paul was just

being himself and that he was a happily married man with a son. She took her seat next to Mr.

Mason and the three of them went over the many minutes of their last case.

The day had been a quiet one for the three of them, and something told Perry Mason that this

was just the calm before the storm. He didn't like it if he was not busy helping someone out, it

just wasn t his way. He was a man of action.

Perry looked at his employee and friend knowing what he was thinking. They did have a full

afternoon schedule, though, with many different sorts of cases for Mr. Mason to be helping his

clients with so he would be busy very soon.

CHAPTER 3

Jeff Morrison pulled his car into the parking lot of the tool company where he worked. He

worked in the accounting department. It was a quiet good paying job with very little was

all he had to do to keep all the books balanced. He did not handle any money for the company

so he never had to worry about that responsibility. It was a perfect job for a man that had his

own problems, especially with his prior gambling problem. He did not want to think about how

he was going to take care of his gambling debt this time. He was now into over ten thousand

dollars with his bookie Donnie Campbell. Donnie was known for breaking legs for less money

than that and Jeff was getting nervous.

He walked into the office and was met by his his boss Leonard Plattr. "Could I please talk

to you in my office?" he requested.

Jeff knew that that meant that there was some kind of problem. He was never called into the

office for simple things and when Len closed the door behind him that made him even more

nervous.

"Jeff take a seat. I am afraid that we have had some visitors here at the office this morning

and they were looking for you. They gave me the impression that they were there to do some-

thing that would not be considered good. To me they looked as if they were hit men for an

illegal purpose. Are we having any financial problems at home?" Mr. Platt asked him.

"No, Everything is fine, I have no idea why those types of people would want to talk to

me. I will speak to them if they come back, I promise you that." Jeff told him. With that Jeff

walked out of the room.

Carrie Lyman had worked with Jeff for many years now and she knew what he was thinking

most of the time. She knew by the way that he had been acting lately that he was now getting

into the gambling games now. She ;had caught him looking at one of the sites on the computer

that was a gambling site more than once. He had quickly logged off when he had seen her

looking over in his direction. She knew his wife and had thought about talking to Sally about

this but had not done so as of yet. The last time that Jeff had gotten into real trouble had been

about five years ago and because of Jeff she and her husband had lost nearly everything that they

owned.

Just as Jeff had thought, he looked out of the window and saw Donnie Campbell and another

one of his men getting out of a car and they were headed back to his office. He panicked then

and ran out the side door of the building. Now he was in a real panic, he had to get him and his

family out of town. They would have to sell the house or something, so that he could pay Donnie

Campbell off. If he didn't he knew that his time on this earth was coming to and, and it could

be the same for his family too.

He reached a phone booth just down the street and called his wife. He warned her not to go

home, but to meet him at their bank. He needed money and he needed it fast. \Perrhaps the bank

would lend him the money. "Pick up the kids at school and meet me at the bank, hurry." he told '
her in a panic.

Sally didn't know what to do, she was now in a real panic. What had Jeff gotten him and his

family into this time? She would hurry over to the school and meet him at the bank as he had

requested. Something had to be done now. She sped to the school and went right to the bank

where Jeff had told her to meet him. She would sit there the rest of the afternoon and Jeff would

not show up for her. He was to be murdered that afternoon.

Jeff had decided that before he went to the bank, he would make a quick stop at the house to

get some of his things, just a couple of necessities. He had just entered into his small office

when he heard the click of the front door. He was sure he had locked it, what a stupid mistake,

He turned around and saw that it was not one of the men that he was trying to get away from.

iIt was a stranger and before he had a chance to say anything. with a flash of a gun he hit the

floor with a thud. Jeff Morrison had been murdered. The murderer bent over the body and made

sure that Jeff Morrison he was no longer alive went over to the office desk and took a folder

from the desk and walked out the door.
.

Meanwhile Sally, Jeff's wife and children had been at the bank for many hours, and she was

getting very worried. The bank manager allowed her to use the phone. She called her husband's

work and the house. She even called his brother David, but no one had seen or heard from Jeff

all day.

David told her that he would be glad to go over to their home and make sure that everything

was all right there. He understood that his brother had told his wife not to go there under any

circumstances until she spoke to him, but someone had to go over there and check out the house.

Sally and the children had been waiting for about a half an hour when David called the bank.

He had gone to his brothers house and had found his body. He was waiting for the police to

come.

David Morrison met the two officers at the front door that came to answer the frantic call

that he had just placed. The first two officers to arrive at the scene were Susan Clark and Mark

Gordon. They both appeared to be seasoned policemen and they immediately called over their \

radios for homicide.

Lt. Tragg had just sat down for a small lunch of a tuna and cheese sandwich when he got the

call. There was a murder at 623 locust st and he was the lead detective that would be assigned

to the case. This had become something of a habit for the detective who was a widower and

now lived a small apartment downtown LA by himself.

As in all cases of murder it was necessary for him to check every single inch of the room in

which a homicide has occurred. He was known for being very thorough at his job, and that

was the reason why he had been made in charge of most investigations.

He looked around the room and saw that it was a neatly kept room and at the victim. The man
on the floor had been shot once at just about point blank range. As he looked over at the desk

he saw that the drawer was open and that an envelope had been removed. He looked all around

the desk and did not see the missing folder. It was the letter G that was something that had to

be noted. He also walked around every inch of the front room and the kitchen. Both rooms

seemed to be undisturbed. He would leave the rest of the home for the fingerprint dusters and

other detectives. Right now the coroner had arrived and he was looking the body over for any

hint of time of death and the location of all the blood spots and markings. There was a photo-

grapher there now and she was busy taking many pictures of the crime scene.

Lt Tragg walked over to David Morrison, the brother of the murder victim and questioned

him about his whereabouts at the time of the murder and if he had seen anyone in the area when

he had arrived at the home.

"My sister in law Sally called me from the bank and said that she was worried about my

brother Jeff. He was supposed to meet her at the bank." David told him.

David looked around and decided that it would be better for him to go to the bank and help

his sister in law out. He decided that it would be best to give a call to his wife Mary and tell

her what had happened. It was because of the trouble that he knew that the family of his brother

would be much better off living at his house for at least the next few days.

Mary had just finished her job at the pharmacy in town when she had gotten the call from her

husband. She knew that Jeff was always in trouble from gambling, but now someone has

murdered him. Would they come for her and her family? She was not happy that her husband

wanted to bring them to her house . But she loved the children and Sally, they were family

and she must protect them if she could.

The next morning when Sally was getting up in the strange house she thought about her

poor husband. It was so unbelievable yesterday she had kissed her husband good-bye and

then he had gone to work. Something had happened at work that had scared him so much

that he had asked her to meet him at the bank. She must find out what had happened to her

husband and why.

John Dwight had been sitting at his kitchen table sipping a cup of coffee when the phone

had rung. It was his daughter Sally, her husband had been murdered. Her no good son of a

gun husband had done something very bad and had ended up dead. It was not bad enough

that more than once he had to bail them out because of Jeff's gambling, now his only daughter

was a widow with two small children to support.

John Dwight was a widower himself now in his sixties. he had planned on retiring some

five years ago, but because of his son in law he had remained at his job. He had given his son in

law and his daughter nearly all of his savings so that Jeff wouldn't get beaten up again. It had

cost him over five thousand dollars that time. He wondered how much he would need to get a

hold of this time.

Hamilton Burger had been busy in his office all morning , There was never anytime for

him to relax, someone was always doing something to someone in this big city. And then he got

notice that there was another murder in the city and the case would soon be his to prosecute.

His office was small and crowded with books and books of law. He had a laptop computer

and a desktop computer to use and his room did have room for up to four people to sit

comfortably. They did have another office where they could meet with some clients, but it was

usually being used by someone looking up different laws.

Meanwhile Lt Tragg and his team had been very busy checking every nook and cranny of

the home of Jeff Morrison. They would soon have finished their job and he was getting ready

to speak to some of the neighbors. Perhaps someone had seen something. It was a quiet

neighborhood and a different car might have stuck out in someone's mind.

It had been a long Monday for Melanie Truesdale. The kids had colds and she wasn't

feeling quite up to par. She had just sat down to look at the evening newspaper when the phone

rang. It was Jeff's wife Sally. Melanie couldn't believe what her brother was sister in law was

telling her that her brother Jeff had been murdered.

Michael and Melanie had been married for over five years now, and their life was finally

coming together. Melanie was expecting their first child together in four months. He was so

happy that they were going to have a child together, Melanie was a good mother to his two kids
and he had just gotten a new job working at the high school in town.

He was to be teaching computer to the students. He knew that the young people were a

class of students who had been born to a world of computers. A world that got more and more

complex everyday.

Money had been a little tight at first but they finally were going to be able to relax and get

along with their lives. Michael could not believe his ears. He knew that Jeff had gotten into

some problems just after he had married Melanie but he thought that Jeff had gotten his life

together and that everything was fine, but he must have been wrong about that.

Donnie Campbell was having problems of his own. He needed the money that Jeff

owed him to pay some of his bills. The men he had to answer to were even harsher than

he was. He couldn't believe what had happened. Donnie had gone to the Morrison house

and found Jeff Morrison dead. Someone had gotten to him first. He had left in a hurry and

thought that he hadn't been seen. But as he was getting into his car two patrol cars pulled into

his driveway.

This was the first time that he met Lt Tragg. Tragg was a short man of about five foot six and

in his sixties. He wanted to talk to Donnie about his dealing sith Jeff Morrison. He was sure

that Donnie had something to do with loan sharking but he wasn't interested in that part of his

life at that moment. He wanted to know what had happened that day when he had seen Jeff .

Lt. Tragg had been to Jeff's work and Jeff's boss had told him about the visit in the early hours

of the day and how they had been seen once again just after Jeff had left the building for one

last time.

It was at this time that Donnie and his thugs tried to act like regular everyday people, but

they were not very good at acting and talking to the police they were like a fish out of water.

Lt Tragg had already run the fingerprints that they had found at the house and a match had

been found with Donnie Campbell. But his story had matched what they had found so far, and

he was well aware of the reason that Donnie would have not called the police. He let the man go

but told him to stay in town in case they needed to question him again.

Sally in the meantime was worried about her children and herself. She was very afraid that

the man or men that had killed her husband might come after them too. She knew that her

husband had been in trouble, but she didn't think that someone would kill him over it. After all

with him dead it was going to be a lot harder for them to get any money once he was dead and

now they would be after her for the money she was sure. She had to put a brave face on though

for the childrens sake.

Something about the scene bothered Lt Tragg. The missing envelope was a mystery, but the

neighbor had identified one other person who had been seen that morning. Mr. James Drew

lived next door to the Morrisons and he had been outside watering his lawn when he had seen

Michael Truesdale enter the house.

It was then that the Lt decided to make a visit to the Truesdale house. He would question

the man about what he was doing at his brother in laws house. When he came to the modest

home of Michael and Melanie Truesdale, Tragg knocked on the door. He was met by Melanie

who invited him into the living room. The room was small but neat and she went to get her

husband. When Tragg asked him what he was doing at the house he had no answer that was

good enough for him.

It was there that Lt Tragg made the decison to bring Michael Truesdale down to police

headquarters. He promised him that he was not under arrest they just wanted him to answer

some questions about his whereabouts and what he remembered of that afternoon. Perhaps

he had seen something that might be of assistance to the police to find out who the murderer

was,

CHAPTER 4

Sally thought to herself about what had happened in the last day. She knew that what they

would need is a lawyer. She had heard of a man named Perry Mason, he was supposed to be

the best in the business and she wanted someone to find the true murderer. She thought that

it would also be a good idea if her brother in law Michael had a lawyer with him while he was

at the police station being questioned.

It was Della that took the call that day. She promised the lady on the line that she would

speak to Mr. Mason right away. Perry took the call and agreed to meet Mr. Truesdale at the

police station. "Just tell him to tell the police that I am on my way there and that I will be repre-

senting him.

Della smiled and watched as her employee walked out the door he was off to save another

person from a fate he doesn't deserve. He would go to the jail and make sure that Mr. Truesdale

had adequate representation.

When Mr. Mason got to the jail he went right to the room where he met Mr. Truesdale. He

was mot a bad looking man but be looked older than his real age. The worry on his face made

him have deep lines. Lt Tragg smiled as he saw Mr. Mason coming down the hall to the room

where they were holding the newest murder suspect. The interrogation took over three hours but

when they were done Michael Truesdale was allowed to go home , but was told to stick around

town in case he was needed for more questions. They had taken a swab of mucus from his

mouth something that they would need to establish dna.

Dna was a relatively new weapon in the solving of many crimes. If you can match certain

dna up to certain people you can solve a murder. Perry wanted to make sure that he had all of

the dna samples that he could get. The information would not hurt the innocent.

When Perry Mason finally got back to the office, most of the help had already left,

but he was pleased to see that Della was still there waiting for him. He would take him out to a

good restaurant. She deserved it, but first he needed to talk once again to his friend Paul Drake.

It was necessary that Paul look into the different people involved in the case and fast he did not

want for anything more to happen without him knowing for himself what each were up to.

Again there was a knock on the back door and the handsome man named Paul Drake

entered. He took out his note book and began writing down what he needed to do and who

he needed to investigate.

Paul promised that he would get right on the job and start to look into it right away, with

that he left.

Perry looked over at Della with a smile. "I sure am getting hungry and I heard that there is an

itallian restaurant right around the corner that has our name on the booth.

Della smiled up at her friend and nodded her head, "itallian sounds good to me." she smiled

and with that the two of them walked out of the office and down to the parking garage.

One thing that Perry was known for was his many cars and today he had taken the mustang

convertible that he owned. It was a warm sunny summer night and putting down the top made

the ride much more enjoyable. Della sat back and enjoyed the breeze that the car made. It left

her hair a mess, but that could be combed she thought to herself.

Dinner was wonderful and the pasta that they each enjoyed was wonderful and they even

played romantic music for them. But, for some reason Perry never made a romantic gesture

toward her. She didn't understand it, once in a while he would take her hand and give it a

squeeze. He had hugged her once but she still longed for the feeling of his lips to hers. They

enjoyed each others company, but Perry just wasn't ready for a relationship.

Perry had always been so involved in work and schooling that he had never had much of a

chance to meet or date many girls. He found girls interesting, but he had just never had the time,

now Della had caught his eye. She was pretty smart and dedicated, he just didn't know how to

let her know his feelings. The time would come and he knew it. They just needed to wait for a

little longer.

That evening he dropped Della off at her house and walked her to the door. She had invited

him in to the house, but he thought that it would be better to decline the invitation at this time, it

was getting late and they would have a long day tomorrow.

The next morning Della got a call early in the morning. It was her friend Perry Mason, he had
gotten a call from Sally Morrison, who had been more than willing to be interviewed, but she

wanted it to happen early in the morning once the children had gone to school. The children

would be leaving for school at eight thirty , so they should go to their home for about nine

oclock.

Today Perry was driving his 1965 lincoln town car. This was one of his favorite cars as

it had what he called suicide doors. The weather today was very drizzly and not a good day for

them to take out the mustang. Della just happened to like the mustang herself. Perry smiled as

she walked down the walkway to get into the car. He could see that she was a little disappointed

by his choice of cars, but he smiled at her anyways. "Good morning sunshine. Sorry no stang

today. The weather is not good for that car today."

As they pulled up to the Truesdale house, Della noted that it was neatly kept and there

were toys in the driveway. It was obviously a family home, a home like the home she hoped

she would have someday.

Always a gentleman Perry opened the door for her and walked her up the walkway to the

house.

They were met by a pleasant lady who introduced herself as Sally Morrison. She was a young
mother just widowed and was trying her best to keep herself together. "I do not know why

someone would want my husband dead. I know that something was wrong that day. He called

me and asked me not to go home. He told me to go to the bank and wait for him. He told me

that I needed to get the children also." Sally told them.

"The word that we have been told is that your husband was in financial trouble due to his

gambling habits." Perry told the lady.

"That is what I thought. I think that he wanted me to go to the bank so that we could see

whether or not we would be able to get a loan of some sort. I thought it might have been his

thought that there might have been some equity on our home." Sally told them.

It was then that Melanie Truesdale came into the room. "I am very worried. The police

brought my husband down for questioning yesterday and there was a lt Tragg in the neighbor-

hood asking questions too."

"Yes we know him. He is a good man. If anyone can find the true murderer it would be him.

He has been an officer for over thirty five years." Perry told them.

It was then that Della and Perry left together for the office. The house where the murder had

happened would be ready and available for him and Paul to investigate in the afternoon, so Perry

wanted to talk to Paul and make sure that the two of them could get together. Della could man

the phones while they were at the Morison home.

When Paul and Perry arrived at the Morrison home, there was still police tape around the yard
and two unmarked cars were still outside. When they arrived in the house there was evidence

Lt Tragg had been there. The missing envelope was the key to the question. Perry and Paul were

both sure that the person who had done the murder had taken the folder. Something in that folder

was worth killing for.

Della had been busy at her desk making the necessary phone calls when Perry returned. It

was late of course, and she was a sight for sore eyes. She smiled at him and took her seat in the

chair next to his desk. It was then that the phone rang it was Mrs. Truesdale, her husband had

been arrested on charges of murder.

CHAPTER 5

Perry knew that was going to happen. He was the only suspect as far as the police were

concerned. Perry knew that now he would have to solve the murder before Mr. Truesdale was

given his court date.

The next morning was to be the bail hearing. The judge on the case was Judge Carson. The

judge had sat on many of Perry Masons trials and was known to be a fair man. He was in his

early fifties and had a wife and three children. He was an appointed judge and because of that

he was less apt to care about the public opinion. Once in a while that helped in a murder case.

Sometimes the public has already convicted the person before they even hear the evidence.

That morning at nine am Perry Mason appeared along with the district attorney Hamilton

Burger at the courthouse. As was expected they were in front of Judge Carson who allowed bail

but placed the bail at over a quarter of a million dollars. It mean that the young man was going to
have to put up his home as collateral.

Michael Truesdale felt as if his very world had been turned upside down. He was supposed

to be starting his new job the next day and now he was facing a life sentence or worse for a

murder that he would have never committed. Jeff Morrison and him had been good friends and

just last weekend they had gone fishing together. He wanted to find the murderer more than

anyone not just for him but for his brother in law and his sister and her family. They did not

deserve this.

When they left the courtroom Perry gave Paul Drake a call. Paul was on the job already. He

had found a man named Martin Brown who had been out walking the streets that day. He had

walked by the house on many occasions and had seen two strange cars that day. One car was

a ford and the other was a green chevy.

It seemed to Mr. Mason that something must have been in the envelope and that if there were

two cars seen that afternoon, they should find out who owned those cars. Then there was Jeff's

charger. The car hadn't been moved since Jeff had parked it in the parking lot the day of the

murder. He had taken a bus back to his home that day.

Perry thought about the car and told Della to call Mrs. Morrison and ask her to meet him at

the car. He wanted to look it over carefully to see if by any chance there was a hint as to the

reason that he had been murdered.

Paul was now headed to go and see Sally Morrisons father John Dwight. He seemed to be a

good man who wanted what was best for his wife. He had helped the couple out more than once

when they had gotten into trouble because of Jeff's gambling habits. Perhaps he could talk to

him.

When Paul pulled up to John Dwights house he noted that the house was in poor repair and

that the grass had not been mowed either. In the yard there was an old chevy green in color as

Martin Brown had described as a car that had been at the Morrison house on the day of the

murder.

When Paul went to into the home he noticed that the house itself was somewhat messy. , like

the yard. It would seem that perhaps John Dwight was either too old to keep the house up or

that he was in a financial bind. There were containers all around the room indicating that John

Dwight ate out quite often.

Paul took a seat and asked John "Dio you know anything that would have made your son in

law a murder target?" he asked.

"My daughter made a poor personal choice when she married Jeff Morrison . He was always

getting into financial trouble, even forcing his daughter to take a job outside of the home. He had

a good job that is why it surprised me that he couldn't support the family better." John Dwight

told Paul.

"I have looked into his debts and there is no reason to think that the bank would have turned

your daughter and her husband for a loan. They needed but ten thousand dollars to get out of

debt and the house they own has a much larger equity than that. The bank was going to give

them the loan that day." Paul told him.

John Dwight looked surprised by the answer and put his head down. "Idon't understand why

they would need to borrow again. If he had stayed away from gambling they would not have

needed to borrow the money in the first place."

"Well someone murdered him and it is my job to find out who is the murderer and why did

they feel that they needed to murder him on that day." Paul told him.

With the information in his handy notebook, Paul went to Perry Masons office to meet once

again with his friends Della Street and Perry Mason. He placed a call to his wife Jean to let

her know that it looked like it was going to be another late night with Perry. She knew the rules

Dinner would be saved for it to be reheated in the microwave.. Paul was getting used to eating

that way more and more.

When Paul arrived at Perrys office Della and Perry were sending out faxes and getting ready

for the trial that was quickly coming up. There was to be a preliminary hearing on the Morrison

case in just two weeks. All three of them knew that meant just one thing. They needed to find

the murderer by then or the case could go to full trial.

It was with a little bit of nervous jitters that Paul Drake agreed to meet with a man named

Clark Marriott This man was known by the nickname bone breaker. The trouble is that he had

earned the name because he was known to break bones of anyone that did not pay their bills to

the man on time. He was not a man to meet with in a dark alleyway.

Paul came to the home where Mr. Marriot lived. It was a poorer part of town and the house

was very rundown. There were signs all around that were children living there also. He knocked

on the door and the door was answered by a young girl of about eight years old that was wearing

what could have been called rags. She called to her daddy and Clark Marriott came out

to talk with him.

"I don t like people coming to my home and bothering my family. What is it you wish to

know?" he demanded of Paul.

"I am here to ask you about Jeff Morrison. He had told his wife that he was being chased by a
man named Donnie Campbell. It is said that he owed that man some money. I have been told

that you are known as the bone breaker. And that you do that to people who owe money to

people who are like Donnie Campbell. I am not here to judge you. I just wanted to know when

you saw Jeff Morrison."

"We went to his office but he had left out of an outside door. He must have seen us arrive

from the window that he sat next to. We went upstairs and were told that he had left. We never

found him. Donnie said not to worry that his kind would be out trying to borrow money again

and we would be ready for him. I went home. I have never met the man." Clark told Paul.

Something about the way the man had spoken told Paul that he was telling the truth. He had

no reason to lie to him. He knew that Paul was nothing but a private eye and had no ties with

the law.

Meanwhile Perry and Della had received some information about the people who had been

the closest to the Morrison family. There were several things that were wrong with the scenerrio.
Many of the people involved family wise just had no reason whatsoever to want Jeff killed.

When he died he left a wife and two children. They would need help to support themselves as

Jeff did not leave a life insurance policy. The father though did own a green chevy like what

had been seen by Martin Brown. One of the people, that they had met and spoken to had done

the murder, though. Perry was sure of this.

That evening Paul Perry and Della worked together on the computer and tried to come up

with the different ways that the crime might have gone down. They looked at each scenerrio

and put into a pile the most likely way that the murder had occurred from the least likely to the

most likely.

Perry knew that they were running out of time. There must be something that he is missing.

The district attorney had sent over many pictures . Some of the photos were unrevealing,

but there were a couple of interesting photos and Perry was surprised to see one in particular.

This photo had a dog in it, The dog was on a leash and the man leading the dog looked very

familiar to Perry.

The next morning when Perry got to the office he asked Della to have Paul come to the

office as soon as possible. He wanted Paul to look at the pictures. When the familiar knock

came on the door Della opened it and was greeted by a sweet smile once again.

Perry looked up and said "Good morning Paul."

" Burger sent over these pictures last night. I would like it if you would look them over for

me please." Perry asked him.

Paul looked over the photos carefully and he too stopped at the picture of the man walking

the dog on the leash. "Perry, if I didn't know better I would tell you that this man that is walking
the dog is Martin Brown." he told him.

"That is what I thought. We must find out who Martin Brown is in reality." Paul told his

friend Perry.

"I am going to make that your job, Paul" Perry told his friend with a smile.

The rest of the week was a busy week for the Mason office. There were warrants and

affidavits that would be needed for the pre trial conference and Perry was now pretty sure that

the man named Martin Brown holds the key to the murder mystery.

Paul again found himself in the neighborhood of 623 locust St. He was looking around

the property once again when one of the neighbors came over to him. She introduced herself

as Linda Gleason. She was usually at work during this time, but this week she was on vacation

so she was at home. On the day of the murder she had been at work and seen nothing. Paul was

about to think that she was a dead end when he thought of the photo of Martin Brown.

With that he took out the photo and asked Mrs. Gleason if she knew who this man was and \

did she know where the man lived?

Mrs. Gleason looked at the photo and smiled. "Why of course I know that man. His name is
Martin Brown. He lives in the house just around the corner." and with that she showed Paul

the house and he headed over there to check the story out.

When Paul started to walk up the walkway he was greeted by a smiling man named Martin

Brown. So I see you have found out who I am. You see I go around town sometimes dressed

as a homeless man so that I can move unnoticed. With the information I collect I use it for my

newspaper. I do not want to be discovered if possible." he told Paul.

"Please tell me what you know. Someone killed Jeff Morrison and I am here to find out

who it was." Paul told him.

"All I can tell you is that on the morning of the murder I observed a man get out of a green

chevy. It was an older model and I saw the man getting back into it. He came from the inside

of the house and he was carrying a yellow folder." he told Paul.

"Thank you for your time. Please I will let you know if I will need to see you in the court

house.: Paul told him.

When Paul got back to his car he called Perry and told him of the news of Mr. Brown

and what he had seen. Perry needed to know why the man in the green chevy had wanted

Jeff dead. The description of the man that had left the home could have fit almost all of

the male suspects description. They were all near the same age with the same hair color

and of near the same height and weight also.

"Well we know that John Dwight owns a green chevy but he would not match the

description that I got from Mr. Brown. There is no way that the man that he saw that

morning was in his sixties. Perhaps someone borrowed the car." Paul told Perry.

Yes, but Paul a green chevy is certainly not a rare sight either. Perhaps one of the people that

we have questioned owns one of those also. We need to check into all of those possibilities and
we need to do it quickly. Court starts tomorrow morning." Perry reminded him.

"Ok Perry I do have a friend at the police department and I will run the cars of each of the

adults. I should have the information for you before court." Paul told him.

When Perry got back to the office he found Melanie and Michael Truesdale at the office

acting very nervous. They knew that the next day was going to be the preliminary hearing on

Michaels murder trial. Besides being nervous they both were still in mourning over the death

of a member of their family Jeff Morrison. Perry always wanted his clients to tell him the truth

so he went over every moment of the day in Michael Truesdales life that his brother in law had

been murdered and as he left the office Perry stood up and told the young couple not to worry

that everything would work out ok.

This had happened many times since Perry had started defending people who had been

charged with murder, but it never got any easier. That evening they went over once more what

had happened that afternoon

Perry looked over at Della who was busy working on the different cars that could have been

at the house and had barely listened to what Paul had said , or that is what he thought. She

always listened to any calls between Perry and Paul. She had heard every single word that had

been said.

Again it had been a late night at the office. Perry liked being hard at work, it gave him

the time to think things through. They would dine at one of the best restaurants in town

with his lovely lady friend. He took her hand and helped her into her coat. They left for

dinner together. The food was good and the time together was even better. For tonight

Della and Perry sat together and watched a show together.

When dinner was over again they went back to Della's house . For the first time since

Miss Street had worked for Mr. Mason he agreed to go in and spend some time with her at her

house. He had been in the home before to help her with things but never for a meeting with her

where they would sit together and enjoy an evening drink.

Dellas sister did live there with her but would not be home for sometime, so Della knew

that she did have sometime alone with Perry for once. She wanted to make him feel comfort-

able in her home. She made him a martini, his favorite drink, as she too made one for herself.

The martini was dry and good to the taste. Perry sipped and they talked about casual things. She

could tell that her boss and friend was nervous but when she took the seat next to him he did not

try to move over. He just smiled down at her and took a sip of the drink.

That night Della knew that she had taken her bosses heart and that no one but her was to have

her for at least the present time. They were meant together, she just knew it and now she must

let things go their own way for the time being.

CHAPTER 6

The next day was a hot and muggy summer day and the court house did not have any air

conditioning. It would be a long and hot day for Perry and Della and their wrongfully charged

client Michael Truesdale. Della picked out a light cotton dress for the trial. It was a plain blue

dress with which she wore a simple necklace. Perry would dress in his dark blue suit with a

dark tie as usual. Paul also would wear a suit, however he usually would wear something in a

tweed.

As of yet cameras were not allowed in the courtroom for this trial, so both sides of trial had

been hounded by many members of the press who were trying their best to get a statement from

Mr. Truesdale or the district attorney office, or better yet a comment from the famous criminal

attorney Perry Mason.

Everyone involved had managed to get through the crowd of cameras and reporters and were

now headed up to the courtroom. Court was on the fifth floor this time. The position of the floor
let Perry and Della know that it was going to be a very hot trial indeed.

Della looked around the room and saw Sally Morrison sitting behind her brother in law. She

had been called into court by the district attorneys office and looked nervous. She also was

dressed in a plain black dress. She wore loafers and was sitting next to her father John Dwight.

John Dwight had not been called to court until sometime later that week, but he had wanted to

be there for his daughter.

Melanie Truesdale walked into the courtroom by herself looking nervous. She had her hair

done and like the rest of the group she was wearing a plain pantsuit. She took a seat next to

Sally Morrison.

When Hamilton Burger and Lt Tragg came into the courtroom Mr. Mason and Miss Street

shook hands, as it was the custom for the two opposing sides in the courtroom to stay polite and

professional while they were in the courtroom.

Within a few minutes, the judge came in and the bailiff called for everyone to please stand,

the trial had begun. Della always kept her laptop with her and kept notes of everything that

happened there at the courthouse. Everything would be recorded also so that they could go over

any questions that might arise as the trial progressed. Della was a fast typist, but it was always

a good idea to keep everything being recorded also. Dellas notes would not let she and Perry

hear the tone of the voice with just notes. and sometimes the tone would give them an indication

of the real feelings that the person on the stand had.

The first few witnesses that took the stand were from the police department, the two officers

who had been called and each gave very professional statements to the court. Perry only verified

that each of them had seen nothing in the area that had seemed to be out of place. He also asked

them about any witnesses that they had questioned. The two officers had done very little as to

the investigation. They had called the ambulance and then the ambulance had turned around and

called the coroner. It was at that time that Lt Tragg and his men took over the investigation.

Lt Tragg made a good impression in the courtroom. He was an older gentleman that had

seen just about everything in his thirty five plus years on the police force. He had talked to the

homeless man who had been walking by the house and had talked to several neighbors. Most of

what he stated was already known by Mr. Mason. Being surprised by something that the police

said was not something that he liked. Perry liked to be one step or more ahead of the police and

the district attorneys office.

But that day like most there were no surprises in for the Mason legal team and to his surprise

Tragg had not discovered as of yet the true identity of the man who portrayed himself as a home-l

less man and Tragg had bought his story. Mr. Brown had learned the part very well to fool such

a seasoned detective.

Mr. Mason gave a quick glance around the room and saw Martin Brown dressed in a brown

suit sitting in the back of the room. He was right there in plain sight and no one had noticed him,
a cool type of man just sat there and listened intently to the witnesses.

It was now lunch time and Perry Della and Paul found themselves once again eating at a cozy

cafe that was located not far from the courthouse. It was a nice walk and Della felt like a very

lucky lady. She was walking down the sidewalks of town with two very handsome men each

holding on to her arm.

Court was recessed until two pm so Perry sent Paul out to do some more research with the

bank. He wanted to know how much trouble the victim was financially. Was he behind in his

mortgage payments and did he get a regular paycheck? Those were two questions that would be

needed answered for Perry to figure out the identity of the murderer.

Perry usually was very calm and controlled during a trial. He felt that it was very important

that he showed no emotions good or bad to anyone in the courtroom. He had been raised in a

very strict home, where he was expected to be quiet and speak only when spoken to. His mother

had been a kind loving woman, and his father although he sometimes appeared to be harsh, was

just as kind. They had taught him to control his feelings from a young age, but to keep compas-

sion always open as an alternative. This was one of the reasons why he was such a good lawyer,

he could control his emotions, but could turn them on when needed, and then go back to the quiet

compassionate man that he really was.

Perry had seen some indescribable incidents that had happened during the reign of Adolph

Hitler and his gestapo during world war 2. When he had worked as an assistant to the team of

lawyers that were handling the Nurenberg trials he had learned much more. It had been even

harder for him to control his emotions during that the trials. The way that the nazis

treated the jewish people had been unbelievable and he would never forget what he had heard

and seen during that time. It had helped make him famous, but it was one part of his past that

he wanted to put to the back of his mind. It would always be there, and he would never forget

those weeks, but he was determined to leave that part of his life behind.

. He hadn't realized that he was thinking and not hearing what was being said at the table. and

looked up in surprise to see the waitress standing there trying to serve him his lunch. If Della

hadn't nudged him with her elbow he probably would have made a fool of himself.

Della was used to the way that her friend and confident going into fixed gazes. She thought

that it usually meant that he was going over the evidence in his head and trying to solve the

mystery himself. Since he was so good at solving murder cases she had always sat quietly and

allowed him to be the first to speak.

Paul had left early to go out and talk to the bank manager once again. He was looking for

anything related to the first letter Gand also the financial situation of Jeff Morrison.

Meanwhile something was bothering Lt Tragg . As he was leaving the courtroom he had

gotten into the elevator and had found himself standing next to a man in a brown suit. There was

nothing special about his looks, he was well dressed and was wearing a pair of gucci loafers, but

something about him was very familiar. He was sure that he had seen this man before, but

where? He made up his mind at that time to find out who that man was. He had something

to do with the murder after all he was there in court. He then walked to the police station to have

another meal of a tuna fish sandwich with some chips and a glass of milk. He ate alone that day

and that gave him time to think.

When the court convened for the afternoon Perry Mason was ready. The dna expert was

scheduled to testify that day and he wanted to know who and what type of dna had been found at

the scene. There had to be some dna from something that could identify the murderer or anyone

who had been in the house. Mr. Mason had found that sometimes the dna was the solver of the

crime for him, much like the identification of fingerprints that had been discovered many years

before.

Perry Mason had felt that the new information was so important to learn about that he had

taken several courses at the local college on the subject. He had found the subject extremely

interesting and was looking forward to the cross examination of this dna specialist. It was well

known that she was one of the best in the business and very knowledgeable about anything to do

with the dna.

That afternoon the dna expert took the stand and explained everything that they had found

while examining the room where the murder had happened. They did not find any dna on the

on the gun or any unidentified objects in the room. Someone had been very careful to make sure

that they had not left any evidence left behind. It appeared that no one had touched the body

after they had shot him. There was no evidence on the clothes or on the drawer that the folder

was in had been wiped clean of all evidence. This was a well planned out murder, and the

murderer had gone out of their way to not be found.

Perry Mason had been listening to the testimony carefully and had just a couple of questions.

" When you ran the dna on the room, did you run any test on the bullet that had been lodged in

the body, or any other bullets that had been left in the gun?" he asked.

"The bullet had in the body had been in the bodily fluid for too long and could not be tested

for any dna on them, and they were all clean." she responded.

Perry went back to his desk a little disappointed. He had hoped that the dna evidence would

have shown something that would have helped his client out. But again the person that had

committed the murder had tried to outsmart the court system. He was going to find out who was

the guilty party if it took him the next year. He knew that Michael Truesdale was an innocent

man and he deserved to get on with his life. He and his wife had two children now and another

child on the way that was due in just ten weeks. The baby and mother would need him and he

was going to make sure that he would be with them in their home.

The rest of the day consisted of the testimony of the coroner. The coroner also had little to

offer to help Michael Truesdale or Perry Mason find out who had committed the murder. He

testified that the victim died instantly. There was little or no movement after the shot to his

chest. He had been facing his murderer and the two of them were no more than five to seven

feet away from each other.

"Is there a chance that the shot could have been done by a woman?" Mr. Mason asked.

"There is no reason that the shot could not have been done by a woman. The gun is light and

very easy to handle. It would have little or no kick to it at all." the coroner testified.

"That will be all." Mr. Mason told him and he went back to his desk.

As the day ran down Perry and Della got ready to go back to the office. The day had not gone

badly for them but it had not gone well for them either. The defendant side of the table was

going to need some kind of proof that it could not have been their client or Michael Truesdale

could find himself a convicted murderer.

By the look on Perry's face Della knew that he was worried. They were missing something in

this case and they must find out what with the letter g could cause someone to come to the home

of Jeff Morrison and kill him for it.

As they had just taken their seats behind Perrys big oak desk there came the familiar

knock on the door. Della got up and opened the door to her friend Paul Drake. Paul took

a seat and opened his notebook.

"Well Perry I did have some success finding out more about the financial situation in

the Morrison family. It seems that Jeff was in trouble as we thought with a bookie. Two weeks

before the murder he had been beaten up as we know. It turns out that on the morning of the

murder the men were coming after him again. Well, he was hoping to get some money at the

bank and pay the man off. When his wife had arrived at the bank, the bank manager had told

her that he would not be able to loan them the money. They have not been on time on their

mortgage payments almost since they have owned the home." Paul told him.

"Then Sally knew that they could not get the money. That is something that she failed to

tell us." Perry said in a pensive tone.

"The bank manager did tell her no, but she had hoped that her husband would be able to

change his mind. They had the same problem about three years ago and the bank manager

had finally agreed to give them a loan. She also thought that because she was now working

full time and their net income had gone up they might get the loan after all." Paul told them.

"That does make sense, Sally had gone back to work just a few months before and the

children were getting older and the day care cost was going to go way down this year. So, like

Sally was thinking the bank might be able to be convinced to give them a small loan using their

house as collateral. Thanks Paul" and with that Perry found himself back to square one.

It was time for some real investigating. Someone was hiding the truth and it was starting

to bother Perry. Someone had killed the man and it was not his client he was sure of that. But

who?

That night Perry and Della again went out to one of the finest restaurants in town and then

went together to see a movie. Della enjoyed the time with her worker as she always did and

Perry always bought her a big bag of buttered popcorn her favorite treat.

This time Perry turned down her offer for him to come in. He said that it was very late and

that court was early in the morning. It was going to be a long hot day and he needed the lady

that was his right arm to him bright and awake for the trial.

Perry always being the gentleman walked her to the door and they said their good nights

together. When Della walked in the door Lori was standing in the doorway in between the

kitchen and living room smiling. "I saw that you had company last night . You left the two

glasses on the kitchen sink. It is sweet you and Perry make a sweet couple and you sure will

never have to worry about what car to take. Every night when he takes you home you come

home in a different vehicle. I love the mustang convertible.

"Well, he has a large collection of cars, and he likes to change the make of the cars and then

when he tires of one he sells it and changes for another." Della said with a smile.

"It must cost a lot of money to keep on changing all of these cars. If you could hook him

in and marry him, you could have a different car for nearly everyday of the week." Lori looked at

her with a big smile on her face."

"Oh Lori, we haven't even kissed." Della told her.

"That is strange. He must be one of the most shy men around women that I have ever heard

of. Either that or maybe he doesn't like women." Lori told her and then looked up from her cup

of coffee.\

"Well, I will take care of my business, ok? I don't want you to worry about my love life.

You are my sister and I love you, but sometimes people need to make their own way in life."

Della told her and gave her a pinch on the arm as she walked by.

"Ow" she yelled as she stuck her tongue out at her sister who was now walking down the

hallway to her bedroom. Lori knew that Perry Mason and her sister Della were a good couple

and that they obviously were fond of each other, perhaps someday she will see them get married

and live happily together as a family. Della deserved to be happy.

Della and Lori had been born and raised in the small town of Malibu. Their father had

owned a small business and he had raised his daughters to be smart and capable of taking

care of themselves. Their mother had been the head of the household, she ran everything that

happened in the home. There was always something happening there, meetings girl scouts

cheerleading, you name it Della and Lori were always involved in something and they always

had their mother there to help them out. They had grown up in a neat house in a middle class

neighborhood. The Street home had always been a happy place to be and Lori and Della had

made a point of speaking to their parents at least once a week.

CHAPTER 7

The next morning Perry picked Della up in the mustang. He had the top up because they

were on their way to court and they needed to look representable to the court. When the court

adjourned for the day they would ride with the top down.

As they were driving to the courthouse Perrys phone rang. It was Paul Drake, he had some

shocking news for his two friends. Last night someone had killed Clark Marriott. He had been

found face down in the river near his home. He had been stabbed in the back. Perry was not sure

if the murder had anything to do with the murder of Jeff Morrison, but he knew that he would

need to find out if there were any connection between the two murders. Paul told him that he

would investigate into what was going on with the murder of Clark Marriot and would get back

to him and Della as soon as he heard anything.

The next morning in the courtroom there was much talk about the man who had been sched-

uled to testify that day. It was thought that Mr. Marriott was to testify that Jeff Morrison had

owed a large sum of money to his employer Donnie Campbell. He was going to testify that his

brother in law also had a debt to Donnie Campbell tying the two people together giving a reason

for the murder.

Hamilton Burger was sure that Michael Truesdale had something to do with the murder, but

was going to have to work hard and fast to prove it. He knew that Perry Mason and Paul Drake

would be right on his heels. He knew that Marriott had been seen earlier that afternoon at a local

bar and had left the bar sometime around three pm. He never came home that day so that Burger

knew that Marriot had been killed sometime after three pm.

In the meantime Paul Drake was looking into the murder himself. He knew that there was a

good chance that the murder of Clark Marriott and the murder of Jeff Morrison could be tied

together and they might not be. After all Clark was a dangerous man to be around and any one of

his many enemies could have killed him.

Paul had thought that he was going to go about the investigation a different way from Burger.

He knew that Burger was going to be sure that the murders were tied together somehow, while

Paul was going to look into other possibilities. he was sure that there was a good chance that

the murder of Clark Marriot had been the result of gambling debts.

Paul had decided that he would start his investigation at the place that Jeff Morrison had

last seen the man. This was at the accounting office where Jeff had worked. He wanted to

talk to some of the people in the office and especially Jeff's old boss Leonard Platt. Paul

called the office and made an appointment to meet Mr. Platt .at his office that morning at

ten am.

As Paul entered the building he again took notice of the layout of the building. He saw where

Jeff had left the building and the route that he had taken to get to his home on the day that he had

been murdered. He looked up at the office and saw hom Jeff could have seen the men getting out

of the car and making their way up to the office.

But something had always bothered him about what had happened in the office that day. He

was sure that the men had gone to the office to find Jeff Morrison, but when he had spoken to the

people in the office, they insisted that they had never seen anyone matching either Donnie

Campbells or Clark Marriotts description. That didn't make any sense, Jeff had left thinking that

he was going to be beaten up once again or worse, he had been so frightened that he had even

thought of leaving town.

When Paul arrived at the office he was disappointed to find that Mr. Platt had decided not to

meet him . He waited for over an hour and had no choice but to leave. Before he left the office

that morning he spoke with Carrie Lyman the woman that had sat next to Jeff Morrison at work.

She was more than willing to talk to him, Jeff's death had hit her hard.

Paul had a photo of both Marriott and Donnie Campbell with him and showed the pictures
t
'to her. To his surprise, Carrie knew Donnie Campbell. She had seen him at Leonard Platt's

house one day when she had been over visiting Donnie's wife who she was good friends with.

She had not put the two things together until that moment. She told Paul that he appeared to her

to be a regular guest at their home as her friend Jenny Plattt. Now she had Paul's attention, who

was Leonard Platt? It was time for him to look into the company that Jeff Morrison had worked

for a little deeper.

Paul knew that he could not contact Perry until court adjourned for the morning, and that was
over a half hour away, so he decided to go back to the bank manager, who had been such help to

him the other day. When he arrived at the bank Paul once again went to speak to the bank

manager, however, this time the man was a little nervous and was less cooperative. Paul told

him that he was sorry but a mans life was in danger and if it was necessary he would summon the

man to court. It was then that the bank manager admitted that the company that Jeff Morrison

worked for was not solvent. It was only a matter of a short time before the company was going

to be out of business unless they get some money to keep the business afloat.

It appeared that there was another business that Platt was starting. The business was going to
be of the same type, and Leonard Platt had gone to what he had known as a loan shark to finance

the business. The business had not been able to get started because of the lack of funds and Platt

was now facing financial ruins. The name of the new business was to have been Green's Tool

and Dye. The "G" folder that had been missing out of Jeff Morrisons desk.

It was now almost eleven thirty and Paul was just blocks from the courthouse, he headed there

right away and was just turning the corner when he heard a noise and heard the glass shatter from

his back window. Someone had just taken a shot at him, and missed. This was not good Paul

immediately started to zig zag as he drove through the streets looking for some sign of where the

person was that was doing the shooting. As far as Paul could tell the person was not following

him and with that he started toward his office. He placed a call to Perry and told him what

had just happened.

Perry was alarmed at what had just happened and told Paul to meet him at the office right

away. Within ten minutes the three friends were in Masons office. Paul had managed to

find the bullet that had been shot at him and was able to confirm that it was a magnum 44

the person that had taken the shot had meant business. This type of bullet could go through a

car engine if shot from a close enough range. Fortunately for Paul the bullet had gotten stuck

in the metal of the dash of the car this time. If it had hit him instead he probably would have

been killed instantly.

From the information that Paul had been able to provide Perry now knew that the debt

that Jeff Morrison had with Donnie Campbell did have something to do with his murder, and

he also knew that if Donnie was not the murderer, his life also was in grave danger. He needed

to reach Mr. Campbell right away. Perry did not think that Campbell was smart enough to

think such a plot through. How would he know about the folder with the "G" that had been

in Jeff Morrison's desk? Why would he kill for such a thing? It did not make sense to Perry

It would have to be someone with more powers than the two victims. Neither one of them

would be able to pull off such murders. No this murderer was someone with a little more

smarts than the victims and probably much more political pull.

Now Perry wanted to go over the possibilities. The first name that had come to his mind

was Martin Brown. Mr. Brown was a clever man and did have a good job with some pull in

the community. His ability to blend in or blend out of the crowd was remarkable. He was a

very gifted newsman. He could have easily slipped in and out of the house that morning, after

all he had been one of the witnesses perhaps he was actually talking about himself. But why

would he want to murder Jeff Morrison? What would he have to gain by killing the two men

Morrison and Marriott? "Paul we just have to find out what is going on with these two men."

Perry told his friend.

"I am on it." Paul told his friends.

"Be careful Paul." Della told him.

"I will. Don't worry no one takes a pot shot at me and gets away with it. I will be in touch

with you as soon as I hear or learn anything." Paul promised.

Meanwhile in the courtroom things had not been going well for the team either. The police

had called Linda Gleason to the stand and she had described the man that she had seen leaving

Jeff Morrisons house that morning. She had pointed to the defendant as the man that she had

seen. She had been only about fifty feet from him and it had been a clear day. She was sure that

she couldn't be mistaken.

Perry had tried to cross examine her and convince her that she was mistaken but she was

absolutely sure of what she had seen that day. No she had not heard the sound of the gun being

fired. She had gone into her house to answer the phone just a few minutes before she had seen

Mr. Truesdale leave the home. Yes there had been time for someone else to have gotten into the

home she guessed, but she dind't think so. The phone call had been from her sister and the two

had spoken for about ten minutes.

Perry thanked the lady and went back to his seat. It seemed that it would have to have been

someone who had come to the house that would not have drawn attention to the neighbors. The

person had been let in or had gotten in on his own so it had to be someone who knew the house

well. Perry needed to know what was going on.

Meanwhile Paul was busy looking for Donnie Campbell. He knew that one of the favorite

places for Mr. Campbell to hang up was in the same pub where Clark Marriott had last been seen

at. It was there that he decided to start the investigation. He took a seat at the end of the

bar. He sat and watched for Donnie Campbell, but not long after he had arrived at the bar

he noticed a large number of the patrons were going to a room in the rear. That was probably

where Donnie Campbell was. Paul was well aware of the fact that many of the bars in this

part of town had a back room. So he decided to bide his time and wait for signs of Mr.

Campbell.

As Paul had thought about a half an hour later Donnie Campbell came out to the bar and

went to the phone booth. As he placed the call Paul walked over to the booth. When Donnie

turned he saw Paul there. He looked terrified and Paul took his shoulders and told him "look

bud I am not here to cause you any trouble, I am here to maybe save your life."

Donnie started to pull away from him and run but stopped dead in his tracks. He was

scared to death of what was going to happen to him now. He had been working with Jeff

Morrison and Clark Marriott in a big money scheme. If he followed the orders of a man that

he did not know, he and his friend Jeff Morrison would be richer than either of the two men

had ever thought they would be.

That is when Paul thought of Leonard Platt, Jeff Morrisons boss. He was in a financial

mess and perhaps he was either the author of the plan or perhaps Platt kew who the author of

the plan was. He now had to find Leonard Platt. Paul was sure that Platt had some sort of

knowledge of what was going on so he headed out to Platts home.

Paul then stopped his car a block from the Platt home and headed to the house. For being the

head of a large corporation Platt's home was not that fancy. It was a lower middle class home in

desperate need of repairs and paint. Paul could see that there were signs that he had a wife and

children that lived with him, so he quietly walked up to the back of the house. That is where

Paul find Leonard Platt seated at his kitchen table talking to a woman who probably was his wife.

Platt looked very nervous, and he jumped when Paul knocked on the back door. The door

was opened by the lady that had been sitting at the table with her husband. Paul saw that Platt

was about to run and he stopped him. ":look I know that you are scared with the other murder

that happened last night and I know about the business that you and Jeff Morrison were involved

with together, but you will always be looking over your shoulder if I don't find out who the real

murderer is." Paul told him as he sat him back down on the kitchen chair.

"Ok I will tell you what I know. My business has been going downhill for sometime and I

have been worried that soon I would have to close the business doors forever. I have already laid

off some of my most trusted employees and things were getting worse. I received a call from a

man that called himself Hal. He had a proposition to make. He would help set up a new busi-

ness for me if I would just let my old company fold. He thought that he could make some kind

of deal with a man from asia that could keep my business going under a different name and that

we could still stay in business. The only trouble was that my business was going to have to fold

for the plan to work. In the mail the next morning after I had agreed to the scheme I received an

envelope containing twenty-five thousand dollars." Mr. Platt stopped to think for a moment.

"Go on. I need to know the rest of the story." Paul told him.

"The name of the new company was going to be Grant Tools, the G that was stolen from

the folder in Jeff Morrisons desk. Everything seemed to be going well until Donnie Campbell

had wanted his money and Jeff was getting nervous. In a weak moment he had told Clark

Marriot of the plan." Platt told him.

"It was then that things started getting dangerous around my office. Donnie Campbell had

come to the office early in the morning demanding that he talk to Jeff and him. Mr. Platt had

panicked and had told him about the plan. Donnie Campbell had wanted to possibly join in on

the scheme and Clark Marriott had threatenet d me. " Platt told him.

"And you have no idea who the man is that you have been in contact with the guy that is

called Hal?" Paul asked.

"No. But soon after that I was being asked to fix some of the books that were being kept

at the company. There was a lot more money coming into the company according to the books

and little by little I got deeper and deeper into the web of deceit. By now Hal had me by the

hook and I was laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars. I didn't know what to do and when

they ever killed Jeff because he had kept proof of the business at his home, I just laid quiet

hoping that things would cool down. But they didn't Clark Marriott was getting to close to the

real identity of the man at the head and he was killed for his knowledge." Platt told him.

"I am going to put you up in one of the local hotels, you your wife and family and post some

of my men at your room for protection. Tomorrow when court convenes I am going to need to

have you come and testify in court. You must tell the truth or it could be your life." Paul

warned him.

It was then that Platt looked to his wife and said it would be all right with him. He did need

the protection for his family and with that Platt his wife and child headed to the hotel where

Perry and Paul had hidden witnesses before. It was near the courthouse and with a couple of

Pauls men the family would be safe for now.

Once Paul had gotten the family all settled down and had left two of his best men in charge

of watching them Paul headed to Perrys office. He knew that court was now done for the day

and he needed to tell Paul what he had learned that afternoon. He also needed to tell him that

Mr. Platt would be testifying tomorrow in court. He just wished that he had some kind of idea \

who this man Hal was.

Della and Perry had just arrived at the office and taken their seats when the familiar knock

came on the back door. Once again Della opened the door to her friend. She and Perry sat

there and listened intently to the information that Paul had for them. The information was

nearly unbelievable, but the information was missing the name of the head of the organization

and without that information Platt's and Campbells lives were in danger. In fact, somewhere

along the line his friend Paul Drake must have crossed the persons path, as someone had taken a

pot shot at him the day before. Perry didn't like what was happening at all.

Tomorrow morning he would be presenting the defense case and he would call Leonard

Platt first. He was the one that had the most damaging information and perhaps the most con-

vincing information that someone besides his client Michael Truesdale had a motive to murder

Jeff Morrison. His testimony could also convince most of the members of the jury that there

was a reason to think that someone else was involved in both the murders of Jeff Morrison and

Clark Marriot.

That evening the three friends decided it would be a good idea to keep a sharp eye out on

the mysterious man that they had come to know as Martin Brown. They would park just out-

side of his home and keep an eye out. They had not been there long when the infamous green

chevy pulled out. The three of them ducked so not to be seen and watched as a man got out of

the car and went to the front door. To Pauls amazement the man that had gotten out of the car

was none other than the bank manager Mark Goodwin.

This certainly was a surprise to the three people who were seated outside watching the man

come into the house, but with the pull and standing that Mr. Brown had in the community, they

could just be friends. But still, this was the type of information was interesting to say the least.

The trio stayed outside of the house and could see the two men in the front room. They both

seemed to be having a heated discussion, they could not hear what was being said but could tell

by the arm actions that they were having a heated discussion. Just ten minutes later Mark

Goodwin came outside. He got into his car and drove off. It was then that Paul decided to

follow the man and see where the bank manager was headed. It didn't take long to figure

out that the man was headed back home, so once again the three of them parked just down

the street from the man's home and decided to keep an eye on the house. To their disappoint-

ment, soon the lights went out and Mr. Goodwin had gone to bed.

As the trio headed back to the office Perry told Paul. I want to know everything that you can

find out about Mr. Goodwin. I think that he had something to do with the laundering of money

that Mr. Platt says he had gotten himself into. He would have the political pull and the place to

most of the laundering. Also, he is smart enough to perhaps run the whole organization." Perry \\

said while deep in thought.

"I'm on my way." Paul told him.

The first thing that Paul had to do was to run a criminal and background check on Mark

Goodwin. This was going to take some work. Because Goodwin had a top job at the bank his

credit and identification was closely guarded, but after a few minutes of working hard on his

laptop Paul was successful on pulling up his records. He was surprised to find that it appeared

that the man was clean and that he was not involved in anything illegal. This left Paul wonder-

ing who was behind this plan.

He called Perry who had already gone home with the bad news. He was pretty sure that

Mr. Goodwin was innocent of any wrong doing and he had hit another brick wall. Paul was

headed home now and would see him in the morning.

Paul and Perry both had restless nights that night. They both knew that they were missing

something and if they did not find out what they were missing soon, perhaps even their lives

would be in danger.

When court convened in the morning Perry had all kinds of information , but unfortunately

had been unable to put the information together as of yet. He knew whoever was in charge

of the get rich scheme was a brilliant man with a lot of pull in this community. But when some-

one got close to finding the truth their lives were in immediate danger.

When Perry arrived in court he had to explain about why Leonard Platt was to be the first

witness that he would call that day. Mr. Platt had not been scheduled to appear for at least three

more days and Burger wanted to know why he was to be the first witness. it was only after

Perry had explained what had happened the day before did the judge ok for Mr. Platt to be the

first witness called to the witness stand.

Mr. Platt took the stand very nervously. He knew that his wife and child were in a local

hotel, with two armed men to protect them, but he was still very worried about them. And then

the man that he had spotted in the back of the courtroom. He knew that he had seen him some-

where before and he just couldn't quite place him. He told the court everything that he knew

about the scheme to start the other business.

This was a surprise to Burger, who just couldn't believe how Mason had found out such

information. He had checked and rechecked everything about this man and his business and had

not been able to find anything that would have indicated that the business had become a front

for such a business. Furthermore, the business by all appearances was going down and was soon

to be just another business lost to an asian company.

But then it hit Burger he had been involved in an investigation of the possibility of the laund-

ering of money involving the local bank in town. The investigation was still in the beginning

stages, but he had felt that there was enough evidence to warrant Burger putting two of his

best investigators on the case. It was originally thought that perhaps the bank manager had been

the brain behind the crime, but his men had not felt that it was Mark Goodwin. They had

thought that it was someone else. Perhaps not even an american citizen perhaps someone who

is located in another country was the brains behind the scheme. The business of laundering

money had long been a problem within the country. Although his department had been very

successful in catching people doing this there were still too many instances where the culprits

had gotten away with it and had simply moved to another city. It was a thorn in Burgers side

and if he could put a stop to this scheme, he would be willing to lose another case to Perry

Mason.

That is when it struck Lt Tragg. The man, the man that he had seen in the elevator the

other day, the same man that was now sitting in the courtroom, he was the man that he had

spoken to on the day of the murder. He was the man that had appeared to him as a homeless

man. His name was Martin Brown, the local newspaper man in town. It was then that Tragg

knew t hat he had to talk to Burger about this..

Things were starting to come together for Perry Mason also. He knew that the bank manager

Mark Goodwin was involved in some kind of way, but he was sure that there was someone who

was the mastermind. He thought that it probably was Martin Brown but he needed to make sure

of that himself.

Paul had then decided to go back over some of the information that he now had. He again

went to the bank and saw Mr. Goodwin. Mr. Goodman started to refuse to see him, but reluc-

tantly allowed Paul to go into his office.

It was there that Paul had decided to make his stand. He confronted Mr. Goodwin with

the knowledge that he had and told him that it was now common knowledge among any person

who had been in the courtroom that morning. As a matter of fact he was sure that it would be

all over the nightly news that evening. His name had not yet come up in court but it was going

to be coming up soon. This was his last chance to tell his side of the story on his own. The

next day he would be speaking to a judge. With that Paul pulled out a piece of paper.

CHAPTER 8

Thinking that he was going to have to go to court anyways he sat down and put his head in

his hands. For a moment Paul thought that he was going to cry, but looked up

at him and told him his story. "I have worked all my life as an honest banker. Two years ago

I was approached by a man that I had known for many years. He told me that he knew of a sure

way for me to make any easy buck. He told me that everything was on the up and up and that

all I had to do was to keep the local toy company on as one of the banks customers. It was a

struggling company and it would need some loans to keep it afloat. If I was willing to use my

pull as the bank manager to make sure that that didn't happen, I would be reimbursed ten fold."

Mr. Goodwin told him.

Things had gone well and the bank and the company were making a lot of money. With

the laws and the grants that were being made available to struggling companies it seemed as

though the everything was going well. Until the day that he had opened the newspaper and

read about the murder of Jeff Morrison. That had sent everyone into a panic," Platt called

and demanded that I help him, and then that awful man Clark Marrott had shown up at my

home/

Of all places threatening to expose me, , and then he was told that the man that had done all

the handling of the business for him no longer trusted me.. This man that called himself Hal

had threatened to expose him and the others to the district attorneys office."

Paul knew that most of what the man in front of him had said was true. Goodwin was very

worried with the two murders and everything. Every time the door to the bank opened it looked

to Paul like he was going to faint. He knew that this mans life was also in danger. Someone

in the city wanted to keep his business quiet and was not afraid to kill to protect himself.

Paul left the bank, still wondering who this man Hal is. With that he went to the hall of

justice to find out what information he could about the man he had known by the name of

Martin Brown. He thought that perhaps Brown was one of the key people to this confusing

murder mystery and maybe he was the man that the people called Hal.

Paul went through everything that he could trying to find out all of the information on

Martin Brown. He had been born to a storekeeper and his wife in Detroit just thirty five

years ago. His father's name was Harold. Was this the notorious Hal that people had spoken

about? Paul was going to need to find out that himself. He quickly found out that Hal Brown

still lived in Detroit. so Pual took the next flight out to the city of Detroit.

Once Paul arrived in Detroit, he found that Hal was a very friendly man who still ran the

family grocery store with his wife and son in law. He and his wife were very proud of their

son and how their son was now a famous newspaper man. Paul stayed with the man and his

wife for a while and then left to do some investigation into the family business. By all means

and according to everyone that Paul had the pleasure of speaking to that day Harold Brown

was a man of virtue and would never get involved in anything that was criminal. However, his

son in law did have a tendency to gamble and drink too much, and it was rumored in town that

he had been known to beat his wife also.

The son in laws name was Damon Nebelski. He had been married to Mary Marin just

seven years ago. They had one child Damon Jr. and lived with his wifes parents above the

store. It was rumored that he had his hand in many of the illegal games in town and was

known to get a little heavy with people who did not make good on any of the loans that he might

give out.

Could this man be the man that was known by the name of Hal? In this day of air trans-

portation that could get you from city to city in a matter of hours it could be possible Paul

thought to himself. He then decided to start to go over the records of the airlines and the

many trips that the planes were making between Detroit and LA. He needed to know if

Damon Nebelski had been on any of the flights just prior to the murder or not, or if he had been

on any flight under the name of Harold Brown. This would take some time but Paul did have

a four ride back to LA to look the information over.

It did not take long for Paul to realize that yes a man named Harold Brown had been out from
Detroit to LA on the day of the murder of Jeff Morrison and then once again on the day before

Clark Marriott had been murdered also. He then knew that there was a very strong possibility

that the man that called himself Harold Brown had something to do with the two murders in

Las Angeles.

Paul arrived back at his building and was told that he was needed at Mr. Masons office as

soon as he came in. Paul was on his way there anyways. He went over to the office and knocked

on the back door once again. Della opened the door as usual and Paul took a seat. and told them
of his findings.

Perry was sure that either the son in law or the father had something to do with the murders

here in Los Angeles. He was going to need something more solid to tie the two of them together.

Again he was sure that he was missing something. The bank manager and the newspaper man

might have been involved here in Las Angeles but there was someone controlling the scheme

from another area. Someone who hadn't been found yet. Perry was sure of that.

Paul, I want you to look into the following women Linda Gleason and Carrie Lyman. Do a

complete background check on them. I think that they are the key to this puzzle.

With that Paul picked up his things and went on over to his office. He was halfway through

the investigation on Carrie Lyman when he got the answer. Carrie Lyman had been married
before. she had been married to a man named Damon Nebelski, whose last known address

was in Detroit. Perry was due to call Mrs. Lyman as a witness that very day and he knew

that he would have to act fast. Perry placed a call to his friend and counterpart Hamilton

Burger. He was going to have to let the district attorney know what was going on. He could

not do all that he needed to do without the help of the district attorney.

Luckily for Perry Hamilton Burger was just leaving the office and he agreed to come right

over to Perry Masons office. He knew that a call from Mr. Mason meant that Mason had dis-

covered something during a murder trial that he felt he needed to share with the office of the

district attorney. His office was in the process of discovering many alarming things surrounding

the current murder trial. It was his suspicion that the murders were the end result of an illegal

money laundering scheme that had been going on in his district for the last five years. He had

some of his best men looking into the problem and had been working side by side with the FBI

in hopes that between the two offices the laundering of the money could be stopped. Burger

had known that Paul was working on one angle and so he had put one of his men on Paul. The

man had followed Paul all the way to the airport and had seen Paul board a plane for Detroit.

When Paul had arrived in Detroit a series of men had followed him around the town that day,

Hamilton would have liked to know why Paul had gone all the way to Detroit to speak to a

man that owned a small grocery store named Harold Brown. Perhaps when he got to Mr. Masons

office he would find out why Paul had gone there.

Hamilton Burger walked into Perry Masons office and was warmly greeted by Mr. Mason and

Della Street. Paul Drake was also there and they shook hands. There had been times that they

had all met at the courthouse and once in a while socially, so although not close friends they were

all friends who were out for justice.

"Take a seat Hamilton. I have a lot of things to tell you this evening. I don't feel that it

would be right to wait until the morning to tell you what I have found out. It was then that

Mr. Mason told him the entire story including all of the information on Martin Brown and

the trip that Paul had made to Detroit that day. He explained how he had found the man

that had worked at the grocery store for Harold Brown who was Martin Brown's father and

and that his name was Damon Nebelski.

Hamilton Burger thought for a moment, he was sure that he had heard the name Damon

Nebelski before. Where had he heard it? That was when the name came to him. Damon

Nebelski was the name of the ex husband of Carrie Lyman the girl that worked with Jeff

Morrison at the accounting department. That was the connection. Burger was sure that

Damon had a criminal record. He pulled up his laptop and there it was Damon Nebelski had

spent two years in prison on a money laundering charge just ten years before.

Now it was time for Burger to get his office working double time with Mr. Mason and

the FBI to put everything together. Paul left to follow Carrie Lyman and he was going to

put a couple of his men on her also. Perry then had Della call the airport and yes there was

a man on a flight at this time under the name of Harold Brown that was headed to LA. Burger

was going to have a plain clothes police officer follow the man .

Burger thanked Perry and Della for their detective work and left to go straight to his office,

it was going to be another long night, but perhaps by tomorrow he will have cracked one of the

biggest cases in his career,

After everybody had left Perry thought for a moment and asked Della "What would you think

of us going to the airport?"

"Can't think of anything that I would like better. Perry had in the office his suitcase, just in

case he ever had to leave in a hurry, so they re plan was that they would go down to baggage

claim and act as though they had just gotten off of the plane. They would watch for Mr. Brown

or Damon Nebelski and follow them. Even if he brought no luggage they would be able to see

who it was that got off the plane that day. But first just in case that wouldn't work Della went

upstairs to watch for who came and went. Noone had seen Della and she would blend right in

with the many people who were there at the airport to meet someone.

CHAPTER 9

The plane had just landed and Della had just walked into the terminal when she recognized

Carrie Lyman. Carrie was standing to the side and watching for whoever was going to be get-

ting off of the plane. Perry's hunch had been right, with Paul showing up in Detroit, someone in

that city had found it necessary for them to come to LA and straighten things out. It was getting

to hot in LA for the big man she was sure of it.

As she watched the different people come down the ramp, she was surprised to see not the

Damon Nebelski that she had expected to see but Harold Brown himself. He went right over to

Carrie and they embraced each other. Now she was really confused, who was Harold Brown to

her? They walked right by Della and headed out the door. All Harold had carried was a small

overnight bag.. Della followed them and called Perry on her cell phone. He would be right

behind her and he told her to tell him exactly where she was as she followed the two people on

bus to the same parking lot that Perry's car was parked in. Della couldn't have been any luckier.

She went right to the car and watched as Carrie and Harold Brown got into her car a green chevy

and followed them out of the airport.

It was then that she realized that she was being tailed. She wasn't sure what she was to do

she truly hoped that the car behind her was the police or one of Burgers men, she was committed

now and had no choice but to follow the car. The two people were now turning down the street

where Carrie Lyman lived and Della held back. She had been on the phone with Perry the whole

time and he had been slowly catching up to her. He had known that Della would follow Carrie if

it was necessary, so he had taken the precaution of leaving one of his many cars at the airport that

night, so that if he and Della had gotten separated he could still catch her in one of his cars. The

plan had worked and he was coming up on the street where Carrie Lyman lived.

Della couldn't stop thinking of how she had seen Harold Brown before. She was sure that

she had seen the man before someplace. And yet she had only been to Detroit a couple of times

in her lifetime and she was sure that she had never been to his store.

Meanwhile Hamilton Burger had been a busy man himself. He had looked up and spoken to

the district attorney for the city of Detroit. Both Harold Brown and Damon Nebelski were

known criminals. Harold Browns store had been under observation for the past year and they

had been collecting some interesting information. It was their thought that there was a tie bet-

tween the Detroit and LA area but they had never been able to put the two together firmly.

Harold Brown had been to prison some twenty years before for forgery and a money laund-

ering ring that he had been a member of. He had been much younger with a family and the court

had gone easy on him. For many years he had lived a quiet life, or so they thought, and it had not

been until recently that he had come under suspicion once again.

So it had been as Burger suspected somewhere along the way the two cities had been

connected through the web of the criminal world and to protect the identity of the major players

there had been two murders. Burger as Perry was now sure that the murders had not been com-

mitted by Michael Truesdale. He had just been the fall guy, the one that fit the profile and made

it easier for them to get away with murder.

That evening Burgers men and Paul stayed at Carrie Lymans house. It was early in the morn-

ing that Harold Brown stepped out of Carrie Lymans house and went to the car. He left without

noticing the car that had been parked down the street all night and Paul followed him. It was

then that Paul realized where Harold was headed. He was headed to his son's house. As

Paul pulled up to the home he could hear some shouting between the two men. It was obvious

that they were in the middle of a heated argument and Paul snuck around the corner of the house

to have a better listen.

Harold was telling his son that what he did and how he did it was not his business. He had

raised his son and if he didn't want to get into the family business that was his problem, but he

had proof that he had talked to the police about him and he would kill him to protect his identity

if necessary. Paul saw that Harold had a gun pointed at his son , but saw Marins wife come up

behind him and with a swift movement hit him hard over the head with a rolling pin. Harold

went down hard on the floor and dropped the gun. He went to reach for it and stopped in dead

air when he heard Paul yell freeze. He was now looking down the barrel of a gun that was

pointed directly at his head. Martin Brown picked the gun off the floor and told Paul that every-

thing was all right that his father had just lost his temper.

"No I am sorry Martin, he has done more than lost his temper on this day. It is my belief that

your father has been responsible for at least two murders in this town. I think that you don't want

to believe it but you know that it is true. I am calling the police. " Paul told him as he walked in

the house.

Just as Paul said that two men walked in behind him and they were the police. They too had

spent the night outside watching the home and had been pleasantly surprised to see Paul peeking

in the window of Martin Brown. The police were pretty certain that he was an innocent man and

that he had just thought that his father may have been involved in the murders. The thought had

not come to him until he had recognized Carrie Lyman who he had seen in one of the news

stations that was covering the murder. Harold Brown was actually who he claimed to be and had

nothing to do with the murders.

As the police brought Harold Brown down to the police station, Hamilton Burger got a call.

This was to be the day that he had long waited for and he was on his way to the police station.

The first thing that he needed to do was to get his assistant to go to court and ask for a morning

off from the trial. He was sure that Perry Mason would agree to it, but just in case he gave his

friend a call. Perry had already heard from Paul Drake and was more than willing to wait until

that afternoon as long as he was going to be told what Hamilton Burger had found out.

When Hamilton Burger got to the LA police department he was not surprised to find a lawyer

named Clyde Greene there to represent Mr. Brown. Mr. Greene was known to be a good lawyer

who had stepped or nearly crossed the line of the law more than once. He was a crafty man and

Burger was going to have to be careful.

Now that Harold Brown had his attorney with him, he had the look on his face as a man that

thought he was going to walk out the door once again. But, he did not know that the police had

picked up Carrie Lyman and that she was in the other part of the jail singing like a bird.

It seems that Harold Brown had something that he had held over her head. Her marriage to

Damon Nebelski had never been finalized and her happy little marriage was no good. She was

now married to a good man who treated her well and he was going to expose her. She was

forced to help out with the money laundering or she was going to be exposed. Jeff Morrison

had found out about the dealings with his neighbors father and had tried to get something extra

from him. He was in desperate need of cash, and had confronted Harold Brown when he had

come to the office to pick up Carrie one afternoon. He had met with Jeff Morrison at his house

and had pretended that he was going to go along with Jeffs proposal, but he had not. That day

he had sent two of his small time men Donnie Campbell and Clark Marriot over to Platts office

to scare him, but they had gotten there too early and had scared Jeff's boss first. Leonard

Platt had no reason to think that the men were involved in the money laundering scheme, so

he had confronted Jeff thinking that once again he was gambling. But, he had been wrong

and had warned Jeff of the men who had come to the office.

None of the men knew that Harold Brown had followed them to the office and had seen

Jeff leave through the side door. He had followed the man to his home and killed him. He knew

that Jeff had the folder because foolishly Jeff had shown it to him. He shot him at near point

blank range and casually walked out the door. He had nearly run right into his son, if he had

been another three minutes later his son would have spotted him.

Clark Marriott had figured out the scam and had wanted to get just one big pay off. He also

was in bad need of cash and he had gone to Mark Goodwin thinking that he was the head of

the operation. Mark had called Harold to tell him what had happened and how Marriott was now
trying to blackmail him. Harold Brown then get back on a plane and went to the bar where

Marriott was known to frequent. He had followed Marriott out of the bar and had killed him and

thrown his body in the river.

Today he had come to LA to make sure that everything was going to finish. He stayed at his

ex daughter in laws house and was going to confront his son, who he had seen leaving the court-

house on the evening news. He thought that perhaps his son had plans to try to take over the LA

end of the operation and he was here to stop it one way or another. He probably would have

made his only son the next victim.

Martin Brown had been investigating the ring and was very close to learning the truth, but

he had not spoken about what he had found out to anyone yet. It had been a hard life finding out

that his father was such an evil man.

At the end of the day there were several people arrested, most very surprised some thinking

that they were glad that the mess was over. But for the best all charges were dropped against

Perrrys client and Michael Truesdale went home a free man to his wife and family once more.

That night Perry and Della had a special candle lit dinner at their favorite restaurant. He

talked very sweetly to her and when he walked her to her front steps he gently kissed her on the

lips. Yes their love story began.

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