The Case of the Briefly Suspect
A/N Inspired directly by LIB's Misconceptions and gratuitously using one of the themes from that story and twisting it. None of the characters are mine.
...
"You're looking for who?" Della asked wrapping her robe more tightly around her.
"Your boss," Tragg said, "Have you seen him since last night, ...aheem or this morning?"
"What do you need him for?"
"I have some questions about a murder?" He replied dryly. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
"I'm not sure that you would be appropriate" she said softly the epitome of wide eyed innocence. Brushing her fingers back through her curls, still tousled from her pillow.
"I think I'm going to insist?" Tragg bullied her.
"Well I can't let it be said that I stood in the way of the constabulary,..." she purred, he hesitated. He had never heard her refer to them by that word before. Something wasn't right.
As she opened the door to let him in, the sounds of a shower running could be heard.
"Your aunt staying over Miss Street?" he asked pointedly. His eyes glancing at the top coat and hat that were tossed casually on an armchair.
She gave a shrug and a non committal purse of her lips. They both heard the water shut off heralded by an enormous thunk as the water pipes protested. Della hugged her arms around herself, swinging slightly in anticipation.
Tragg shifted his weight, she could sense his hesitation, thought he might leave. He wasn't able to breach her bedroom. He seemed to freeze at the sound of her bedroom door handle. Perry came out, a massive towel wrapped around him, toweling his hair with a smaller one.
"Lt Tragg ...what are you doing here?" he asked, eyes wide with surprise.
Only Tragg dropped his eyes, only Tragg was embarrassed, "I'm looking for you. There's been a murder, you're wanted for questioning."
"Why are you looking for me?" Perry demanded, waving his hand around as if to ask where else would he be but here. Tragg suddenly did not want to be here, did not want to be having this conversation and swung his head around looking for an excuse to exit.
"Now Miss Street has he been here last night and this morning, I mean, has he?"
"Am I under suspicion?" Perry demanded but Tragg was staring hard at Della. Focusing on Della was nearly as bad as staring at the attorney. Tragg tried, unsuccessfully, to keep his eyes from caressing her robe clad body.
She raised her eyebrow without answering, her lips parted slightly, in the light of his painful crush and the very clear picture they had painted, he blushed and dropped his head. She let the silence stretch out, her calm expression and Perry's raised eyebrow forced the Lieutenant to retreat. Tragg pulled at the rim of his hat with both hands he would have preferred his suspicions never be confirmed. His shoulders were slumped and his head bowed.
"Well I'm sorry to intrude folks," he coughed uncomfortably. He left the building.
...TCOT...
Della leaned against the door with a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry Baby?" Perry said softly, repentant after the fact.
"For making me look bad?" her expression was mildly curious.
"Yes, that and for ..." he started. Now that it was done he felt he had stepped over an invisible line that he might not be able to get back from. He hadn't really asked he had barreled in with a plan, told her and she had complied.
"He'll figure it out you know," she said as her thoughts moved away from her potentially tainted reputation to what they needed to do before Tragg was on to it. Three hours tops, only because Tragg would be brooding over the woman he had a crush on. People were always willing to believe what they most did not want to believe. Tragg, normally open minded, was no exception to this rule. But Tragg would consider the evidence play back the entire conversation to himself.
"I know, even if he misses that you didn't answer, he will remember that we didn't ask who was murdered," Perry agreed, "He'll stew on it for awhile and then he will be back demanding you give him a yes or no answer." He was pulling at his bottom lip, heedless of his naked chest and his thick chest hair that she feasted her eyes on.
"Did you get onto Paul?" Perry asked, a frown on his face, his eyes looking into the distance as they so often did when he was concentrating.
"Yes, he's going to meet you out the back of The Crown and Anchor in ten minutes," she reported.
"Right!" He spun around ducking back through her bedroom into the bathroom. He had, less than fifteen minutes before, hastily removed his clothes and wrapped himself in a towel, wet his hair under the shower, boxers still on underneath the towel. It didn't take him long before he was dressed and moving with an impatient step through her apartment. Trying to straighten a tie he had only loosened. She stopped him, she was still in her robe, but she was not going to change in her room while he was in her bathroom. That was hardly proper. She undid the tie completely and with competent fingers retied and straightened it. Still holding onto it she looked up into his beautiful blue eyes.
"Shame we have to get to work, otherwise I might be tempted to make the most of my sullied character," she purred teasingly up at him. From this angle he could look directly down the front of her robe, he chanced it and caught a hint of the fleshy curve of her breast.
He raised his eyes back up and lifted her chin so that he could kiss her. There was nothing chaste about that kiss. He felt her normal resistance to him start to buckle as what had been a teasing comment was wiped away by the intensity of his kiss. He forced himself to pull away from her, to release her, to deny what his body and heart demanded.
"I promise I'll square it with him this afternoon, I just need a couple of hours to check out some things. I don't have time to be cooling my heels at headquarters," he growled, but only saw desire and understanding reflected in her eyes, no recrimination, no regret. "You shouldn't tease me, its not nice," he added, trying to break the spell she had over him. Wanting her to tell him she wasn't teasing. She laughed at him, at the emotions that sailed over his face, at the underlying impatience pushing him to get back on the case. It was that underlying impatience that convinced her she was right not to completely cross that line between them. Still, she thought, he was absolutely delicious. Della opened the door and gave him a gentle nudge towards it. "But Chief, I wasn't teasing," she said, he turned so his eyes were still on her and he walked backwards out the door his eyes glued to her, "I was just following your instructions," she continued, playing with the ties on her robe. "You told me to look as if I had just got out of bed!" She reminded him with a pout.
He groaned. "Della I'm only a man," he protested, as her fingers released the final knot of her robe tie, he forced himself out through the door. Knowing if he stayed he risked completely destroying her reputation. Perry couldn't help glancing backwards as he swung the door closed behind him, and caught an enticing sliver of her bared shoulder as she let the robe slide too the floor. The door slammed shut and instinctively he tried to reopen it. It was locked and he could hear her sultry chuckle disappear as she moved further into her apartment. He leaned his forehead against the door. He didn't know if she was teasing him or if he had just missed an invitation. He sighed, he didn't have time to contemplate it. They both had work to do, someone's freedom depended on it.
Inside the apartment Della Street was already pulling on her work clothes. Perry would be lucky to get three hours out of Lieutenant Arthur Tragg with that trick. She called the service to let them know she would be running some errands before getting to the office at around ten thirty. She chose a pair of her two inch heels, she wanted to be comfortable if she was going to play hide and seek with Lt Tragg.
...TCOT...
Downtown, Lt Arthur Tragg was waiting on reports from several of his officers, he took notes as the calls came in. He was considering his next move when they pulled in a witness. He was well into the interview when the memory of Della's robe clad body forced its way into his mind. He kept losing his concentration. Her lips, he shook his head, he had to get a grip. He turned his eyes back to the Witness.
"What time did you see him arrive?" He prodded.
The mousy looking woman peered at him with frightened eyes, "Five am, five minutes passed at the most," she told him. "I only know that because the early bus arrived at the same time, " she said, "I normally catch that one to work."
Tragg scowled, she was telling the truth, he could sense it. She was scared but only because she was a timid person and not used to being interrogated...interviewed by the police. Della's steady gaze and pouting lips forced their way into his mind again. "Cr...ugh! Yatza!" he growled, slapping his forehead with his hand. Neither Della Street or Perry Mason had actually said that he had been there all night, for that matter that Perry Mason had been there that morning. In fact they had only fired questions at him. He glanced at the Sergeant, "Please make Miss Reed comfortable I have to make a house call,"
"Yes Lt."
Tragg was kicking himself, neither of them had even asked who had been murdered, and that went against both their natures - those two were driven by their curiosity, never satisfied with just knowing what, they always wanted to know why. Both perpetual students of the human condition. He growled out loud again, that was what had felt wrong, not her damned use of the word constabulary. Tragg headed over to the Brent Building, his frown started to ease into a grin. Only a month before he had overheard Della politely but firmly drawing the line on Mason's amorous advances. It had been after eleven in Mason's office. Tragg had dropped by for a tip off. He had knocked to herald his entrance, but not before he had indulged in some eavesdropping. At the time it had made him exceedingly happy knowing that for all Mason's possessiveness of his secretary, Mason had not got past first base. That happiness was reinvigorated as he realised they had staged the entire morning charade. Miss Reed had been telling the truth, she had seen the lawyer. So not only were Perry Mason and his beautiful secretary not an entrenched couple he also had grounds to arrest Mason on obstruction of justice. This day that had started off badly was suddenly looking up.
...TCOT...
It was eleven 'o'clock when he burst into Perry's office. Della Street sat in her boss's chair looking completely at home as she sorted through the mail.
"Well Good morning again Miss Street," he greeted her.
"Good morning Lieutenant," Della replied, clearly expecting him.
"Mason in?" he asked, he knew the answer, the receptionist already told him.
"No, he hasn't arrived yet," she said smoothly.
"Sleeping off a rough night is he?" Tragg pushed her further. Della merely tilted her head and watched him.
"What time did he get to your apartment Della?" he asked. For the first time she lowered her eyes from his intense gaze. He waited for her to answer the question.
"Seven thirty," she replied finally.
"Morning or evening?
"...Morning," she offered reluctantly.
"He did not spend the night in your apartment did he?" He never has, Tragg wanted to confirm.
"...No."
"In fact he didn't even spend the morning did he?" Tragg continued.
"...No."
"I need to see him Della. He's in a lot of trouble this time." His enthusiasm for arresting Mason was waning in light of Della's obvious concern over her boss.
The buzzer on the intercom blared into the room, "Yes Gertie?" Della said.
"There is an urgent phone call for you Miss Street," Gertie's chirpy voice sounded over the intercom.
"Who ..." Della started and then realized Gertie nearly always announced who it was, "Put them through to Mr Mason's private line Gertie.
"Hi Della," Perry's voice sounded tired but satisfied.
"Hello, how can I help you?" she responded cautiously.
"Lt Tragg is there with you?" Perry confirmed what Gertie had already warned him.
"Yesss," Della replied.
"Are you alright?" he asked her.
"Yes," she responded more confidently.
"Will you put him on," he asked her.
"Where are you?"
"At Headquarters, its alright Della. I found the Porter, he can identify the real murder. Put him on I'll give you the run down when I'm back."
"Its for you," Della said to Tragg handing him the phone.
"Tragg here" he listened, with some confirming grunts, "Okay."
He hung up the phone but didn't release it. "He tells me has a whole raft of evidence I need to see."
"He's going to wait for you at Headquarters?"
"Yes,..." Tragg let go of the phone and walked towards the door."There's nothing he wouldn't ask of you is there?"
"I trust him Lieutenant," she replied softly.
"I could have been responsible for confirming some nasty rumours about the two of you," Tragg said with narrowed eyes. "for smearing your reputation."
She smiled, "I trust you too Lieutenant," she told him and he felt a warm glow overwhelm him for a minute. She continued, "we knew you would figure it out, when you realised we hadn't answered your questions. He just needed a couple of hours to check on some people before they fled town."
"You didn't trust me enough to tell me that earlier," he pointed out. He placed his hat back on his head and tipped it to bid her good day. "Goodbye Miss Street," he replied formally.
"Good bye Lieutenant," she responded.
The rattattat of the back door announced the arrival of private detective Paul Drake, "Hello Beautiful!" he greeted her, "Grab your coat, Perry wants us to go and check out your clients alibi." Paul lit a cigarette as he waited for her as she let Gertie know and brought her coat back. He helped her put it on.
"Perry called, he said that he had enough evidence," Della told him.
Paul shrugged, "You know how he likes to have independent corroboration," he sucked on his cigarette, his eyes narrowing. "Apparently Tragg was in a fit to be tied this morning. After a visit to your apartment. Care to tell me what that was about?" he asked her as he held the door open for her.
"I'm sorry Paul," she replied, "...that's privileged information." He glanced down into her mischievous eyes.
"Oh come on you!" he grabbed her by the arm and lead her out of the office.
The END
A/N Thanks for reading and thanks to LIB for Misconceptions (and for not minding me posting this ) which led to this story for obvious reasons. Also more book Tragg than T.V Tragg. At the age Della was when I am picturing this she was probably still living in her one room apartment with the fold down bed, but I needed to give her a bedroom for plot purposes. Feel free to comment good bad or indifferent. Raz