The Case of the Teenage Delinquent

Chapter 2

1

Perry Mason stared at Colton Parker for a moment before he responded. "Divorcing your parents is not an easy thing to do, Mister Parker. It amounts to them losing custody of you altogether. There must be a very good reason to do this or a judge would simply throw it out of court."

Colton listened to Mason and was already beginning to wonder if the lawyer would help him, or would he side with his parents? After all, he was a lawyer just like them. Still, Perry Mason could not be like them. This man was well-known for the people that he had helped when no one else would; people who had their back to the wall in murder trials which Mason had stepped up and defended them. He did it over and over against all odds of getting them out of the murder charge, yet he continually was able to do so. Colton could not be wrong. This was the man he wanted on his side.

"I have good reason, Mister Mason," the lad told him.

"Alright, I am willing to listen to your reason, Mister Parker. Suppose you tell me why you have come to the conclusion you need to divorce your parents," Perry said.

Colton looked over at Della Street. She had a pad of paper and a pen; she was taking notes as he spoke. He was not happy with the idea. She was a woman and women could not see why a kid should be taken from his parents. It had something to do with the mother instinct, at least that is what his mother had told him.

Perry noticed the boy was looking at Della with mistrust. He decided he better reassure him. "Miss Street is my confidential secretary. She is simply making a record of this conversation so I may refer to it later on. Speaking in front of her is no different than speaking to me. It stays in this room."

The young man seemed to relax a bit, but still questioned, "She can't tell my parents that I talked to you?"

"Absolutely not. What you say in this office is protected by the attorney-client privilege," Mason told him.

"Well okay, I guess it is alright then." Parker said. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking again. "Mister Mason, I want to be an actor. I am taking drama classes at the high school and I intend to go onto a drama school. My parents object, I mean really object. They lecture me constantly, telling me it is nothing but a pipe dream. I don't believe that. If everyone thought acting was a pipe dream, we would not have any actors at all. Now, Mister Mason, I don't believe it is going to be easy, and in the long run, I may fail. I still want to try."

Perry smiled at the boy. "How old are you, Colton?" he asked, switching to the young man's first name.

"I am sixteen, sir."

"You are a pretty big kid for sixteen," Perry observed.

"I know, I hear that all the time."

"Colton, your parents disagreeing with your choice of a future occupation is not grounds to divorce them."

"That is not the reason I want to divorce them. I am just trying to give you the whole story," he said.

"What is the reason you want to divorce your parents, then?" Mason asked.

"Because I am in danger, physical danger and I fear for my life." Parker looked Mason directly in the eye.

"Why do you fear for your life? Is someone trying to harm you?"

"Yes, my father. He is physically abusive. He slugs me; sometimes he slams me up against a wall."

Perry became more attentive. He thought this was simply going to be a boy that did not like the rules his parent set forth, but if they were actually being physically abusive; it was up to him to protect the boy from that. "What happened this afternoon?"

Colton looked away from the lawyer. As he was about to answer Mason's question, the attorney interrupted. He wanted the young man to look him squarely in the eye. He did not trust information when his client could not look at him. "Just a minute, Colton." Once he had regained his attention, he said, "Go on."

This time Parker continued looking at the lawyer. "I skipped school and went over to Universal Studios. I knew Brad Pitt was filming a movie there; I wanted to see if he would help me get into the movies. He showed up too. If it had not been for the damn police officer, I could have convinced him to help me. Brad broke up a fight with my buddy and me. The cop took me to my parents office. After he left my father started slugging me."

"Is that how you got that black eye?" Della asked.

"Yeah, he hit me in the face."

"Was your mother there?" Perry asked.

"Yes, but she never stops my father from pounding on me," Colton said.

"Were there any witnesses?" Mason asked next.

"No, just my parents were there at the time."

"If we are going to file in court, we need some evidence of abuse," Perry told the boy.

Colton's temper began to rise. He pointed at his face. "Isn't this evidence enough?"

"You said you got into a fight with a buddy. Your parents must know that. They could simply claim that you got the black eye while fist-fighting with your friend." Perry tried to get the young man to understand that more than just his say-so was going to be needed.

"So, you are not going to help me. I should have known better. You lawyers are all alike. You stick together. You are all shysters," Colton said, angrily as he got up to leave.

Mason stood up and hurried around his desk. He beat Parker to the door. Placing his hand on the knob, Perry successfully stopped Colton from leaving. "I did not say I wouldn't help you, Mister Parker, but I would not be doing my job if I did not point out to you this is not going to be easy. Now, why don't you sit back down?"

Colton stood there for a moment and finally walked back over to Mason's desk and sat down in the chair he had just vacated.

Perry returned to his seat as well. "How long has this been going on?"

"Most of my life. My father has a terrible temper. He can't seem to control himself when he loses it. When I was younger, I would end up with bruises from the times he hit me for no reason, other than he was upset about something."

"And your mother never stopped him?" Della asked.

Parker looked at Della and said, "No, she is afraid of him. Believe me, he has hit her more than once."

"Why would a woman who is a lawyer and knows the law put up with such treatment," Perry wondered.

After shrugging his shoulders, Colton replied, "I don't think he allows her to do much in the office. He takes all the credit. She does all the paperwork. Really, Mister Mason, I don't think she is much more than a glorified secretary." He looked over at Della and blushed. "No offense, Miss Street."

Della smiled. "None taken."

"Colton, can you remember a time when someone, anyone witnessed your father abusing you? It would help if we had some record of abuse. Going to court with what we have now would certainly be thrown out by any judge. I want to help you, but we have to have something documented."

"That's the problem, Mister Mason, my father is very careful when he beats me, or my mother for that matter. If he gets upset with us around other people, he is a master at hiding it... until we get home. Then he explodes. It always means a beating."

"You said he hit you at his office today," Perry said.

"Yes."

"Where is the secretary's desk? I assume he has a secretary?" Mason asked.

"Her desk is outside my parents office, but is on the opposite wall. The office is not very big, nothing like this one." He waved his hand indicating all of the offices contained in the suite Mason occupied.

"Is it possible that she could have heard your father. Was he loud when addressing you?" Mason inquired.

"He was yelling at me, if that is what you mean." Colton frowned and thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think she might have heard him. I have come to their office before and heard my father yelling at my mother."

"Alright, do you have any money on you?" Mason asked.

Parker reached into his back pocket and pulled out his very beat-up wallet. Opening it, he pulled out a twenty and a ten-dollar bill. "This is all I have."

Mason took the ten-dollar bill, leaving the larger bill for Colton. He handed it to his confidential secretary. "Della, give Mister Parker a receipt for ten-dollars." He looked back at Colton Parker and said, "Now, I am your lawyer. You let me handle this. However, I will warn you, it will get worse before it gets better. I am going to have to ruffle some feathers in order to get the evidence we need."

For the first time since he entered Mason's office, Colton smiled. "You don't have any idea how relieved I feel. I am just concerned how I am going to pay your fee. A guy like you who has defended the President of the United States must charge a lot."

Mason smiled. "You don't worry about that. I promise you, when we are able to take care of this problem, we will work out a settlement you can handle."

Parker grinned. "Gee thanks, Mister Mason. I knew you were the man to go to. It is too bad my father doesn't take after you."

Mason put out his hand and Colton shook it. "You better get home. I don't want you to get into any trouble for being late. Just let me handle everything. Della will see you out and get the necessary information we will need."

"Yes, Sir!" Colton Parker followed Della Street out of the office. As soon as the door shut, Perry picked up the phone.

Paul Drake's call center came on the line. "Drake Detective Agency."

"This is Perry Mason, when Mister Drake gets a chance, would you have him come down to my office." After getting an affirmative answer, Mason hung up the phone.

Della Street opened Perry's door and re-entered his office. She looked at the attorney admirably. Despite the high fees he could command, Perry had a soft spot for people in trouble who really could not afford him. Colton Parker was a prime example.

She walked over to his desk. "What do you think, Perry?"

"I know if the boy is abused, I am going to do everything I can to get him out of there, but if he is taking me for a fool, he is in for a big surprise. I intend to find out just what is going on," Mason told her.

"Do you suspect he is not telling the truth?"

"No, I think he is. I have seen some things about that particular law office that has shone me, they are crooked lawyers... at least Cliff Parker. I have not heard anything about Deborah Parker. I suspect the boy is right. I doubt she has much, if anything, to say about how that law office operates. Nevertheless, I don't intend to be blindsided either."

Paul Drake's code knock sounded on the door. "You must have called our wandering boy," Della said with a smile as she headed for the door. When she arrived, she opened it to a grinning Paul Drake.

"Hello, Beautiful. It is about time Perry call. I am tired of following cheating husbands." He looked over to see Mason sitting at his desk. "Hi, Perry, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Paul, sit down," Mason instructed.

Drake walked over and sat in the overstuffed leather chair. He threw his legs over the arm of the chair and sat sideways. Pulling a notebook out of his pocket, along with a pen, he said, "Shoot."

"Paul, have you heard of a law firm called Parker and Parker, a husband and wife team?"

Drake made a face that indicated he didn't think much of them. "Yeah, I have heard of them. It's a wonder they haven't been disbarred yet. They have a sixteen-year-old boy, kind of wild from what I hear."

"That wild boy is the client," Mason informed him.

Drake's eyes widen. "You're kidding! How are you going to get paid with a kid for a client? In fact, how are you going to pay me?"

Mason grinned. "I'm probably not."

Paul lowered his head in dismay. "That's what I thought. What's this about? Why are you representing a kid who has two parents that are lawyers?"

"Would you hire them?" Della asked.

"Alright, you got a point," Drake conceded. "So what is the kid's problem?"

"He wants to divorce his parents," Perry said.

"Divorce his parents! How does a kid divorce someone he is not even married to, let alone his parents?" Paul cocked his head. "Has it ever been done before? Is there a precedent for this kind of thing?"

"It has been done, but only three times that I know of. It is unusual."

"Perry, I don't understand why you are even involved in this," Drake said, shaking his head. If it was a girl, I could see it. You have always been a sucker for a damsel in distress, but a boy?"

"There is a chance the kid is being abused, Paul," Della said.

"Any evidence of it?" Drake asked.

"Not yet."

"Then how do you know the kid is actually being abused?" Paul wondered.

"Who would you believe, Colton Parker or the parents?" Mason said, looking directly at Paul.

"I see what you mean. Alright, what do you want me to do?"

"I want the parents investigated. Find out if anyone has seen the father physically abuse the boy. Start with the secretary. The boy says he has easily heard the parents arguing from the lobby. If he has, then the secretary may have heard the father get physical with him."

"Consider it done. Anything else?"

"Yes, Colton Parker got into a fight outside of Universal studios with a friend. I want to know who that boy was and if anyone else was involved.

Drake stood up and headed for the door. I will call you as soon as I have something."

"Paul, do it quickly and as quietly as possible. I don't want Cliff Parker retaliating against Colton for coming to me."

Drake nodded and responded, "You got it." He opened the private door into Mason's office and disappeared.

Della was looking at the attorney with a smile. Perry caught the look and said, "What?"

"You amaze me, Counselor."

"Come behind the desk and I will amaze you even more," Perry said with a glint in his blue eyes.

Della chuckled. "Not during office hours. You know Paul is going to run up a bill and we have no prospect of being paid by the client."

Mason sighed. "I know, Della, but you brought me the case. This is one I just could not turn down. I want the boy out of there if he is being abused."

"And?"

"And what?" Mason responded to her question.

"You have another reason, don't you?"

Mason was silent for a moment. "Before you came to work with me, I had a run-in with the Parkers. A client came to me; she signed a real estate deal to sell some property. The Parkers represented the buyer. They had agreed, since there was a high probability oil was on the property, if it was found, the buyer would pay my client a certain percentage. The buyer also bought the property right next to it. He did indeed find oil, but claimed it was on the other property. He was advised by the Parkers to put the well on the other piece of property to fool my client into believing the oil was found there, and not on the property she sold to him. Parker told him when she saw a well on the other piece of property, she would stop following his activity.

"The well sat there for over two years, and he did nothing with it. I grew suspicious that my client had been lied to when I found out a company had been hired to drill for oil, so I sent Paul to apply for a job."

"And the oil was on the property your client sold," Della said.

"That is right. The Parkers filed in court stating that I added the clause that would give my client a percentage, hoping I would back off."

"You didn't."

"Of course not. I filed suit in court and the judge awarded my client a much larger percentage than she would have gotten if the buyer had just been honest about it. In fact, my client became very wealthy on that deal."

"So it proved the Parkers were dishonest."

"Not just that, Della, but someone broke into the office I was in at that time and stole what they thought was the original signed contract. What they stole was a copy. Apparently, the Parkers never checked to see that they did not have the original. The contract the Parkers presented in court was a signed contract without the clause. My client's signature was forged. I presented the judge with the original and had three handwriting experts testify."

"Wouldn't the original be registered with the register of deeds?"

Perry nodded. "It was conveniently missing. The nephew of the buyer worked in that department. My client's signature was proven to be forged, and the contract I had was authenticated. It was suggested the nephew destroyed the original"

"How did the Parkers get away with it?"

"They turned on the nephew, who also worked for them. Despite telling the police they paid him to do it, there was no proof of it. The boy went to jail. The court said he was in on it with his uncle, who by the way is also in jail. He claimed the Parkers knew the phony contract was planted with their approval. They claimed the nephew applied for a job with them, with the intention of stealing the original contract and replacing it with the phony one. "

"And the police believe them?" Della could not believe it.

"It just so happens the the Parker's law office was broken into at the same time mine was, and… "

"And the Parkers reported it to the police, but could not find anything missing at the time. Under the circumstances, the court figured the nephew stole the original and a copy. The signatures were placed later."

Mason grinned. "You should be working for Paul, not me. That law office was once again broken into a week later, with nothing found missing."

"But, I bet something was left, such as the new contract. All of it planned by the Parkers," Della said. Is there any doubt the Parkers were responsible, and that the buyer and his nephew did do it on their own and blame the Parkers?" Della asked.

"Della, have you ever known me to forget a detail as important as oil rights to a client? They would not have forgotten it either. Maybe investigating them will bring them out in the open. Lawyers like them give the profession a bad name, and if they are crooked, they should be disbarred."

"So, did you take the case because of the boy or because of his parents?" Della asked.

"Both," he said. "Let's close up shop and get out of here. I bet you are hungry."

"Starving," Della said.

"Let's go to the Legal Beagle," Perry said.

"Isn't that where a lot of attorneys go for dinner?" Della asked.

"That's where it got its name. It was changed to that name several years ago."

As Perry and Della headed for the door," Della stopped and looked up at the lawyer. "Do the Parkers frequent this restaurant by any chance?"

Mason grinned. "They did the last time I had dealings with them."

"That's what I thought," Della said as Perry locked the door of his office. The two of them bid Gertie goodnight and left for the day.