The Case of the Lazy Race Horse
Chapter 4
4.1
The sun was shining high in the sky. Temperatures hovered in the low eighties. Marvin Latham looked out the window. It was a beautiful day. It could not be better for the arrival of his friends. He had been looking forward to Perry and Della's visit. Marvin had not really expected them to accept his invitation to stay with him, and travel the Triple Crown So, when they did, it was a pleasant surprise.
He had not seen Perry in a long time. It was a shame that friends, as close as they had been, rarely got together. True, he had poured his heart and sole into horse farm. Racing had become the center of his life, as well as his daughter's. His daughter... she had not spoken to him since Morgan Stapleton had picked up the Red Rider colt.
Marvin had been disturbed by her behavior. She had known from the beginning that they would have to turn the colt over to Stapleton. He could not understand why she had put up such a fight. It was almost a certainty that Stapleton would pick Red Rider's colt. He had beautiful conformation and for a youngster, he had speed... the kind of speed one did not expect at his age. Would he have liked to keep the colt? No doubt, but he had to honor the contract that Jesse Jorgenson had made with Morgan Stapleton.
He had not told Toni about a provision in the contract. Marvin did not want to get her hopes up. There was a possibility that they could take the colt away from Stapleton. Although, he wanted to see Perry and spend some time with him, he also wanted him to take a look at the contract Jesse had signed. If it meant what he thought it did, it was only a matter of time before he could force Morgan to return the colt. Marvin would like nothing better than to present the the Red Rider son to Toni for her own. He would put the colt in her name and allow her to race him that way. But first, he had to get Perry's legal opinion and obtain his services in getting the colt back.
The door to his office opened. Toni, dressed in a pink dress that hugged her body and contained a low neckline that drew attention to her very womanly shape, entered the office. Marvin shook his head. He had not seen the dress before. He had no doubt that she had recently purchased the dress to wear to try to catch the eye of the Los Angeles criminal attorney. If it would not start another big argument between them, he would insist she change into something more appropriate.
Toni said nothing as she picked up the keys to the Jeep Cherokee. As she turned to leave the room, Marvin said, quietly, "How long is this silent treatment going to go on, young lady?"
Toni twirled around to her father, with anger. "Silent treatment? How can you expect me to even speak to you after what you did?"
Marvin kept his temper in check and spoke with an even tone. "You know I had to honor the contract Jesse signed. You also knew before Morgan came, he would choose the Red Rider colt. So my question to you, is why are you behaving this way? You need to grow up, young lady, and realize that we can not always have our own way in life... especially when there is a legal contract involved."
Toni walked over to the window, staring at the corral that the colt would be running in right now, if it were not for her father. She walked rapidly over to her father with an accusing tone. "You could have waited until Perry got here and read that contract. He could have found a way to stop Stapleton from taking the colt."
"You don't know that. The contract is probably completely binding. Toni, you have to face the fact that the colt is not ours, and never was. This conversation is closed."
"No, it isn't! When Perry gets here, I want you to have him look at that contract. He will find a way for us to keep the colt."
"You don't know that."
"He's the greatest lawyer in the world! He will find a way," she insisted.
"Speaking of Perry, are you really going to go to the airport to greet him in that dress?" There it was, he had said it. He had not meant to, but his daughter had a way of rattling him into saying things he did not mean to say. Besides, it was for her own good. She had to get over this obsession she had with Perry Mason. He was a grown man who was already in love with a wonderful woman. He was sure Perry only saw his daughter as a child.
"There is nothing wrong with this dress!" she snapped at him. "I bet Perry will notice it immediately."
"I won't argue with that. He can't help but notice it," he replied, sarcastically.
Toni opened her mouth to say something, but her father cut her off. "We don't have time for this. Perry and Della's plane is going to land shortly. We have to go pick them up." Suddenly, he got an idea. "Why don't you let me pick them up and you stay here and make them a nice lunch. I am betting they will both be extremely hungry." Seeing the look on her face, he regretted the suggestion immediately.
Her nostrils flared and her face turned beet red. "You are trying to keep me away from Perry. I won't let you. I am going to pick him up. If you want lunch ready for him when he gets here, I suggest you stay and fix it." She turned on her heals, marched out the door, slamming it as she left.
Marvin sighed. He had always liked the spirit and spunk in his daughter, but between her reaction to the colt, and her obsession with Perry Mason, she was trying his patience. He grabbed his jacket and left his office.
4.2
Bobby Quintez watched, as Morgan Stapleton drove off the farm with Harold Bishop. He had been waiting for an opportunity to find out what Stapleton had on the trainer. Now was his chance. The employees' quarters would be near empty as everyone would be out working with and caring for the horses. He knew Stapleton's sons in the main house. He would have to keep an eye out for them. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught in Bishop's room.
Bobby crossed over to the employees' building. He hesitated before going in. Looking around, he could see ranch hands in a distance, but not one was in sight around the quarters, where they hung out and slept at night. The jockey opened the door and went inside. He passed the room which he had been assigned, and headed down the hall to where Bishop had maintained a room for the past fifteen years.
Again, the young jockey stopped and listened. He did not see or hear anyone. He tried the door to Bishop's quarters. It was locked. That did not stop Bobby. He had come prepared. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket knife. He placed the blade between the door and the lock. The locks had not been changed in so many years, a child could break into them. He was surprised that Stapleton had not updated this building in years. Yet, again, he wasn't. He did not care about the comfort of his employees. In fact, he did not even care about the comfort of his sons or his wife for that matter, so why would he care if the sleeping quarters were up to date?
After he jimmied the door, he took one last look around before entering. He slipped inside, closed and locked the door. Bobby looked around. The place was a mess. There were clothes thrown all over the place. Beer bottles were strewn from one end of the room to the other. Either he had not picked them up in a long time, or he drank a lot. But then, Morgan Stapleton could drive anyone to drink.
If it weren't for the fact that he had a chance to win the Triple Crown with Red Rider, he already would have been long gone. One thing for sure... he never intended to work for Morgan Stapleton again. The man represented everything he hated about the sport.
He thought about his encounter with Todd Campbell. He had dropped the crop with the electrical shock in the end of it. What Todd did not know was he had not been using it in the races. He only used it when he was under Stapleton's direct scrutiny. Todd was a good kid and he had a real feel for the horses. Stapleton treated him so poorly, Bobby wondered why he stayed. He could catch on at another farm. Marvin Latham obviously liked the kid. He would probably welcome the boy's talent.
Bobby began searching the room. After twenty minutes of intensive searching, he had not found anything that would shed a light, on what Stapleton had on Bishop. Quintez gave up and left the room. The only other place he might find some answers was in Stapleton's office.
He knew he would be taking a big chance as his office was attached to the family home. None of the employees were allowed in the house, and only in the office if called there. No one wanted to be called there as it was never for a good reason. It was always because Stapleton was unhappy with them.
Bobby crossed the distance between the employees' building and the main house. He headed for the far side, his eyes darting back and forth, watching for signs of trouble. When he reached the office, the door was open. He could hear voices inside. He recognized those voices to be Aaron & Dean Stapleton. He knew he should retreat, yet, he didn't. Maybe he could learn something from their conversation.
"I found it!" Dean shouted.
Aaron hurried over to the desk Dean had been searching. "I thought for sure he would have kept it in the safe."
"It is a good thing he didn't. You sure have not been able to open it," Dean said.
"I would swear he had the combination lock changed on that safe. I never had trouble opening that thing before." He was impatient for his brother to reveal the contents of the their father's will.
"Hang on. Give me a chance to read it, will you?" Dean growled.
Aaron waited but his patience was quickly running out. He wanted to know if their father had changed the will. "Come on, Dean. What gives?"
Dean Stapleton looked up from the legal document and grinned. "He not only has not changed the will, we inherit everything. Even Mother will only be able to stay here if we allow it!"
"Perfect! Now how do we stop him from changing it?" Aaron asked.
A note flutter to the floor towards Aaron. He was quicker than his brother to pick it up. He read it and smiled. "He can't change the will!"
"What do you mean, he can't change it?" Dean said, attempting to snatch the note, but failing.
"This is a note from the attorney. Apparently, Father tried to change it, but when Mother turned her share of the farm over to him, she made a provision that keeps him from selling the farm or willing it to anyone else! The farm is ours. There is nothing he can do about it!"
Dean did not seem to be as happy about the news. "It doesn't matter if he can't take it away from us, he still controls the farm as long as he is alive. We can't do anything we want until he is gone."
"There must be a way we can wrestle the farm away from him," Aaron agonized.
"There is only one way, but you are not going to like it," Dean told him.
There was a noise outside the door. Dean put his finger to his lips, indicating for Aaron to be quiet. He eased over to the opening and shoved the door into the person on the other side. Bobby Quintez fell to the porch floor, his head now supporting a large bump.
"What the hell are you doing here, Quintez?" Dean demanded.
Bobby rubbed the large lump on his head. "The same reason you guys are here, trying to find some way to control your father. The man has become impossible to work with. I could work for you guys, so I am all for getting the ranch out of his control."
Dean stood there for a moment before offering his hand to the jockey. Bobby accepted it and was pulled to his feet by the Stapleton brother.
"Okay, why should we trust you?"
"Because I want to win the triple crown and I am telling you, it is not going to happen if we keep pushing Rider so hard. It is not necessary. He loves to run."
Aaron stepped forward. "I thought you agreed with Harold's training. That is why we have gone along with it. We felt you were the one to know how far he could be pushed."
"I don't agree," Bobby said. "I have used shock methods in the past, but Rider has changed my mine. If a horse has what it takes he can win on his own. He's a great horse and I see a lot of potential in his colt as well, but Morgan will destroy him. He doesn't have Rider's temperament. He doesn't like being pushed hard. He has already, in the day he has been here, started to push back."
"So if we can get the old man to give us control of the ranch, you will stay on?" Dean asked.
"Yes, if you put the horses first. I can't mistreat them any longer."
"Will you help us get rid of the old man?" Aaron asked.
"If I can," Bobby said. "I think there is one place we can start."
"Where?" Dean inquired.
"Harold Bishop. What does your father have on him that he stays here year after year for lousy pay and treatment? Morgan must be blackmailing him to keep him here. If we find out what it is, we can hold it against him. We could force him to help bring down your father without getting our hands dirty."
Dean grinned. "You know what? I like your thinking, Quintez. But where do we start?"
"I say we start with the safe. Since Father changed the lock on it, he certainly did not do it to keep us from seeing the will. There must be something in there that he doesn't want us to know about."
"Great, genius, but you can't get it open," Dean snarled.
"How much time do we have?" Bobby asked. "When is Morgan due back?"
"Not until tonight," Aaron said.
Bobby grinned. That is all the time in the world. Do you know what I did before I became a jockey?" The brothers shook their heads.
"I used to work for a company that sent guys in to try to break into newly made safes, for the companies that made them. I was the guy who tested their reliability.
Dean and Aaron both grinned. "Well, don't just stand there, test the reliability of our safe," Dean said.
4.3
Perry Mason looked out the window of the jetliner as it was making its approach into Louisville International Airport. He looked back at the sleeping Della Street whose head was leaning on his right shoulder, his arm around her. He had not been able to sleep on the long flight but Della certainly had not had the same trouble. The lawyer had caught up on some fictional reading. He did not have the opportunity to read much, which was a shame, since he loved a good novel now and then. But with Della resting on his shoulder, he dared not move for fear of waking her. Reading was the obvious choice of activity.
Their courtroom schedule had been so jammed packed the past few months, that they did not have time for much else. It was no wonder that when they had a little down time, the first that Della did was fall asleep.
The announcement came over the loudspeaker to fasten their seat belts, as the flight attendants came down the aisle checking to be sure the passengers had followed instructions.
"Della, wake up," Perry said softly. He gently removed his arm from around her, causing her to stir. He smiled down at her and coaxed her out of her slumber. "Wake up, sleepy head."
The flight attendant approached them. "Mr. Mason, the two of you will have to fasten your seat belts and place your seats in the up-right position." She smiled at the famous attorney.
By now, Della was fully awake as both of them complied with her request. "This is either the fastest plane in the air or I slept through the entire flight."
Perry chuckled and took her hand in his. After kissing the back of it, he said, "I decided not to wake you. You needed the rest."
"It must have been a boring flight for you," she said, apologetically.
"Not at all. I finished that novel I started back in... actually I don't even remember when I started it," he admitted. It was probably the last time they flew in a plane.
The couple watched out the window as the plane made its final approach and descended downward until the wheels hit the pavement. As the jet slowed and came to a stop, Perry removed his seat belt, stood up and helped Della to her feet. To the smiles and thanks of the flight attendants, they left the plane and entered the airport. They made the long walk to the baggage claim to pick up their suitcases. As Perry pulled the last of them from the carousel, he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Perry!" Toni shouted and threw herself into his arms, much to the embarrassment and dismay of her father.
Perry gently pushed the girl back and smiled. "You have grown up since the last time I saw you." He kissed her forehead.
Toni looked at her father with a smirk on her face, but quickly returned her attention to the lawyer. "I am glad you noticed."
Clearing his throat, Marvin Latham stepped forward and offered his hand to Mason. Perry accepted and shook it. "It is so good to see you again. I am happy you accepted our invitation." Marvin looked over at Della and smiled. "Della, you are even more lovely than I remember." He kissed her cheek.
"Perry and I could hardly keep our minds on work since you called. We are looking forward to an entire month of no murder trials," Della said, before turning her attention to Toni. "I have not seen you since you and your father brought one of your racehorses to California. I must say you have grown into a beautiful young lady."
Toni took the compliment in stride with a forced smile. Having worked with a lawyer, who also loved the detective work that came with murder cases, Della had learned to pick up on clues over the years. She could sense Toni's animosity towards her. If she could, there wasn't any doubt that Perry could as well.
Helping Perry with their suitcases, Melvin led them to his jeep. Once settled, they all got into the jeep and headed for Latham Farms.
"So how is Latham's Choice's time?" Perry asked.
"Fast!" Toni answered enthusiastically.
"But not fast enough, if he is going to beat Red Rider," Marvin said.
"You need to have more confidence in him, Dad. He is getting faster all the time. We have another week before the Derby. He will continue to improve," Toni scolded her father.
Both Perry and Della could sense the tension between father and daughter. Something was wrong but neither of them would pry. Hopefully, their presence would help to ease it.
"I hear Jesse Jorgenson sold you a mare that had a colt by Red Rider," Perry said, hoping to relieve the tension. Instead, he found out quickly the source of that tension.
"And Dad allowed him to steal the colt away from us," she said, bitterly.
"Steal?" Perry questioned. "What do you mean?"
"He did not steal the colt, Perry." Marvin explained how he got the mare, and the contract that had existed between Jesse Jorgenson and Morgan Stapleton.
"If there was a legal contract, Toni, he most certainly did not steal the colt," Perry explained to her.
"Dad did not have to honor it!" Toni shouted.
"I am afraid he did," Perry told her. "Otherwise, he would have opened himself up to a lawsuit, for all intents and purposes, he could not win."
"But you are the best attorney in the country. You can break the contract," she insisted.
"Not even Perry can break a legal contract, Toni," Della said gently, "if it is binding."
"It can't be. He just has to look at it. I bet he can find a way. You are not a lawyer. I am not asking you to look at it."
Perry, who was riding in the front seat, could tell Marvin was about to scold his daughter. Perry gave him a look that told him to let it go. He did not want this escalating any further.
The rest of the ride to the farm was mostly in silence with the exception of some small talk. Perry wondered if he would ever be able to go anywhere for vacation, without someone drawing him into their legal battles.
TBC...