The Case of the Set Up Cop
Chapter 7
7.1
Della pulled Perry's Cadillac into the garage of his apartment building. She eased the vehicle into his parking spot and pulled it to a stop. She shut off the engine and sat there. Perry looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Neither of them had said a word on the drive home from the police station. Perry was sure she had been quiet because she suspected the conversation that was about to take place.
Della... his Della. He had never loved a woman in his life as much as he loved her. She started out as his secretary. She had completely changed his life. They spent their days together in his office solving one case after another. She had been at his side throughout every case since the day she walked through his office door. It didn't end there. Discreetly, they spent their nights together as well. No two people could possibly be more compatible than he and his Della. His professional life and his private life were centered around her. He needed, wanted and loved having her in both aspects of his life.
For those reasons, the conversation that he had promised Lt. Tragg would take place would be difficult and painful but it had to be done because Tragg was right. He needed to protect her and under his present circumstances he was unable to do that. It had become obvious with the attack on them at their country home and then again behind the market of Jamien Tyler. If it had not been for Della's quick action, he would be dead right now. Only the fact that Victor Luciana apparently did not yet want him dead had kept Luciana's goon from doing so behind that market. Yes, Arthur Tragg was right; the only way to effectively protect Della was to get her out of Los Angeles. Yet, he knew fully well it was not going to be easy.
When Della made no attempt to get out of the vehicle, Perry sat silently waiting. He could have made a full frontal attack, making sure she did not have time to come up with an argument as to why she should stay but Perry had too much respect for Della to try to silence her. After all, the decision affected her and he never made decisions alone when she was involved. They respected each other's opinion. So Perry just waited.
Della finally turned to look at him. He felt her eyes on him so he turned to face her, his deep blue eyes clearly visible because of the light that was beside the Cadillac. Tears were glistening in her eyes. "You want to send me away, don't you?"
"Della..."
"No, Perry. Let me talk and then I will listen to you." He nodded and remained silent. Della collected her thoughts for a moment. "I know we are dealing with the mob with this case. I am aware that Sgt. Gibson was murdered, probably on Luciana's order. I know he has threatened us through his men. And I know you want to send me away in order to protect me but I can't go, Perry... I just cannot go. You can barely walk, well except for down the hall at the police station. That is the fastest I have seen you move since we got back from Idaho. You maneuvered better on those crutches than since you started using them." She paused and looked away from him.
Perry smiled but said nothing. He waited for Della to continue. He would give her his undivided attention as he always did when a major decision was to be made between them.
"But even though you showed progress on those crutches, you are not exactly at your best. Perry, you could not move fast enough at our little getaway to protect either of us. Nor could you even begin to handle that goon that assaulted us at Tyler's market. You are not up to doing this alone. You need me, Perry."
Perry looked at the love of his life. He could not help but think that that was a gross understatement. He certainly could not argue the point for there was no one he needed more. He struggled with how to try to convince Della that she should leave for the duration of the trial. He reached over and took her hand in his. "You are right. I need you. I have needed you from the moment you walked into my office for the first time. You mean more to me than life itself. I cannot imagine my life without you... that is why I want you to leave Los Angeles until the trial is over."
Della began shaking her head. "No, Perry! Just what am I supposed to do? Sit in some motel room wondering every day if Luciana was successful in killing you because you could not maneuver fast enough? Could not turn to look behind you quick enough because of being on crutches? Perry, you are vulnerable. You need me. I am not leaving you to face this by yourself. I can be your eyes in the back of your head."
"And if something were to happen to you, I could not live with myself. I cannot force you to leave but I am asking you to do so. I will do nothing but worry about you if you stay."
"And I would do nothing but worry about you if I left," Della countered.
"Della..."
"Perry..."
Mason sighed. He was not winning this argument and he knew it. He had to convince her to go and he was not above appealing to her loyalty to him. "Please, Della. Do this for me, please."
Della looked at him. How she loved this man! She would do anything for him... almost anything. She looked away from him. She could not handle the pleading look in his eyes. She could not allow those blue eyes to weaken her. She was not going to leave him no matter how much he pleaded. "I am sorry, Perry. I can't. You need me."
Perry put his head back on the head rest of his seat. "Why not? You know how important it is to me to protect you and you pointed out that I am not able to do it."
"Do you remember what happened when you decided I could not stay with you to trap Brad Stout and Bert Fielder in the Seth Palmer case?"
Perry rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yes, I remember. We almost lost you in a fire."
Della ran her hand down his cheek. "We are better together. It is when we are apart something happens to one of us. We take care of each other. I will go if you want but it will be a mistake, Perry. We belong together, not separated. Don't separate us."
Perry said nothing. He just sat looking straight ahead. Della knew he was weakening. "We are strongest together, Chief."
He looked at Della. "Alright, you can stay but you are going to have to explain it to Tragg. He wanted me to get you out of town."
"Arthur was behind this?"
"Not completely. I agreed with him and he is not going to be happy with me. He seems to think that I can just order you to leave."
Della chuckled. "I told you I would go if you wanted me to."
"Della, I know you better than anyone and you would not have left. You would have worked on me until I gave in."
Della laughed. "If it makes you feel any better, you put up a good fight."
He smiled. "Let's get inside." He opened the door and got out. Reaching into the back seat, he pulled out the crutches. Della walked around and met him on the other side. She kept a close eye on him as they headed for the door of the apartment building.
Perry's eyes darted from one side to the other. He was not going to let his guard down. Regardless of Della's reference to the Palmer case, he believed it was in Della's best interest for her to leave Los Angeles until this case was solved. And her acknowledgement of his inability to protect her was all the more reason to get her out of the city. But he knew it would be a waste of time to try to convince her... at least right now. He would try again later.
Perry's eye caught movement in the shadows on the other side of the entrance into the building. Instinctively he maneuvered himself between Della and the possible threat. Continuing toward the door, his eyes never left the darkened area beside the building.
A man stepped out of the shadows. Mason knew literally everyone who lived in the building. This man was not one of them. He had that look of one of Luciana's goons. As the man move closer to Perry and Della, he reached into his jacket pocket. That was all Mason needed to take action. He was not going to wait for the man to remove a gun from his jacket.
Using one crutch, he placed it in front of Della and pushed her behind him. Once she was safely tucked away, he planted that crutch on the ground and swung at the would-be assailant with the other. He caught him just under the jaw. The man went crashing to the ground. The gun he had removed from his jacket flew out of his hand and landed directly in front of the couple. Using the end of his crutch, Mason slammed it against the revolver with the precision of a professional hockey player. It went flying across the parking garage.
The man got to his feet, took one look at Mason and said, "You were told to stay out of it, counselor. You were warned. Now you will suffer the consequences." He turned and ran into the parking garage, disappearing behind rows of vehicles.
"Let's get inside," Perry told Della. "Stay close to me."
7.2
"Did either of you recognize him?" asked Lieutenant Anderson.
"No, but I recognize the type," Perry replied.
"Are you carrying a gun?" Andy asked the lawyer.
"Yes. It is in my suit coat pocket."
Andy shook his head. "That's no good. You need to find a way to make it more accessible. It is not going to do you any good in your pocket."
"You will run a make on that gun?" Della inquired.
"I will but Perry can tell you it probably will not do any good. It is likely a gun bought on the black market that is not registered to anyone."
"Do it anyway, Andy. Maybe we'll get lucky," Perry told him.
Anderson nodded. He headed for the door. Glancing at the alarm, he said, "Make sure this is on at all times. I don't have to tell you that due to the nature of this case, you are going to be in constant danger. I will assign men to keep an eye on you at night but you will be on your own during the day."
"You are going to be in charge of the investigation, aren't you?" asked Mason.
"No, I am not. This is Holcomb's case." Andy saw that Mason was about to argue, he put up his hand. "If I were in charge of the case, I would have to help the prosecution. Holcomb will be biting at the bit to do that. Therefore, I would rather stay in the background. I will be at your disposal to help in any way I can. There is no way Arthur killed that man."
Mason smiled. He put out his hand. Andy accepted it and the two men shook hands. "I was counting on it."
After Anderson left the apartment, Mason locked the door and turned on the house alarm.
Hobbling over to the couch, the lawyer dropped down rather heavily. "Della, I don't know about you but I could use a drink."
She went immediately into the kitchen and got down two glasses. She poured them both a glass of wine and returned to the living room. She handed one to Perry and then sat down beside him with the other one in her hand.
"I must admit I did not even see him," she said quietly.
"I only caught a glimpse of him in the shadows. I wasn't even sure what it was. Della..."
"Please, Perry. Let's not start that again," she said in anticipation of his coming lecture. "I will not leave you."
Mason sighed. He transferred the glass of wine to his other hand and put his arm around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "No, I don't suppose you will but I had to try one more time."
"One thing is for certain. We are going to have to be much more careful. We must be more observant of our surroundings. But how are you going to make that gun more accessible?" she asked him.
"I will talk to Paul tomorrow regarding getting me a shoulder holster. That should make it easier to remove the gun than trying to pull it out of my pocket."
She nodded in agreement. Mason kissed her forehead. How was he ever going to protect her this way?
7.3
"Damn it! I should have sent Vincent!" Victor shouted. "I did not tell you to pull a gun on Mason. He did not get the message the first time. I told you to rough up the secretary. Why in the hell is that so difficult to understand?"
"I told you I did not get a chance. Mason must have spotted me. As soon as I stepped out of the shadows, he hit me with one of his crutches."
Vincent Lango entered the office. He walked over and took a chair in front of Victor's desk. "Is there a problem?"
"When I give an order, I expect it to be followed," snarled Luciana. "Frank blew it. He allowed a man on crutches to disarm him."
Frank Rosino did not like being dressed down in front of Lango. Neither of them had been there. He could not believe the speed in which Perry Mason had used that crutch. He was not any ordinary lawyer. He had been able to shove the secretary behind him and attack him with the crutch at the same time. The man knew how to handle himself.
If Luciana thought Mason was going to back down, he was in for a big disappointment. Mason didn't scare easily and threatening that secretary of his only made him more dangerous.
"Victor, why don't you just let me take him out?" Vincent asked. "Then Tragg will be forced to hire another attorney."
"We can't go around killing everyone who becomes a problem, Vincent. We have to find another way to deal with Mason. I think we can get to him through the secretary."
"So what is it you want me to do?"
"Use the secretary to control Mason. I will leave it up to you as to how," Victor replied.
Lango grinned. "It will be my pleasure. Consider it done."
7.4
Perry and Della entered the courtroom. The bailiff led Arthur Tragg to the defense table. Della smiled at the veteran detective.
Tragg shook hands with Perry and said, "I can see you did not succeed."
"No, he did not, Arthur. I am NOT going anywhere," Della said.
"I wish you would reconsider. This could prove to be very dangerous for both you and Perry."
"We will both be fine, Arthur."
Tragg could not really blame Perry for not getting Della out of town. She was a strong-willed woman and Tragg did not think she would leave Perry knowing he was on crutches. She would want to stay and look after him. He didn't like it but he did not know what he could do about it.
The deputy district attorney walked into the courtroom and went directly to Perry Mason. "Mr. Mason. I am Gary Trenton. I will be trying this case."
Perry shook his hand. "What happened to Hamilton Burger?"
Trenton smiled and answered, "He recused himself. He said he could not try a case against a friend."
Mason nodded. "I am going to ask for bail, Mr. Trenton."
Trenton shook his head. "I will be objecting to that, Mr. Mason. He is a flight risk."
"A flight risk!" Tragg exclaimed, stepping forward.
Perry stepped between the two men. He backed Tragg off. "Let me handle this, Arthur."
Turning back to Gary Trenton, Perry said, "I am sure we can come to some agreement."
"Not if you insist on bail, Mr. Mason," Trenton responded.
"Well then, we will just let the judge decide," Mason said.
Trenton nodded. He looked at Tragg and then retreated from Mason to head for the prosecution's table.
The judge entered the courtroom. Everyone stood and then sat back down when the judge indicated for them to do so.
"Alright, in the matter of the people versus Arthur Tragg, Mr. Trenton, I take it that Mr. Burger has recused himself from this case."
Gary Trenton stood up. "He has indeed."
"Alright, the defendant has been charged with the first degree murder of Angelo Devino. Mr. Mason, how does the defendant plead?"
"Not guilty, Your Honor," Mason answered as he stood up.
"Let the record show that the defense counsel has entered a plea of not guilty."
"Your Honor, we would like to request that the defendant be released on bail."
"Mr. Trenton..."
"The defendant is a flight risk. He is facing the death penalty or at the very least, life in prison. We request he be held without bond."
"Mr. Mason, as you know bail is rarely granted anymore," the judge said.
"Yes, Your Honor, I am aware but the defense request that an exception be made. Lt. Arthur Tragg is not a flight risk. He has been a law officer for over thirty years in the city of Los Angeles. He has a home, a daughter and plans to return to his job when these charges have been proven false."
"I tend to agree with the defense and feel that bail is appropriate in this case. Bail is set in the amount of two hundred fifty thousand dollars. The hearing is set for two weeks from today. Is that agreeable with the prosecution?"
"It is," Trenton replied.
"Mr. Mason?"
"Defense concurs," Perry answered.
When the proceedings were completed, Tragg said, "Why did he set it so high? He might as well have denied it. I don't have that kind of money."
Hamilton Burger came forward. "Your bail has been paid, Arthur. The entire police force has put up the money."
Tragg was touched. He could not believe the men and women in the department could have raised that much money. Rather than get emotional as he knew his voice would break, he quipped, "If those cops could raise that kind of money, they must all be on the take."
Perry, Della and Hamilton all laughed. "I want you in my office in an hour. Paul is going to meet us there."
Tragg nodded. "I'll be there." He turned and left.
"Look, Perry, I can't help you openly but if there is anything that I can do behind the scenes, please let me help."
"I think I can put your talents to good use, Hamilton."
"Why don't we get some breakfast before we go to the office?" Della suggested.
Perry agreed as he, Della and Hamilton left the courtroom. None of them noticed Vincent Lango in the back of the courtroom with a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
