Monday morning came early at the Mason household, and as Della and Perry left for work once again they were back in work mode. As they entered the office they were pleased and surprised to find their friend Paul Drake standing there next to the coffee machine.
As the three of them walked into Perry's private office, and took a seat Paul took a seat in his favorite chair. "I have some interesting information for the two of you. One of my men has been watching the Olson home. Peggy Olson is now living with her parents. So, I thought that we should find out something about her parents. It turns out that Mrs. Olson has been having an affair, and the affair has been going on for a while. She has been seeing our victim Dean Brice's brother Carl. I have been looking into this. It would seem that Carl had been seen arguing with his brother just the night before. He didn't like how his brother was treating Peggy." he told them.
Della knew about Bill Johnston and the trouble that he could have caused. "I would like you to look into Peggy's brother Bill Johnston. He has a hot temper and was known to hang out with Dean sometimes. Whoever did this was known to the victim and had to be someone that has been seen around the apartment before because they went unnoticed.
Paul smiled at Della and said "Will do." and with that he left the room.
The rest of the day was a busy day at the office. It was just a little after one when Perry got a call from a longtime friend and judge. Judge Jenkins had been instrumental in making Perry what he was today. He was smart and one of the best criminal attorneys in the state when he had been appointed to a seat as a judge.
Clark Jenkins had a young man in his office who he felt could be one of the best attorneys with the help of another more experienced lawyer. He was young and very bright. He was head strong, but very earnest and willing to work long hard hours. "Perry, I have a young man here who needs an experienced lawyer to take him under his wing. He is bright and could be one of the best lawyers in the state with the right teacher." he asked his friend.
Perry thought for a moment. More than once he had taken in a young lawyer, and he owed his friend Clark a favor. He said "I will meet with the young man. When could he come over?"
The judge was happy to tell him that his young man was named Craig Field. He had graduated from law school two years ago. He had worked for the Boston district attorney's office. He had moved out here to be with his wife's family and now had his license to practice law here in the state of California. He had made a name for himself in the city and knew his laws well.
Della had listened to her husband talking to his friend with interest. Perry had assisted many young lawyers in the past few years. Perry wasn't that old himself. As he was just turning forty-three. He was a well known attorney though, and any young lawyer would do just about anything for a chance to work with her husband. She was very proud of her husband and the work that he did.
Craig Field could not believe his luck. This was a chance in a lifetime. He was going to meet and perhaps work with the great Perry Mason. He straightened out his suit and drove over to the Mason office right away.
As Craig came into the office he looked around at the busy woman who were answering the phone and typing letters for the great lawyer. He spoke to a woman and she called over the phone to another lady. He looked up and saw a woman in her thirties coming towards him. She was a pretty lady with dark hair and high heels on . She introduced herself as Della Mason. He knw that she was Perry Mason's wife.
Della took Craig into her husband's office and Perry shook his hand and asked the young man to take a seat. Della took her seat next to her husband and smiled. The young man was a good looking man with a kind face. He was obviously very nervous, but his voice was steady and his eyes sparkled as he spoke to her husband.
"Our work is fast paced and can be dangerous young man. Are you ready to take the chance?" Perry asked him.
Craig had found that working for the district attorney's office had indeed been dangerous once in a while. He had spent many sleepless nights up working on briefs and attempting to prove that the man was guilty. He looked Mr. Mason in the face directly and said "Yes I am. I have worked for the district attorney's office in Boston and have encountered many situations. Some of those were not safe." he replied.
Perry smiled at the young man. He liked this man and said "All right. I will give you a chance. I want you to go to the library in the room there and look up and copy the following laws." With that he handed the young man a stack of papers that were over a foot thick.
Craig gulped. But he said thank you and walked into the library to look up the laws. He knew that this could shape his future. What he was about to do could be the deciding point of whether or not he would continue working for Mr. Mason or not. He opened the first page and began his search. This was going to be a long day.
Perry smiled as he watched the young man go into the library. He had taken the stack without question and he was sure that he was going to be busy for the next several hours. Della just smiled knowing that these papers were of no real use to her husband. This was a test and it was a good one. She was going to be interested in what happened.
Harriet and Makayla had been worrying ever since they had gone to that awful sporting event. The two friends had enough of not knowing who the real murderer was and did not know what to do. Harriet was going over everything that she knew about the man. Dean had been a womanizer and a crook. Perhaps he had tried to scam someone else out of money. This is what she was going to look into now. People like Dean Brice were always finding trouble, it was as though it followed them everywhere they went.
Makayla and Harriet spent most of the afternoon looking into that thought when they came upon a story about a man who had done the same thing. Indeed there it was Dean Brice, he had taken ten thousand dollars from a lady with a fake broken arm. With that she decided to call Mr. Mason, he needed to know.
