The Case of the Defenseless Prosecutor
Chapter 10
10.1
Lt. Andy Anderson called the Bar Association. He had been waiting on hold for over fifteen minutes. Finally, Will Josephs came back to the phone. "Lt. Anderson?"
"That's right. This is Lt. Anderson," Andy said.
"Sir, we have checked into the record of Hamilton Burger. I don't understand how it could have been missed."
"What could have been missed?" Andy inquired.
"The record shows that Mr. Burger had been caught cheating on the bar exam. It was recommended that he not be allowed to take it again. He was supposed to be barred from becoming a lawyer."
"Exactly what do you mean by cheating? What was the nature of the cheating?" Andy asked.
"He and another man who took the bar exam conspired to steal a copy of the test which contained the answers."
"Do you have the name of that man?" Andy asked.
"Yes sir. The man's name was Jorge Mezzo." Will Josephs told him.
"Does the Bar have an address for this man?"
"No sir, we don't…..that is because he committed suicide shortly after the Bar Association banned him from taking the bar exam again."
Andy's head was reeling with the information he had just been given. He could not believe it. There had to be some mistake. No, he could not accept this. "Mr. Josephs, I will need a copy of that report from the Bar Association. Can you fax it to my office?"
"Absolutely, Lieutenant. Give me the number and I will take care of it right away."
Andy gave him the phone number. "One more question Mr. Josephs. How could it be possible that Mr. Burger could get a license to practice law if he had been banned."
"It seems the report had been buried an inactive file. Those files were put in the computer system about five years ago. Whoever put the files in the system did not report it to the proper authorities. It probably would never have been discovered if you had not inquired about Mr. Burger's record. At any rate, he will never practice law of any kind again. Now is there anything else I can do for you?"
"No," Andy told him. He thanked the man and hung up. Andy had known Hamilton Burger for a number of years. He always considered him an honest upright lawyer. He just could not believe he was guilty of murder. This report showing up at this time and by a caller that refused to identify himself was just a bit to convenient for him. He knew he would have to give that report to Wayland Grant. He would have a field day with it. Andy did not like the man. None of the detectives liked working with him. He talked down to the detectives and demanded the impossible from them. Andy thought Grant would be just as happy if the detectives manufactured the evidence against the people he tried in court. He simply had no respect for him.
He just could not accept this and he was not about to stand by and allow a good decent public servant go down. There had to be an explanation for this. He picked up his phone and dialed Perry Mason's office.
10.2
The phone in Perry Mason's office rang. Della answered, "Perry Mason's office."
"Della, is Perry in?" Lieutenant Anderson asked.
"Hello Andy, yes he is. He's with Chief Ironside and Hamilton Burger at the moment. Can you hold and I will see if he can speak with you." Della put the phone on hold and headed for the door to her boss's office. She knocked and went in.
"Yes, Della," Perry said as he, Burger and Ironside looked up.
"Lt. Anderson is on line one for you."
"Did he say what he wanted to talk to me about?" Perry asked.
"No, but he sounded quite anxious."
Perry frowned. He went round his desk and sat down. Della picked up the phone and said, "Lieutenant, Mr. Mason will speak with you now." She handed the phone to Mason.
"Yes Andy, what can I do for you?" Perry asked.
"I should not be doing this Perry but I am torn. I don't believe Hamilton is guilty of murder so I have some information for you."
"Just a moment Andy, Chief Ironside and Hamilton Burger are in my office. I am going to put you on speaker." Mason punched the speaker button. "Go ahead Lieutenant."
"Hello, Chief, Hamilton. I felt compelled to contact Perry. Something has come up that I think you should know about. I am turning a report over to Wayland Grant and I am sure he would not share it with any of you." Anderson went on to tell them what he had learned from the Bar Association.
"THAT'S PREPROSPEROUS," yelled Hamilton. "I NEVER EVEN KNEW A MAN BY THE NAME OF JORGE MEZZO AND I CERTAINLY DID NOT NEED TO CHEAT. I PASSED THAT EXAM WITH ONE OF THE HIGHEST SCORES ON RECORD."
"Hamilton, take it easy," Perry said trying to calm his client. "Andy, do you have an address or phone number for this man?"
"No Perry, the man committed suicide shortly after the Bar Association banned him from taking the bar exam again."
"OH FOR CRIPE SAKES. ISN'T THAT JUST A LITTLE COINCEDENTIAL" shouted Hamilton.
"Lieutenant, I want a copy of that report," Ironside interrupted. He placed his hand on Hamilton's forearm getting the calming effect that was intended.
"I am not sure I can do that. It will have to come from the district attorney's office," Andy responded.
"Lieutenant, you are aware of my authority while I am here in Los Angeles?" Ironside asked.
"Yes, I am," Andy answered him.
"Then turn a copy of that report over to me. That's an order, Lieutenant," Ironside told the detective.
Andy smiled. That was exactly the response he had been hoping for. He could not refuse an order from a superior officer and at the present time, Chief Robert Ironside outranked everyone in the Los Angeles Police Department. "I will have a copy sent right over, chief."
"Thank you Andy," Perry said. "We appreciate the information."
"If there is anything else I can do. Let me know." Anderson hung up.
"Hamilton, you don't by any chance remember who administered the test, do you," Perry asked."
"That was so long ago. I don't remember. But shouldn't that be all on record," Hamilton asked.
"Yes," Perry said. "Bob, it might be easier for you to investigate this than anyone else. You know some of the members of the Bar Association board."
"Yes, I do." Ironside picked up the phone. He dialed and listened. "This is Chief Robert Ironside, from the San Francisco Police Department. I would like to talk to Vernon Meeker."
"Chief, how the hell are you?" Meeker said when he came on the line.
"Doing fine, Vern. How's Janice?" Ironside asked.
"She's doing fine. Thanks for asking. I would love to chit chat and catch up with you but knowing that you have been called into the Hamilton Burger investigation, I assume this is not just a social call."
"I wish it were. You are correct. I am in Los Angeles as a special investigator for the Burger trial. I need your help."
"Just name it Chief. You helped cleared several of my clients when I was practicing in San Francisco," Meeker pointed out.
"I found the truth in those cases Vern. Fortunately for you the truth was your clients were not guilty of what they were tried for."
"Never the less you helped clear them and I owe you. Now what exactly do you need help with," Meeker asked eagerly.
"The police got a tip that Hamilton Burger cheated on his bar exam. According to the Bar Association he should have been barred from taking the bar examination again and not allowed to become an attorney. The records according to Will Joseph were just entered into the computer system five years ago and were not reported to the Bar Association."
"The tip was no doubt by a caller who would not give his name, I am sure. There is simply no way in hell Hamilton Burger cheated on the bar exam. I don't care what the records say. Burger was brilliant. He did not need to cheat. He held the record for years as having the highest score on that exam until it was broken by another now brilliant attorney."
"Vern, I need more than just your opinion. The district attorney is going to use this as part of the motive for Burger to kill Conner Wolff. We have to prove it to be untrue," Ironside said.
"I can look into it if you would like, Bob," Meeker offered.
"I would appreciate it. Find out who administered that exam to Burger. We want to talk to him. I suspect the information was planted into the computer system recently. I would like to know if the system was tampered with. We will start checking to see who at this end had the know how to break into that system."
"Alright Bob. Anything else?"
"Yes, who was the hot shot attorney that broke Hamilton Burger's score on the bar exam?" Ironside asked, pretty sure he already knew the answer.
"Perry Mason," Meeker answered. "But since he is your brother, you probably already guessed that. He holds the record to this day as having the highest score with Burger close behind him."
"Get back to me as soon as you can, Vern." Ironside hung up the phone.
"I did not cheat on that exam," Hamilton said. "And Perry beat my score by two points when he took the bar exam. He's the hot shot attorney you asked about."
Mason grinned. "It is my goal in life to beat you."
"If you are going to continue with that goal," Burger said grimly, "than I suggest you find out who the hell planted those fictitious lies in my records."
Mason turned serious. "Whoever did had to have left a trail. We'll follow it and we will find them.
10.3
Lieutenant Arthur Tragg entered the Johnson Technology building. He hurried to the security department. A uniformed guard stopped him at the door. "Sorry buddy, this is a secured area. No one is allowed in here."
Tragg reached in his suit coat and pulled out his badge. "Lt. Tragg, Homicide. I am investigating the murder of one of your employees, Conner Wolff. I want to see the security disc for the night of the murder."
The guard looked at the lieutenant's credentials and handed it back to Tragg. "I will have to get this cleared with the CEO of the company, sir."
Tragg once again reached in his pocket and handed the man a court order. "This says I don't have to wait for anybody. Now show me where those security discs are," he barked at him.
Indecision overtook the guard. He had been trained not to allow anyone in this room. Never before had he been faced with a court order. "I still have to inform the CEO," he decided.
"Not unless you want me to arrest you for interfering with a murder investigation," Tragg countered.
The guard changed his mind. It was not worth going to jail. After all, the police officer did have a court order. "Right this way, Lieutenant."
Tragg followed the young security guard to a room that contained security disc from the ceiling to the floor. He watched as the guard pulled a ladder from behind one of the cabinets. He got up on the ladder and pulled down several discs. Jumping from the ladder, the guard handed the security discs to the lieutenant. "That's it Lieutenant. Those are the ones from the day before the murder to the day after the murder."
Tragg handed him a receipt for the security discs and left the office. When he arrived at his car, he pulled out his cell phone and called Perry Mason's office. "Della, Lt. Tragg here. Tell Perry and the chief, I got a court order for the security discs from Johnson Tech on the day of the murder. I am heading over to the office right now. Tell Perry to set up the computer so that we can get a look at these things." He hung up the phone, started his car and sped off down the street.
10.4
Mark Sanger pulled the flash drives out of the computer. He left Perry Mason's law library and entered his private office. Mason and Mark's boss were engaged in conversation.
Perry looked up. "I don't like the look on your face Mark."
"You're going to like what I found even less."
Ironside turned his wheel chair around and said, "Alright, out with it."
"The flash drives that Hamilton took from the evidence room of at the police department contain the work Conner Wolff was working on at the time of his arrest. It appears from the drives that he was in the process of developing the chip. There is nothing there to indicate he did not invent the chip himself. However, I am not an expert on computer chips. It might be a good idea to have the flash drives looked at by an expert."
"And the flash drives that were found outside of the Johnson building," Perry asked.
"They contain proof that Hamilton Burger cheated on the bar exam."
"How in the world would Conner Wolff get hold of something like that?" Perry asked.
"He either found a way to break into the system and steal it or he broke into the system…" Ironside said as he was interrupted by Mason.
"And planted it," Mason said.
"We have to find out, Perry. This gives Wayland Grant all the motive he needs to convict Burger of murder and we have no choice…."
"But to turn it over to Andy. Mark, make a copy of those flash drives," Perry ordered.
"Already done," Mark responded.
Perry pushed the intercom button and said, "Della, get Lt. Anderson on the phone for me."
Ironside addressed his aide. "Did you make a copy of the other flash drives as well?"
"Yes, chief. I made a copy as I finished with each one of them."
"Did you check them to make sure everything copied over?"
"Yes. Everything is there. Where is Hamilton Burger?" Mark had just noticed he was no longer with them.
"He said he had something he wanted to do. I thought it would be better to get him out of this office and away from us. Sitting around and doing nothing was driving him up the wall and subsequently he was doing the same to us," Perry answered.
Perry's intercom buzzed. He pressed the button. "Yes, Della."
"Lt. Tragg is here. Can you see him now?"
"Send him in."
The door opened and Tragg entered Mason's private office. He was carrying a box Mason assumed contained the security disc from Johnson Technology. "Bring it over here, Tragg," Perry ordered. "We have the computer set up."
Tragg took the discs over to Perry's desk. He handed them to Ironside who in turn handed one of them to Perry. Perry put the disc into the computer and the three men settled down to began looking for anything that might help Hamilton Burger.
10.5
Lt. Andy Anderson knocked on the door of Wayland Grant's office. When he received no answer, he tried the doorknob. It was locked. A passing employee noticed Anderson and said. "The Deputy District Attorney is not in his office, Lieutenant. He is working out of Hamilton Burger's office."
Anderson could not believe what he was hearing. It sure did not take Grant long to ease into the District Attorney's office. Well he was in for a major disappointment. Mason and Ironside were not going to make it easy for him to take that office over completely. Andy turned and left, heading for Burger's office. When he arrived, Burger's secretary was sitting at her desk. "Can I help you, Lieutentan?"
"I am looking for Deputy DA Grant. He is not in his office."
The secretary looked at Anderson and spoke in a disgusted tone. "That man has no shame. He just walked in here and took over Mr. Burger's office. Now he is ordering me around as if I worked for him. It almost as if he can't wait to prosecute Mr. Burger. Lieutenant, they will clear Mr. Burger, won't they?"
Andy was sure his blood pressure was rising. "They'll clear him. Right now I need to see Grant. Can you tell him I am here?"
She pressed the intercom. "Mr. Grant, Lt. Anderson is here to see you." She looked up at Andy and said, "Go right in Lieutenant. He will see you now."
Anderson entered the door to Hamilton Burger's office. He slid into a chair in from of Burger's desk. Grant did not acknowledge his presence. Andy continued to wait while Grant completely ignored him while reading what appeared to be paperwork concerning the Burger murder trial. He could not help but think it was no wonder not a single police officer in the department wanted to work with this man. Andy waited a full ten minutes before Grant finally looked up.
"What do you want, Anderson?"
Andy held his tongue. What he wanted to do was blast the man. He was rude and talked down to police officers. He did not even show the courtesy to address any of them by their rank or at least precede their names with Mister. "I got the information on Hamilton Burger's bar exam." He handed Grant the file. He again waited a full ten minutes while Grant read and re-read the report. Finally, Grant looked up over the report.
A big smile broke across his face. "This is perfect. I can't wait to see the look on Mason's face when I present this little bit of information." He looked at Anderson. He would see a look of contempt on his face. Grant did not care in the least. Anderson was beneath him. He was nothing but a foot soldier taking orders from him. "I want you to keep this under wraps. Mason and Ironside are to know nothing about it. I want to spring in on them in court. I don't want to give them time to check it out."
"Ironside and Mason already know about the report." Anderson said knowing an explosion from Grant would erupt. He did not care.
"What do you mean they know about it? How could that be possible?"
"I told them," Anderson said maybe just a bit smugly.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR? YOU HAD NO BUSINESS TELLING THE DEFENSE ATTORNEY ABOUT THE PROSECUTION'S CASE. I COULD HAVE YOUR BADGE FOR THAT, ANDERSON." Grant's face was red as he shouted at Andy.
Rather than react to Grant's threat he just said calmly. "Chief Ironside was communicating with me. He asked about what I was working on." Andy did not tell him he had actually called Ironside and Mason. "I had no choice but to tell him."
"THE HELL YOU DID. YOU ARE TO TELL IRONSIDE NOTHING. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME ANDERSON? YOU TELL HIM NOTHING!"
"Chief Ironside has all the authority of his San Francisco rank. That makes the man my superior. When he orders me to do something or answer questions, I have to do exactly that. If you don't like that Mr. Grant, then I suggest you take it up with Chief Ironside. I am a police officer and I don't answer to you. At the present time the entire department answers to Robert T. Ironside. And that is Lieutenant Anderson to, Mr. Grant. Do you understand me?" Andy's temper had begun to rise. "I am assigned to help you and will investigate this to the best of my abilities but that doesn't not include disobeying a superior officer. Now do you want the rest of the information I have or not?"
Grant stared at Anderson. This man's loyalties were obviously with Hamilton Burger. He would have to keep a close eye on him. Grant calmed down. "What information are you talking about?"
"The computer discs you asked for from Johnson Technology." Andy began.
"I am assuming you were able to pick those up without having a conference with Ironside."
Andy ignored the sarcasm. "Actually the discs were not on the premises."
"WELL WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY THEN?" Grant shouted.
"Chief Ironside ordered Lt. Tragg to get a court order and pick them up. He arrived there about a half hour before I did."
Grant lowered his voice. "Are you telling me Ironside has them?"
"Yes, Mr. Grant. CHIEF Ironside has them," he answered rising his voice and emphasizing Ironside's rank. His efforts were lost on Grant, however.
"I suggest that you get them from him and bring them to me," Grant said.
"And how do you propose I do that. I can't order Chief Ironside around."
Grant looked at Anderson with disgust. "How the hell did you ever get to become a lieutenant? Never mind, I'll deal with Ironside myself. Not get out of my office and try doing some real investigating. They did teach you that at the police academy did they not?"
Andy got up and left Burger's office. That's it, he thought. Anderson was going to do what he could to help Ironside and Mason. "He called over his shoulder as he went through the door. "It's not your office. It's Hamilton Burger's."
Wayland Grant knew he could not depend on Andy Anderson. He punched the intercom. "Sgt. Holcomb is in the building. Ask him to come down to see me."
Within a half hour Holcomb appeared in Burger's office. "Sergeant, I was wondering if I could enlist your help. I cannot depend on Lt. Anderson. He bows to Ironside. I need an investigator who is not afraid to buck Ironside and help me with this investigation. I know how you feel about Perry Mason. I was wondering if you would like to help defeat him on this case?"
Sgt. Holcomb lit a cigarette and took a long puff. "Mr. Grant, you do realize the entire department is under Ironside at the moment?"
"Yes, I realize that but do you realize that Ironside is not here to do a fair investigation? He is here to help Mason let Burger get away with murder."
"I am not convinced Burger is guilty of murder. He has always been a damn good district attorney."
"Look Sergeant, I am willing to let you get a look at the evidence. If you agree that Burger is probably guilty would you be willing to help me put a murderer behind bars and at the same time you can have to the satisfaction of helping beat Mason."
Holcomb had never liked Mason. In fact, he down right disliked him. Nor did he appreciate the city council bringing in Ironside from San Francisco to investigate the case. The LAPD was perfectly capable of running an impartial investigation. Just how impartial could Ironside be when his brother was the defense counsel? He thought it over for a minute. "I'll tell you what. If you can convince me that Burger is guilty I will help you convict him. But I will warn you I am not going to take a chance of losing my job where Ironside is concerned. You will have to find a way to keep him from finding out about my activities. I would certainly like to stick it to Mason but I am not messing with Ironside. He's running the LAPD right now. He is not the kind of man you cross. Do we understand each other?"
Grant knew he could not ask for anything any better than that. "We understand each other perfectly. Now grab yourself a cup of coffee and I'll show you the case against Burger."
10.6
Hamilton Burger entered the building where the law office of Richard Littleton was located. He got into the elevator and went up to the tenth floor. After getting a quick drink from the water fountain, he located Suite 1032. Burger stood out of sight of anyone who might be in the office. He peaked into the office. He spotted Littleton's secretary. She was filling a box with objects from her desk. Hamilton looked further into the private office of Littleton but did not see anyone. He decided to take a chance and go into the office.
He opened the door and went in. Heidi Moretown looked up. Burger could tell from the surprised look on her face that he was not someone she expected to see. "Mr. Burger, what are you doing here?" She came out from behind her desk and met Hamilton in the middle of the room.
Burger noticed that the box she had be putting items in seem to contain much of what looked like personal items. "Are you leaving Mr. Littleton's employ?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am." She walked back behind the desk and continued to fill the box with her personal belongings.
"Is Mr. Littleton in?"
"No, he's not and he won't be back today." She looked at Burger who was peering into Littleton's office. He looked tired and beaten. Heidi felt sorry for the man. He was a proud honest man with a tremendous record in the courtroom, well except against Perry Mason. But then what district attorney could beat Mason? Mason took great care in defending clients that were innocent. If they were not, he would plea bargain them to a sentence they deserved. No more, no less. How does one beat a man that has such wonderful instincts when it comes to people? She stopped packing and looked back at Burger. "Is there something I can do for you Mr. Burger?"
Burger did not know how to approach her. Maybe he should have talked to Perry about this. He had wanted to but Robert Ironside had never left Mason's office and he certainly did not want to talk in to Perry in front of him. He had tremendous respect for Ironside but he would not have approved of Hamilton coming to Littleton's office. Ironside expected him to stay out of the investigation. Perry, on the other hand was in a much better position to understand. He he knew Hamilton. "Miss Moretown, I don't know exactly how to ask you but…"
"You want to know why I am leaving and you want me to give you the low down on Mr. Littleton. Is that about right?"
Burger looked away. He knew he was asking her to do something he would deplore in his own secretary but Littleton could never be compared to him. That was for sure. Hamilton knew Littleton did not have his honesty. He just did not know what to say to Heidi Moretown.
"Look, let me make this easier for you. I think Littleton is a louse. He doesn't care who he defends and he is more than willing to put a murderer back on the streets if it means winning and making money. I know I should not be telling you this but Littleton knew beyond a doubt that Conner Wolff killed those four Johnson Tech employees. Still he went out of his way to try and get Wolff cleared of the charge. The reason…money. I don't know where Wolff got the money but if Richard got him off, he was to be paid three hundred thousand dollars. If I were you, I would be watching the bank account of one Richard Littleton." She turned around and took a file off the desk and handed it to Burger. "Take a look at that, Mr. Burger."
As he took the file from her, he said, "It is a good thing for him Perry Mason refused to defend him. He can't be bought." Hamilton began reading the file. It was Littleton's file on Conner Wolff. All of the information was privileged. He could tell Perry and Ironside about it but it could not be used in court. What was said between a client and his lawyer could not be revealed. Yet this file showed that Littleton not only knew that Wolff was guilty of murder, it appeared he helped cover up certain facts in the case, evidence that should have been turned over to the police. It looked like Littleton was much more interested in receiving the three hundred thousand dollars than doing his duty as an officer of the court. "Why are you showing me this?" Burger asked.
"Because I don't believe for a minute that you killed Conner Wolff. You don't deserve to go to jail or die for something you did not do. I can't give you that file obviously but you should be able to relay the information to Mr. Mason or Chief Ironside. Maybe they can figure out exactly what those two were up to." She looked Burger straight in the eye. "Now why could I have not been hired to work for someone like you or Perry Mason? No, I had to become the legal secretary for a crook. Now please go. I trust Mr. Littleton will never know I allowed you to see that file?"
"Of course he won't," Burger responded. "Do you know where Littleton is right now?"
"He said he was going home to shower and then he had an important meeting at eight o'clock. Mr. Burger, I must really get going. I wish you luck with your trial. I am happy Mr. Mason has decided to defend you."
"So am I," Burger said with a smile. He picked up her box and carried it out of the office. "Can I put this in your car for you?"
"Why thank you. Yes, that would be much appreciated."
Burger carried the box to the elevator which lowered the two of them to ground floor. He walked with her silently to her car and placed the box in the back seat. The he watched her drive away. Hamilton Burger got behind the wheel of his own car to head to his next destination…Richard Littleton's house.
Hamilton stopped his car about a half a block from Littleton's home and waited. He could see both the front and side entrances from where he was parked. He did not notice the sedan that was parked across the street. Nor did he notice the man who had gotten out of that sedan. The man walked across the street and around the back of the car. When he reached the passenger door, he opened it and got in the car. "Hello, Hamilton," Sgt. Ed Brown said.
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