The Case of the Teenage Delinquent

Chapter 10

1

Lieutenant Arthur Tragg, waiting for the fingerprint results on the apartment of Cliff Parker, was becoming impatient. He should have had them by now. What was taking the lab so long? A knock on his door irritated him, but he called out anyway. "Come in."

Lieutenant Andy Anderson came into the office. In his right hand, he was carrying a folder. Finally the results, at least that is what Tragg was hoping for. "Well Andy, what do you have for me?"

Anderson sat down in front of Tragg's desk and dropped the folder in front of the veteran police detective. The look on his face was rather grim. "The prints on the murder weapon were clear."

When he said no more, Tragg immediately looked at the report. There it was in black and white. The prints were clear alright. "They could not be found in the data base," Tragg said reading.

"I am afraid not, Lieutenant. He probably was murdered by someone who knew him with no record."

"Have we found the son yet?" Tragg asked.

"No, not yet."

"What about the wife?"

"I stopped by there just as you ordered last night. However, she did not open the door. The television was on as well as there were lights on in the house. She simply did not come to the door," Anderson answered.

Tragg sat there for a moment thinking before he spoke again. "Something is bothering me."

Andy sat forward in his chair. "I wonder if it is the same thing that is bothering me."

"And what is that?" Tragg asked.

"The Clarence Draper murder, Anderson said.

Squinting his eyes, Tragg said, "Mason showed up at that one and Draper was involved with Cliff Parker. "

"You don't suppose Mason knows more about this than we do?" Anderson asked already knowing the answer to that question.

"He quite often knows more about a murder than we do until we catch up with him. Drake's presence at the murder scene is further proof Mason is involved and knows more about this than we do."

"So you are thinking along the same lines I am," Andy wondered, looking at Tragg to read his reaction.

"I think there is a chance we can't locate the boy because Mason has him hidden away," Tragg replied. "We need to check the kid's prints against the ones in that apartment and on the murder weapon. Unless my hunch is wrong, I am betting the son is connected to this somehow."

Andy put his hand on his neck to rub the stiffness out of it. We do have the apartment manager's description of the kid that ran out to substantiate that, Lieutenant."

"Mason...that is all I need to substantiate anything." Arthur Tragg got up. Let's go back to the Parker home. I want to talk to Deborah Parker."

Andy stood up in anticipation he would be accompanying Tragg to the widow's home. "We can go, but it doesn't mean she will answer the door."

Tragg grabbed his hand and put it on his head. "She'll answer the door or we'll be back with a warrant."

The two men left the office and headed for Tragg's car.

2

Perry Mason and Della Street entered the law offices. His secretary waited until he sat down at his desk. She rubbed his shoulders to try to release the tension he was feeling.

"Della, get Paul on the phone right away. I don't think we have much time. Tragg will get the fingerprint report. The family is always the first suspects in a murder. Our Lieutenant might be a step behind us, but he won't be for long. As soon as he starts checking on Deborah Parker, he is going to know there was an abusive situation there. He will quickly figure out there is a connection between me and this murder as soon as he connects Clarence Draper to Cliff Parker. We have to work fast." Perry pulled Della's hand from his shoulder and kissed the back of it. "Thank you for caring."

She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Always."

Mason reached up and pulled her face down to his. After giving her a kiss, he released her. "Call Paul."

The ever efficient secretary picked up the phone, dialed the since memorized number and waited for an answer. When she received it, she said, "This is Della Street. Please ask Mister Drake to come down to Mister Mason's office as soon as possible." She listened for a moment and then said, "Thank you." After hanging up the phone, she nodded at Perry and said, "He will be right down."

"You better make sure there is coffee and donuts. Unless Paul has changed recently, he is going to be hungry."

Della laughed as she headed over to pour a cup of coffee for the soon-to-be arriving private detective. She reached into the bag of donuts Perry had picked up on the way in and removed what she knew was Perry and Paul's favorites. She and Perry always picked up extra for the detective when he was working for them.

Della walked over to the lawyer with a cup of coffee as he sat down behind his desk. Setting the brew in front of him, she bent over the desk. "Perry, you did not sleep well last night. You tossed and turned continually."

Mason smiled. "You don't miss much, do you?"

"I work for a lawyer who is part detective," she said returning his smile.

"I spent most of that tossing and turning thinking about how to best use the time we have before Tragg arrest Colton for the murder of his father."

She ran her finger down the lawyer's jawline. "Then you believe he will be arrested for the murder?"

"Yes, Della, I am afraid I do. He will find Colton's fingerprints on that weapon. Deborah Parker will be forced to explain the condition she is in, and even if she doesn't, Tragg is not stupid; he will figure that out in a hurry. It won't take much investigation to find out Parker beat the boy and his mother on a regular basis. They will become the top suspects. He will find enough evidence to arrest Colton, I don't have any doubt of that. What worries me is whether Burger will have him tried as an adult."

"Oh Perry, he wouldn't do that...would he?" Della asked.

"I think he would, Della, if he thinks this is the time he will beat me."

"At the expense of a boy?"

"Hamilton thinks like a prosecutor. If he is old enough to kill, he is old enough to be tried as an adult."

"So all we can do is wait." She walked back to the table where the coffee pot and donuts were. She poured a cup of coffee for Paul and brought donuts back to the desk. The detective's code knock sounded on the door. Della set the coffee and donuts on the desk and walked over to the door. She opened it to a smiling Paul Drake.

"Hello, Beautiful."

"Hi, Paul. Come in."

Drake came into the office and noticed immediately the donuts on Perry's desk. Without looking at Mason, the detective picked up a couple donuts and the extra cup of coffee and dropped in the chair directly in front of the lawyer. "I'm starved. I have not had time to pick anything up, and I probably won't have time to eat until dinner, since I am sure I will be kept busy." He looked up at the lawyer, daring him to disagree.

Mason just laughed. "You know what they say, Paul...job security!"

"Well, I will have you know I was up rather late last night. I checked with my source at Police Headquarters. It seems Tragg is centering his investigation on Colton and his mother."

"That is not surprising. Family members are always the first to be suspected. What I want to know, is how serious is Tragg going after this?"

"I called my contact this morning. Tragg and Anderson are on their way over to see Deborah Parker. Word is they want to talk to Colton. Tragg has put out an APB on him. You don't have much, time Perry. They have back the fingerprint report. Tragg wants to know if the fingerprints belong to either Deborah or Colton. As soon as he sees the shape she is in, he will be here in your office demanding you produce Colton Parker."

"I am aware of that, Paul. What about the apartment manager's identification of Colton? Is she sure it was the boy or can we shake her on that?"

"Not a chance. I have met the old bird. She will identify him as the kid that ran out of the apartment building. She is far to sharp to mix her up, Perry."

"That is not good," Della said. "That will put him at the apartment around the time of the murder."

"That is not the worst of it, Della," Perry said. "Colton's prints will be on that gun."

"There is also the altercation he had with his father at the school and the beatings both he and his mother have suffered at Cliff Parker's hand" Paul responded to the secretary. "And I went to Parker's office. It had been trashed. I found some pictures." He pulled his phone out of his pocket; found the pictures he had taken of them and handed the phone to Mason. Della stepped in behind Perry to see what Paul was showing him.

A smile appeared on Della's face. "Paul!"

"Don't look at me, I didn't take those pictures of naked women, Parker did!" Paul protested.

A grin on Mason's face appeared as he pointed to one of the pictures. "This gal is really... shall we say built."

Della slapped his shoulder. "You are not supposed to notice those things."

Perry laughed. "How could I possibly miss it?" He received another playful slap on his shoulder. Turning serious, he asked Drake, "Do you have any idea why he was keeping these...well, other than the obvious reasons?" He grinned again. "Blackmail, perhaps?"

"That is probably exactly why he had them. He may have been luring the women there, taking the pictures and then blackmailing them. These pictures were taken at the apartment where he was murdered."

"Find out who the women are in these pictures. It could lead to our killer, if we are right." Perry studied them for a minute. "Just a second. Some of these gals are very prominent ladies."

"Ladies? Della questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"This is going to be one assignment I am going to enjoy," Paul grinned. Della shook her head, but could not contain the slight smile on her face.

"This all doesn't look good, does it?" she said.

"It couldn't look worse," Mason replied. "Okay, Paul, we need to check Cliff Parker and his legal or illegal dealings. This is going to be one of those cases where the only way I am going to be able to clear the boy is to find the real killer."

"I have never understood how someone could stand back and let a kid be blamed for a murder they committed," Della said shaking her head.

"They just committed murder, Della. If they can kill a human being, they certainly are not going to have any qualms about letting a seventeen-year-old boy take the blame," Drake said.

"We are not going to let that happen," Mason insisted. "We are going to find the real killer and expose him...or her."

Pulling out his pocket-size notebook and a pen, Drake said, "Okay, where do you want me to start?"

"Get everything you can on Cliff Parker. Find out about any crooked dealings he was involved in and who he was involved in them with. And find out what you can on the Clarence Draper murder. I have a feeling it is connected with this case."

"Anything else?" Drake asked.

"That will get you started," Mason told him. "Oh, and check on the JC Scouten deal as well.

Paul stood up and headed for the private entrance. "I'll call you as soon as I have something for you." He opened the door and disappeared through it.

"What are we going to do?" Della asked.

"We are not going to go see Colton, that is for sure. I have no doubt Tragg is having us watched. However, we are going to get out of this office before he comes looking for us. I want as much time as possible before he arrests Colton. If we discover we have a tail, I have an idea of how to shake him." Mason stood up. He took Della by the elbow. "Let's go."

3

Arthur Tragg decided to stop at the courthouse and get a search warrant for the Parker home. When he presented the evidence he had, although a bit hesitant, the judge granted the warrant. He ordered Andy Anderson to call Sergeant Brice and bring several officers with him to the home of the now deceased Cliff Parker.

When he and Anderson reached the home, they were greeted by Sergeant Brice. "We have not gone in yet, Lieutenant. We have been waiting for you."

"Is anyone home?" Anderson asked.

"We have seen a woman passing the big picture window in the front," Brice replied.

"Good, we won't have to break the door down then," Tragg said. He headed for the front door of the house as the rest of the officers followed him. Tragg rang the doorbell, but no one answered. He looked at Anderson and then rang it again. Still no one answered.

"This is what we ran into last night, Lieutenant. She will not answer the door," Anderson said, reminding him of their earlier conversation.

"We may have to kick it in after all," he grumbled. Closing his hand into a fist, Arthur Tragg pounded on the door. "Police! Open up or we will kick the door in. We have a warrant!"

The door open slightly and a woman peaked out. "I am not feeling well. What do you want?"

"Deborah Parker?" Tragg asked.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Police. We want to talk to you."

"Can't it wait? I don't feel well today," she said.

"I am sorry, Mrs. Parker, but it can't wait. Open the door." Tragg was not requesting, but demanding she open the door. He heard the chain being removed and the door opened a bit further.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Tragg was losing what little patience he had. "Mrs. Parker, you are a lawyer. You know what a warrant means. Now open the damn door!"

The door opened further. Lieutenants Tragg and Anderson stepped inside. The rest of the officers followed them in. He showed her his badge identifying him as a police detective. Tragg noticed immediately the bruised and swollen face the lawyer was supporting. He pulled a paper out of his pocket and handed it to Deborah Parker. "That's a warrant, Mrs. Parker to search the residence." He turned to Anderson and said, "Go ahead, Andy, you know what we are looking for." Anderson began directing the police officers into different rooms.

"Just exactly what are you looking for, Lieutenant?" she asked him.

Tragg looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Your son for one. Where is he?"

She turned away from him so he could not see her face. "I don't know where he is."

"You have a teenage boy and you don't know where he is?" His tone told her he did not believe what she told him.

"That's right, Lieutenant. He left here last night and did not return."

"And you have not called the police?"

She was a bit put off by Tragg's attitude. "I don't see where it is any of your business since I did not call the police."

Sarcastically, Tragg drawled, "We have a habit of making murder our business." He watched her closely as he read people well. Either she was a hell of an actress or she was genuinely shocked to hear of a murder.

"Murder? Who was murdered?" she asked, afraid she knew the answer to the question."

Tragg immediately softened. He realized she did not know. He had been certain Mason would have told her about the murder. "I think you better sit down, Mrs. Parker." He led her into her living room by the elbow and guided her to a chair. After she was seated, Tragg broke the bad news. "I am sorry to be the one to tell you, but your husband was found murdered last night."

"Oh my God, no! I was afraid of this. No, he couldn't! He just couldn't!" She began sobbing uncontrollably.

"Who is he? Who couldn't have done it?" Tragg questioned to no avail as she was not listening to him. "Mrs. Parker, I know you have had a shock, but you need to tell me who could not have killed him? Was it your son?"

She stopped crying, realizing what she had said in front of the detective. She had to protect Colton whether he killed his father or not. Deborah would not help the police. They had already heard too much from her. "I don't have any idea."

"But you just said..."

"I told you, I don't know," she snapped at him.

Lieutenant Anderson came into the living room. "Lieutenant Tragg, can I see you for a minute?"

"What is it, Andy?" Tragg growled. He turned around to see Anderson carrying a see-through plastic bag. Inside was a gun. Excusing himself, he went over to him.

"We found this. It has been fired recently. There is a round missing."

"Alright get it to the lab. Any sign of the boy?"

Anderson shook his head. "I am afraid not. He is not in the house."

"Damn it. I was hoping he was not involved. Now he is our number one suspect. With the identification Delores Winslow gave us and now what is more than likely the murder weapon, it looks like I am going to have to arrest him for murder." He stood there for a moment. It was one thing to arrest adults, but it was even more of a tragedy when it was a kid that committed the crime." He gave Anderson a look.

"I know, contact Mason," Lieutenant Anderson said.

"We will stop by his office when we leave here. He is likely hiding the boy from us. We will give him to the end of the day to turn him in and then we will arrest Mason instead," Tragg growled.

Anderson left the room, as Tragg returned to Deborah Parker. Although he already was sure of the answer, he was going to question her about that swollen face.