Hi there! So, here we go with my new story. For a change it is not related to any other story I have ever written. The set up is unusual and some of you may crook their eyebrows, but I still hope you will enjoy the ride with me. I promise to return the characters almost unharmed and in good shape ;-) Have fun and let me know what you think!

TCOT Missing Attorney

"To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth." Voltaire

Chapter 1 - It was the worst of times

Los Angeles, 24th April 1963, 365 days since the death of Amanda Thornton

Della Street turned up her collar and opened her umbrella. It had been raining all morning and the lawn underneath her feet was slippery. She could have picked a better day for a visit at the cemetery, but it felt wrong to postpone it because of a bit of rain.

She heard thunder roaring in the distance and hurried along the long lines of tombstones and flowers. When she finally reached the grave she was looking for, her trench coat was completely soaked. The bouquet she placed in front of the small tombstone was the only one and not for the first time in the last twelve months someone had left a red smearing across the deceased's name.

Murderous Whore

A mix of rising fury and tremendous sadness brought tears to her eyes, but the defamation of the poor woman buried here was just the trigger for her emotional reaction. She didn't remember when she had the last proper cry. She kept herself busy with work and did her best not to dwell on the circumstances she couldn't change. Her work always gave her purpose. The idea to help someone who needed it was a reward that satisfied her more than thinking about her own life and what had gone wrong in it. Sure, things had improved since that awful day one year ago. She smiled more and didn't have to force herself anymore to get up in the morning. She was healthy, she had a social life, and a job that satisfied her. There was a man who was in love with her and who did everything in his power to make her happy. She had nothing to complain about. Only that sometimes, she wished things were different….

She bent down and ran her fingers along the carved letters under the name.

Never forgotten

Ever since she had died Della's life had never been the same and that she was standing here all alone in the pouring rain was the perfect symbol for that change. Roaming her pockets for a handkerchief, she drew a deep breath before her emotions would get the better of her. The last thing she wanted was to return to the office and look as if she had been the victim of an assault. She also made a mental note to call the cemetery office, because someone had to remove the smearing. This was about dignity for someone who had died not only too early, but unjustified.

With one last look at the flowers instead of the tombstone Della left the cemetery and didn't look back.

#######PD#######

Not far away from her car a man was hiding behind a tree. When Della slipped into her car he slowly dropped the spy glass. He could have predicted her visit at the cemetery today. It was after all the first anniversary of Amanda Thornton's death. Deep down inside he had always known the subject wasn't closed for her, perhaps it never would.

He took a look at his watch and decided not to follow her back into town. He already knew where she was headed.

########PD#########

Paul Drake was whistling Blame it on the Bossa Nova when he entered his office after his lunch break. As expected he found his secretary behind the desk and as always she had a pile of files and notes for him prepared.

"Hi Beautiful," he greeted Della with his brightest smile.

"Hi Paul," she returned the greeting and lured him with her index finger.

"Don't tell me this ugly looking pile of paper is for me."

"It is for you, boss. The mail of the last two days."

"What's the sentence for slavery?" he asked when she dropped the mountain of paper into his arms.

"It's outranked by the sentence for laziness," she replied smugly.

"That's not fair. I've spent the last two days watching a philandering tax officer and another husband who's probably trying to poison his wife - or the neighbour's dog, whatever comes first. You've to cut me some slack here, honey."

She chuckled and raised her hands in defence. "All right. I'll forgive you. You're free to leave without charge. By the way on top of the list is a message for you. While I was out the answering service took a call from a man who was looking for you. They said it sounded urgent, so perhaps you should call him back first."

"Okay, anything else?" he asked with a look at his watch.

"Not that I know of."

"Good…" his voice trailed off. "Della?"

Her eyes met his. As always when he wanted to approach a serious subject he lacked the words to do so. She gave him a gentle smile.

"It's a bad day for me, Paul, but I'm fine," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"I am… and thanks for asking."

"Actually... "

"Yes?"

"I would like to take you out for dinner tonight. Just the two of us. It's been a while."

"That's true." She cleared her throat. "But I'm afraid I don't have time. You see, Andy's already asked me out." Did she really blush? She did, but he preferred not to comment on it.

"Lucky bastard," Paul said dryly. "How long have you been seeing him now?"

"A couple of months," she answered vaguely. In fact she had been dating Lieutenant Andrew Anderson for already six months, but there weren't many people who knew about their growing relationship. Paul was one of two people who she had confided in, but she had never gone into detail about it. Not that would demand her to. Paul knew she would never use her position in his office to pass information to Andy or vice versa. Della was a loyal, deeply honest soul, and he didn't doubt her dedication to her job for one second.

"Couple of months," Paul mumbled. "Have you heard anything from…"

"Perry?" She cut him off curtly. He swallowed and nodded. The subject was still delicate and always would be.

"Nope. And I don't expect him to contact me any time soon. Let's face it, Paul, he's gone."

"I can't believe that," Paul argued. "I know the circumstances about Amanda's death have hit him hard, but it wasn't his fault. None of it."

Della shrugged. "And yet he's left us."

Paul didn't know what to add. He and Della had spent endless evenings discussing Perry Mason and everything prior that had led to his decision to leave Los Angeles. In the end neither of them had found an explanation that satisfied their need to understand him or his moves and so he dropped the subject.

"I'll make that call now," he said, holding up the note. "If someone asks for me, tell them I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"As you wish, boss."

#######PD#######

Once he was alone, Paul put his feet on his desk and stared at the ceiling. While he puffed smoke in the air he thought about his conversation with Della.

One bloody year had passed since Amanda Thornton had died. One bloody year in which nothing had stayed the same. Perry had gone. His best friend had practically vanished from the face of the earth. All that was left of him was a letter with certain instructions about his office - and Della. Paul didn't know why, but he would have come to the conclusion to hire Della himself without Perry asking for it. She was perfect for the job and had enough experience in the business to know what had to be done.

The first couple of weeks Paul had tried to locate the attorney. The letter had been sent from Los Angeles Airport and Paul had quickly found out that Perry had boarded a plane to Tokyo. Paul had sent one of his best men to Japan in search of Perry, but at one point he had lost the attorney's trail and had to give up. Paul didn't know whether something had happened to his friend or if he had got wind of the investigator on his trail. Paul suspected that latter. Apparently Perry Mason didn't want to be found and as hard as it was, he had respected that wish.

Paul picked up the receiver to return the so-called urgent call. Hopefully it wasn't another jealous husband who wanted to hire him to observe his wife. The business hadn't suffered from Perry's disappearance, but the focus had shifted from the catching of murderers to the surveillance of cheating spouses.

"This is Paul Drake," he said when the person at the other end of the line had picked up the phone. "How can I help?"

His surprise about his dialog partner couldn't have been bigger if the President himself had answered the call.

##########PD#########

Lieutenant Anderson sighed as he closed the door to his office to shut out the noise of the busy precinct. He had used his lunch break to run an errand. If he was honest with himself it was the most important errand of his life and it weighed heavy in his pocket. With care he pulled out the small box and opened it. The ring inside was one what a cop with modest savings could afford. The small diamond glistened in the dirty light of the ceiling lamp. He smiled. He knew perfectly well that today wasn't the day to ask Della Street to marry him. The anniversary of Amanda Thornton's death wasn't a good pick for such an undertaking and he would respect that. If anything it was a day to reflect. A lot had happened since Amanda had died. As a consequence Perry Mason, the famous lawyer who had never lost a case before, had left L.A. and it looked as if he had finally disappeared for good. Andy had always liked the attorney and respected him, but he couldn't say he missed him.

Della had accepted Mason's disappearance for what it was and had moved on. When he had first asked her out about six months ago he had never expected her to accept his stammered invitation, but she had agreed to go out for dinner with him. The evening had changed his life.

Della gave his life purpose outside the office. She was not just beautiful, she was intelligent, witty, and never boring. He had no idea why she didn't have more admirers and sometimes he still didn't believe his luck. As careful as he had observed her relationship with Paul Drake at the beginning, he was now convinced that the private investigator was no threat to them. He had never asked her about the true nature of her relationship with Perry Mason before he had run for the hills and he didn't want to. That was a matter of the past and he was no masochist. Apparently Della was over Mason, there was no reason to question her about it. It was time to move on.

With a smile on his face he closed the box and plunged it into his pocket.

########PD########

At the Airport Hotel Perry Mason looked at his reflection in the mirror. He ran his hand over his three-day-beard and felt the strong need to shave. Being back in America, his true home, made him happier than he had been in ages. He was home, finally. Next to his face in the mirror, he saw the peaceful sleeping figure of a woman. Her long blond hair was spread over the pillows and her well-shaped naked leg peeked out underneath the sheet.

He considered it a victory that she had left Tokyo with him to return to the United States. It was a first step into the right direction. Now that she was here in Los Angeles with him, it would be easier to find out who she really was. When he had met her about eleven months ago at a cocktail party in Tokyo she had been introduced to him as Charlotte Myers, the woman without a past. It turned out the name Charlotte was given to her, because she wore a locket with an engraved C on it. No one knew where she came from. No one in the American community in Tokyo or Japan had ever met her. She was a phantom - a beautiful one though.

She suffered from severe amnesia and had worked as a private teacher for an American family and the more Perry came to know her, the more he wanted to help her to find who she was. It had taken him months to break her reluctance to return to California with him. It was a mystery to him why she wasn't eager to find out who she was, but he was determined to get to the bottom of it rather sooner than later.

Charlotte stirred in bed and he held his breath, hoping she wouldn't wake up just yet. He just needed a few more minutes for himself. There was a lot to think about, before he made the first steps to re enter his old life. He thought of Paul and Della. During his time in Tokyo he had missed them the most, though for very different reasons. Paul was his best friend and absolutely reliable partner in crime, Della was... Della. Without her he felt as if a part of him was missing. No other lover, no matter how beautiful, could fill that void.

Seeing them again was his first priority, but he knew he had to act carefully. Would they accept him coming back just like that? Would he ask too much of them?

He watched Charlotte closely. Sure that she was awake, because he saw how she tensed up, he said. "Hello."

"What time is it?" she wondered, her eyes still closed.

"Lunch time," he answered. "I was about to order something."

"Good idea. Add coffee, please. I think my head will explode."

He grinned. "Welcome back to America."

#######tbc#######