Perry and Paul stood in the hallway outside of Della's apartment, talking in hushed tones.

"I found out that the flower with the knife stuck in it was left on the front desk at the hospital. The nurse on duty stepped out for a minute and found it sitting there when she got back. A typed note simply said 'Della Street'. No leads on the typewriter, yet," Paul lit a cigaret.

"Have you checked any florists yet?"

"No."

"Don't bother, I'll go see if I can find anything. You'll let me know if anything comes up?"

"Absolutely."

"Talk to you later," Perry left.

Neither of them realized that a telegram was just arriving for "Miss Della Street", her name in quotation marks. The detective picked up the telegram and delivered it.

"I never get telegrams," Della mused as she tore open the envelope.

It was a request for her to meet an unidentified old friend at a certain nightclub that night. There was no clue as to who the sender was. She showed the telegram to the detective, who immediately called Paul.

Paul was very dubious about the whole thing. He hired a female detective who had similar features to Della. She went to the nightclub that night instead.

"I was there for three hours and no one approached me and nothing suspicious happened," she reported the next morning.

It was another dead end.

~~~~~P+D~~~~~

Perry was getting nowhere with his trips to eleven different florists over the next few days. He was getting even more frustrated than he already was. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how difficult it would be to track down a single white rose.

Perry left the shop and went out into the bright California sunshine. He happened to glance across the street. He saw a woman coming out of a beauty parlor.

"Della!" he called, surprised.

She could not hear him over the noise of the traffic. Perry dashed across the road and confronted her.

"What are you doing?" he demanded a bit gruffly.

"I-I was getting my hair done," the startled girl gave him a bewildered look.

So that was why she looked different. Perry liked Della's hair a lot better before.

"You shouldn't be out! You promised that you'd stay home! Let me get you a taxi. Go straight home," he held her elbow, but she tried to wiggle free, "You aren't safe. Please be careful!"

The girl looked into his blue eyes and saw deep concern. It softened her heart, but she still gave him a wild look before getting into the taxi he hailed. Perry shook his head and went for the nearest telephone booth. He immediately called Paul at his office.

"I thought I told you to have your men keep Della at her house!" Perry stormed.

"Hello to you too, Perry," Paul sighed, "I did!"

"But I just saw her downtown."

"Impossible. Even if she did leave, my man would have escorted her."

"She was alone, and I did look for an escort."

Paul sighed again, "Let me call her and see if she's home."

"I'll head over there now."

"I'll meet you there."

Perry hung up the phone. This case was getting more and more mysterious.

~~~~~P+D~~~~~

Paul's man sat casually outside of the elevator on Della's floor, reading a newspaper. Perry knew him, and nodded a greeting. Perry would talk to him later. The man nodded in return but went back to his newspaper.

Perry did Paul's signature knock on the door. Della's friend Linda answered the door.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Mason! Come on in!" she smiled and held the door open.

"Hello, Linda."

"Would you like some coffee?"

"If it's no trouble."

"None at all," as she hurried into the kitchen, she called, "Della! Company!"

Della came out of the next room, a feather duster in hand. She was surprised to see him.

"I wasn't expecting you! I thought it was Paul," she took off her apron.

"Disappointed?" his eyes laughed at her.

"Not at all," she smiled.

Paul got off of the elevator. He spoke briefly to the detective, then approached them.

"Hi, Beautiful!" he walked into the apartment.

"Hi! Coffee?"

"I'd love some!"

"I heard, I'm getting it!" Linda called from the kitchen.

"Della, did you leave here earlier today?" Paul asked.

"No, Linda and I have been here cleaning all day."

Paul cast Perry a triumphant glance. Perry was so confused.

"You were at the beauty salon," he insisted.

Della untied the handkerchief around her head and let her hair down, her hair that was as it had been for a long time, not the hairstyle Perry had thought he had seen when he was downtown, the hair he thought looked better on her.

"I haven't been to the beauty salon or out of the house for days."

"She's right," Linda came from the kitchen, carrying a tray of coffee cups.

Perry sent Paul a look that said "talk to me later". Della and Linda missed it.

"Do you need anything?" Perry asked.

"Linda went grocery shopping this morning and our friend Beth was visiting last night. All I want to do is get out of the house," Della sighed.

"We can't risk it," Paul shook his head as he added three spoonfuls of sugar to his coffee.

"What if I took her to work and she worked in my office all day? She wouldn't be out of my sight and you could post detectives outside if you wanted," Perry suggested when he saw Della's face fall.

Paul looked from Perry to Della, then agreed that he did not see any harm in that.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at seven, then," Perry told his secretary.

Perry gave Della's hand a reassuring squeeze before he and Paul left.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Della."

"I told you she didn't leave!" Paul said quietly as the elevator doors closed.

"I saw someone who looked exactly like her coming out of the beauty salon. She had different hair, but I thought it was Della. I probably scared the wits out of that poor girl," Perry mused, his brow furrowed.

We are close to being done with this story! Thank you all for your reviews!

I am curious, have any of you read one of the Perry Mason books? I read TCO The Crooked Candle and I loved it, but are the others as good?