It was a Saturday afternoon and Perry was spending the day at the office, catching up on some work. He was alone; he decided not to force Della to give up her weekend.

Suddenly, he heard someone come into the office. That someone came into his inner office.

It was a girl. She had black hair and wore matching black shirt and pants—and was barefooted!

"Hello," she said.

"Hello," he said.

"I'm sorry for intruding. My name is Jennifer Mason, but I'm better known as Barefoot Jenny. I'm a private detective. I had broken into an office to recover evidence on a case I'm working on. But a man caught me. I was able to run into this building, but I think he's still after me!"

"Ok. Before we go any further, can I have some proof of who you are?"

"I don't have any with me," she conceded. "But I'm in the phone book. I work out of Pasadena.:

"Excuse me a moment."

He took out a thick yellow page book by his desk and started rummaging through it. Meanwhile, there was some noises in the hallway. She looked at him with fear.

He put the book away. "There's a private bathroom over there." He pointed to a door to the right. "Get in."

She quickly ran into it.

Soon afterwards, a man walked into the room.

"Can I help you?" asked Perry.

"Sorry for bothering you, sir. I'm looking for a girl. She broke into my office. "

"Describe her."

"She's got black hair, and she's dressed all in black. Also, she's barefooted."

"How unusual! No, I haven't seen her, today. But if you give me your card, and I do see her, I'll try to detain her and contact you."

"Thank you." He pulled out a wallet and gave Perry a business card.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have some work that needs attending to."

"Of course. Sorry for bothering you." He left.

Perry waited about a minute. Then he opened the bathroom door. "He's gone, Miss Mason."

She came out. "Thank you, sir! You can check me out, if you want to."

He brought out the phone book, again. But then, he had another idea.

"I know how to check you out!" He made a phone call: "Paul, this is Perry…I'm fine. Say, listen, have you ever heard of a female private detective named Jennifer Mason?...Yes, she goes by the name Barefoot Jenny…What do you know about her?...She is?...I see!...Nothing, it's just that I've heard her name mentioned recently, and I just wanted to check on her…No, that's all, for the moment…You too, bye!" He hung up. "That was Paul Drake."

"Oh, yes, I know him."

"He spoke very highly of you; he even said he offered to hire you, but you preferred to stay solo."

"Yes, that's true. Thanks for your help."

"No problem. Barefoot Jenny: I can see how you got your name!"

She smiled. "I'm barefooted as much as possible! Do you disapprove?"

"No, that's ok with me."

"Say, aren't you the great lawyer Perry Mason?"

"In the flesh."

"Wow, this is an honor! I feel—underdressed!"

"Well, you are working!"

"True!"

"We share the same last name!"

He smiled. "We certainly do!"

He looked at the card the man gave him—and frowned.

"Frank Bails…I've heard some rumors about him."

"They're more than rumors! I've been hired to investigate him."

"And he's found you out—that's not good!"

"That's ok. I was able to dig up some dirt about him, before he caught me."

"You were?"

"Let me show you something."

"All right."

He got up. She led him to the main reception area. It had two leather couches. She walked to one of them and dug under the cushion; she produced a stack of papers and documents.

He smiled. "Smart girl!"

She also smiled. "Thanks! Well, I should be leaving now. Thanks for coming to my aid, Mr. Mason."

"Wait a minute, Miss Mason. Let me help you. If you let me look through these papers, I may be able to help you find some facts about him that will help you. And besides, he may be still lurking around here!"

"Thanks, Mr. Mason! I'll give you some of the fee I'm getting for this."

"You don't need to; I'll consider this 'pro bono' work."

"Ok!"

"First, I'd better do this." He walked to the front door and locked it. "Just in case!"

"Good idea!"

He then led her back to his office.


They were there for about an hour, pouring through the documents. He gave her some pointers on what to look for, in them. They drank cold coffee, while doing this.

"Well, Jenny, I think you have enough here to convict Frank Bails."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Mason! Plus, I have other evidence I've picked up, as well."

"Excellent! Oh, a bit of advice: Wear shoes, during break-ins. Footprints can be traced. In fact, I've used them on some of my cases."

"Oh, I never thought of that! Well, perhaps I can wear nylons without shoes."

"That's an alternative! You really like to go barefooted, all the time?"

"Yep—I hate shoes!"

They both laughed.

Then Perry grew serious. "There's the matter of getting you back to your office."

"That's ok, my car is nearby."

He shook his head. "Jenny, we don't know if Bails is still close by! You can drive me there in your car, then I'll take a cab back here."

"Mr. Mason, you've been so nice to me! "

"No problem."

"And now, I've involved you in this!"

"Don't you worry about that, Jenny! I have considerable power, in this town. He can't just have me bumped off!"

"That's good to know."

"Well, let's get going."

They got up and left the office together.

"By the way, why are you here on a Saturday?" she asked.

"Catching up on things. Sadly, weekend work is not uncommon, for me!"

"Me too, actually!"

They both laughed.


Fortunately, her car was nearby. She drove him back to her office in Pasadena. They got out and went inside. She took the documents she uncovered and put them in a combination safe. Then she called a cab for Perry.

"Why don't you meet me at my office, sometime," he said. "I'd like you to meet my secretary Della Street; I think the two of you could be good friends."

"That would be nice. I come to LA quite often, for jobs, so maybe I will. Oh, here's my card, if you ever need me."

She gave him her business card.

"Thank you, Jenny. I usually rely on Paul Drake, but perhaps I'll use you if one of my cases involves this area."

The cab came.

"Thanks for your help, Mr. Mason."

"Please, call me Perry."

"All right, Perry!"

They hugged, and she kissed him on the cheek, causing him to smile. He then left.