The Case of the Stolen Artifact
Chapter 5
1
Paul Drake pulled his sports car to a stop in front of the building that housed Spicy Bits. He sat there thinking about what he was going to say to Howard Jurgens. If the man thought he was going to get away with slandering Perry and Della, he would soon find out what lengths Paul would go to protect the two most important people in his life.
He still could not believe the attitudes of Perry and Della. How could they make jokes about what the blackmailing crook was doing. The article he printed on both Ironside and Perry and Della was nothing but trash. The only thing Jurgens was interested in was smearing all three people. And Why? Because Perry and Della refused to allow him to stick his nose into their private business.
Neither Perry or Ironside were going to give into blackmail. That made more trash the blackmailer would print in Spicy Bits inevitable. Drake wished he had known ahead of time about what Jurgens intended to do. He would have quickly gotten something on him. Paul would not have hesitated to turn the tide on Jurgens. He would have given the jerk a bit of his own medicine.
He got out of his vehicle and headed into the building. Since he had more than once been forced to deal with Jurgens for other clients, he knew exactly where to go. He just wished that he had done a thorough investigation on the man. As it was, those that had hired him, backed down and paid the blackmail to Jurgens to keep their dirty laundry off the front page of the trashy site.
Drake opened the door and went into the office. People were busy typing on computers, talking on phones and obviously trying to get dirt on whoever was the target of Spicy Bits. He headed directly for Jurgens' office. When Jurgens' assistant spotted Drake, he hurried over to him.
Warren Chapman stepped in front of Drake. Despite only being five-feet-six inches tall, he tried to intimidate Paul. "Listen, Drake, I know why you are here and you are not going to harass Howard. So, just turn around and leave."
"I am not going anywhere."
"You are not going in Howard's office."
"Yea, who's going to stop me," Paul said, looking down at the little man. "You?"
Chapman looked at the expression on Drake's face and stepped out of the way. He was not about to get into a physical confrontation with him. The man was just too big. He once tried to intimidate Perry Mason and that did not end well. Mason, a big man in his own right, pushed him aside like a rag doll. Drake was even bigger than Mason.
Paul gave Chapman a look that could be interpreted as calling him a coward. He pushed his way past him and opened Jurgens' office door. When he entered, Jurgens stood up behind his desk.
With a grin on his face, Jurgens laughed. "I see Mason has sent in the cavalry. Too much of a coward to show up himself. Say what you have to say Drake and then get out of here."
"Did you really think you could blackmail Perry Mason? He chews up and spits out crooks like you. You will be facing one huge lawsuit."
"I don't think so, Drake. Mason will try to let the whole thing die. You know what, Drake, I have only begun. There are going to be more articles on Mason, Street and Ironside. I am going to destroy their reputations, or he will give in. The next time I ask the bastard to cooperate, he won't be so quick to dismiss me. Despite wanting to go after Mason, I know what will really hurt him more is destroying his brother."
"Ha, if you think you are a match for Ironside, you are dreaming. He will squash you like a bug."
"When I get done with him, he will be out of a job. I am going to do an exclusive on his lover, Alexandra Hughes. It will become so obvious Ironside let her get away when she tried to steal that Tiger, the City Council will demand Commissioner Randall fire him."
"You really are delusional. Crooks like you have tried to destroy Ironside and Mason. It's the crooks which always find themselves behind bars."
"That is because they don't go after them where they are vulnerable, Drake. That is what I intend to do. Not you, Mason or Ironside can stop me."
"We will see about that Jurgens. Tell me, is your closet as clean as you expect everyone else's to be? What will I find out about you in an investigation?"
Jurgens just laughed. "You already investigated me. Remember, the clients of yours who decided to, shall we say, cooperate with Spicy Bits."
"You mean, gave into blackmail? I got news for you, I didn't get to investigate you. The clients would not pay for it. They decided to pay your blackmail."
"Do you really think Mason is going to pay you to investigate? He is eventually going to give me the exclusive I want. All I am asking him to do is be honest about his relationship with Della Street."
"His relationship with Della Street is none of your business, Jurgens. Where do you get off thinking you have any right to peoples' private lives?"
"I am a newspaper man. It is my job to report, Drake."
Paul scoffed at that remark. "You are not a newspaper man. You write sleaze, and if you can't find it, you make it up. Sleaze like you have plenty to hide. And, for your information, Perry Mason doesn't have to pay me to investigate you; I will gladly do it on my own, and at my own expense."
Drake turned to leave his office. Jurgens began laughing. "You will find nothing, Drake. Do you really think I would leave myself vulnerable? You will have to excuse me, but I have a plane to catch to San Francisco. I want to be there when I bring down the great Robert T. Ironside."
The detective stopped just before he went through the door. "It's your funeral, Jurgens. Don't say I didn't warn you about Ironside." He left the man's office and slammed the door.
As Paul left Spicy Bits, all employee eyes were on him. They had heard the conversation between Drake and their boss. All of them were wondering if Howard Jurgens was making a big mistake going after Ironside. They knew Perry Mason would never respond to Jurgens' demands. Going after Mason's brother would awaken not one, but two sleeping giants.
2
Ed Brown and Eve Whitfield entered Ironside's office. It was late afternoon, and they had both spent the day at the museum keeping an eye on what museum personnel were doing to protect the incoming exhibit. Both of them had completed back grown checks into all employees that would be working at the exhibit regardless of the time.
Ironside and Mark turned to see them come in. Sanger was in the kitchen fixing dinner for his boss. Eve and Ed sat down at the table. "Carl is going to stay at the museum until eleven o'clock. From there, the overnight guard takes over. "
"What about the overnight guard, Ed?" Ironside asked.
"He has been working for the Museum for two years. He has no record with the police department. According to his boss, he has been a good employee. There have been no problems at the Museum when he has been on duty. His name is Kevin Powers," Brown replied.
"You could not find anything on him at all?" Ironside questioned.
"Chief," Eve added, "we could not even find a parking or speeding ticket. He's perfect for the job?"
"Is he?" Ironside asked raising an eyebrow.
"Would you rather have someone who has a record or is a lousy employee?" Ed asked.
Ignoring Brown, Ironside continued talking to his policewoman. "Eve, I taught you to consider all possibilities. If you wanted to stay below the radar, what kind of security guard would you put in there?"
Whitfield dropped her eyes from the steely blue glare of her boss as Ed answered, "Someone with no record who is a model employee."
Ironside nodded at his policewoman. "I am simply saying, not everything is as it seems. Since this is the man that will be on the night shift, I want him checked out right down..."
"To his wisdom teeth," Ed finished for Ironside.
"Chief, why don't we just put police officers in there at night?" Mark asked.
"The curator doesn't want cops. They prefer their own guards. They mistakenly think their guards will be completely loyal to them. Besides, Blaine and Schneider would know Alexandra talked to us if police were placed in there, but that doesn't mean we can't place a cop that the guard doesn't know about."
"Why not let the guard know he is there, Chief?" Eve asked. "He could call on him if he gets in trouble."
"Again, Eve, we would have the same problem. If the guard is working with Blaine and Schneider, it would put that officer in danger," Ironside explained. "No, we are going to place a cop in their that WE can trust. Eve, have Duffy report to my office."
"Yes, Chief." Eve headed for a phone and placed the call to Duffy's superior. She explained the chief wanted to borrow the officer again. When she had completed Ironside's order, she came back to the table. "He just came on duty. He will send him up right away."
"Chief, I would be willing to stay there at night," Ed offered.
"No, Ed. I need you elsewhere. Duffy is good and he is loyal," Ironside replied.
The door to the office opened; Officer Duffy entered and came down the ramp in full uniform. "Hello, Duffy," Ironside greeted.
"Hi Chief, is there something I can do for you, sir?"
"In fact, there is," the chief answered. Ironside explained what he wanted Duffy to do. When he was finished, he said, "Head over to the Museum. I will get a hold of the curator and tell him to let you in discretely."
"On my way, Chief," Duffy said, as he turned and left the office.
"All right, now we wait for Baines and Schneider to make the next move. Ed, I want that guard checked further in the morning."
3
Perry finished with his final client for the day. As Della led her out of his office, he cleared the remaining papers from his desk while waiting for Della to return. He knew what was coming and he did not look forward to it. He was certain Della was going to insist on staying in her apartment. Perry had no intentions of allowing Howard Jurgens and the press to control their private lives. Della was staying with him. He would not accept anything else. He slept better with her beside him.
The door to his office opened, and Della Street entered. "What do you say we call it a day, Counselor?"
"I could not agree more. Are you hungry?" he asked.
"I can get something when I get home."
"I think you have earned a steak dinner with everything that has been going on, so I am taking you to dinner."
The expression on Della's face told him she was going to give him an argument. "Perry, I don't think that is a good idea. The press will be following us around. It would only fuel the rumors."
"I don't give a damn about the press, Della. We are not changing our life style because of them. I told you we would find a way to get around them and we will. Call ahead to Clay's. He will give us a private dining room and will not allow the press to bother us."
"That will only serve to make them speculate more. They will just print that we were dining privately instead of out in the open," Della pointed out.
"I am not going to live my life afraid of the press."
"Perry, the fact is, it really doesn't bother me what they say about me. It is you it bothers. I know you are just trying to protect me, but why don't we just go back to your apartment and not worry about what they print"
Mason shook his head. "I will not have them slandering your reputation."
"Then you leave me no choice but to insist we stay in separate apartments for a while until all of this blows over."
"Della, who knows when that will be? I will not be apart from you. We can call Paul and have his men run interference with the press. They can make sure we get to my apartment without them following us."
As Della was about to argue that point, Paul's code knock sounded on the door. She walked over and opened it. Drake entered immediately.
"Hello, Beautiful." He continued past her and headed for the overstuffed chair. Throwing his legs over the arm and sitting sideways, he sighed. "We have a problem, Perry."
Mason sat back down behind his desk, lit a cigarette and said, "Shoot."
"I went to see Howard Jurgens. You will never guess what he is going to do now." "He's headed for San Francisco to see how much trouble he can cause Bob."
Drake shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder why you did not become a private investigator yourself."
"Because my profession pays better," Mason said. Normally that remark would have been followed by a grin, but Perry just was not in the mood. He was upset and angry about Jurgens sticking his nose into his private life.
"Ya, well I guess you got me there. And, you are right, that is exactly what he is going to do. I have put several men here on finding something we can bring this creep down with. I am going to San Francisco. I have no idea what I am going to do, but I will assist Ironside and try to keep Jurgens out of his hair." Perry smiled. "Bob is perfectly capable of handling Jurgens. He is not going to tolerate the man even for a second."
"I know that. I am hoping I can help stop him from causing any more trouble for the two of you."
"Paul, it won't stop him," Della said.
"Maybe not, but if my men come up with something on him, I want to be their to shove it in his slimy little face," Drake said.
"I am not going to pay for you to go to San Francisco. Bob can handle him," Mason said.
"You don't have to pay," Drake said, getting up. "This one is on the house. I am going to take Jurgens down."
Mason knew there was no changing Paul's mind, so he changed the subject. "Any chance your man can divert the press so that Della and I can get to my apartment."
"I have already arranged it. When you leave here my men will be in a fender-bender, blocking the exit out of the parking garage just after you exit. There will be a couple more cars that will make sure they can't follow you. They will be there in the morning. We have a blonde wig and some hippie clothes Della can put on to leave your apartment building. Don't worry, I have it all figured out."
Drake headed for the door. "I made reservations at Clay's. You two go out to dinner and enjoy yourselves. Leave Jurgens to me."
4
Ironside drove the van to Katherine's Vineyards. After pulling up in front of the house, he shut off the engine and got onto the lift. The detective pushed the button and was lowered to the ground. Not worried about anyone bothering the van or the equipment in it, Ironside left the door open. He glanced up at the sky. With no clouds in sight, he did not have to worry about rain soaking the inside of the van. Not that he was really concerned about it, since the weather forecast was not calling for rain all week.
When he reached the door, he rang the bell. The door was opened almost immediately by Katherine who greeted him with a smile. She stepped back to give him room to wheel his chair into her home.
"I have to check dinner. I will be back in a moment."
As she turned to walk away, Ironside took her hand. "Since when do you not greet me with a kiss?"
She smiled, bent down and gave him a quick kiss. Turning away, she headed to the kitchen before Ironside could say anything else. A kiss that held little to no passion told him something was wrong. He would wait to address it, but address it he would. He had an idea his explanation of who Alexandra Hughes was to him was at the heart of the matter.
Ironside wheeled into the kitchen where Katherine was checking the pork tenderloin cooking in the oven. She turned around to see him watching her. She had not heard him come in. Mark must have oiled the wheels on his chair recently. Katherine could tell from the look on Robert's face that she had not masked her mood very well. She supposed there was no hiding anything from a detective as good as he was. "Dinner is ready. Give me a few minutes to put it on the table."
"Can I help?" Ironside asked her.
"No, I can handle it. You just go into the dining room and relax."
Ironside noticed that she seemed to be avoiding looking at him. Something was very wrong, but he would wait until after dinner to question her about it. Katherine put the dinner on. She had prepared a pork loin with small roasted potatoes, asparagus and a salad. As usual the dinner was excellent. She had added a bottle of wine from her vineyards. Katherine was unusually quiet. Most of the conversation between them was initiated by Ironside.
When he could no longer take her silence, Ironside finally said softly, "Why don't you tell me what is wrong? Have I done something to upset you or is there another problem that is bothering you, Katherine?"
She set her wine glass down on the table and looked directly into his eyes. Now, that was the Katherine he had gotten to know and love. She never had been a shrinking violet. She tackled things head on.
"For the first time since we have been seeing each other, I feel you have not been honest with me, Robert," Katherine told him.
"About what?" he asked, although he had a pretty good idea of what.
"The woman in your office. I believe you introduced her as Alexandra Hughes." She stared directly into his eyes waiting for his response.
"I was not dishonest with you, Katherine. I did not feel that was the time and place to tell you about her. This is the time and place since it is upsetting you so."
She said nothing, but waited for him to continue.
"Alexandra and I knew each other many years ago. We had an affair... no that is not quite right. We had a love affair. We were in love with each other. The relationship was destined to fail. I am a cop and she is a thief. She loves beautiful things. A little thing like not having the money to buy them has never stopped her from getting them. She steals them. She is what we call a professional thief. A few years back, the very same Tiger that will be arriving in a couple days was here on exhibit.
"I suspected she was in San Francisco to steal it, but I was hoping she was here to see me. We did see each other while she was here. I even invited her to dinner at my office, along with Commissioner Randall. Still, I discussed with my staff the possibility that she could make an attempt at stealing the Tiger. I told them what day was best for her horoscope to make the attempt. She outsmarted me by doing it a day earlier. She knew I knew about how she used her horoscope to decide when to steal the objections of her obsession. The rest you know. She got away by racing her car towards me believing I would get out of the way. I did, but she did not take the Tiger with her. She threw it out the window. I have not seen her since until she showed up at my office with the announcement that Blaine and Schneider were blackmailing her into making another attempt at stealing the Tiger."
"Robert, you must have noticed the resemblance between Alexandra Hughes and myself," Katherine said.
"Of course I have. It is impossible to miss. The two of you could be twins," Ironside replied.
"Is that why you and I got together? Were you trying to relive your affair with her through me?" she asked.
Ironside took her hand. "I have no doubt it played a part in my initial attraction to you. You are both very beautiful women. You both are elegant and dress and present yourselves impeccably, but that is where the similarity ends. Alexandra is selfish, where you are generous and kind. She is dishonest, where you are honest. You are warm and loving, where she doesn't know the meaning of love. If she truly loved me, she could have easily given up her world of theft. You on the other hand, love me enough to accept what I do and want to be with me."
Katherine looked away from him. "I don't like her anywhere near you."
Ironside smiled. "You are jealous of her?"
"No... well, maybe a little."
He squeezed her hand. "You have nothing to be jealous of. She is the past, you are my present and my future. My only interest in her is to stop the theft of the Tiger."
"You have no feelings for her, Robert?"
Ironside only hesitated for a split-second before saying, "No, that is all in the past, Katherine. I love you and you alone."
Spending time with a detective had honed her own observation skills. Katherine had caught that split-second hesitation. She knew he loved her, but she suspected he did have lingering feelings for Alexandra.
Katherine would let it go for now, although she had every intention of keeping an eye on Alexandra when she was around Robert. She was afraid she would try to take advantage of those lingering feelings to her own use. Katherine would, if necessary protect Robert against himself.
5
Eli Schneider and Louis Blaine knocked on the back of the Museum door. It opened immediately as Kevin Powers stood on the other side. "Come in, gentlemen."
Eli and Louis entered the back of the Museum. They followed Powers into a small utility room. As the three crowded into the room, Eli complained, "Couldn't you have picked a better room to meet in?"
"You want to avoid the cameras, don't you? As it is, I had to turn off the one to the back door," Powers explained.
"Won't the higher-ups discover the camera was shut off?" Louis Blaine asked, worriedly.
"Naw, don't let it concern you. I know how to alter them. That is how I have gotten away with stealing before. It will appear that no one came in or out during this time. Now, you gentlemen had something to discuss with me, what is it?"
"We are here to steal the Tiger. Do you want a piece of the action or not?" Eli said. His patience were wearing thin. First Alexandra betrayed them, and now they had to depend on a man that was not as professional as Alexandra. He didn't like it, but they had no choice if they wanted to obtain the Tiger. Besides, he wanted badly to make Alexandra pay for her betrayal. He wanted her to go to jail like he and Louis had done when she got away.
"Of course I want a piece of the action. I would not have let you in otherwise. What did you have in mind?" Kevin asked.
"Last time, we took the Tiger in broad daylight. This time we are going to do it at night. We will run another diversion like we did last time," Eli explained.
"What kind of a diversion?" Powers was skeptical these two could pull it off. If he was to be part of it, they had to have a fool-proof way of getting away with it. He never took part in a theft he could not walk away from. Kevin knew he was not the type that could withstand any time in prison. He simply was not going to go to prison because these two are careless. Kevin suspected they considered him an amateur, but he had never been caught; they had been.
"Police, that will be the diversion." Eli said.
"Are you crazy? Police! You don't bring the police here when you are trying to steal an artifact!"
"You do if they find Alexandra Hughes in the building. We are going to steal the Tiger and frame her for it. Can you control what is video taped?"
"We don't use video tape. It's digital," Kevin said.
"Powers, we don't give a damn how it is recorded. That is your area. All we care about is whether you can control what is recorded," Louis said.
"Of course I can. The night guard must also run the security system."
"Good. Eli, show Mister Powers, the Tiger," Louis said.
"What? How can he do that? It isn't even here," Kevin pointed out.
Eli Schneider set a box on a small table in the room. He opened it and pulled out a duplicate of the Tiger. Kevin Power's eyes widen. He took the Tiger from Schneider and turned it around in his hands. He smiled as he examined it. "If I didn't know it was a fake, I would swear it was the real thing. What exactly do you plan to do with it?"
"Make a trade and frame Alexandra Hughes, with your help of course. You will be questioned by the police. It will be your testimony that will nail her for trading the Tiger for this fake. By the time they figure out it is a fake, we will have the real Tiger," Louis told him.
"How do I know you won't leave with the Tiger and I never see you again?" he asked with suspicion.
"We are so confident that this will work, we are willing to give you fifty-thousand dollars right now. You will receive the rest of the money after you testify that Alexander Hughes was the only one that could make the trade with the fake Tiger for the real one."
"What do you plan on doing with the Tiger?" Kevin asked.
"We have a buyer. Louis and I were going to divide it three ways with Alexandra. We are not out any money by dividing it three ways with you."
"All right, I am in. How do we pull this off?"
Eli grinned at Louis. "Tell him, Louis."