The Case of the Stolen Artifact
Chapter 11
1
Della woke up ahead of Perry. Momentarily disoriented, she realized they were in Robert's office-residence. She appreciated the fact Robert put them up, but since they were going to be here for the duration of Alexandra's trial, she would have preferred they stay in a motel. As much as she enjoyed Robert's company while they stayed with him they had no privacy. Certainly Robert put them in a room to themselves, yet she knew she and Perry would have to "behave" themselves while they were here. Della missed that closeness with her favorite lawyer.
Today, Perry was going to go down stairs and speak with Alexandra Hughes to decide whether or not he would be taking her case. Della almost chuckled at the thought of whether he would take it. Of course he would take it! Perry would not let his brother down. Despite his own reservations about her innocence, he would represent her. Speaking with her was only a matter of how to proceed, rather than deciding to take the case.
Della shook Perry slightly. "Wake up, Perry. You have to be down at the jail in an hour."
"Huh?" said a sleepy lawyer.
She bent down and kissed him lightly, having no doubt it would get his attention. She was right. Mason reached up, placing his hand behind her neck and pulling her down to him. He kissed her. Opening his eyes, he smiled up at her. "What time is it?"
"Eight o'clock," she responded.
"Well, I better get in the shower. Bob always complains about the amount of time I take in there."
"Do you really think you will be up before him?" Della asked with a smile.
"Why not?"
"Perry, get up! You have to be downstairs in an hour!" came a gruff voice from the main room of the office residence.
Della and Perry began laughing. "I guess not," he said. He gave Della another quick kiss and got out of bed. She picked up his robe from the chair and handed it to him.
Mason put it on and headed in to the main room. His brother was not only up, but dressed in a suit, freshly shaven and showered. Perry greeted the older man. "Good morning, Bob."
"It is going to be afternoon before you get started," he said without looking up from his newspaper.
Heading for the bathroom, he called over his shoulder. "I had forgotten how grumpy you are in the morning. Still getting off the wrong side of the bed, huh? When are you going to get up on the other side?"
"Never," Ironside called out.
As Perry disappeared into the bathroom, the door opened and Paul Drake entered the office. Ironside turned to see who had just come in. "Good morning, Paul."
"Hi Chief, where's Perry and Della?" Drake wondered.
"Perry's in the bathroom and I presume Della is still in the bedroom."
"No one else is in yet?" Drake asked, looking around the office.
Ironside set his paper down. "Do you see anyone else?"
Paul chuckled. "It's going to be one of those days I can see. Anything interesting in the paper?"
"Murder...if you consider that interesting," Ironside said. He picked the paper up and tossed it to Paul.
On the front page was a picture of Alexandra Hughes being led out of the museum in handcuffs by Lieutenant Carl Reese. Paul looked at it and said, "So is Perry going to defend her?"
Ironside looked at him. He really did not know the answer to the question. He knew his brother was going to talk to her, but despite his urging to defend her, Perry would make up his own mind. He would have to be convinced that she was innocent. Alexandra would not plead guilty to something she did not do, of that Ironside was certain. Therefore she would have to convince his lawyer brother that she was innocent. "You will have to ask him," Ironside replied to his question. It was the only answer he was prepared to give at the moment.
The chief ate his breakfast in silence. Paul had known Ironside for a while now, and the one thing he had learned was when to leave the man alone to his thoughts. This was one of those times. He could only imagine what the detective was thinking. He had been assigned the security of the museum and the Tiger which he was supposed to be protecting had been stolen, an old flame was arrested for murder and Ironside was being investigated by Internal Affairs. Talk about having a bad day!
Perry came out of the bathroom dressed in a suit. He walked into the kitchen and Mark handed him a cup of coffee. "I'll have breakfast for you and Della in a few minutes."
"Don't bother, Mark. We will not have time to eat it." Mason watched as Della came out of the bedroom and headed into the bathroom. From the somber mood in the room, he could tell his brother was worried, not about himself, but about Alexandra Hughes. Mason watched Bob closely. If he was that confident she was not guilty of this crime, then his conversation with her should remove any doubt from his mind and allow him to defend her.
A few minutes later Della came into the main room, dressed with her makeup on and ready to go. She picked up Mason's briefcase and smiled at him. "Are you ready to go, Counselor?"
Mason returned the smile. "Yes." He looked over at his brother who seemed to be lost in thought. "You are not going to ask if you can come along?"
Ironside looked up. "No. I should not be there and I don't want to influence anything Alexandra might say to you. I want you to make up your own mine of her innocence or guilt."
"Alright then, we will get going." Mason took the briefcase from Della with one hand and her elbow with the other, leading her out of the office just before taking one last look at his brother. He hoped Bob was right about Alexandra. He sure did not want to come back and tell him he wasn't taking the case.
2
Lieutenant Murray Simmons of Internal Affairs looked down at the order which had just come down from the mayor's office. Investigate Bob Ironside! Nothing could be more ridiculous or a bigger waste of time. He slammed the paper down on the desk and swore. Bob Ironside had been a friend of his for more years than he could count. There was no more dedicated, honest cop anywhere in the department. Hell, you couldn't find one anywhere in the entire country.
He simply could not believe the mayor and the city council would even consider the notion. Well, one thing for sure, he was not going to let Robert Ironside be railroaded after all the years he had given, and that included his legs.
He would talk to him, but to expect Ironside to stop a vehicle from a wheelchair was beyond ludicrous! Something smelled about the entire affair. Why was the mayor pushing so hard to investigate Chief Ironside? Who was behind it pressuring him to do so? That was the real investigation. Someone was pressuring for an investigation for a reason. The city council would only be worried about how they looked. They would have gone along with the mayor because all of them would be worried about losing their seats on the city council. Politicians were all alike. They were more worried about themselves and how they looked than they were about the citizens they served. No wonder Bob Ironside did not like politicians very much. All of this was political. The mayor was a coward. He knew the chief was not guilty of anything. He had worked with him for years. He and the council went running to him every time there was a problem to be solved. Ironside had pulled their bacon out of the fire so many times, he and everyone else lost count.
Mayor Patrick Simpson was simply afraid he would look bad, so he called an internal investigation against the detective. Murray would conduct it, but he knew he would find nothing because there was nothing to find.
He was unaware one of his detectives was watching him through the glass. The detective shook his head. Murray Simmons had been given the assignment. Sergeant Terry Cox had been given the assignment by the mayor quietly without anyone's knowledge before the break-in and robbery at the museum. Now that the investigation was out in the open, it had been taken out of his hands and assigned to Simmons. The man was going to sweep it under the rug. He was a long time friend of Ironside's. There was no way he would be objective. He could not possibly be so.
Terry Cox harbored a long-time grudge against Ironside. He had wanted the job that had ultimately gone to Ed Brown. Ironside didn't even give him a chance. He was not even allowed to apply for the position. Brown was given the job with only Ironside's say-so. Department rules said when a position became available, those with the rank and experience required could apply for the position. The job had not even been posted.
Sergeant Cox had filed a complaint at the time. It went no where. The detective bureau sent him a letter stating the position would not be posted because it was a special crime unit that did not fall under normal department regulations. Ironside wanted Brown, so he got Brown. What was even more infuriating was the fact the other position was given to Eve Whitfield who was practically a rookie. She had not been with the department that long. Whitfield did not have anywhere near the detective skills he had. So, he filed another complaint. Only this time there was no letter from the department. He was called into Commissioner Randall's office...another long-time friend of Robert Ironside's. He was read the riot act by Randall. He got the same bologna about it being a special crime unit and the head of that unit had the right to chose those that he wanted to work under him. Further, Randall had asked him if he thought the filling of the positions would have been any different if he had been allowed to apply for the position.
Sergeant Terry Cox was told to go back to his department and to stop causing problems. Cox had never forgotten it. He wanted a position with Ironside. Everyone who worked with Ironside moved up the ranks faster, at least everyone except Officer Eve Whitfield and Sergeant Ed Brown. They were still at the same rank after working with Ironside for years. If they were so good, why had they not been promoted in rank? He didn't realize neither of them wanted to leave the chief's office.
What Cox did not understand, they had all the authority of officers much higher in rank than they were. Many lieutenants and even captains would sometimes take orders from them, knowing their orders were coming from Ironside. Ironside...he had come to hate that name. Even when the chief needed extra help, he called on Carl Reese, Fran Belding or Officer Duffy. He had offered his services many times, and Ironside had just ignored it. The only one of the officers in that list that outranked him was Reese. Why then did he prefer less experience officers?
Ironside was going to pay for not allowing him to advance. One of those jobs in his office should have gone to him, not Brown or Whitfield. He would continue to conduct his investigation of Ironside. The cripple would find out just how good he was. He would be the man that brought down the Ironman on Wheels.
3
Perry and Della arrived at the jail after riding the elevator down from his brother's office. He went directly over to the duty desk. "I am Perry Mason. I am here to see Alexandra Hughes.
The officer recognized the famous lawyer immediately. He was well aware he was the brother of Robert Ironside. It would not be long before tongues would be wagging if Mason was Hughes's lawyer.
"One moment, Mister Mason, I will have her transferred to a room where you can have some privacy." The officer left Perry and Della waiting as he went back into the jail.
Officer Charlie Fitzpatrick walked back to the cells where his superior, Sergeant Norm Stroman was making the hourly check of the prisoners in the jail. When he saw Charlie coming, he said, "You are supposed to stay at the desk when I am back here."
"Yes, Sergeant, I know the rules, but Perry Mason is here to see Alexandra Hughes."
Norm showed surprise at the name. He knew the lawyer was in town, but he assumed it was to represent his brother on the trumped up accusations against him. "Take Mason to interrogation room 3. I will bring her out in a few minutes."
Charlie nodded and left the jail cells. "This is no place for a woman in the first place," Norm grumbled. "She should be transferred to the Hall of Justice and put in the womens' section." He turned around and headed back to Alexandra Hughes cell. He unlocked it and said, "Your lawyer is here."
"My lawyer? I haven't hired a lawyer," she said, confused. She followed Sergeant Stroman out of the jail, down the hall to the interrogation room 3.
Stroman opened the door and gestured for her to enter. Alexandra did as she was instructed to do. Sure enough the famous lawyer was waiting for her along with his secretary. "I don't understand, Mister Mason. I did not call you."
Mason smiled as he stood up. "Chief Ironside asked me to see you."
"Bob asked you to see me?" she questioned.
"Yes. Please have a seat, Miss Hughes," Mason told her.
Alexandra sat down and looked over at Della Street. When Mason saw the questioning expression on her face, he explained. "Miss Street is my secretary. Anything said in front of her is completely confidential."
That seemed to set Alexandra at ease. The more she thought about it, Bob must believe she was innocent or he would not have sent his brother.
"Tell me what happened," Perry said.
"I was blackmailed into helping Louis and Eli. They threatened to let Bob know where I was. Since I knew I could still be prosecuted for stealing the Tiger, I had no choice but to comply. But after I got to thinking about it, I decided I would not do it. I made up my mind to turn myself in to Bob Ironside. So, I went to him and told him what Eli and Louis had planned."
"You are talking about Louis Blaine and Eli Schneider?" Perry asked to confirm.
"Yes."
"Go on," Perry encouraged.
"Eli found out I had been to Bob's office. He assumed I had betrayed them, which of course, I had. I was waiting for them to give me the date the theft was planned so I could let Bob know. They came back to the house they were renting and woke me up about two o'clock in the morning; they forced me at gunpoint to go to the museum."
"No one but you showed on the video," Perry said.
"Mister Mason, they made me enter the museum first. They would not enter with me. Kevin Powers told me I would be the only one to show up on the video. They intended to frame the theft of the Tiger on me."
Perry suspected that when she was the only one seen on the video. He would have to check into the possibility the video had been tampered with. Kevin Powers just became a suspect, and one at the top of the list along with Schneider and Blaine.
"What about the case the Tiger was in, Miss Hughes?" Mason asked. His eyes boring into hers.
"I was force into removing the, Tiger, Mister Mason. I assure you, I had no intentions of stealing it. All I wanted to do was report to Bob when the job was going down, and then face whatever punishment for stealing the Tiger the last time."
"Did you kill Howard Jurgens?" Mason asked.
"No, I certainly did not. I may be a lot of things, Mister Mason, but a cold-blooded killer I am not," she replied never taking her eyes from him.
Mason remembered Bob saying the exact same words. He then asked her, "Did you see who shot Jurgens?"
"No, he was lying dead on the floor when I returned. The officer was also lying on the floor. I don't know if he was alive or not. With Jurgens, it was obvious he was dead."
"Did you shoot Officer Duffy?" Mason asked.
"No, Mister Mason. I had nothing to do with either shooting." Alexandra never took her eyes from Mason's.
"Your fingerprints were the only ones on the gun, Miss Hughes."
"It must have been placed in my hand afterwards. They knocked me out. It is somewhat fuzzy, but I believe I was in the hall when they did. Some one had to have dragged me back to where the Tiger had been on display."
"Powers' key card was in your pocket," Mason said.
"It had to have been planted the same as the gun," she replied. There was no other explanation. "They made me take that key card outside the museum and, forced me to enter using it."
Perry stood there for a moment, and then said, "Will you excuse my secretary and me for a minute?"
"Of course," Alexandra answered.
Perry took Della by the elbow and led her out of the interrogation room. "Della, you know how much your opinion means to me. I have already made up my mind to her guilt or innocence, but I must be sure I am not blinded by the fact my brother wants me to take this case. I want to know what you observed and what you think."
"If you are asking me if I think she is guilty, the answer is no and I will tell you why. It all smells of a setup, Perry. She is sent through the door alone. I don't believe for a minute she tried to do the job by herself. There is no way Schneider and Blaine just allowed her to do the job without them. So why then is she the only one on that video entering the building? Furthermore, I trust Robert's instincts. He says she would not kill in cold-blood; I believe him. That woman may be a thief, but one thing is for sure, she is still in love with Robert. She was sincere in helping him, I am sure of it. She would have done nothing to hurt him."
Perry smiled and nodded. "Unfortunately, we are the only ones that will believe a story like that. A jury certainly wouldn't. Let's go back in." Taking Della by the elbow, Mason and Street entered the interrogation room. He looked at Alexandra Hughes. He could read the hope in her eyes. "We are going to do everything we can to clear you of this charge."
The relief flooded her face. "I can't thank you enough, Mister Mason. Please ask Robert to come and see me, will you please?"
"I will tell him, but I cannot guaranty he will," Perry said.
"I understand."
"Do you need anything?" Della asked her.
She smiled at her. "A prayer and a miracle."
Mason reached over and patted her arm. "You do the praying, I will try to provide the miracle." He smiled as he told her. "Try not to worry. We have only just begun the investigation. I will be back this afternoon. You will be arraigned in court at 3:00." He and Della turned to leave the room.
"Thank you, both of you," Alexandra said. "There is no limit to what you can spend, Mister Mason. I have the money."
Mason looked back. "Your own money or money gained from your occupation?"
She looked down away from his glare. "I will see that you are paid out of my own funds."
Perry took Della's elbow and led her out of the room.
"You have a problem, you know," Della told him.
"Bob. You mean my brother of course."
"He is not going to stay out of this, Perry."
"I know. He is going to drive me crazy no doubt. First order of business is getting him another lawyer. I can't represent both of them."
"I am sure there are good lawyers in San Francisco. He can probably tell you who the best ones are."
"They are not good enough. I want the best," Perry said.
"Well, he can't have the best because the best is you," she smiled.
"There is one attorney I would trust to protect Bob," Mason announced.
"Who?"
"A criminal attorney from Atlanta," Perry said.
Della looked at him in surprise. "You are talking about Ben Matlock, aren't you?"
"That's the one. Let's go somewhere I can call him in private. I hope his schedule is not as busy as mine."
"Perry, he charges $100,000 right up front. Robert doesn't have that kind of money."
"No, but I do. I will pay it, but you can bet his charges are going to be on Alexandra Hughes' bill."
"That's if you can get him at all," Della pointed out.
"Oh, I don't think I will have any trouble getting him to come to San Francisco at all," Mason said with a grin.
4
Louis Blaine and Eli Schneider tried to enter the main highway out of San Francisco. Louis drove towards the entrance ramp. When he noticed the cop parked there, he went right on by it.
"What the hell are you doing? You just missed our exit," Eli growled. He was anxious to get out of the city. He wanted nothing further to do with San Francisco or Robert Ironside. He had outsmarted the cop and Alexandra Hughes. Eli had never enjoyed a morning paper as much as he did this morning's. Right there on the front page was a picture of Hughes being arrested. There was a nice little story about the past relationship between her and Robert Ironside.
Ironside was under Internal Affairs Investigation. It could not have turned out any better than it had as far as he was concerned.
"Didn't you see the damn squad car sitting right there? Do you want to be picked up with the Tiger in the car?"
Eli looked back and sure enough there was a black and white sitting off to the side, partially concealed by the overpass. "No, I missed it."
"Well, I didn't and I am not going to drive right by a cop."
Eli rubbed his hand down his face. "That is the third way out of town that has had cops sitting at the exits. Maybe we better take a side road."
"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard," Louis said shaking his head. "It is exactly what Ironside wants us to do. He wants to force us to go the side roads where he will have police pounce on us as soon as we try."
"Would you rather circle back and use the highway? How else are we going to get out of town? The back roads make more sense," Eli snarled.
"Sure the do," Blaine said sarcastically. "Why don't we just go right up to Ironside's cops and ask them to arrest us," he countered. They tried a couple other ways out of town but saw plain-clothes detectives sitting in cars and turned away
"I don't like it. It looks like Ironside has all the exits of town covered. We don't dare try to leave," Blaine said.
"What about a train? Air travel is out of the question. I have no doubt he has airport personnel watching for us," Eli said. "I thought he was under internal affairs investigation. Why is he still directing the police?"
"You really didn't think he would pay any attention to directives from Internal Affairs? The cops in this city will take orders from him whether he is suspended or not," Blaine said.
"We have no choice but to find a place to hold out until things cool off. Ironside can't keep those exits blocked for long. The manpower alone will cost the city a bundle."
"I think you are right. Let's find a place to stay until it is safe to leave the city."
5
Perry and Della returned to Ironside's office. As soon as they entered, the chief turned his chair and stared at his younger brother. Perry went directly to the table and sat down beside him. Della sat beside Perry.
"Well?" Ironside demanded. "Are you going to take her case or not?"
"You do have a way of getting to the point," Perry said with a smile.
"To do anything else is a waste of time," the detective said.
"She didn't kill Jurgens," Mason said, "of that I am certain. She was set up... an elaborate setup at that. It is going to be a tough up-hill climb to prove it."
"We'll prove it," Ironside said.
"We'll prove it?" Mason questioned. "Bob, may I remind you that you are temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the Internal Affairs Investigation?"
"You really didn't think that was going to stop me, did you?"
Mason sighed. Proving the innocence of Alexandra Hughes was a picnic compared to controlling his big brother. "Look, Bob. You need to stay out of this. Paul is here, and you know fully well he is an excellent detective."
"So am I," Ironside growled.
"And one that is supposed to be out of commission." Perry was now more than ever convinced that he had to get a good lawyer for his brother to protect him from those in the department who may consider this a perfect opportunity to destroy him. "We need to talk about getting an attorney to represent you. You asked me to take this case and I have done so. I can't represent both you and Alexandra Hughes."
"I don't need a lawyer. I have not done anything wrong," Ironside insisted, knowing fully well it was in his best interest to listen to his brother in this situation.
Mason raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me you know more about the law than I do? I can show you dozens of my clients that didn't do anything wrong and ended up charged with murder."
"I know more about the law than you are giving me credit. It is my job to enforce it."
"I give you plenty of credit, Bob. It is just that you are the one that is being scrutinized. I am trying to protect you."
Ironside knew Perry was right. He simply was not used to being on the sidelines. When there were cases they were both on, they worked them together. Perry was telling him they could not work it together and he was to stay out of it. What he did not understand was he had no intention of letting Blaine and Schneider get away with stealing the Tiger and framing Alexandra for murder. She had been sincere this time about stopping them. Alexandra had no reason to walk into his office and every reason to stay away if she had intended to help them steal the Tiger. No, she was innocent, they were guilty and it was his job to bring them in as well as whoever murdered Howard Jurgens. He was sleaze, but a human being never-the-less.
Despite the fact he had many times chastised officers for attempting to investigate while under investigation themselves, he just could not stay out of this. He owed it to Alexandra. At the present time, he had no idea how he was going to do it without drawing attention to himself. Maybe Perry was right. Maybe he should just stay out of it and allow Paul Drake to do the investigating this time.
"Alright, Perry, you win. I will call an attorney today," he told his brother, not sure he could leave the case alone.
"I would like to suggest an out-of-state attorney. I will call him for you. I believe I can get him to come to San Francisco to represent you," Mason said.
Ironside raised an eyebrow. "Who did you have in mind?"
"Ben Matlock from Atlanta," Perry answered.
"Matlock? He's a criminal attorney. I don't need a criminal attorney," Ironside growled.
Mason turned away from his brother and mumbled, "I might after I kill my brother." Della heard the remark and smiled, placing her hand on Perry's wrist. Realizing she had heard him, he smiled sheepishly.
"Are you going to take my advice or not?" Perry said, trying to control the tone of his voice.
Ironside backed off. "It's your call."
Mason grabbed a phone and dialed the operator for the Atlanta area. "Operator, I need the phone number for the attorney, Benjamin Matlock."