I'm having such fun writing this... I sincerely hope you have the same fun reading it….

Chapter 4

Paul Drake jr. hummed a pleasant tune, and then whistled to his dog. Actually it wasn't his dog, but Linda's. But whether he or she whistled, the big dog always came running to him, and not to Linda, no matter how hard she tried. It just made her smile. Her decision to go to Boston with this dog, and of course private eye Drake had been the best she ever made. Her job at the policestation here was even better than the one she had back in Denver.

She handed him a drink while he sat down on the small bench and put his arm around her shoulder. " Cheers, honey. "

" Cheers…" he took a large gulp and stared at his feet.

Linda looked at him from aside. " You're still thinking about Perry and Della? "

" Yeah. I'm not really bothered, you know, it's just... I don't know, it's just not like them to forget about my birthday. Not like Della anyway. Last year she even phoned me from Paris, when they were there to spend some time together. "

" Maybe they did just forget, honey. They are getting older, you know. "

" Nah, they don't have time to grow old, not the way they are working. You should know, you've seen them together when we worked on the Robertson's case, remember? " He stroked her belly. " It's not that I really want to be congratulated with my birthday, I just want to tell them….I want to tell them I want little Paul or Pauline here to have them as grandparents. I think they are quite suitable…"

" I think so too. They're nice, Paul. " She smiled softly. " Well, maybe when we get home, you'll see that they have phoned. Let's go... "

" Yeah, let's go. "

Drake didn't have to check his messageservice himself, the phone seemed to have been ringing continuously when they walked into their home.

" Mr. Drake? I'm glad I finally caught you. "

" Yeah, Paul Drake here. Why the panic? Important messages? "

" One message, Mr. Drake, and indeed very urgent. From Perry Mason's office. "

" Ah, I thought so…" His small nod to Linda made her smile. " What did she say ? Or was it Mason himself? "

" Mr. Mason said, and I quote : ' Get your ass over here, Della is missing ' "

" What? "

" And he said you had to phone him right away when I got a hold of you. "

" Jeezzz…"

" Are you all right, Mr. Drake? "

" Yeah, fine. No, I'm not. Of course not. Thanks. Bye. "

Paul pushed the numbers he knew by head to phone Mason's office, but the line was busy. After a few times, he tried the number he had from the Mason residence, but there was no answer there. " Damn! "

He ran upstairs, taking three steps at the time, grabbed his travelbag and threw some clothes and toiletries in it.

" Paul? " her questioning eyes distracted his thinking about the flight he had to take, and how to get to Mason's office as soon as possible from Denver Airport. Then he realised they were supposed to go out to diner for his birthday tonight.

" I'm sorry Linda, I'm leaving for Denver right away, Della's missing... " He had trouble to catch his breath. " I have to get there right away…. Jeeeeezzz..."

" Really? Della? My God, Paul, that sounds bad…. real bad…."

" Oh, I'm pretty confident we'll find her. It happened before, and we always got her back safe and sound. I'm just not so very sure how the old man is coping…. I guess he is a mess already..."

# $%

Perry Mason sank down on a chair at the reception's area of the officebuilding. He put his cane against the desk, and stroked his beard. The ungoing interrogations and investigation of the last hours had been dreadful and too damned long. And worse than that, it had resulted in absolutely, really absolutely nothing, no clue at all.

He checked his pocketwatch, it was 5 a.m. already. It wouldn't be long before the Saturdaymorningnews and the tabloids would throw the news of his missing Della into the world. Even though it was the least of his problems now, he could see the headlines already, and groaned in frustration and agitation in advance. All kinds of suggestions would be made, one of them of course that she had left the famous lawyer, because he had been bad to her, or worse, he had cheated on her with a female client. Or she had gone off with a male client. Or he had hired someone to kidnap her to draw attention to his office. Or she wanted to have his money, and set up this kidnapping to obtain ransome. Whatever. Tabloidjournalists could be accused of a lot, but certainly not of having a very original imaginitive and inventive brain.

In the room next to him, people were talking on the phone, there was a rattle of a faxmachine, and he heard rustling and voices coming out of walkie-talkies. He listened silently to the voices of Ken and some sergeants who were checking out the CCTVfootage, and other video's they had found, for what must be the ninetiest time this night. They tried their best to analyze what had happened exactly in the fifteen minutes he had let her out of his sight. His jaws tightened again, and he closed his eyes. He could have prevented this. He should have asked her to let Ken get the mail, he should have gone downstairs with her himself.

His fist hit the desk.

He felt her last kiss burning on his lips, and pulled out the handkerchief she had used to whipe her lipstick from his mouth with her soft hands.

He heard Ken talking to the sergeants. Mason himself couldn't watch the images anymore. The first time he had watched them, hours ago, he had already seen she had been startled by the man who asked her to come to the van, that was parked outside at the back of the office. He had seen a mixture of surprise and fear in her eyes when she walked outside with what she thought was the postman. He had seen her easing down the moment she recognized the man in the van, whoever it was. But the knot in his stomach was mainly caused by the fact that she had taken the guys' hand and got in the van without hesitation.

" No. Go back. " Ken's voice sounded tired and angry.

" What? "

" Go back. Stop it. Here, you see here. Here she knows something is wrong. Check her eyes, they start flashing around. And she brings her hands up. You see? "

" You're right. "

" And here… stop it right there…you see…"

" Oh, man….."

" Yeah…."

" She really recognizes him. She even smiles..."

" Yeah, she does. She goes into the van without struggling here, you see? "

" Did you check the numberplate of the van? " Ken's voice asked.

" Yes, as we already guessed it's a rented van. We're expecting the information about who rented it from the rental company any minute now…."

" Is there anyway we can see who is standing behind the backdoor of the van? We just see his shoes…"

" Nah. There's no camera positioned over there. "

" Stop the tape again. Yes, here. You see. She takes his hand and just gets in. Just like that. " Ken sighed. " Did you run a check on this postman already? "

" Yeah, he's been working with FedEx for half a year. No home adress, no police record, no family here. And he's missing now too. "

Then a whisper, that was loud enough to reach Perry's ears. "So, basically we have nothing? "

" Yeah, I'm afraid we don't. I'm sorry. "

" If you want to be sorry, be sorry for me. I'm the one that has to go and tell Perry Mason…"

But Mason had already left, and limped in the elevator to go to his office.

#$%

Paul Drake jr. paused for a moment before knocking on the door to Perry Mason's office. He frowned at the noises he heard, concentrating to identify the somewhat familiair sounds, and shook his head before deciding to just go in without permission. He opened the door to see what he was expecting to see. Perry hit his desk with his fist, and violently pushed a chair away with his cane, before he stood up.

" Yeah, well, that sure helps a lot. Tossing around your office furniture..." Paul Drake leaned forward and accentuated his next word " ...chief. "

" Shut up, Drake. "

" Nice to see you too, Perry. Howya been? " He threw his travelbag on the floor. " So, not even Drake junior can leave you alone for long, and then you lose the gal, right? "

Paul's attitude changed the very second he met the gaze of his former employer. He swallowed. " Jeezzz, Perry. Give yourself a break here, take it easy. Things are going to be fine. We just have to pull our tricks. "

Perry sighed and sat down again. His head was in his hands, when he said " Sorry, Paul. I just haven't slept a wink, been here all night, with the police and forensics trying to figure out what the hell happened, and how." His voice was soft and low. " I just let her slip away, Paul. She's missing without a trace, and I really don't have a clue where she might be, or who took her. " He kicked the dustbin under his desk.

" Yeah, and now you're here still, at... " Paul checked his watch " … 7.30 a.m., dwelling in selfpity and guilt. Which really helps a lot of course. " Drake sat himself down on one of the chairs at the conference table and swung his legs over the armrest.

" You sound like someone I know. " Mason stood up again and laughed despite himself. He rubbed his face with one hand, while shaking hands firmly with Drake.

" Yeah, sounds like the someone we are going to find, doesn't it? " Paul took the documents about the disappearance of Della Street from the table and thumbed through them. " Now, I have been downstairs for a while, Perry, and I've been to the policestation shortly. She is not really missing without a trace, as you say. There seems to be a lot of footage of the CCTV of this building, and from the securitycamera's outside. This Ken Malansky-guy is still checking it all out. They are going to reconstruct in a couple of minutes to see if they can get any clues out of that. So what else have we got? Did they check the numberplate of the van they were driving? "

" Yes, it was rented under a false name, with a false ID. They paid in cash. No camera's at the rental place. Can you believe that? " Pery rubbed his tired eyes. " And apart from all the details we went through last afternoon and tonight, looking for clues and fingerprints and whatever in here, downstairs and around the building, we have the letters that were sent to our home…You know a few of them... " Perry threw them to Paul. " Here…"

" Did she read them? "

" No."

" Did she know about the threats? "

" Yes. I told her yesterday…I didn't tell her I had the letters here. "

" So, you finally told her, huh ? "

" She answered the phone when the guy called yesterday. So, I had to tell her. " Mason stood next to Paul and pointed at the letters. " Now pay special attention to the last letter. The last call, the one from yesterday morning, was announced in it."

" So the guy was probably checking if she was here…" Paul said without thought while he nodded and read through the last letter Perry had thrown at him.

" What did you say? " Perry frowned.

" What I said was that he, the looney-tune, probably phoned to this office to make sure she was here, so he could send his guys or whatever to come and get her. " He looked at Perry. " Makes sense, doesn't it? "

" Good thinking…. I knew I needed you here…What would..."

The opening of the outerdoor to his office cut him off. Lieutenant Ed Brock walked in, followed by two of his sergeants. " Mason…"

" Ed Brock. Meet Paul Drake. "

" Yeah, we know eachother. " They shook hands. " Drake, kind of nice meeting you again. "

" Brock."

" So, what have we got all together? " Drake quiried as they all sat down.

" First, we're reconstructing events downstairs in about half an hour. We got some witnesses, who saw her getting in the van, and we have the CCTV footage, we'll be able to do a good reconstruction, and we'll take it from there. Second, the coffee downstairs is dreadful." Brock pulled out his little notebook and a pencil. " Third, Mason, when did you last check your bankaccounts? "

" I never do. You know, I used to have a secretary taking care of that kind of things. Why ? " Perry grunted while he sat down on his couch with his eyes closed.

" Well, you know how it works, couns'lor, if someone goes missing, that's one of the first things we check you know… family ties, numberplates, bankaccounts, homes, cars. "

" So? "

" It seems someone has looted your bankaccounts, Mason. "

The big lawyer opened his eyes, and stared at Brock in disbelief. " What? How much is missing? "

" Ten million dollars and a bit, sir. Withdrawn yesterday afternoon, quite soon after your Miss Street went missing. "

" Fieeeew. " Paul Drake whistled loudly, and looked at Perry.

" Private and bussiness, couns'lor. " Brock added, as he queried Perry's startled reaction. " You didn't know you were that rich, did you? "

" Well, no. Not exactly... "

" Ah, you know, you wouldn't be the first big man to not know about your finances, couns'lor. I know guys that run multinationals and speak about their business and millions of dollars as if it's nothing. When I ask hem about their own salary and expenses they don't know a thing. " Brock turned his eyes from Perry's. " But it leaves our guys wondering…"

" What? " Mason grunted.

" Well…" Brock hesitated.

" Oh, give me a break... " Perry suddenly understood Brock's suggestion. " We are talking about Della Street here, Brock. Yes, she could spend or take all my money without me noticing it. " He paused, and swallowed hard. " But she wouldn't. "

" Well, I know that, you know that, but my sergeants indeed think she might just as well have left off with all your money. "

" Don't be ridiculous... " Drake made a gesture with his hands, and stood up. He started to speak again, but was stopped by the dark voice of Perry.

" She's been with me for forty-one years, Brock. Tell your sergeants to mind about that, before minding about anything else. I know it's very uncommon nowadays to spend so many years together with someone, but it still is possible. I know her inside out, and she knows me. If she had the need to do what you are suggesting, she'd have told me, and I would have let her do it. I would have let her go. "

Perry stood up and walked towards the window. His stare outside made the men in the room grow silent.

Brock stood up and sighed. " Well, we need to see about that reconstruction, Mason, and then you'll have to come with me to check out your home for clues. "

" Take Paul and Ken with you to go to my home, Brock. "

" You're not coming to your house? "

" No. They know the way, they know our house, and they have a key. "

" Yeah, but I need to know if there's personal belongings missing of your Miss Street, sir, and I …" Brock stopped speaking as Paul Drake gestured to leave him alone for a minute with the big lawyer. He walked towards Perry Mason, and stood still next to him at the window of the office.

" You know you have to go home sometime, don't you? And, that is preferably before you start to smell…."

" I know. Just not now. Not yet." Perry tried to smile at Drake's remark, but failed. " And maybe you see things there I wouldn't. "

Paul squeezed Perry's shoulder and hesitated to walk out. Halfway the office he turned to Perry again. " You don't seriously consider she went off with your money, do you? Because she would never do that, you know. "

" No, of course not. I know she wouldn't. " Mason touched his arm on the spot she had dug in her nails two nights ago, when he had brought her over the brink just a moment before his own release. The echo of her soft I love you was still in his ears. He looked at the familiair eyes of the young Paul Drake, who was obviously as concerned as his father would have been. " Of course not. "

" I'll keep you posted, Perry. Hang in here. Stay close to a phone. "

# $

Mason hesitated to go to the reconstruction downstairs. What the hell was that, other than just a standard procedure.

Bottomline was still that they had nothing.

After fifteen minutes of going over the same documents again, he sighed and tugged his cane from the desk to walk to the elevator. The despair and frustration of not being able to do anything was rising to an unbearable level. He had to do something. Anything.

When the elevatordoors opened again at ground level, Mason was surprised to see Ed Brock standing in the hall talking to Ken and Paul. They stopped abruptly when they noticed him, and watched him with a mixture of shock and pity. His tired eyes darkened and he watched them suspiciously.

" What is it? " Nobody answered. He started to lose his patience.

" What. Is .It ? " Nobody answered again.

Perry exploded in anger and frustration. His fist hit the reception's counter hard. A coffee cup fell off and broke into pieces on the floor. He shouted.

" What the hell is it ? "

Finally, Brock opened his mouth and spoke " I need you to come to the station with me, Mason. We found a body that could be your Miss Street. "