The Case of the Deadly Toy Extended Chapter4
At exactly 3:00 Mike Carter walked into Perry Mason's office. He stopped for a few minutes to chat with Gertie the receptionist. Then he walked into Della Street's office.
"Hey there kiddo, how ya doing? That boss of yours keeping you busy?" Mike asked as he smiled at her.
When she didn't answer, he continued talking, thinking nothing of it.
"Seriously Della, I really appreciate Perry seeing me on such short notice. I know he's very busy."
Della looked at him, masking her true feelings."I'll let him know you're here."
She hit the button on the intercom and buzzed Perry.
"Mr. Mason," she said rather formally, "Mr. Carter is here for his appointment"
Perry immediately noticed the tone in her voice. Given the fact that he knew her so well, coupled with the situation at hand he, wasn't surprised.
"Have him come in. By the way, this would be a good time to run those errands."
In spite of herself, Della had to smile. "Bless him" she thought, he knows I don't want to be in there with them right now.
She wanted to run into his office and kiss him but instead she said in her normal voice, "Alright, I"ll be back in a little while."
Mike walked into Perry's office. "Hi buddy, how are you? Say, what's with Della? She seems a little distracted."
Perry didn't answer him. Instead he asked, "Why did you want to see me about Mike? Is it business or personal."
Mike's jovial mood disappeared and he became thoughtful. "Actually, it's a little of both. You see……"
Perry put his hand up and interrupted him. "Mike, I'm your lawyer and you know that anything you tell me is confidential. First though, I have to ask you something and I want the truth."
"Sure Perry, of course. What do you want to ask me?"
"Yesterday I wanted to do something special for Della…… So I took her to Catalina"
Mike turned white. "Oh that" he said quietly.
"That's all you have to say?" Perry asked, sounding surprised. "My God man, what the hell's the matter with you? There you are sitting there with some woman, looking as if you don't have a care in the world. I thought Della was going to pass out when we saw you. The ride home with her was no picnic and when we got there, she became so unhinged it took me forever to calm her down. She hardly slept last night. I'm not too happy with you myself at this point." He looked Mike in the directly in the eye and asked straight out, "Now what exactly is going on? Are you having an affair? "
Mike looked as though the wind had been knocked out of him. He looked at his friend and Mason could have sworn he saw tears in his eyes.
"Oh my God Perry" Mike answered him, his voice shaking, "That's not what it is at all. Please you've got to believe me. I love Jill and Elizabeth more than anything else in this world. They're my whole life. I would never do anything to hurt them.
Perry got up from his desk and walked around to where his friend sat. He put a hand on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile. "That's a relief. You know Della and I don't usually over react, but let me tell you, what we saw didn't leave much to the imagination. Now suppose you start at the beginning and tell me everything."
"Alright Perry," Mike took a deep breath and paused for a minute. Then he began to tell Perry about his worst nightmare.
"About two months ago a man came to see me. His name was John Cavanaugh. He's a lawyer."
"The name doesn't sound familiar," said Perry
"He's not local," answered Mike. "He's from the east coast……New Jersey………Atlantic City, you know, beaches, The Steal Pier, salt water taffy, Miss America"
"Yes, I know. A few Years ago, I attended a symposium in New York. Della came with me and when it was over, we took a few extra days and went down "the shore " as the locals call it. It was really nice. We stayed at the Marlbourgh-Blemheim if I recall. Went to some night clubs, took a ride in a rolling chair, walked the boardwalk. Della loved it. She couldn't get over the fact that there was a real boardwalk. She wants to go there again. I liked it myself. I may just take her back one of these days."
"I'm sorry Mike." Perry realized he was getting carried away. "Anyway, what did this Cavanaugh want?"
"He represents a man named Bobby Paloma. He's a "businessman"----He owns a couple of hotels there, at the shore, as you put it. He's supposed to be a big deal, a very important man, if you get my drift. He also is part owner of two or three hotels in Vegas."
"How did he get your name?"
"The guy who was my roommate in college is also an architect. When we graduated, Alex took a job on the east coast. Somehow he knows Cavanaugh. He asked Alex if he knew an architect in Vegas. Alex recommended me. He told him that I live in L.A. but that didn't seem to bother him."
"I'm curious Mike, why didn't this Cavanaugh pick someone from a local firm right in Vegas?""I don't know Perry, maybe he wanted someone that was recommended, maybe he wanted someone that wasn't associated with a big firm. You know it's only Ted and myself……I don't know….I don't know.
Mike covered his face with his hands and rubbed his fingers over his eyes. He suddenly looked very tired.
Perry opened the cabinet behind his desk, took out a bottle of Scotch and a glass. He poured the liquor into the glass and handed it to Mike.
"Here , I think you could use this."
Mike gave his friend an appreciative look and took the glass. Perry noticed that his hands were a little shaky.
"Go on Mike", Perry said encouragingly, "Tell me the rest of it"
Mike continued with the rest of the story. " One of the hotspots in Atlantic City is the 500 Club. It's very famous……..very upscale. The "Rat Pack" performs there three or four times a year. You know, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and the other two. Martin also performs with that funny guy, Jerry Lewis. A lot of other celebrities are booked there also. Anyway, Cavanaugh comes to me and he says that Paloma wants to meet me, says he asked around and he liked what he heard. He checked out some of my designs and was very impressed. He told me that Paloma wants me to design a club like that in Vegas, only on a bigger scale.
"I decided to meet with him just to see exactly what he wanted. Ted was out of town with his family and I didn't want to bother him. I figured I would talk to him when he came back."
"What about Jill?"
"What about Jill? I told her I had to go to Vegas on business. I would only be gone for the day and I would be home by dinnertime. If I was going to be late, I would call."
"What happened at that meeting?"
Perry noticed that his friend was starting to get nervous. He looked at him with understanding and said quietly but firmly, "Mike, I know this isn't easy but you have to tell me everything………no matter how bad it is. That's the only way I can help you."
"I know Perry. "It's just that I really am in deep, way over my head. I don't know what to do."
"Finish the rest of the story, then we'll take it from there"
"When I met with Paloma, he repeated what Cavanaugh had said, only in greater detail. He asked me how long I thought it would take, what materials would I need and how much I thought it would cost. I told him I would write an estimate and send it to him. He seemed ok with that."
Mike took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. He waited a minute, then began again.
"Then I told him I would have to talk it over with my partner and I would get back to him. I explained that I would also like to bring on my own construction team because we are used to working together. That's when things turned sour. Paloma told me I didn't need to consult with Ted, in fact he didn't even want him on the project. He also told me that he had his own construction team and he was going to use them. Finally, he said he knew that I would be happy to draw up plans that would be as he put it…….beneficial to us both. I knew at that moment that it was going be a crocked operation and I wanted no part of it."
"What did you say then?"
"I told him that I would have to go back and check my schedule to see when I could start. That seemed to satisfy him for the moment. The next day I called and told him that after checking my calendar it looked as though I would be tied up for a few months. I thanked him, said I was flattered that he had asked me, but I didn't think it was fair to keep him waiting. Then he said something that really made me nervous."
"What was that?"
"He said, Mr. Carter, I always get what I want and I want you for this project. So it would seem that you don't have a choice now, do you? I'll be in touch------Then he hung up."
"So he threatened you" Perry said
"Yeah, but that was the first time"
"You mean it happened more than once?"
"Perry, he threatened to ruin my career, but that's not the worst thing"
"Let me guess," Mason had a sick feeling in his gut. He threatened your life"
"Worse,"Mike said, his voice breaking, he could hardly get the words out……….."he threatened Jill…. and the baby."
"Oh my God" Perry was in shock. "Mike, I'm sorry, I had no idea." Look, I'll get Paul in on this. As soon as Della gets back we'll sit down and"……………………
"No Perry, Della cant' know. If you want to involve Paul that's fine, I could use his help, but not Della."
"Mike, Jill doesn't know does she?"
"What makes you think that?"
"If you had already discussed this with Jill, you wouldn't have cared if Della knew. You're afraid that she'll talk to Jill about it."
"Your're right, I just thought it would be better if Jill didn't know anything , at least not now…….not until I could figure out what to do."
"Mike, you know that any information between my clients and myself is privileged. That holds true for Della as well. She would never divulge anything that was told to us. She has my complete trust and I expect my clients to trust her as well. Furthermore, and most importantly, we're your friends, and we care about all of you. That alone should be reason enough to trust us, don't you think?"
"I know Perry, I appreciate that, I really do. It's just that I've been on edge……so mixed up. I haven't been sleeping well and to be honest, keeping this from Jill is so hard. I thought I was doing the right thing, you know, trying to protect her. You understand, don't you?"
"Of course I do. Sometimes I do that with Della and let me tell you, when she finds out, oh brother, do I get it. When we got together, we promised each other there would be no secrets. So far, so good. Still ever so often, something comes up and I think that it would be better if she didn't know. Then I realize the consequences and it's just not worth it. So I protect her and watch out for her the best I can. I admit, it's harder to keep something to yourself when you work together." Perry began to laugh, " Plus, that woman is like a bloodhound. Nothing gets by her."
His voice became serious once again. "There's one more thing I have to ask you. What's the story with the woman?"
"Her name is Dianne Adams. She's Paloma's ex girlfriend. She called my office about two weeks ago----said she had information that could put Paloma away. I didn't know it but she was there the day I met with him. She was in another room…….heard the whole thing."
"Why did she contact you?"
"She said she knew I didn't want to take the job. She heard Paloma and Cavanaugh talking…………..they were talking about building codes and substandard materials. Perry, there's more, Paloma………..he used to ……hit her, slap her around. The last time was it for her. She packed a bag, got on a plane and flew out here…. When she got here, she called me. I met with her a few times. I gave her some money to help her out……..figured it was the least I could do. That's what we were doing yesterday. Trying to figure out what to do next. I wanted her to go to the police. At the very least, I was going to ask you to talk to her.
Perry let a deep breath. "Well, you're right about one thing. You are in way over your head."
"Look Mike, go home , be with Jill and the baby. Have a nice quiet dinner. Then sit Jill down and talk to her…..tell her everything. Tomorrow, the four of us, maybe Paul too, will get together and see where we go from here. It will be ok. I promise you."
For the first time since he walked into his friend's office, Mike Carter breathed a sigh of relief. As serious as the situation was, even Perry felt better. " Wait till I tell Della", he thought.
"Well I better get out of here and let you get back to work. Please tell Della I'm sorry about yesterday.
"Della will be fine once I tell her the real story. Now go home and see my other two favorite ladies. Give them my love."
The two men shook hands and Perry watched his friend walked out of his office. Then he picked up the phone and dialed Paul Drake.
Out in the hall, Mike pushed the button for the elevator that would take him down to the parking garage. He noticed two men, walking towards him, one carrying a coat over his arm. As they entered the elevator and the door closed, the last thing Mike felt before he blacked out was the cold metal against the back of his neck.