The Case of the Defenseless Prosecuter
Chapter 11
11.1
Startled, Hamilton Burger turned to see Sgt. Ed Brown sitting beside him in his car. He looked away from him. He knew he was going to be in big trouble with Ironside. He had made it clear he would put him in a cell if he interfered with the case. He now had to find a way to keep Brown from telling his boss about his appearance here. "Look, Ed….."
"Seems to me the chief told you to stay completely away from Richard Littleton"
"I just can't sit by and do nothing. My career and my life are at stake here. I have to be involved."
Chief Ironside is going to hit the roof when he finds out you were here tonight."
"So you are going to tell him?"
Ed shook his head. "We don't keep anything from him, Hamilton. If we did, we would not be working for him. It would be better if it came from you," Ed suggested.
Hamilton sighed. "Ok Ed, I'll tell him but first let me explain to you what I have been doing tonight. I went to Littleton's office…"
"You what!" Ed exclaimed.
"Just hear me out. I went there. After I was sure Littleton was not there I talked to his secretary, who by the way was filling a box with her personal belongings. She had quit. Seems she is not real fond of her ex-boss. She let me see the Conner Wolff file. Ed, he knew for certain that Wolff was guilty of those murders. Wolff paid him three hundred thousand dollars to make sure he got off."
Ed frowned. "You mean he actually recorded that in his records?"
"Sure. Any communication between attorney and client is confidential. It cannot be used in court against the client. He probably did it for his own recollection and for a little blackmailing later on. Anyway, according to Littlton's file Wolff was on the security cameras"
Ed could not believe his own ears. "You mean the murder of those people was recorded?"
"That's right but Woff took the recordings. He gave them to Littleton to keep and told him they were confidential. Littleton was not supposed to look at them."
"But he did," Ed surmised.
"He did. He confronted Wolff with his knowledge of what was on the recording. Wolff offered to pay him a hundred thousand dollars to keep quiet about what was on the recording and another two hundred thousand to get him acquitted."
"So Richards suppressed the evidence that would have convicted Wolff for sure," Ed said.
"I have always known he was dirty. We just have never been able to get anything on him."
"Maybe if you had spent more time trying to catch him at a crime and less going after Perry Mason, you might have gotten him," Ed said sarcastically.
"I admit in the beginning we tried to get Perry disbarred but that was a long time ago. You have to admit Perry pushes the line. I thought he was crooked at first. I learned different over the years when he would find the real killer, not just get his clients off. We don't always care for his methods but he cares about justice. I understand him better now. Even though we are on opposite sides of the fence, we respect each other. In fact I consider Perry a friend and the speed in which he came to my defense proves he considers me a friend as well."
"What are you doing here?" Ed asked changing the subject.
"I believe Littleton not only withheld evidence, I believe he is up to his neck in this. My gut instinct tells me he knows more about this murder than we do. So why are you here?"
Ed sighed. "Because I believe he is up to his neck in this and knows more about the murder than we do and….Chief Ironside ordered me to find out everything we can about him. So far you have found out more than I have," he admitted.
"Where do we go from here?" Hamilton asked.
"You are going home. I am going to follow Littleton if he leaves here."
Burger looked straight out the front window while pondering what to say to convince Brown he needed to be involved. When he was ready to speak again, he looked back at Ed. "I remember reading in the San Francisco paper about a detective sergeant who was accused of murder. He was identified by a number of people in a bar as having shot dead a man outside of the bar. He was supposed to have gone fishing and was actually writing an article about his boss. But he did not have anyone to back up his alibi. I am just wondering did that detective sergeant go home and not bother to help with the investigation to clear himself?"
Sgt. Brown looked down. Burger brought back memories of one of the most difficult periods of his life. He turned and looked Hamilton Burger in the eye. "I did not do anything on my own. I was with the chief who headed the investigation. Even then, I only worked with him until they actually put me under arrest. I had to depend on Chief Ironside to clear me."
"Look Hamilton, I have been where you are right now. Believe me I know what you are feeling. I know every emotion that is boiling deep inside you. Perry Mason believes in your innocence. So does Chief Ironside. For that matter so do I. We are here to help you. We will clear you. The chief is relentless when he is investigating and pairing him with Perry makes for an undefeatable duo. They are the two most brilliant men I have ever known. There are no better investigators. The chief wants you to leave this to the police. He's the boss."
"Ed, I have to be a part of it. It's my life. I can only put it in Perry's and the chief's hands so long as I can be involved. Let me work with you. I know the city, you don't. I can help you. It will help me keep my mine off the mess I am in. I know you can understand that," Burger pleaded.
Brown sat silently for a moment. "Ok. I will talk to the chief. If anyone can convince him it will be me. But get one thing straight, you will be taking orders from me. I get my orders from Chief Ironside. We will not be disobeying those orders. Is that clear?"
"Crystal," Burger said with a grin.
"Alright." Ed smiled back at Hamilton Burger.
Hamilton looked out the window. Richard Littleton came out his front door. He started up his Ford and began backing out of his driveway. "Ed, look!"
"I see him," Brown replied. "If he turns this way we better duck. I don't want him spotting us."
Little did indeed turn his vehicle toward Ed and Hamilton. Both men ducked as he drove away. Hamilton started up his vehicle. Leaving the lights off, he made a U turn in the road and began following Richard Littleton.
11.2
Chief Ironside, Perry Mason and Mark Sanger arrived at Regency Hotel. They reache room 819 and Mason knocked on the door. William Morrison opened the door and invited them into his suite. Mark pushed his boss in Morrison's direction.
"Chief Ironside, I presume," Morrison said. He offered his hand to Ironside.
"Chief Robert T. Ironside of the San Francisco Police Department," Perry said. "Chief Ironside is heading this investigation. This is Mark Sanger, the chief's aide"
Morrison looked between the two men. "I had heard the resemblance between the two of you was great but it is truly amazing. Even your voices sound alike."
Both men by now were so use to people pointing out their resemblance they just completely ignored the comment. "Is there someone we can talk?" Ironside asked.
"This way gentleman." Morrison led the men into his suite, which was a large as an apartment. Mark wheeled his boss into the room while the others followed. Morrison gestured toward chairs he had clearly set up for the meeting. "Now what can I do for you gentlemen?"
"Conner Wolff was accused of stealing technology from the Harris Corporation in San Diego. What proof do you have the technology was created in your company?" Ironside asked.
"We have all the plans on our computers which is time dated. The plans were also on paper, which is locked in the safe at our company. There are plenty of memos, emails and other communications between offices that prove he created the technology in our company. Charles Patrick is a crook. He paid Wolff to steal it and bring it to his company."
"What proof do you have of that?" Mason asked.
"I don't need proof, Mason. I know he did it."
"Your opinion would not hold any weight in court, Mr. Morrison. According to Charles Patrick, you are making the accusation in order to steal the technology from Johnson Tech. He says he has proof that it was created after Conner Wolff arrived at his company," Perry said, watching Morrison for clues he was hiding something.
Morrison replied angrily, "That is nothing but a lie. The technology for that chip was created in my company. Conner Wolff stole it when he left to go to work for Johnson Tech."
Ironside had been sitting back listening to the exchange between his brother and Morrison. He had developed a gut instinct and decided to act on it. "I would like access to the technology. I want another expert to take a look at it."
For only an instant there was a look of panic in the eyes of William Morrison. He recovered almost at once but not before both Perry Mason and Robert Ironside caught it.
"What are you afraid of Mr. Morrison?" Mason asked.
"Nothing," he replied indignantly.
"That you won't mind turning that technology over to me for analysis," Ironside demanded.
"So someone else has access to steal that technology, Ironside? No, I will not do that."
"What will we find out about the technology?" Mason asked.
"Nothing," Morrison growled.
"Was there something about it you did not want Charles Patrick to know?" Ironside pushed his hunch a bit further."
Morrison looked at Ironside who noticed he had the look of a man that wanted to be anywhere else at this time. "That is a ridiculous statement. Of course I did not want him to know anything at all about it. It was our discovery. We had the right to bring it to the public and make the profits of that discovery."
Mason had surmised where his brother was going with this. "What was wrong with the technology?"
Morrison got up. "I think this little interview is over. I would appreciate it you left."
"I think you better cooperate with us," Ironside said.
"If you don't leave, I am going to call the police," Morrison insisted.
"I am the police," Ironside retorted.
"From San Francisco," Morrison snarled. "You have no jurisdiction here, Ironside."
"You have not been keeping up Mr. Morrison. Chief Ironside has all the authority of his San Francisco rank here in Los Angeles. He is on loan from the SFPD. His jurisdiction, I am afraid, is something you cannot ignore," Mason said, smiling. "I would suggest you cooperate with him. Incidentally, where were you at the time the murder was committed?"
"I told you this conversation is over. Now get out of my suite." When neither man made a move to leave he shouted, "GET OUT!"
Ironside nodded at Perry Mason. Mason pulled a paper out of his pocket and set it down in front of William Morrison.
"What the hell is this?" Morrison snarled.
"It's a subpoena, Mr. Morrison. If you won't talk to us here, you can do so in court."
"I have to get back to my company," he protested.
"You are a material witness, Mr. Morrison. I insist you stick around. At any rate, we will see you in court. I am not finished with you. I will be back," Ironside said. He turned his chair toward the door. Mark fell in behind him and pushed his boss out of the suite. Mason glance back at Morrison and smiled.
Morrison watched as the two men left. He picked up the phone and dialed. "Ironside and Mason are going to be a problem…"
11.3
Mark pulled the van up and parked in a handicapped parking spot in front of Perry's apartment building. Chief Ironside lowered his chair to the ground. "Bob, you suspect there is something wrong with the chip, is that right?"
Ironside stopped his chair and looked over his shoulder at Perry. "You mean to tell me you don't?"
"It occurred to me, of course but at the present time we don't have anything but a hunch to base that on."
"Which is why we are going to get a court order and pick it up as evidence," Ironside said.
"You know when this is all over, you might consider staying on with the LAPD. I could use a cop with your kind of resources in the department," Perry grinned.
"And put Mr. Drake out of a job?" Ironside said.
Perry laughed. He turned at the sound of squealing tires as a car came speeding around the corner. Perry's instincts told him he and his brother were in intimate danger. Apparently, Mark's instincts had kicked in as well. Both men turned toward Ironside. Perry grabbed the wheel of the chair and tipped Ironside over. Mark dove on top Ironside as he went crashing to the ground. Perry went down immediately after knocking his brother over. Bullets were sprayed in their direction from an automatic weapon as it sped by. After it disappeared down the street, Mason got up. He and Mark lifted Ironside back into his chair.
"Let's get inside," Perry suggested.
"Amen," Mark agreed.
When they arrived up at Perry's apartment, Della met them at the door. The look on her face told Perry that she had heard the shots. "Perry, are you alright?"
"I'm fine Della,"
"Robert….."
"We are all fine, Della," Ironside interrupted her.
Perry walked over to the bar and fixed some drinks. After handing one to Ironside and Mark, he sat down on the couch and gave another to Della. "I find it interesting that you demanded the chip technology be turned over to you and forty five minutes later someone tries to kill us."
"You don't suppose Morrison was behind it?" Mark suggested.
"Could be," Ironside said. Rubbing his chin with his thumb and index finger, he looked at Perry. "You once said that every time you came to San Francisco, you got shot at or knifed. How do you explain this one? We are not in San Francisco."
Perry conceded. "I take it back. Obviously San Francisco is not the problem. I no longer blame the city for not liking me. No, I am now convinced that you are a magnet for every maniac with a gun."
"Me? They were shooting at you as well," Ironside pointed out.
"What difference does it make which one of you they were shooting at?" Della protested. "Both of you are going to have to be careful."
"It makes a difference to me. It would be better for me if they were shooting at Perry," Ironside said with a slight grin that displayed dimples. "Has Eve, or Ed called in?" Ironside asked.
"Eve called in. She has been doing some checking on the Tennison Corporation. She said she would talk to you in the morning. Ed has not called in."
"Did you try his cell phone?" Ironside asked.
"Just before you came in Robert, but he did not answer it," Della informed him.
There was a knock on the door. Della walked over and opened it. Lt. Arthur Tragg entered Perry's apartment with a security disc and a computer in his hands. "Good evening folks," Tragg said as he slumped into a chair.
Perry looked at him. "You looked like you had a hell of a day, Tragg."
"You might say that, Mason. Perry, do you have any more of that bourbon? I assume it is bourbon? That is Chief Ironside's favorite drink."
Perry got up, went to the kitchen and brought back another glass. After pouring him a drink, he handed the glass to Tragg. "Well, Lieutenant?"
Tragg sent the computer laptop down on the coffee table. He booted up the computer. While they were waiting he said, "We may not have found anything on those security disc while you were in the office but things changed after you left. This is a copy of the security tape the day of the murder." Tragg put the disc in the computer and pressed the enter button. A scene from the hall of Johnson Technology came on the laptop monitor. Down in the lower right hand corner the security disc contained the time and date.
Hamilton Burger appeared in the video as he entered the Conner Wolff's office. Everyone leaned forward as they all looked at the same thing. The date was that of the date of the murder and the time read 11:30 am in the morning. "I thought Hamilton said he was sitting in his car outside of Wolff's place until noon when Wolff left the house," Della observed.
"That is exactly what he said," Perry said. The video flickered and the next scene was that of what appeared to be a blurred Hamilton Burger leaving the office. The time read 11:35pm. The video squealed and showed the image of a man putting a knife in his pocket. The video was blurred but not to the point one could not make out the hand placing the knife in the pocket. The video continued squealing for a moment and then the camera slowly righted itself and the image cleared up. The scene was now an empty hall.
"What happened to the camera?" Della asked.
"Whatever happened doesn't matter," Tragg said. "What matters is this shows Hamilton going into Wolff's office and leaving it shows him putting a knife in his pocket. That knife, though blurred is the same knife that was found in Burger's hand when I entered the office."
"Wrong, Lieutenant!" Ironside said gruffly. "That shows Burger entering but it does not show him putting a knife in his pocket."
"It shows someone putting a knife in his pocket. It was not Hamilton. He was not even there," Perry insisted.
"He says he was not there, counselor." Tragg rubbed his forehead trying to relieve the headache he had developed.
"Do you doubt his word?" Perry asked.
"Perry, we have to deal in facts, Perry. How are you going to combat that piece of evidence in court?" Tragg growled.
"What piece of evidence? We don't know that the video is genuine. We will have it analyzed and ….."
"The hell we will!" Ironside interrupted. "That is evidence that points that Burger was in that office and possibly held the murder weapon in his hand earlier in the day of the murder. That has to be turned over to the district attorney. We will not be withholding any evidence."
"Now just a minute Bob. I have a client to protect. We can't be sure that the video is an actual recording of an event that took place. The district attorney doesn't know it exist. We can check it to be sure it is genuine and if it is…"
"Perry, you are not playing that game while I am investigating this case. That video is to be turned over to the district attorney first thing in the morning. We will figure out what to do about it."
"Bob….."
"Forget it gentlemen. Sergeant Holcomb somehow found out that I had it. He showed up at Perry's office an hour ago and presented a warrant. I told you this was a copy of the video," Tragg said.
"You mean he presented a warrant to a policeman and took custody of it?" Della asked in surprise.
"I could not refuse Della. I do work for the police department. Holcomb did not accuse me of withholding evidence. He simply took custody of the evidence under the orders of the district attorney's office.
A thought occurred to Perry. "What about the flash drives?" Perry did not need an answer. The look on Tragg's face had already given him his answer.
"Well, where do we go from here?" Mark asked.
"We have an expert analyze the copy. It is not the same as the original but an expert might be able to tell that it was pieced together," Perry said. "If that is the opinion of an expert, we will force Grant to have the original looked at by an expert. I am betting the video was tampered with."
"I will not be taking that bet," Ironside said.
11.4
Hamilton pulled his car to a stop in front of the Johnson Tech building. "Now just who do you think he going in there to see?"
"I don't know but I am going to follow him in," Ed said.
"Ed, the video security system would show you in the building. You can bet whoever he is going to see will be watching that system. They would know you were in the building."
"I don't think so. I am betting the security system has been turned off so that Littleton's visit is not cover by the system," Ed argued. "Now stay here. I'll be right back." Ed got out of the car, crossed the street and checked the door, which Littleton had just entered. It was locked. Ed went around to the other side of the building. He checked the door on that side. There had to be a way in. He continued on. He knew there was another door at the rear of the building. As Ed turned the corner of the building he ran into a man who fell to the ground. Ed recognized him at once. Daniel Moorey.
"Mr. Moorey, we have been looking for you. I am Detective Sgt. Ed Brown. I think Chief Ironside would like to talk to you."
"I am not talking to any cop, especially not Ironside. Get out of my way."
"Sorry, can't do that. I am placing you under arrest as a material witness in the murder of Conner Wolff. You can come with me willingly or I can cuff you. It is up to you."
"I don't think so Brown," he grinned.
The world went black as Ed was hit on the back of the head."
11.4
Hamilton waited impatiently for Ed to return. He looked at his watch. Where was he. He had been gone thirty minutes. Hamilton could not help but worry that something had gone wrong. Why had Ed not returned? He could not wait any longer. Burger reached in the glove compartment of his car and pulled out a gun. He shuddered to think what Ironside would do if he heard about him with a gun.
Hamilton got out of the car, crossed the street and headed in the direction he had last seen Ed Brown. With the gun in his right hand, he went around the back of the building. There he saw Richard Littleton and Daniel Moorey standing over Ed Brown, whose hands and feet were bounded by rope.
"Where do we take him?" Littleton asked.
"It doesn't matter as long as he is dead. He knows I am in town and I can't afford to be picked up by that nosey San Francisco cop. No one can know I am in town. Here, take this gun. It is silenced. Kill him and then dump the body."
Sgt. Ed Brown strained against the ropes that held his hands and feet. He had to break loose or he knew he was a dead man. He did not have much time left. He could not yell for help. Moorey had used duc tape to cover his mouth. How was he ever going to get himself out of this mess in time?
Hamilton watched as Moorey turned to leave. How he wished he could reveal himself and stop the man. That was not possible. Right now his main concern was Ed Brown. He had to help him.
After Moorey was gone. He waited quietly to get a jump on Littleton.
Richard Littleton shoved Ed into the bushes and went back into the building. Hamilton did not know how much time he had but it was now or never. He raced over to the bushes where Ed was lying. He put his gun under his belt. Berger reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. Using the knife he cut through the rope that bound Ed Brown's hands."
As soon as Ed's hands were free, he took the gun out of Hamilton Burger's belt. Burger continued to free Ed of the rest of the rope binding his feet. The door to the Johnson Tech building opened and Richard Littleton reappeared. Ed put his finger to his lips, indicating silence to Burger. Littleton walked toward Brown with a silenced gun in his hand. Entering the bushes, he looked at the spot Brown had been moments before. Shocked he turned quickly to look behind him. He turned back to the bushes and cautiously moved to his left looking for Brown. Behind him a gun appeared at his temple. "Looking for me," Sgt. Brown said. Give me the gun….slowly."
Littleton passed the gun back to Brown. Hamilton came appeared by his side. "Hello Richard. I am guessing you would like to speak with an attorney. The best one I know is Perry Mason. Shall I give him a call for you?"
"Go to hell Burger," Littleton said.
"You first," Burger said.
Brown put the cuffs on Littleton and led him back to Hamilton's car. Hamilton could not help grinning. This would at least temper the yelling Chief Ironside was going to do.