Note: There will be a court date in a while from now, so it's coming. In this chapter, we get an update about Perry's accident.
Now they were at the office, Paul told them, "I'm going to be gone for a while longer today, Perry. I'm getting together with Cindy for lunch and then talk with Alexander Benson. I still have my copy of the file so maybe I can show it to him and see what he says about the picture and the article."
"You go do that, Paul. Let us know what Cindy and Benson have to say about the picture. Maybe Cindy would be able to recognize Adam Smith in that picture," Perry told him.
"She might, event though she was still a bit young. Cindy did tell me she was about 20 when when she got her license and George hired her for a while to work on a case."
"That's interesting. Good luck with Cindy and Benson."
"His name is Alexander, Perry. He doesn't care if he's Alex or Alexander."
"I don't see any reason to talk with him, Paul. You've been talking to him. I know he worked with my father, but I just don't think I'm interested in meeting him anytime soon unless we take him to court."
"Tomorrow is too soon for court, Perry. No way will that happen."
Paul left as soon as Della called her friend.
Perry decided to call the Pattersons once Della got off the phone so they would know he accepted their invitation to church someday, which would make them happy about it.
Before Paul left, Perry told him, "Cindy's welcome to come over anytime."
"Thanks. I'll pass it over to her, but I don't think she sees any reason to, even if it means getting to know you," Paul replied as he opened the door.
"See you later, Paul."
"I'll let you know how the lunch date goes with them."
"Do you have your copy of the file?" Perry asked.
"Right here," Paul said, showing him.
"Thank you. Let me know what their reactions are."
Once Paul left, Della got off the phone.
"Patti said we could try Wednesday next week and see how it goes. She thinks we could make the date better because of the last time with your mother," Della replied.
"What time?"
"Lunch."
"I'm sure Paul might be interested in joining us, but I don't think it's necessary for all of us to go together," Perry told her.
"I'll go call the Pattersons."
"What for?" Della asked.
She remembered what Tragg told them about the child being adopted.
"Church invitation. I guess we don't need to be in touch with them anymore from what Tragg said."
"I guess he's in touch with them too."
"You're probably right, Della."
Perry called the Pattersons' house.
While waiting for somebody to pick up, Perry watched Della leave so he could have the privacy, which he appreciated.
"I'll go be at the front desk," Della whispered as he nodded his head.
"Hello, Mr. Mason."
"Mr. Patterson?"
"Yes? Is there something we need to know about the child?"
"Nothing about the child, Mr. Patterson. The police was just telling me you were thinking of adoption."
"Yes. We have talked with the police officer a few times."
"I don't see any need to stay in touch after this is over," Perry told him.
"Of course not. We're very sorry to hear about you and what happened with your father's murder."
"So the officer probably said something about it then."
"Yes, he did, Mr. Mason. We will officially adopt the child within a couple of weeks."
"Congratulations to you and your wife."
"Thank you."
"The reason I'm calling is because I decided to accept your invitation to church."
"It doesn't really matter what time you choose."
"I know. Is it a big church?"
"No. We're small."
"Give me the name of your church and how to get there before I do anything."
"I'll give it to you now, Mr. Mason. It's only one service since we're small. We've been praying about it to grow from where it is now."
"Good luck."
So Barry gave Perry the name of their Nazarene church, time and direction.
"Thank you. I'll surprise you on when I show up."
"That would be nice, Perry. The child finally stopped crying all day."
"That's great news, Barry. I'll see you soon."
"Do you need to talk with Pastor Dan?"
"No need to, since you already took care of it for him."
"He could have done that at breakfast."
"No, I don't think I need help with Jesus from him."
"Understandable, Mr. Mason. Hope to see you at church. We'll pray about it until God opens the door for you to show up. Maybe even join the church and get into a group of ours."
"I sometimes have court on Sundays, Barry. You should have figured that out by now."
"Thanks for the reminder. I understand you're a busy person."
"And so are you. Hope to talk with you again soon."
"I'll be sure to pass this over to Bella that you finally accepted our invitation."
"She'll be happy to hear about it," Perry agreed.
"See you again soon."
Then they ended the conversation.
Della opened the door again.
"Are you finished, Perry?"
"Yes. Too bad we couldn't do court on such short notice."
"Like Tragg's been saying, not a chance, but you don't agree with him."
"Of course I don't, Della. I still want to solve this case in the courtroom, not just the police."
"I know how you feel about that, Perry."
"I told Patterson I'd be going to church sometime."
"What was their reaction?"
"They were happy to hear about it. He gave me the information and everything."
"What kind of church is it?"
"You can read it," Perry said, handing the paper over to her.
She took it from him and read what he wrote down.
"We can find this with no problem, Perry."
"When I was having supper with my mother the other night, she didn't bother to think Adam Smith could have been the one murdering him and Dr. Webber involved with the car accident."
"Looks that way. I'll go call Patti and tell her what we decided on."
"Go do that, Della."
So she picked up the phone and called her friend.
Perry didn't bother to pay any attention to what she was telling her friend.
Once she hung up, Della said, "Patti understands, Perry. She said that she could try showing up to the courtroom and see for herself when you have court again."
"It could still give her an idea what made us stop talking."
"Yes, it would. She did want me to tell you that you're welcome to talk with her in the future, with or without your mother."
"Thank you, Della. I'll pass it over to her."
Then he thought of something.
"My mother wants me to promise her one thing."
"What?"
"When this case is over, don't solve anything else from George Mason."
"She's right, Perry. Sometimes longshots don't work out."
"I know that. I just don't need to keep hearing the word longshot anymore."
"Well, we have been. Did your mother tell you that if you never found out about your father's case, none of this would happen?"
"Yes, she did say that."
They didn't say much after that because the phone began to ring for a few more times before there was another break.
No wonder they would have a busy day.
While Perry was at work, Ada wasn't feeling so hot. She thought about calling him on the phone and say something about not feeling good and would need a doctor. He would understand. She decided to go ahead and give him that call.
Ada was in luck, but Della was there at the office, answering calls from other people.
When Della answered the phone again, she heard Ada's voice.
"Is Perry there?"
"Hello, Mrs. Mason. I'll put him on."
"Thank you, dear."
Ada waited until Perry got on the phone.
"Hello, Mom. Della said you called."
"Yes, I did. I wanted to call and tell you that I'm not feeling so great."
"Have you thought about going to the doctor?"
"Yes, but I wanted to tell you first."
"I'll meet you there at the hospital."
"I can drive myself, Perry, unless Staci can do it."
"I'll meet you there, Mom. I will call Dr. Charles then."
"Don't get him involved, Perry."
"Why not?"
"Just call my doctor instead."
"All right. See you at the hospital."
When Perry hung up, Della could see he had a worried look on his face.
"She wants to meet me at the hospital. Something's not right, Della."
"I understand she's been sick for quite a while, Perry. Maybe that's why she called you."
"Probably right, Della. Let me call her doctor and say we'll meet him there before we head out to the hospital."
So he made that call and told her doctor and both of them agreed to meet at the hospital shortly.
"He's going to meet us there, Della."
"I'll get my keys and we'll go."
"Don't worry about Paul, Della. He's already doing something with Cindy."
"When she starts working with us, we'll have to take it slow with her."
"That's the plan, Della. Let him take care of the hard stuff since he knows her and we don't."
"We will, Perry."
They didn't say much on the way over to the hospital. Perry had known Ada his whole life to know she wouldn't be the type of person who would kill somebody or herself.
Perry saw her car in the parking lot at the hospital.
"Park over there, Della. Her car is already here," Perry told her.
"I see it."
Della's seen Ada's car a few times enough to know what it looked like.
"Let's go in, Perry."
"I think I'll just wait in the waiting room and maybe talk with Dr. Charles and we can talk about driving the car again."
"I know you've been anxious for that, Perry. Give it time."
"I know she's been having problems since he died, but it looks like she will keep declining. It looks that way since we found out about his murder."
Perry was now remembering something about Dr. Webber's brown truck from the car accident.
"I think I'm remembering something from the accident. Remember Hamilton was at the office asking about that?"
"Yes. I guess we'll have to see him again."
"You're right, Della. We do. I can get him to come over here while they're running tests with her, but you don't need to stay the entire time with me here at the hospital."
"I know, Perry. You do need me here. Paul can take over the office."
"Since Tragg's already accepted Cindy, I guess we can have her come over here for a while."
"I don't think that's necessary, Perry. I know we want to know her a bit better, but it's not a big deal for her to come all the way to the hospital."
"I know the hospital has nothing to do with us, Della, but the first thing I want Cindy to do in the future is to introduce herself, even if it means new clients."
Della seemed to like this idea.
"I wonder what Paul is showing her when Adam Smith steps down."
"I don't know either, Della. We'll find out. When this case is over, I'm giving Paul a month of vacation time."
"He deserves it, Perry."
"Yes, he does. I'll say something. He might not like the idea because Cindy will be joining us soon."
"What do you remember about the brown truck, Perry?"
"I'm waiting until we see Hamilton. No need to repeat it more than once."
"You're right, Perry. We can call him from here and have him join us here at the hospital while we wait for your mother when she's ready."
"Mr. Mason?"
They turned around and saw a doctor. Must be Ada and George's, Perry guessed.
"Yes? How is she?"
"I'm your parents' doctor. I'm having a break since they told me when we were running tests on your mother."
"What did you find out?" Perry asked.
"We understand she's been having mental health problems lately, but we still can't figure out what her physical health is."
"How is she responding to running those tests?"
"That's why we're having this conversation, Mr. Mason."
"Is Dr. Charles working on her too?"
"Yes, but when I get back, he can take his break."
"I'd like to speak with him."
"What you're about to hear, Mr. Mason, it's not good news."
As usual, Perry didn't like hearing those words.
"What do you mean?"
"Let's go find some place to talk instead of the waiting room."
They went to the cafeteria so it was quieter to talk.
"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" the doctor asked.
"No, thank you, Dr. This is my secretary, Della Street. I'm hoping she would be able to make it to the court date, whether she's declining or not."
"We'll see, Mr. Mason."
"Just call me Perry."
"Why do you need her in a court date for?"
"I don't know if you've heard or not, I'm trying to find out who murdered George Mason. I heard from her you've been his doctor when they got married."
"Yes, that's correct. I'm sorry to hear he was murdered."
"That's when she was starting to have problems, Dr."
"Perry, the news is this: she might not even make it to the court date. When is that?"
"I don't know. She was a witness in this case, but she might need to go to the witness stand again."
"Would you like me to talk with Dr. Charles here or in the waiting room?"
"I'll tell him he can come here since it's quiet."
"What is she having problems with?" Perry asked.
"We're having a hard time figuring that out, Perry. I'm sure Dr. Charles probably told you that he found mental problems with her."
"Yes, he did. So that means she wouldn't be able to have that physical?"
"You're right, Perry."
"Della, go call Paul and Hamilton."
"I will, Perry."
Then Della left.
"She's beautiful, Perry. My wife was murdered also, but I don't think I want to know who killed her. Maybe the same person as your father."
"How come you don't want to find out?" Perry asked.
"I just don't. The case is even more dangerous than the car accident one. I followed that case because she mentioned it."
"Do you know how much longer she's going to have these tests done?" Perry asked.
"I don't know. You can't predict that, Perry. You don't need to stay here," the doctor told him.
"I know I don't, but I'm going to I can be here when she's finished."
"I understand, Perry. I heard you were representing her."
"Yes, but she has to testify at court, no matter what condition she's in."
"I don't think that would work, Perry. Can't you dismiss the case?"
"No, but the police want it to be. I've gotten this far in this case, and it's going to get done, no matter how long it will take."
"Perry, you should know by now that longshots don't work."
"This one is. She's a very important witness in this case, so this is why I can't go in there without her on the witness stand."
"Has she done this before?"
"Yes," Perry answered.
"Sorry, Perry. I'd better get back to work and have Dr. Charles talk with you. You can just wait here, and I will send him."
"Thank you, Dr."
Perry waited for quite a while until Dr. Charles came over to where he was sitting.
"Hello, Perry. Sorry we're doing more tests on her," Dr. Charles said, sitting across from him.
"Hello, Dr. How is she doing?" Perry asked.
"Not too good. I heard you just talked with her doctor just recently."
"Yes, and the first time we've met. She did tell me he was the same doctor that my father had before and after they got married."
"I'm sorry this had to happen to you, Perry, but he said something that you needed to talk with me."
"Yes, I do. I'm sorry if I had to have you guys come out during the tests."
"No, that's all right. What is it that you want to talk with me about?"
"Driving. Have we made up our minds?"
"I knew this question would come up, Perry. I made up my mind, but when this case is over, you can. After the prescription I gave you is gone, you don't need another refill."
"Thank you, Dr. Charles. This is her car I'm keeping. I don't need to buy a second car."
"How have you been getting around since the accident?" Dr. Charles asked.
"My mother, secretary and detective."
"But they do make time for that."
"Yes," Perry agreed.
"Perry, when you start driving again, be extra careful this time. You've made a lot of progress with recovery, and we don't want this to happen again in the future."
"But no promises, Dr."
"Of course not."
That's when they both saw Della and Hamilton heading over.
"Della, Hamilton, this is my doctor," he said, making introduction.
"Why do you want me to come here, Perry?" Hamilton asked, ignoring the introduction.
"I remembered something about Dr. Webber's truck from the accident."
"You did?"
"Yes, I did. Della, where's Paul?"
"He's out with Cindy."
"He's been doing that a lot lately. I think they're dating."
"Perry."
"Tell me what you remember, Perry."
"I actually do remember seeing a couple of children in that brown truck he had."
"How many?" Hamilton asked.
"Just like the Johnsons, but they weren't toddlers."
Hamilton didn't reply.
"I'd better get back to your mother, Perry. One of us will look for you when there's something for you."
"Thank you, Dr. Charles."
"We can call you at the office."
"All right."
"What age did you think the children were in the car?" Hamilton asked.
"Probably about second or third graders."
"Glad to know your memory is starting to come back to normal."
"Yes, I know," Perry agreed.
"Tell us about driving, Perry," Della told him.
"I can, but have to be extra careful since he doesn't want this to happen because of the long way to recovery thing."
"Makes sense. Would you mind sharing this in the courtroom?" Hamilton asked him.
"Of course I'm going to share it, Hamilton. That was my plan. We also need the newspaper article and picture of the shooter and see if anybody recognizes it."
"What are you talking about, Perry?" Hamilton asked him.
"Come to my office and I'll show you."
"All right."
"Della, I'll see you at the office."
"You going with Hamilton?"
"Yes, Della."
"I'm fine with that, Ms. Street. See you soon."
"All right."
"Let's get out of here, Perry. Since I was your attorney, we still have a lot to work to do about this lost child case."
"I already know that, Hamilton."
"Like I've said many times, I'm still not interested in your father's cases since he didn't belong to me."
"At the office, Hamilton, I'll have Della print out a copy for you on the newspaper article and picture of the shooter yourself and see what you think of the whole thing."
"I guess you're right. What else do you remember about the accident?"
They were both walking to his car since Perry was riding with him since they needed to talk.
"The driver was a woman and not Dr. Webber."
"What would you guess the children belong to?"
"I don't know, Hamilton."
"Tell me more about this lost child case you've been working on. I'm aware of the case, Perry, but I don't follow it, so you'll have to tell me and I will have to see if I can help or not."
"I still want a court date solving this thing he didn't get to. I know this is a longshot case, Hamilton, but I do want to find out who killed George Mason."
"How are you going to get everybody together? What about your mother? Wasn't she one of the witnesses in the case?"
"Yes. She's been having issues lately, Hamilton. I need her there in the courtroom."
"Would she answer any of your questions at home?"
"All she said she's been trying to figure out how to answer them."
"Tell me more, Perry. Let me get some gas before we go to the office."
"All right. The Johnsons left behind one child when they came back from vacation time, remember?"
"Yes, I do, Perry. What about the child? I remember you said something about staying in touch with the people who have the child."
"Yes, I used to. They're adopting the child since they're not coming back."
"Perry, this case might be old and a longshot, but I doubt there will be a court date."
"But there will be, Hamilton. I told my mother and Paul I am betting you there will be one like the last one and we won. I would hate to lose this case from my father that he didn't get the chance to solve."
"Perry, tell me how you connected with the people who have the child."
So he did.
"That's the story, Hamilton. We agreed not to stay in touch anymore because of adoption."
"That's smart. You don't need to follow what the child will be doing."
When Perry was with both of the doctors, he was aware of the officers who were with him, Della and Hamilton, and still is.
"How did you know about the investigators who worked with my father, Hamilton? Were they the ones who called for protection?"
"One of them did. I was told they followed the car accident case, so this was probably why they wanted to protect you since your father did some dangerous cases back then when he started."
"So you know a bit about his record, Hamilton."
"I don't need to know everything, Perry. Is your mother still going to testify if we have a court date?"
"That's why I need her there, Hamilton. Her doctor and mine agree she might not make it in time. I've never lost anybody before a court date. Why does it have to be now?"
"Let's go talk with the judge about it and see what he thinks of a court date without your witness, Perry."
"I was going to say the same thing. It looks like there's a surprise you should know about."
"What do you mean by surprise?"
"Well, Paul has something going on, but it has something to do with Adam Smith," Perry said, thinking of Cindy.
"Tell me, Perry."
"You did talk with the private investigator, Adam Smith?"
"He's the one who made the request for 24 hour protection, Perry. What about him?"
"Well, he is thinking of retiring soon, and he has somebody who's working with him that could take over the agency, but Paul has something else in mind."
"What does Drake have to do with him?"
"I'm getting there. I told Paul once this person starts working with us, she'll have to introduce herself since she's new."
"What do you mean, Perry?"
"Paul came up with an idea about having another investigator who could help us if he has to be at two places at the same time."
"Where did he get that idea for?"
"I don't know. I guess she wants to keep busy. You'll meet her in court if the judge says it's all right. Tragg accepted her."
"That means he's already met her."
"Yes."
"What is her name?" Hamilton asked.
"Cindy McCarey."
Hamilton didn't recognize her name.
"I don't recognize her name, Perry."
"Della knows who she is."
"I'm sure she does. Tell me about her."
"I don't know much, but you can ask Paul since he knows more than I do. She's also a private detective, but that's not all she does."
"Why would she need two jobs?"
"I have no idea, Hamilton. She's a performer."
"Now I recognize her name since you mentioned it. I've heard her sing on the radio."
"You have? Maybe that's what Paul's been up to."
"I think they're an item."
"I guessed that too."
They made it to the courthouse.
"What did you hear from your doctor, Perry?"
"About driving?"
"Yes."
"I haven't done that since the car accident case. I can't just have you, Paul and Della drive me around forever."
"Tell me," Hamilton repeated.
"He said I could start driving again when this case is over, but I have to be extra careful so that way it wouldn't happen again."
"I don't agree with him, Perry."
"Why?"
"I just don't think you'll be able to drive again."
"You are not a doctor, Hamilton," Perry told him.
"My father wanted me to, but I was interested in being a lawyer instead."
"You can be wrong about me and not driving a car again, Hamilton. Only my doctor can tell me that."
"Of course they can, but I'm only telling you what I think. Glad I am not a doctor."
"How would you feel if you were the one in the car accident instead of myself? Would you enjoy not driving or want the car back after it being taken away from you?" Perry asked.
"I'd feel the same, Perry, but if my car was taken away this long like you, I'd be going crazy myself."
"Now you see how I feel since the accident I was in."
"You were lucky you survived, Perry. No telling what would happen if you didn't make it."