“As far as you go,” Mason said.

  “Heavens!” Della Street said. “I thought I’d gone all the way.”

  Mason said, “Just suppose the second Mrs. Theilman isn’t as dumb as you’ve painted her in that picture. Suppose the second Mrs. Theilman wondered why her husband wanted to put on a fresh suit in order to go to Bakersfield and see a masculine business associate. Suppose she also started wondering why he was shaving at that time in the afternoon in order to go and keep a business appointment.

  “So, suppose the second Mrs. Theilman, thinking things over, got in her car, drove over to Bakersfield and picked up her husband’s trail. Suppose she watched the office of Cole B. Troy until her husband left. Suppose that she was the shapely shadow Troy saw tailing Theilman across the street.”

  Della Street’s eyes widened. “That could be, all right,” she said, “but remember that Theilman telephoned his wife at eight o’clock … “

  “How do you know he did?” Mason said. “Theilman probably told his wife he’d telephone her at eight o’clock and let her know whether he’d be home or not. So the second Mrs. Theilman simply said that she had received the telephone call. Cole Troy doesn’t know who Theilman called. All he knows is that Theilman said he was calling his wife.”

  “Yes,” Della Street conceded, “that would complicate matters very much. If Mrs. Theilman was shadowing her husband and the runaway secretary, she would know where they went, what the new identity was that they had built up. She might even know where the suitcase containing the cash was secreted. It would make a very complicated situation, if she is a dangerous antagonist.”

  “She is a very dangerous antagonist,” Mason said, “and if anything should happen and Morley Theilman should be found dead, Janice Wainwright would have a perfect murder charge draped around her neck. The seductive second Mrs. Theilman would then become a weeping widow and inherit all of the money, including the suitcase full of cash.”

  Della Street’s eyes widened. “Don’t, Chief,” she said, “you terrify me.”

  Mason, pacing the floor, said, “The minute you begin to assume that that shapely shadow was cast by the seductive figure of the second Mrs. Theilman, you open up a whole train of possibilities that are completely fascinating.”

  “Completely frightening,” Della Street amended.

  “Well,” Mason observed, “the police have slowed down their attempts to locate Theilman. We have Paul Drake on the job. We’ll keep in touch with him, and since you should be instantly available in case something breaks, I suggest, Miss Street, that we finish up here and then you accompany me to cocktails, dinner and perhaps a little dancing. From time to time we will call Paul Drake and see if he has uncovered anything new.”

  “This invitation, I take it, is strictly in the interests of business and a more efficient operation of the office,” Della Street said.

  “It will so appear on the statement of expenses you will prepare for the Bureau of Internal Revenue,” Mason said. “As to any other and ulterior motive, on the advice of counsel I decline to answer.”

  Della Street’s eyes searched his face. “On the ground that it might tend to incriminate you?”

  “I’d better discuss that after the second cocktail,” Mason said.

  “Not if you want me to look the income tax investigator squarely in the eye and explain to him that the evening was a necessary business expense in order to justify a charge of one dollar by way of retainer.”

  Mason grinned. “On second thought, Della, until we get a more substantial retainer, you had better consider the evening one of social activity.”

  Chapter Eight

  Mason and Della Street returned to their table after the second dance and as Mason seated Della Street and moved around to his after-dinner coffee, he said, “Well, that was a relaxing dinner. I suppose we’ll have to call Paul Drake now, and get back to the mundane affairs of human emotions in the raw.”

  Della Street glanced at her watch. “Heavens, it’s been two hours!”

  “Finish your coffee,” Mason said. “We’ll call him on the way out.”

  Fifteen minutes later, after Mason had signed the check, Della Street paused at the telephone booth and her nimble fingers dialed the number of Drake’s office.

  Mason, lounging against the open door of the booth, watched Della Street’s features with appreciative eyes. “Did I ever tell you you’re a remarkably beautiful woman?” he asked.

  “Hush!” she said. “You interfere with my dialing. I … Hello, Paul, Della … What? … Yes, he’s right here … Okay, I’ll put him on.”

  Della Street said to Mason, “Back to business, Lochinvar. Paul Drake has struck pay dirt.”

  Della Street slid out of the telephone booth and handed the receiver to Mason. Mason stepped to the phone. “Yes, Paul. What is it?”

  “We’ve located your missing secretary.”

  “Janice Wainwright?”

  “Right.”

  “Where?”

  “Las Vegas.”

  “What’s she doing?”

  “Living it up.”

  “Alone?”

  “Apparently. At least at the moment.”

  “Under her own name?”

  “We don’t know what name she’s using,” Drake said, “because we haven’t traced her to her headquarters as yet. We picked her up at the gambling tables, and I have a man on her tail. He’ll report when she gets to where she’s staying … Where the hell have you been, Perry? I’ve been sitting on this information for an hour and a half and I want to know what to do—whether I should put two men on the job or—”

  “Don’t take any chances on losing her,” Mason said. “I want to get over there and I want to pick her up … How did you locate her, Paul?”

  “Easy,” Drake said. “Whenever someone disappears with a married man, the first place we look is Las Vegas, the second is Tijuana.”

  “Come on,” Mason said, “it wasn’t that simple.”

  “Well, actually,” Drake said, “it was easier than that. Your girl spent the late morning and early afternoon at the beauty shop. She confided to the operator who worked on her that she was taking the six o’clock plane for Las Vegas. So I simply telephoned my Las Vegas correspondent to be at the airfield and pick her up when she left the plane.”

  “She came in alone?” Mason asked.

  “Alone.”

  “And she hasn’t registered anywhere yet?”

  “No. She checked her bag at the Union Pacific Depot. Apparently she’s waiting for someone to join her. The Union Pacific crack train, The City of Los Angeles, is due in Las Vegas at eleven-twenty tonight. Mean-while our subject is frittering away money at the Double Take Casino.”

  Mason looked at his watch.

  “Okay, Paul,” he said. “Ring up your correspondents in Las Vegas. Put on all the men necessary to make sure that girl doesn’t slip through your fingers. I’m going to try to get there by eleven-twenty.”

  “You can’t make it now,” Drake said.

  “The hell I can’t,” Mason said. “I’ll get a fast twin-motored airplane and—”

  “You still can’t make it,” Drake said. “Not now.”

  “I’ll make it,” Mason said. “You cover the deal at your end and I’ll worry about the transportation.”

  Della Street slipped into the adjoining telephone booth, dropped a dime and started dialing.

  “Okay,” Drake said, “we’ll have men on the job. Now, you know this girl when you see her?”

  “I think so. I saw her before she’d removed the disguise.”

  “What do you mean, the disguise?” Drake asked.

  “When she was the ugly duckling,” Mason said. “However, you wouldn’t understand, Paul. I’m satisfied she’s going to be at the depot at eleven-twenty. Della and I will try to be there, but put enough men on the job so they can keep you advised by telephone where this girl is, and if we miss her at the depot we’ll telephone your office, find out where she is and pick her up.”

  Mason slammed up the receiver, jerked open the door of the phone booth and looked in on Della Street inquiringly. “You’re getting a plane?” he asked.

  Della Street nodded.

  Mason turned to a waiter. “Get me a taxi,” he said. “Have it waiting in front of the place with the motor running, all ready to take off. We’re in a hurry. ”

  Chapter Nine

  At ten minutes past eleven a taxicab deposited Perry Mason and Della Street in front of the Union Pacific Depot at Las Vegas.

  Mason tossed a twenty-dollar bill to the cabdriver, took Della’s arm and hurried into the depot.

  Some two dozen people were in the waiting room, some sitting reading, some standing, some chatting.

  Mason gave the room a swift once-over and then his face showed disappointment.

  Della Street’s elbow nudged him sharply in the ribs.

  Mason turned to follow the direction of her gaze.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Over there,” Della Street said.

  “I don’t see … “

  Then the devastating beauty who was standing a little to the right of the door gave herself away by a quick, gasping intake of breath as her eyes rested on Perry Mason and Della Street.

  Della took the initiative and started moving forward. After a split second, Mason came striding along, catching up with her as they confronted Janice Wainwright.

  “Well?” Mason said.

  “I … You—”

  “Come on,” Mason said, “out with it. You’ve played me for a sucker. Now let’s have the story.”

  “I … I didn’t play you for anything. I … I think you’re grand. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you for worlds.”

  “All right,” Mason said. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m waiting for the Domeliner, The City of Los Angeles.”

  “I gathered as much,” Mason said. “And you expect Mr. Theilman in on the train?”

  “Not Mr. Theilman,” she said, “Mrs. Theilman.”

  “Mrs. Theilman!” Mason exclaimed.

  “Yes. She’s coming to join me here and—” She was interrupted by the blast of the air whistle and the rumble of the train.

  “This,” Mason said, “is going to be good. Step right out and meet Mrs. Theilman. We’ll be a little behind you. Don’t say anything about us being here.”

  Mason turned to Della Street and grinned. “I think,” he said, “that the next few minutes are going to be rather eventful and quite satisfying.”

  Janice Wainwright started to say something, then checked herself and ran out to the side of the train to stand looking at the long line of pullmans that came to a gliding stop.

  “Good heavens,” Mason said, as Janice ran forward, “how in the world did you ever recognize her?”

  “I had a mental image of what she’d look like after she’d fluffed her hair out, fixed her mouth right, and done things to her eyelashes,” Della Street said.

  “She’s a knockout!” Mason exclaimed.

  “Remind me someday,” Della Street observed, “to glamourize my personality.”

  “You don’t need it,” Mason said.

  “Every woman needs it,” she said, somewhat wistfully. And then added, “Men being what they are.”

  The train had come to a stop. Doors glided open. Porters stood helping passengers off the train. Janice Wainwright stood looking first to the left, then to the right.

  As the seconds passed Mason said, “Now, if she’s putting on an act, she’s the best little actress in the world. But somehow I’m becoming increasingly skeptical. I … “

  A woman got off the train, stood looking around as though expecting to meet someone, started to walk toward the depot, paused, turned and walked toward Janice Wainwright.

  Janice watched her for a moment, turned away, then suddenly swung back to look at her a second time.

  “Janice!” the woman said.

  “Why, Mrs. Theilman!” Janice exclaimed. “Good heavens, I didn’t recognize you. What have you done to yourself?”

  Mason and Della Street exchanged glances.

  “Good Lord,” Mason said, “the Mrs. Theilman! The first Mrs. Theilman!”

  “Oh-oh,” Della Street observed.

  Janice Wainwright shook hands with the woman. Then she pressed her hand against the woman’s arm and led her toward where Mason and Della Street were standing.

  “Mrs. Theilman,” Janice said, “I would like to present my friends, Miss Della Street and Mr. Perry Mason, the lawyer.”

  “Perry Mason!” the woman exclaimed.

  The lawyer bowed.

  “Well, my goodness.”

  Janice said nervously, “This is Mrs. Theilman. She is … that is, was … “

  “The ex-wife of her boss,” Mrs. Theilman explained.

  “I hardly knew you,” Janice said. “You’ve really taken off weight.”

  “Thirty-five pounds.” Mrs. Theilman said. “I’m down to a hundred and twenty-one and I’m going to stay that way. I had to learn the hard way what happens to a woman when she lets her figure go.”

  Mason said, “We don’t want to intrude, but I wanted to see Miss Wainwright about a matter of some importance. I just arrived in Las Vegas. We got in by plane and came directly to the depot. Now, if you folks have something to discuss, I don’t want to interfere, but since it’s quite late and we have to get back to Los Angeles, I would like to have a few minutes alone with Miss Wainwright.”

  “Well, that’s quite all right with me,” Mrs. Theilman said. “I’m in no hurry to get back and I may be here for a couple of days. I always liked Las Vegas until—Well, I guess you know all the scandal, Mr. Mason. If you don’t, you’ll learn it anyhow … One of these Las Vegas cuties decided my husband would be a soft touch for her and started all the snaky-hipped tricks of professional seduction. He fell for it like a ton of bricks.”

  Janice Wainwright said hurriedly, “If you could wait just a few minutes, Mrs. Theilman, if it wouldn’t be asking too much, I—”

  “Not at all,” she said, “but I’m not going to wait here in a stuffy old depot. I want action. I’ll go down to the Double Take Casino. I always was lucky there.”

  “All right, we’ll be there in just a few minutes,” Janice said. “If you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all … My, Mr. Mason, I’ve heard so much about you. I didn’t expect to be meeting you, particularly in Las Vegas. Can you tell me just what your interest is in—?”

  “I think I’ll have to be the one who explains that,” Janice interposed hurriedly. “I’ll—If you’re sure you don’t mind, Mrs. Theilman … “

  “No, no. Run along and have your talk,” Mrs. Theilman said. “You’ll find me at the Double Take Casino, and if I’ve got a good-looking man in tow by that time, don’t interrupt. I take it this can keep until morning.”

  Janice Wainwright seemed undecided.

  “It’s all right,” Mrs. Theilman said, and bowing to Della Street, smiling at Mason, turned and walked away.

  Janice Wainwright stood looking after her. “Heavens,” she said, “I’d never have recognized the woman. Look at that figure.”

  “Quite a figure,” Mason said. “I take it that it wasn’t always like that.”

  “Lord, no I She says she’s taken off thirty-five pounds. I’ll bet she’s taken off forty-five. Why, the woman was positively matronly and now …well, just look at her.”

  “I’m looking,” Mason said.

  Once more Della Street’s elbow made contact with the lawyer’s ribs.

  “All right,” Mason said, “now tell me what this is all about and talk fast. You’ve left me in a most embarrassing position. You knew that Mr. Theilman had disappeared.”

  She laughed and said, “He had to disappear, but he’ll reappear tomorrow and then everything will be all right. I’m sorry that I—Well, I guess I sort of goofed, Mr. Mason. I fell for the build-up myself. I should have had more confidence in the man I was working for.”

  Mason said, “You came to my office with a suitcase full of money. You —”

  “Oh, Mr. Mason, I’m so sorry about that! There’s one thing that I can tell you, however. You’re going to be compensated for all the work you’ve done and all the trouble you’ve been to. That’s one thing that I insisted on.”

  “Thank you,” Mason said. “Now suppose you tell me what it’s all about.”

  She said, “Will you believe me, Mr. Mason, when I tell you that even when I telephoned you this morning I didn’t know a thing in the world of what it was all about?”

  “Keep talking,” Mason said. “I’m getting rather skeptical these days. Go ahead. What’s your version?”

  “It isn’t a version,” she said. “It’s the truth.”

  “All right, what’s the truth?”

  “Well, the explanation is simple when you come right down to it. There wasn’t any blackmailer and there wasn’t any blackmail.”

  “All right, go on,” Mason said. “What’s the story?”

  “Well,” she said, “when Mr. Theilman and his first wife were divorced, she got quite a large property settlement. Some of it was in cash and some of it was in the form of stock in a corporation that Mr. Theilman controls—that is, he always has controlled it.

  “But recently Mr. Theilman found out that a move was being made by interests that are hostile to him to get control of the corporation. He never was able to find out exactly who was back of it because whoever it is, is working through dummies and through attorneys. But as soon as Mr. Theilman found out what was going on, he naturally wanted to keep them from getting control.

  “Now then, Mrs. Theilman — that is, Carlotta Theilman, the first Mrs. Theilman — has so much stock that her holdings are very, very important. In fact, Mr. Theilman’s whole future may pivot on what she does with her stock.

  “Now, naturally Mr. Theilman wasn’t in a position to approach her himself. He had quite a conference with Cole Troy over in Bakersfield about the whole situation and when he left Bakersfield Mr. Theilman was very, very much concerned about things. He had tried to approach Carlotta through dummies, but Carlotta said simply that she wouldn’t deal with anyone except with Mr. Theilman personally.