The Case of the Blonde Bonanza

a dying condition. He looked around just long enough to make certain his wife hadn't left any clues that would indicate she had been there-that meant he could have been the one who picked up the revolver-and then he got out.'

Dillard asked, 'Have you fellows got names to put on these tags of son, mother and husband?'

'We think we have,' Mason said. 'I'm talking in terms of tags instead of names because you're going to be a witness. If you haven't heard any names, it'll be that much better for you.'

Dillard said, 'You fellows figure it up any way you want to. All I know is that the blonde was the last one in the room. If she's your client, I'm not going to start guessing what she was doing in there for fifteen minutes, but you know what the police are going to think. You may sell your idea to a jury, but the police won't buy it. They'll feel that if she found the man lying on the floor badly injured or dying, she wouldn't have stuck around for fifteen minutes.'

Nye said, 'Let me ask you a straight question, Dillard. Do you ever lose pages out of your notebook?'

'Not in a murder case,' Dillard said. 'I've been in enough trouble.'

'You have, for a fact,' Mason told him.

'But,' Dillard went on, 'I don't have to tell all I know if I haven't anyone to tell it to.'

'What do you mean?'

'I could be hard to find.'

Mason thought things over and said, 'I don't think that's the answer, Dillard.'

'Well, what is the answer?' Dillard asked.

'I'll be darned if I know,' Mason said, 'but I've got to talk with my client before the police talk with her and before the police get wise to you.'

'Well, you've got to move plenty fast,' Dillard said, 'because the police are going to get wise to me.'

'How do you figure that out?'

'I checked in here right after Boring. I got the place across the parking lot where I could have a good view of his unit.'

'You say you got it?' Mason asked.

'That's right.'

'How did you get it?'

'I asked for it.'

'Oh-oh,' Nye said. 'That is going to put the fat in the fire.'

'Why did you ask for it?' Mason inquired.

'Because I didn't want to sit out there in my car. That's too damn conspicuous. I wanted a place where I could look across the parking place. I asked the manager what she had and she told me she had several vacancies and I asked for Number 5. I asked if it was vacant and she said it was and I said I wanted it.'

'Did she ask you why?'

'She didn't ask anything but she looked me over a couple of times and once she begins to put two and two together, she's going to tell the police about me. They'll ask her if there was anything unusual and she'll say no, and then they'll ask her about other tenants and if anybody checked in about the same time that Boring did, or a little after he did, and then she'll remember me and then the police will start talking to me if I'm around. Or, if I'm not around, they'll check the registration card for the license number on the automobile, find it's in the name of Paul Drake, and then they'll want to see me.'

Mason said to Nye, 'I've got to go talk with my client right away. Dillard, you can sit here in the dark and I'll give you a ring if I need to.'

'Remember one thing,' Dillard told him. 'If you should give me a ring after the police have asked questions of the manager, somebody will be listening in on the line.'

Mason said, 'I usually act on the assumption someone is listening in on the line.'

'If I don't hear from you, then what?' Dillard asked.

'Get out as best you can,' Mason said. 'On second thought, it might be a good plan to get out of here right now. -.. You haven't had any supper?'

'That's right. They said a dame would bring me some sandwiches.'

Nye snapped his fingers. 'I've got to contact the agency and head her off. If she should come walking in here right now, it would cause trouble.'

'Why not go get something to eat?' Mason asked Dillard. 'There's no use keeping Unit io under surveillance now. The police will have it blocked off and probably will have a detective spending the night in there, just to see if any telephone calls come in.'

'Okay,' Dillard said, 'I'll go to dinner.'

'We'll go out together,' Nye said. 'I'll take Mason to the hotel and come back and get you.'

'I have my car here, you know,' Dillard said.

'Then we'll take both cars,' Nye told him. 'I'll take Mason to the hotel and I'll have to head off that woman operative with the sandwiches and coffee.'

Mason nodded. 'On our way, Sid.'

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Della Street said, 'We saved it for you, Chief, but it's all cold. I didn't dare to keep it in the warming oven for fear it would be too well done.'

'That's all right,' Mason said. 'I'll eat it cold.'

'Oh, no,' Della Street protested. 'Let's have another hot one sent up. I'll-'

'There may not be time,' Mason said. 'You didn't eat much, Dianne.'

'I didn't- Somehow I don't seem to be hungry.'

'A little different from the way you were when I first met you,' Mason said.

'Yes, I-'

'Something happened to change the picture?' Mason asked conversationally, seating himself and cutting off a piece of the steak. 'You don't crave food as you feared you would?'

'I… I don't know. I guess I just lost my appetite.'

'What did you come up here for?' Mason asked.

'To Riverside?'

'Yes.'

'To see Mr. Boring.'

'See him?'

'Not yet. Della said to come here. I know now after listening to her, that you should be the one to do the talking.'

There was silence for a minute.

Della Street said, 'The coffee is hot, Chief. I kept that going over the candle flame but it isn't fresh-it will only take a few minutes to get more coffee.'

Mason shook his head, said to Dianne, 'Right now Boring is either at the hospital or at the morgue.'

'Why?' she asked, her eyes wide. 'Did something happen to him?'

'Something happened to him,' Mason said.

Dianne put her hand to her throat. Her eyes got large and round.

'Something happened to him,' Mason said, 'while you were talking with him.'

'I… I…' She started blinking back tears.

Mason said, 'Now look, Dianne. You're playing a dangerous game. It can possibly trap you into a life term in a prison cell. You can't afford to lie to your lawyer. Now, tell me the truth. What happened?'

'What do you mean, what happened?'

Mason said, 'You went to the Restawhile Motel. You knew that Boring was in Unit io. You called on him. Now, did you find him lying on the floor or-'