Read Online The Case of the Blonde Bonanza by Erle Stanley Gardner - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Erle Stanley Gardner
Tags: Fiction, General, LEGAL, Mystery & Detective, Crime, Detective and Mystery Stories, Lawyers, Perry (Fictitious Character), Mason
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Mason checked in at his office.
"Hello, Della," the lawyer said. "What's new?"
"Mostly routine," she said. "How did the court hearing go?"
Mason grinned. "Things were looking pretty black and then the attorney on the other side started arguing with the judge over a minor point and the argument progressed to a point where there was considerable heat on both sides. By the time the hearing was finished the judge decided it our way."
"And what did you do?" she asked, with exaggerated innocence. "I suppose you just stood there with your hands in your pockets while the attorney and the judge were arguing."
"I tried to act the part of a peacemaker," Mason said. "I poured oil on the troubled flames."
Della Street laughed. "I'll bet you did just that."
"What's new with our case involving the curvaceous blonde, Della?"
"There seems to be a lot of activity centering in Riverside," she said. "Paul Drake reports that Harrison Boring has gone to Riverside. He is now registered in the Restawhile Motel and is in Unit 10.
"Drake's man also reports that Boring is being shadowed by another agency."
"You mean he's wearing two tails and doesn't know about either one?" Mason asked.
"Apparently not," Della Street said. "Of course, under the circumstances Drake's man is being most discreet and is relying as much as possible on electronic shadowing devices which send out audible signals to the car following. He thinks the other agency is using contact observation with no electronic shadowing. So far, Boring apparently isn't suspicious. Paul says the man is hurrying around, covering a lot of territory."
Mason settled back in his swivel chair. "Hurrying around, eh?" he said musingly.
"Here's the mail," Della Street said, sliding a stack of letters across Mason's desk.
Mason picked up the top letter, started to read it, put it down, then pushed the pile of mail to one side, sat for more than a minute in thoughtful silence.
"Something?" Della Street asked.
"I'm toying with an idea," Mason said, "and hang it, the more I think of it, the more plausible it seems."
"Want to talk it out or let it incubate?" she asked.
"I think I'd like to talk it out," Mason said, "and let's see if it isn't logical. Boring was working on lost heirs, obscure estates. Yet when Foster tried to backtrack his activities, he couldn't find anything. Nevertheless, Foster is a pretty thoroughgoing chap and he has the inside track. In the first place, he knows all the routine methods of investigation and in the second place he knew exactly where Boring had been and what activities he had engaged in. Yet nothing that he has been able to uncover gives any clue to what triggered Boring's break with him."
Della Street, knowing that Mason was simply thinking out loud, sat thoughtfully attentive, furnishing him with a silent audience.
"So suddenly Harrison T. Boring comes to Dianne Alder," Mason said, "and ties her up on a contract, but the contract is so disguised that neither she nor anyone else who might look at the contract would tumble to the fact that it was a lost heir's contract; the sugar-coating disguised the pill to such an extent that the whole thing looked like a piece of candy."
Della Street merely nodded.
"Now then," Mason went on, "Montrose Foster. Regardless of the fact that he's a little terrier, but no one's dummy, he begins to think that perhaps he should start working on the case from the other end and is anxious to find out who Boring has been seeing."
Again Della Street nodded.
"He is having Boring shadowed. He undoubtedly knows that Boring is seeing Winlock. But Winlock doesn't seem to be the solution to the problem, at least as far as Foster is concerned.
"Now, that's where we're one step ahead of Montrose Foster. We know that whatever lead Harrison Boring may have uncovered, he followed it to Dianne Alder. Dianne Alder is the target in the case, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
Mason was silent for a few seconds, then he said,
"Hello, Della," the lawyer said. "What's new?"
"Mostly routine," she said. "How did the court hearing go?"
Mason grinned. "Things were looking pretty black and then the attorney on the other side started arguing with the judge over a minor point and the argument progressed to a point where there was considerable heat on both sides. By the time the hearing was finished the judge decided it our way."
"And what did you do?" she asked, with exaggerated innocence. "I suppose you just stood there with your hands in your pockets while the attorney and the judge were arguing."
"I tried to act the part of a peacemaker," Mason said. "I poured oil on the troubled flames."
Della Street laughed. "I'll bet you did just that."
"What's new with our case involving the curvaceous blonde, Della?"
"There seems to be a lot of activity centering in Riverside," she said. "Paul Drake reports that Harrison Boring has gone to Riverside. He is now registered in the Restawhile Motel and is in Unit 10.
"Drake's man also reports that Boring is being shadowed by another agency."
"You mean he's wearing two tails and doesn't know about either one?" Mason asked.
"Apparently not," Della Street said. "Of course, under the circumstances Drake's man is being most discreet and is relying as much as possible on electronic shadowing devices which send out audible signals to the car following. He thinks the other agency is using contact observation with no electronic shadowing. So far, Boring apparently isn't suspicious. Paul says the man is hurrying around, covering a lot of territory."
Mason settled back in his swivel chair. "Hurrying around, eh?" he said musingly.
"Here's the mail," Della Street said, sliding a stack of letters across Mason's desk.
Mason picked up the top letter, started to read it, put it down, then pushed the pile of mail to one side, sat for more than a minute in thoughtful silence.
"Something?" Della Street asked.
"I'm toying with an idea," Mason said, "and hang it, the more I think of it, the more plausible it seems."
"Want to talk it out or let it incubate?" she asked.
"I think I'd like to talk it out," Mason said, "and let's see if it isn't logical. Boring was working on lost heirs, obscure estates. Yet when Foster tried to backtrack his activities, he couldn't find anything. Nevertheless, Foster is a pretty thoroughgoing chap and he has the inside track. In the first place, he knows all the routine methods of investigation and in the second place he knew exactly where Boring had been and what activities he had engaged in. Yet nothing that he has been able to uncover gives any clue to what triggered Boring's break with him."
Della Street, knowing that Mason was simply thinking out loud, sat thoughtfully attentive, furnishing him with a silent audience.
"So suddenly Harrison T. Boring comes to Dianne Alder," Mason said, "and ties her up on a contract, but the contract is so disguised that neither she nor anyone else who might look at the contract would tumble to the fact that it was a lost heir's contract; the sugar-coating disguised the pill to such an extent that the whole thing looked like a piece of candy."
Della Street merely nodded.
"Now then," Mason went on, "Montrose Foster. Regardless of the fact that he's a little terrier, but no one's dummy, he begins to think that perhaps he should start working on the case from the other end and is anxious to find out who Boring has been seeing."
Again Della Street nodded.
"He is having Boring shadowed. He undoubtedly knows that Boring is seeing Winlock. But Winlock doesn't seem to be the solution to the problem, at least as far as Foster is concerned.
"Now, that's where we're one step ahead of Montrose Foster. We know that whatever lead Harrison Boring may have uncovered, he followed it to Dianne Alder. Dianne Alder is the target in the case, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
Mason was silent for a few seconds, then he said,
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