76- The Case of the Beautiful Beggar by Erle Stanley Gardner

Author:Erle Stanley Gardner [Gardner, Erle Stanley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-02-19T10:04:25+00:00

Chapter 12

Mason put an arm around Daphne Shelby, drew her over to his car, felt her trembling like a leaf beneath her coat.

“Take it easy, Daphne! Take it easy!” the lawyer warned. “We”re running up against something that may be pretty complicated. This man was found in Unit 21. Now, that”s the unit you rented for your uncle?”

She nodded.

The lawyer escorted her into the back seat of his car, had Della Street move in on the other side, said to Daphne, “You went to the Chinese restaurant and got Chinese food to take out?”

“Yes.”

“Who waited on you?”

“Heavens, I don’t know. It was some girl.”

“Not Chinese?”

“No. The cook was Chinese.”

“How did you happen to go to that restaurant?”

She pointed and said, “You can see the sign there — right over there.”

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Erie Stanley Gardner

The Case of the Beautiful Beggar

163

Mason followed the direction of her finger and saw the big illuminated sign in green letters reading CHINESE COOKING.

Mason said, “When Lieutenant Tragg asked you for the sleeping pills you had, you started to open your purse.

She nodded.

“You have sleeping pills in there?”

“No, it was because he extended his hand and acted the way he did. I forgot for the moment that I had given the sleeping pills to Uncle Horace.”

“Keep on forgetting it for the time being,” Mason said. “Don”t answer any questions about the sleeping pills.

“Now then, Exeter checked into this motel sometime this afternoon. That means that they knew where you had placed Uncle Horace and were just biding their time.”

“Then why didn”t they get officers and take him back to the sanitarium?” she asked. “That”s what both Uncle Horace and I were afraid of.”

“Probably because they were afraid that the Court-appointed doctor would then examine him, and they wanted to work him over a little bit before they let Dr. Alma get in touch with him.”

“Then you think they have Uncle Horace with them?”

“It”s a very distinct possibility,” Mason said.

“What will happen now?” she asked.

Mason said, “They’ll get him all doped up. They’ll terrify him. They will then return him to the sanitarium and notify Dr. Alma.”

“Is there any way of counteracting that?” she asked. “Is

there anything we can do? Any way we can find Uncle Horace?”

“I really don’t know,” Mason said, “but we have two alternatives to consider.”

“What are those?”

“One,” Mason said, “is that your Uncle Horace left here with Borden Finchley. But somehow I don’t subscribe to that theory.”

“What”s the other alternative?”

“That he left here under his own power and of his own volition.”

“But why would he leave here?” she asked.

Mason looked her straight in the eyes. “Because he had killed Ralph Exeter.”

“Why, Uncle Horace wouldn’t …” Her voice trailed off into silence.

“Exactly,” Mason said. “You don’t know all the details about how your Uncle Horace has been treated. You don’t know his mental condition. You gave him sleeping pills. Suppose Exeter had the adjoining room then, after you had left the motel, Exeter walked into Horace Shelby”s room and started making demands on him.

“Remember that Exeter wasn”t really Borden Finchley”s friend.

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