The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe by Erle Stanley Gardner

Author:Erle Stanley Gardner [Gardner, Erle Stanley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, General, Mytery, Crime, Detective, Suspense
ISBN: 9780345329431
Google: 7XEMAAAACAAJ
Amazon: B008H769VM
Barnesnoble: B008H769VM
Publisher: Della Street Press
Published: 1938-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Virginia Trent sat up in bed and regarded Mason with heavy eyes. "Good morning, Mr. Mason," she said thickly.

"How do you feel?" Mason asked.

She made tasting noises with her mouth and said, "I don't know. The nurse just woke me up."

A nurse, standing by the side of the bed, said, "You were pretty much unstrung. The doctor gave you a sedative."

"I'll say he did," Virginia Trent said, rubbing her eyes. "I'll bet I look a fright. Give me a mirror and a drink of water."

The nurse brought the water but not the mirror. Virginia Trent drank it petulantly, regarded the heavy flannel nightgown which came high up around her neck and said to the nurse, "That's a nightgown I hardly ever wear? Where did you find it?"

"It was in the bottom drawer on the right-hand side. I ... "

"Well, why didn't you get the ones in the upper drawer on top?"

"You'd had quite a shock," the nurse said. "I was afraid you might get chilled. Your resistance was lowered. The sedative started taking effect in the taxicab."

Virginia Trent said, "I remember now—those officers. They're a bunch of sadists. They love to torture the helpless."

"What did they do?" Mason asked.

"Thundered questions at me and almost drove me crazy," she said. "I guess I had hysterics again."

"You did," the nurse told her.

"Then what happened?"

"Finally a doctor gave you a sedative, and I was detailed to take you home and see that you slept."

"You mean, to see that I didn't try to escape," Virginia Trent said. The nurse was tactfully silent. "Where's my aunt?"

"In the hospital. She had only a very light concussion, and slept most of the night. The doctor didn't let the officers know she was conscious until this morning."

"How is she?"

Mason said, "Don't worry. She's quite able to take care of herself."

"What was all this they told me about finding her bag with the gun which killed Austin Cullens?"

Mason said, "They haven't been able to establish that it's her bag yet."

She yawned prodigiously. "You're going to have to wait, Mr. Mason, while I wash my face in cold water and clean my teeth."

"All right," Mason told her, "I'm sorry I had to disturb you, but we have work to do."

"About — about — Uncle George — what did they find out?"

"Nothing, so far as I know," Mason said. "If they found out anything, they're keeping it secret."

"Is he — is — that is ... "

"They had to make a postmortem on the body," Mason said. "It's at a funeral home now."

"Turn your back," she told him. "I'm getting up."

"I'll do better than that," Mason said, "I'll wait downstairs in the library. Do you feel as though you could talk on an empty stomach?"

"No," she said shortly. "Where's Itsumo?"

"Downstairs," the nurse said.

"All right, I'm going to take a quick tub. Tell him I want tomato juice, with lots of Worcestershire sauce, coffee, scrambled eggs and toast. And you're going to have to wait, Mr. Mason, until I get to feeling halfway decent before I talk about anything.

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