The Case of the Dangerous Dowager by Erle Stanley Gardner Page A

the body. The furniture was being dusted with special powders, designed to bring out latent fingerprints. Men came and went from the entrance to the offices, and the frightened line of shuffling spectators turned anxious faces to regard these hurrying officers with morbid curiosity.
    A man emerged from the L-shaped hallway, approached the line and called out, "Where's Perry Mason, the lawyer?"
    Mason held up his hand.
    "This way," the officer said, turned on his heel, and strode back through the door. Mason followed him. He could hear the sound of voices as he walked down the corridor, voices which held the deep rumble of ominous interrogation. Then he heard the sound of Charlie Duncan's voice, raised in high-pitched, vehement denial.
    Mason followed the officer through the door into the outer office. Grim-faced officers were interrogating Duncan. As Mason entered the room, Duncan was saying "…of course I had difficulties with him. I didn't like the way he was running things. I filed suit against him this afternoon, but I didn't do it to take advantage of him. I did it because I wasn't going to be ruined by the goofy ideas of a man who doesn't know the business…"
    He stopped talking as he saw Mason.
    One of the officers said, "Are you Perry Mason, the lawyer?"
    Mason nodded.
    "You were in this room when the body was discovered?"
    "Yes."
    "What were you doing here?"
    "Sitting here, waiting."
    "Waiting for what?"
    "For someone to come in."
    "Had you knocked at the door of the inner office?"
    "Yes."
    "You didn't get any answer?"
    "No."
    "Did you try the knob of the door?"
    Mason frowned thoughtfully and said, "It's hard to tell, looking back on it, just what I did do. When I came in here, I regarded my visit as just a routine call, and, naturally, didn't pay any great attention to a lot of details which didn't impress me as being important or significant."
    One of the officers said, "Well, they aren't unimportant and they aren't insignificant."
    Mason smiled affably. "It's so difficult to tell in advance – which is probably why our hindsight is better than our foresight."
    There was a moment of silence, during which Mason studied the faces of the officers. They had evidently been recruited from various channels, and rushed out to make an investigation. One of the men was apparently a city police officer, with the rank of sergeant. Another was undoubtedly a motorcycle traffic officer. The third was a plainclothesman, apparently a detective. The other was probably a deputy sheriff or marshal, or both.
    While Mason was watching them, one of the officers entered the room with Arthur Manning. Accompanying Manning were two people, a young man in his middle twenties, and a girl, who was wearing a beige sport suit. A dark brown scarf, knotted loosely about her throat, matched her brown shoes and bag. She carried a coat with a fur collar over her arm.
    Manning said, "I've just found…"
    The sergeant checked him by holding up a warning hand and said, "Let's finish with this phase of the inquiry first. Now you, Mr. Mason, were waiting here in the outer office?"
    "Yes."
    "How long had you been here?"
    "Perhaps five minutes, perhaps not that long. I can't tell exactly."
    "You were waiting to see Mr. Grieb?"
    "Yes."
    "Why?"
    "I had business with him."
    "What was the nature of the business?"
    Mason shook his head smilingly. "As an attorney I can't be interrogated about the affairs of my clients."
    "You refuse to answer?"
    "Yes."
    "That's not the law," the sergeant protested angrily. "The only thing you can hold out is a confidential communication made to you by your client. I happen to know, because I heard the point argued in court once."
    Mason said deprecatingly, "You can hear so much argued in court, Sergeant, that it's quite discouraging. I, myself, have heard many court arguments."
    The plainclothesman grinned. The sergeant flushed, turned to Duncan and said, "When you came in the office, where was Mr. Mason sitting?"
    "In that