The Case of the Lucky Legs by Erle Stanley Gardner

he turned to the telephone booth and called his office.
    Della Street's voice was low and cautious.
    "What's wrong?" she asked.
    "Why?" he wanted to know.
    "There are two detectives up here."
    "That's all right, tell them to wait. I'm coming."
    "Are you all right, chief?"
    "Of course I'm all right."
    "Nothing's happened?"
    "Nothing that need bother you."
    Her voice came in a rapid rush.
    "They're suspicious; they hear me talking on the telephone. They're going to plug in on the other line…" Then, in a higher voice, she said, "… simply can't tell you when he will be in. I think he's going to be in sometime tonight. He told me to wait until I heard from him. I haven't heard from him yet. If you'll leave your name, I'll tell him that you called, or you can leave your number, and he'll call you back if he wants to talk with you."
    Perry Mason disguised his voice, said, "No message," and slid the receiver back on the hook.
    He paused as he emerged from the telephone booth, to light a cigarette and stare at the glowing end with eyes that were fixed meditatively upon the curling smoke. Then, he suddenly nodded his head as though he had reached some decision, strode across the lobby, hailed a taxicab and went at once to his office. He was serene and jaunty as he pushed the door open, and said, "Hello, Della."
    "These two gentlemen…" she began, and turned her head toward the two men who sat in chairs and had them tilted back against the wall.
    One of the men flipped back his coat and pulled his suspender through the armhole of his vest far enough to show a gold shield.
    "We want to talk with you a minute," he said.
    Perry Mason let his face light up with a smile of welcome.
    "Oh," he said, "from headquarters, eh? That's fine. I thought perhaps you were a couple of clients, and I'm tired tonight. Come on in."
    He held open the door to the inner office and let the detectives go in ahead of him. In closing the door, he caught Della Street's white face, her troubled eyes resting upon him, and closed his own right eye in a swift wink. Then he closed the door to the private office, indicated chairs with a wave of his hand, walked over to the big swivel chair, sat down and put his feet up on the desk.
    "Well," he said, "what is it?"
    "I'm Riker," said one of the men, "and this is Johnson. We do some work with the Homicide Squad."
    "Smoke?" asked Mason, shoving a package of cigarettes across the desk.
    The men both took cigarettes.
    Perry Mason waited until they had lighted up, and then said, "Well, what is it this time, boys?"
    "You went out to see a man named Frank Patton, in the Holliday Apartments on Maple Avenue."
    Mason nodded cheerfully.
    "Yes," he said, "I went out there and played around, but couldn't get any answer. A police officer showed up with a woman leading him along and jabbering a string of stuff about some girl having hysterics in there. I figured perhaps there was a petting party and the man didn't want to be disturbed."
    "There was," said Riker, "a murder committed."
    Mason's tone was casual.
    "Yes," he said, "I heard that the officer broke open the door and found a murder had been committed. I didn't have a chance to find out the details. The man was lying in the room, wasn't he?"
    "Yes," said Riker, "he was found dead. He was lying on the floor in his underwear. He had a bathrobe half on and half off. There was a carving knife stuck in his heart."
    "Any clews?" asked Perry Mason.
    "Why do you ask that?" Johnson wanted to know.
    Mason laughed.
    "Don't get me wrong, boys," he said. "This man is nothing in my young life, except that I wanted to interview him. As a matter of fact, his death leaves me sitting pretty."
    "Just what do you mean by that?" Riker wanted to know.
    "You can find out all about it, as far as I'm concerned, by talking with Carl Manchester in the district attorney's office," Perry Mason told him. "We were working together on the case. I was going to be a special prosecutor to put Patton over the