The Case of the Horrified Heirs (14 page)

"She told him," Anna Fritch said. "She was bubbling over with enthusiasm that her illnesses might have been the result of an allergy. She seemed in very high spirits."

"An allergy?" Kelvin asked.

Dr. Alton said, "I explained to Nurse Fritch here that I wanted some tests made for an allergy, that there was a possibility the patient's symptoms might have been a violent and acute reaction to an allergy. I asked her to get samples of hair and nails and to explain to the patient that I was taking the nails because I was going to give her some medicine that would cause a skin irritation and I didn't want her to scratch. I also said that I thought the digestive upset she had had might have been due to an allergic reaction to a certain type of hairdressing-those things do happen, you know."

Kelvin said with dignity, "I think instead of standing here and becoming angry at Dr. Alton, we should give him our thanks and start doing something."

"Doing what?" Mrs. Briggs asked.

"Trying to locate Lauretta for one thing."

Mrs. Kelvin said, "She's out with that chauffeur of hers. Heaven knows where they've gone or when they'll be back. What are we going to do about trying to locate her? Call the police?"

Gordon Kelvin said, "Of course not. However, we know certain places where she might be. There are several restaurants that she frequents. There are a few friends on whom she might be calling. I would suggest that we get on the telephone and start calling, being very, very careful not to do anything which would indicate there might be any urgency in what we are trying to do."

"You two girls are probably the ones to do it. Start ringing her friends on the phone, say casually it's a little late to be calling, but that you want to speak with Lauretta.

"If it turns out Lauretta is there, take it in stride. Tell her that she's wanted home at once, that… that her sister isn't feeling at all well.

"Whichever sister happens to locate her can say it's the other sister who has been taken ill, and ask Lauretta to come home at once.

"In that way the chauffeur won't feel that we're suspicious of him and won't try to-well, won't try anything."

"Such as what?" Briggs asked.

"There are lots of things he could try," Mrs. Kelvin snapped.

"Well, we don't want him to get suspicious; we want him to walk right into our trap," Kelvin said.

"What trap?" Mason asked.

They looked at him for a moment, then Kelvin said, "He's the only one who could have poisoned her, don't you see?"

"No, I don't see," Mason said. "I can see grounds for suspicion but it's a long way from suspicion to actual proof. I would suggest that you be rather careful before you start talking about traps."

"I see your point," Kelvin said. "However, let's start trying to locate her and get her home. At least she'll be safe here."

"She hasn't been," Mason said.

"Well, she's going to be now!" Kelvin snapped.

"I agree with you," Dr. Alton said. "I am going to explain to her exactly what has happened; I am going to put my cards on the table, and I am going to see that she has private nurses around the clock, and that all food which she ingests is taken under the supervision of those nurses."

"Fair enough," Kelvin agreed. "I don't think anyone will object to that."

He turned to the others.

"Will they?" he asked.

Mrs. Briggs said, "Oh, stuff and nonsense! You can't put her in a virtual prison that way, or an isolation ward or something; once Dr. Alton tells her, she can be on her guard. After all, she's old enough to live her own life. She doesn't need to be isolated from all her pleasures simply because Dr. Alton said someone has tried to poison her."

Dr. Alton said angrily, "You can shorten that sentence by leaving out the words 'because Dr. Alton said' and have the sentence stand '_simply because someone tried to poison her_.'"

Mrs. Briggs said, "I am not accustomed to shortening my sentences."

Mason caught Dr. Alton's angry expression. "I think we'll be going, Doctor," he said.

"Well, I'm going to wait and see if they can get in touch with my patient," Dr. Alton said.

The telephone rang sharply.

"That's Lauretta calling now," Mrs. Kelvin said. "Answer it, Nurse, and then let me talk with her."

The nurse answered the phone.

"It's for Mr. Perry Mason," she said.

"Excuse me," Mason said to the others and took the phone. "Yes, hello," he said.

Virginia Baxter's voice came over the wire. "Mr. Mason, is it all right for me to see Lauretta Trent?" she asked.

Mason's eyes made a quick survey of the curious faces in the room.

"Where?" he asked.

"Up at a motel above Malibu."

"When?"

"She's overdue now. At first I thought it would be the thing to do, but after I got here I wasn't so certain."

"Where's here?"

"The motel."

"Where?"

"Here-Oh, I see what you mean. It's the Saint's Rest, and I'm in Unit Fourteen."

"Telephone there?"

"Yes. In each of the units."

"Thanks," Mason said, "I'll call back. Wait."

The lawyer hung up.

Mason nodded to Della Street, bowed to the gathering, said, "If you'll excuse us, please, we'll be going."

Dr. Alton said, "I may want to reach you later, Mr. Mason."

"Call the Drake Detective Agency," Mason said. "They're open twenty-four hours a day. They'll relay messages."

Mason started for the door.

Mrs. Briggs said, "Before you leave, Mr. Mason, I want you to know that we are absolutely horrified by what Dr. Alton has told us-and we are very much inclined to think there is more to it than appears on the surface."

Mason bowed. "You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. My only answer is to wish you a very good night."

The lawyer stood aside for Della to precede him through the door.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Della Street said, "I take it that call must have been important since it caused you to leave the scene of conflict."

"That call," Mason said, "was from Virginia Baxter. Evidently, Lauretta Trent has been in touch with her and has arranged a meeting at a motel called the Saint's Rest, up in the Malibu country somewhere.

"The motel has a telephone and our client is in Unit Fourteen.

"So we call her back at the first available opportunity," Mason went on. "I'm looking for a booth now, but I want to get far enough away from Lauretta Trent's house so that some of the crusading brothers-in-law won't notice me in case they should start out on a search for Lauretta."

"What do you think is going on?" Della asked.

"I don't know," Mason said, "but quite obviously there's a tie-in between the wills that were prepared in Bannock's office and the attitude of the various potential heirs."

Della said, "It's pretty convenient for the chauffeur. He inherits under the will. He does all the outdoor cooking. Lauretta Trent likes highly spiced foods and every once in a while she has a violent digestive disturbance. Perhaps nothing which would be fatal in itself, but… well, a violent nausea may bring on a fatal heart attack."

"Exactly," Mason commented.

"There's a service station and a phone booth down that side Street," Della Street exclaimed. "I just had a glimpse of it as we drove by."

"That's for us," Mason said.

They made a U-turn, drove down the side street and into the service station.

Della entered the booth, called Information and got the number of the Saint's Rest Motel while Mason was giving instructions to the attendant to fill the car with gasoline.

Mason was just entering the phone booth when Della made the connection and asked for Unit 14.

She eased out of the booth while Mason stepped in past her and took the telephone from Della's hand.

"Hello. Virginia?" he asked when he heard his client's voice.

"Yes. Is this Mr. Mason?"

"Yes. Tell me what happened."

Virginia Baxter said, "I know that you told me to stay home, but the phone rang and it was Lauretta Trent. She asked me if I would mind meeting with her tonight to discuss a very important and very confidential matter. I told her that it would be inconvenient and that I was supposed to stay home.

"So she told me that she'd make it well worth my while. That she would pay all my expenses and give me five hundred dollars. But the understanding was I must refrain from communicating with anyone. Just go up there and wait for her."

"And you did?" Mason asked.

"I did. That five hundred dollars and all expenses looked as big to me as a mountain of pure gold.

"I realized I should have telephoned you but she specifically stated that I wasn't to get in touch with anyone. Not to let a single soul on earth know where I was."

"So?" Mason asked.

"So I came up here and I've been here for something over an hour and she hasn't shown up or sent me any message. I began to think about the fact that I'd let you down and so I decided to call you and tell you where I was.

"I called Paul Drake's office. They told me that you were out at Lauretta Trent's so I called there and the nurse put you on the phone."

"You hold everything," Mason said. "We're on our way out to the Saint's Rest Motel. If Lauretta Trent shows up before we get there, hold her there."

"But how can I hold her?"

"Make some excuse," Mason said. "Tell her that you have some very important information for her. If you have to, tell her that I'm on my way out.

"Tell her that you want to talk with her privately. Tell her the whole story, starting with your arrest and all about the carbon copies of the files from Delano Bannock's office."

"You think my arrest was connected with that?"

"Very much so," Mason said. "I think the idea was that you were to be put in such a position that your testimony could be discredited if it became necessary to discredit it."

"All right," she said, "I'll wait."

"Where are you?"

"I'm in my room here at the motel."

"You've been there for how long?"

"More than an hour."

"And your car?"

"It's outside in the parking lot."

"All right," Mason said, "we're coming right out."

The lawyer hung up the phone, gave his credit card to the attendant at the service station, said to Della Street, "Come on, Della, we're going to start getting things
unscrambled.
"

They drove down to Santa Monica, then up along the beach where a high, angry surf was pounding on their left. Mason slowed to look for his turnoff, then took a dirt road which branched off and curled upward in a series of twisting curves.

Mason fed gas to the car and handled the wheel with deft skill, keeping well within the limits of safety, yet saving every precious second possible.

As Mason's car wound its way up the tortuous road, Della Street said, "What are you going to tell Lauretta Trent if she's there ahead of us, Perry?"

"I don't know," Mason said. "I'll have to remember that she's not my client."

"The chauffeur will probably be with her."

Mason nodded.

"And if he should find out that Dr. Alton has now changed his diagnosis and knows that she has been subjected to arsenic poisoning, the man could be dangerous. Lauretta Trent may never get back home."

Mason said, "If I can't talk with her privately I simply might put her in even more danger telling her about the poison. I am not under any obligation to tell Lauretta Trent anything, nor under obligation to withhold anything. I can, of course, ask her to call Dr. Alton and let him break the news to her."