Free The Case of the Troubled Trustee by Erle Stanley Gardner Page B

and wait- Hang it, we'll both go. They probably have a stakeout on my office as well as on yours. They may figure we'll try to head Fulton off. Come on, Paul, we'll just have to go and wait."
    Drake drove through traffic and into the service station. He caught the eye of the manager. "Going to wait around awhile, Jim," he said.
    "He hasn't been in yet," the manager said, looking curiously at Perry Mason.
    "We want to speed matters up as much as possible," Drake said. "He's a witness, and we want to-"
    "Put him in touch with the police at once," Mason interpolated.
    "Okay, there's parking room over there next to the grease rack," the man said. "Make yourselves comfortable. You any idea when he's going to be in?"
    "He'll be in shortly," Drake said.
    Drake backed the car into the space so that they had a commanding view of the gas pumps.
    "Want to phone Della Street and let her know where you are?" Drake asked.
    Mason shook his head. "We'll keep everyone guessing for a while."
    An hour and a half passed; then Drake suddenly gripped Mason's arm. "Here he comes, Perry," he said. "Now, remember we can't do anything that will serve as a peg on which the police can hang a complaint."
    Mason's eyes were wide with candor-too wide. "Why, certainly not, Paul! We're only co-operating with the police. Call him over."
    While the attendant was putting gasoline in Fulton's car, Drake caught his eye and called him over.
    "Why, hello, Mr. Drake. What are you doing here?"
    "Waiting for you," Drake said.
    "Gosh, I'm sorry. I took just a little shut-eye down in Ensenada before I pulled out. I was afraid I couldn't keep awake and-"
    "That's all right," Drake said.
    The operative's eyes twinkled. "You certainly get around, Mr. Mason."
    Drake said, "He wants to ask you a few questions."
    "Go ahead."
    Mason said, "You lost Dutton last night on the tailing job?"
    "That's right. He drove like crazy. He went through signals, right and left and darn near got me smashed up trying to follow him. I was hoping we'd both get pinched and I could square the pinch by explaining to the officer. It's a chance we have to take."
    "And how did you pick him up again?" Mason asked.
    "He went to a phone booth and I bugged the phone booth with a little bug that fits right up snug against the glass with a rubber suction cup. A transistor wire recorder is suspended underneath."
    "And what did you find?"
    "He said he was going out to the Barclay Country Club and would meet someone on tee number seven. I've reported all that."
    "I want it official this time," Mason said. "You didn't spot him out there?"
    "Not right away. His car was there."
    "You tried to get in?"
    "I tried the door to see if it was unlocked."
    "Was it?"
    "No. There was a spring lock on it."
    "So you waited?"
    "That's right."
    "How long did you wait?"
    "Twelve minutes."
    "And then what?"
    "And then he came out."
    "How did he act when he came out, excited?"
    "He seemed to be- Well, he was in a hurry. He knew exactly what he wanted to do."
    "He didn't pay any attention to you?"
    "I was sitting pretty well in the shadows back in my car. That is, I'd crawled over in the back seat so I wasn't at all conspicuous."
    "There were other cars parked around there?"
    "Half a dozen, I guess."
    "You didn't take the license numbers?"
    "No, I spotted Dutton's car there, and he was the one I was tailing so I didn't pay any attention to the others-no one told me to."
    "That's all right," Mason said. "We're not blaming you, but can you describe the cars?"
    "Why, they were just-just ordinary cars."
    "No car that stood out, not a sport job, or some big flashy job?"
    "No, as I remember it, they were all rather mediocre-I took them for cars belonging to employees who slept in on the premises. There weren't too many of them-I guess three would just about hit it, but there may have been four."
    "All right," Mason said, "we don't have much time. We have to hit the high spots. Dutton came out, got in his car and drove away?"
    "That's