Free The Case of the Dangerous Dowager by Erle Stanley Gardner

parade around with this guy until I locate this deputy?"
    "No – wait a minute – I'll signal him from here."
    Duncan stepped behind the desk, reached down past Grieb's body and pressed a concealed button. The man in tweeds said, "I don't know what my legal rights are, but if I'm going to act under your orders, you're going to take all the responsibility. Is that understood?"
    "Of course it is," Duncan said impatiently, "but watch Mason. Don't let him pull any fast ones, and don't let him ditch anything."
    Mason drawled, "If you feel that way about it, Duncan, in justice to myself, I demand that I be handcuffed."
    "You're asking for it?" Perkins inquired. Mason nodded.
    Perkins heaved a sigh of relief and said, "You heard him say that, Duncan."
    Duncan said, "Sure I did. Don't be so damn technical. Put the bracelets on him."
    Mason held out his wrists. Perkins slipped the handcuffs on them and said, "Come on, let's go."
    "The second door on the left after you go through the door marked 'Private,' at the end of the bar," Duncan instructed.
    The man in tweeds slipped his right arm through Mason's left arm and said, "Put your wrists down, buddy. Then your coat sleeves will conceal the handcuffs. I'll hold my hand here and we can walk through the bar without making a lot of commotion."
    Mason, still casually chewing gum, permitted himself to be escorted along the passageway, through the bar, through the door marked "Private," and into Duncan's bedroom.
    Perkins closed the door behind them and said, "You understand I haven't any hard feelings."
    Mason nodded.
    "And I'm just following Duncan's orders. He's the one who's responsible, in case you feel like making any trouble."
    "I don't feel like making any trouble," Mason said, "unless you put me in a position where I have to. You're in enough trouble already."
    "What do you mean?"
    "Leaving Duncan alone in that room."
    "Somebody has to stay there until the authorities show up."
    Mason shrugged his shoulders as though dismissing the subject. "The name's Perkins?" he asked.
    "Yes."
    "All right, Perkins, Duncan wants you to search me, and I want to be searched. You can start with the wallet in my inside coat pocket. You'll find some money in there and some business cards, a driving license, and a lodge card."
    Perkins pulled the wallet from the inner pocket of Mason's coat, opened it, looked hastily through the wallet, then pushed it back in Mason's pocket. He patted Mason's pockets in search of a gun, then inserted the key in the handcuffs with fumbling fingers and said, "I hope you aren't going to be sore about this, Mr. Mason, I…"
    As the handcuffs clicked open, Mason said, "Now wait a minute, Perkins. Let's go at this thing right. I'm doing this for my own protection. Now let's make a good job of it."
    Mason walked to the dresser and emptied his pockets, then unfastened his collar.
    "What are you doing?" Perkins asked.
    "I'm stripping," Mason told him, "and you're going to search every inch of me and every stitch of clothes I've got on. Later on, you're going to get on the witness stand and swear that I didn't take anything out of that room, that I haven't any weapon on me and that you've listed absolutely everything which was in my possession."
    Perkins nodded and said, "That suits me swell."
    Mason had just taken off his shirt when the door opened and Duncan entered the room.
    "What's coming off here?" Duncan asked.
    Mason grinned and said, "Everything. I'm going to get a clean bill of health out of this."
    "You don't need to go that far," Duncan said, his voice conciliatory.
    "Well, I'm going that far," Mason told him.
    "But that's absurd. I'm not accusing you of murder or of robbery, but you're a lawyer and I don't know just what your client's up to. I thought perhaps you might have picked up a gun in there, or perhaps there was some evidence you didn't want to have the officers find and…"
    "Exactly," Mason said, "so we're going to settle this business right now and right