Free The Copper Frame by Ellery Queen Page A

this to you as you are about having it done. Until a jury finds you guilty, if ever, I see no reason why you’ll have to spend a single day in jail.”
    In view of the fact that everyone seemed convinced of his guilt, he could hardly expect friendlier treatment than that, Saxon thought. He had always been a little impatient with the general belief that the equality of all persons under the law was a myth, but now he was confronted with evidence that it was. There was little doubt in his mind that if he had been Joe Nobody, factory worker, he would already be behind bars and would languish there until trial.
    He was a little ashamed of himself for accepting this special treatment, but it would have required a degree of nobility rare in the history of human relations to insist on being jailed simply because others in the same position would have been. Particularly since he knew himself to be innocent.
    â€œThanks, Arn,” he said. “I do appreciate the way you’re handling this.”
    Saxon wasn’t supposed to be on duty that day. He had come down solely to keep his appointment with Arnold Kettle. When the district attorney left, Saxon walked into the squad room and put on his coat and hat.
    As he started past the desk, Vic Burns said, “Chief.”
    â€œYeah?” Saxon asked, pausing.
    â€œThe D.A. says we have to book you tomorrow.”
    â€œUh-huh.”
    â€œYou’re going to need bail,” Burns said diffidently. “I only have a couple of thousand salted away, but you’re welcome to it.”
    Saxon’s resentment at Burns’s earlier suggestion as to what might have really happened in Grace Emmet’s cell had left him a little cool toward the man. But now his coolness evaporated.
    â€œThanks, Vic,” he said. “But I’m sure I can arrange professional bond.”
    He drove to the big lake-front home of outgoing Mayor Ben Foley.
    Saxon found Foley and his wife in their bathrobes. They had just finished a late breakfast. Alice Foley excused herself to go upstairs and dress, leaving Saxon alone with her husband in the big front room.
    The outgoing mayor looked at him keenly. “Something’s wrong, Ted. What is it?”
    â€œYou haven’t heard?” Saxon asked with raised brows.
    â€œHeard what? We haven’t been out of the house.”
    Saxon told the whole story.
    When he finished, Foley regarded him shrewdly. “Have you told Emily?”
    â€œOf course,” Saxon said. “I drove over to the hospital last night as soon as I got away from headquarters. She was on night duty.”
    â€œHow’d she take it?”
    â€œShe was madder than I was. Not at me. At the people who rigged this.”
    Foley gave a satisfied nod. “Then I guess you’re as innocent as you claim.”
    Saxon frowned at him. “Of course I am.”
    â€œIf you were guilty, you wouldn’t have gone near Emily. You would have wanted to hide your face from her. Do you have any idea of the motive behind this frame?”
    Saxon shook his head. “Not the slightest.”
    â€œHmm. You want me to handle the legal end of this?”
    â€œThat’s why I’m here. You’re a lawyer, and I certainly need one.”
    â€œOkay. You say Arn Kettle’s going to push for the lowest possible bail?”
    â€œHe implied that.”
    â€œThen you forget everything until tomorrow morning,” Foley said. “I’ll arrange professional bond. I’ll meet you at headquarters at nine A.M .”

chapter 10
    Saxon didn’t feel like a lonely lunch at home, but neither did he care to patronize a local restaurant where he would run into people he knew. It had stopped snowing during the night and plows had already cleared the main roads, so he drove thirty miles to a roadhouse on the outskirts of Rigby and lunched there. Afterward he watched television in the road-house bar.
    Because Emily had worked until 7