The Case of the Lucky Legs Read Online Free PDF Page B

you wouldn't try to tell him how to perform the operation."
    "I'm not kicking," Bradbury said smilingly. "You know your business. I looked you up thoroughly before I came here. Anything that you say is okay with me."
    Perry Mason heaved a sigh.
    "That," he said, "simplifies matters."
    He took a cigarette from the humidor, turned it toward Bradbury. Bradbury shook his head and reached for his waistcoat pocket.
    "No," he said, "I'll smoke one of my cigars."
    "You're early," Perry Mason said.
    Bradbury indicated a copy of Liberty which he held under his left arm.
    "I picked up one of the new Libertys," he said. "They're just on the stand. I don't need to bother you at all; I'll sit in the outer office and read. You go right ahead with whatever work you have in mind."
    Perry Mason moved away from the desk and toward the door to the outer office.
    "I was just going to suggest that," he said. "I've got some matters that I want to work on without being disturbed. I'll let you know just as soon as I'm ready for you."
    Bradbury nodded, his keen gray eyes surveying Perry Mason.
    "Do you think," he said, "that you're going to be able to get sufficient facts on which to base a criminal prosecution?"
    "I don't think," Perry Mason told him, "until I've got something to work on. You can't build up a case without facts. I haven't got all of the facts yet."
    Bradbury walked back into the outer office. The door clicked shut behind him. Perry Mason read a copy of the Advance Decisions of the Supreme Court for ten minutes then softly tiptoed to the door which led to the outer office, opened it and looked out.
    J.R. Bradbury was seated in one of the chairs to the right of Della Street's desk, immersed in the periodical he was reading. He did not even look up. Perry Mason turned the knob with his fingers as he closed the door, so that the latch slipped silently into place.
    He walked back to his desk, tossed the Advance Decisions to one side and smoked in silent contemplation.
    The telephone rang.
    Mason scooped the receiver to his ear with a hasty motion.
    "Mason talking," he said.
    Paul Drake's voice came to his ears:
    "Okay, Perry," he said. "I've heard from my man who was out at this woman's apartment, waiting for her to come back. He's got all the information."
    "Have you located Patton?" Mason asked.
    "Yes, we've located him, and we're pretty certain that he's in his apartment. We've got quite a bit of dope on the racket he runs, perhaps enough to make it look as though we could start a criminal prosecution.
    "He's living at the Holliday Apartments out on Maple Avenue, 3508 is the number. He's got apartment 302.
    "I've looked the place up. It's an apartment house that pretends to have a hotel service, but doesn't have very much. There's an automatic elevator and a desk in the lobby. Sometimes there's some one on duty at the desk, but not very often. I have an idea we won't have any trouble getting up there unannounced. We can give him a third degree, and we can probably get a confession out of him."
    "Okay," Mason said. "Where are you now?"
    "I'm telephoning from a drug store at Ninth and Olive. I'm ready to start whenever you are. I think you'd better take Della Street along. He'll probably make a statement."
    "No," Perry Mason said, "I don't want to take her right now. I don't want her to hear the way we work on him. I'll have her where she can grab a taxi and come out the minute we telephone."
    "You'll join me here, then?" asked Paul Drake.
    "Yes, you stay there. I'll be with you in ten or fifteen minutes, perhaps less."
    Perry Mason dropped the receiver into place, paused for a moment, frowning thoughtfully, then he strode across the office and opened the door which led to the outer office.
    Bradbury looked up from his magazine expectantly.
    "Will it be much longer before you are ready for me?"
    "Not very much longer," Mason said. "Della Street hasn't come in yet, I see."
    Bradbury looked over at her vacant desk.
    "Was there something I