The Case of the Sulky Girl Read Online Free PDF

Mason.
    "Certainly," said Norton. "I'm glad that my niece has consulted an attorney. I don't know if she has made arrangements for your compensation. In the event she has not, I propose to see that a sufficient amount is forthcoming from the trust fund to furnish you a reasonable fee. But I want you to impress upon her mind that she is legally powerless to do anything."
    "No," said Perry Mason, "I'll take my fee from her and I'm not binding myself to give any particular advice. Let's talk about the way you're going to use your discretion, instead of whether you've got the right to use it."
    "No," said Norton, "that is one matter which is not open to discussion."
    "Well," Mason remarked, smiling affably and keeping his temper, "that is primarily what I came here to discuss."
    "No," Edward Norton said coldly, "that phase of the discussion is entirely out of order. You will confine yourself to a discussion of the legal rights of your client under the trust."
    Mason's eyes were cold and appraising.
    "I've always found," he said, "that a legal matter has a lot of angles. If you'll just look at this thing from the human viewpoint and consider…"
    "I will allow you to be heard," Norton interrupted, in cold, level tones, "upon no matter other than the question of the legality of the trust and the interpretation thereof."
    Mason pushed back his chair, and got to his feet.
    His voice was as cold as that of the other. "I'm not accustomed to having people tell me what I will talk about and what I won't talk about. I'm here representing the rights of Frances Celane, your niece, and my client. I'll say anything I damned please concerning those rights!"
    Edward Norton reached out to a button and pressed it with his bony forefinger. The gesture was utterly devoid of emotion.
    "I am ringing," he said, "for the butler; who wild show you to the door. So far as I am concerned, the discussion is terminated."
    Perry Mason planted his feet wide apart, standing spread-legged, he said: "You'd better ring for two butlers, and the secretary too. It'll take all of them to put me out of here before I say what I've got to say!
    "You're making a mistake, treating this niece of yours as though she were a chattel or a lump of clay. She's a high-spirited, high-strung girl. I don't know where you get the idea that she's being blackmailed, but if you have any such idea…"
    The door of the private office opened, and a broad-shouldered, burly man, with a wooden face, bowed from the hips.
    "You rang sir?" he asked.
    "Yes," said Edward Norton, "show this gentleman out."
    The butler put a firm hand on Perry Mason's arm. The lawyer shook him off, savagely, continued to face Norton.
    "Nobody," he said, "is going to show me out, or is going to throw me out until I have had an opportunity to say what I want to say. If that girl is being blackmailed, you'd better act like a human being instead of a cash register, and give her a break…"
    There was a rustle of motion, and Frances Celane rushed into the room.
    She looked at Mason with black eyes, which gave the effect of being expressionless, with a face that seemed pouting.
    "You've done all you can do, Mr. Mason," she said.
    Mason continued to glower at the man behind the desk.
    "You're more than a treasurer," he said, "or should be. She should be able to look to you for…"
    The girl tugged at his arm.
    "Please, Mr. Mason," she said, "please. I know you're trying to do me a favor, but it's going to have just the opposite effect. Please don't."
    Mason took a deep breath, turned, and stalked rigidly from the room. The butler slammed the door shut behind him. Mason turned to Frances Celane and said: "Of all the obstinate, cold-blooded, unsympathetic icebergs I have ever met, that man is the worst!"
    She looked up at him and laughed.
    "I knew," she said, "that if I tried to explain to you how utterly obstinate my uncle was, you would never believe me. So I welcomed the opportunity to let you find out firsthand. Now you