Good one in the Mason series. Perry’s working late. He spots a nice pair of legs on the fire escape outside his window. They belong to Virgina Colfax. She says she works upstairs for a Mining Corporation. There’s a glint of something metallic in her hand. Perry knows it’s a gun. She tosses it and says it was a flashlight.
He takes her outside and everything’s friendly….until she slaps him and jumps in a cab. They’ll meet again. A thinly disguised item relating the incident is in the next morning’s gossip column. That allows Della Street to make some fun of him.
The President of the company, Edward Garvin is on a honeymoon in Mexico with wife number two, Lorraine. His first wife Ethel said she was going to Reno to get a divorce. He went to Mexico to get a Mexican divorce and married Lorraine in Tijuana.
Someone is trying to manipulate proxies in time for the next stockholders meeting. Looks like it’s Ethel. She never did get her Reno divorce and found a rich rancher to fool around with. It looks like Edward could be arrested for bigamy if he returns to the U.S.
Perry goes to Mexico to talk with the happy couple. Edward didn’t know about the proxies. As things move along Ethel is murdered in her car. Lt.Tragg comes down to talk with Edward. He’s eventually tricked into coming back to California. He’s charged with Ethel’s murder.
At the trial Perry is opposed by two bumbling prosecutors whose main interest is gaining fame by making a fool out of Perry. It’s an entertaining sequence.
If you’re exploring the Mason series this is a good one to read. It also shows that P.I. Paul Drake has his limits where his license is concerned.
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