Chapter 6 chapter Five

It was Bai Shili who opened the door. He stared at Mason and Della in disbelief. "How dare you come back!" he said. Mason smiled. "We're here again. We want to see Sophia." "Sophia isn't seeing anyone right now." "Can you represent her?" "She doesn't see anyone." "She didn't tell you she was missing?" "Of course there is." "Then you can see her?" "certainly." Mason said: "My secretary Della has a letter from Catherine asking her to go to Catherine's room to get clothes."

"She can't come in." Bai Shili said. "I'd like to hear Sofia herself say that," Mason said. "I don't think you have the right to represent her." "You come in and take a look, and you'll know if I have any rights." Bai Shili threatened. "Do you want to prevent Miss Streeter from going in to get her clothes by force?" "Not bad." Bai Shili seemed ready to give it a go. Jordan, who came out to see the voice, took a step forward and said, "Mr. Bai Shili, I have something to tell you." "Let's talk later." Bai Shili said.

Mason said: "My client has been harassed and humiliated. You falsely accused her and drove her out of the house alone. Now she wants to take her clothes. If you don't let me take it, it is tantamount to aggravating my client's suffering." Injury. On the contrary, it may be regarded as lessening the injury. I think Mrs. Elwood should understand this." "Wait a minute, wait a moment." Jotun said, pulling Bai Shili aside, and the two talked in a low voice for two or three minutes.Then Bai Shili walked in angrily, and Jordan walked out. "Mr. Mason, you and Miss Streeter can come in." Jordan said. "Please wait in the study. I will take Miss Streeter to Catherine's room. As long as it is authorized by Catherine, you can take anything away. Of course, we are not responsible for your actions."

"Of course," Mason said. "Here is Catherine's letter." Jotun looked at it carefully for a few minutes, then put the letter in his pocket. "That letter was for Mrs. Elwood," said Mason. "We can represent her," Jordan said. "Please come in." "You'd like to let Miss Streeter get things," Mason said. "That means you've searched Catherine's room, haven't you?" Jordan smiled. "Guess whatever you want." The three of them walked in, Mason was sitting in the study, and Jotun led Della up the creaking old winding staircase.Bai Shili was nowhere to be seen.

After a while, there was the sound of light footsteps on the stairs, and a pretty woman walked in, and Mason stood up immediately. "Are you Mr. Mason?" asked the woman. Mason bowed slightly. "I'm Sophia Elwood." "Nice to meet you," Mason said. "Because we have different positions now, and I am a lawyer, I think it would be better if your legal representative is also present..." "Bullshit," she said. "Mr. Mason, please sit down. I have something to talk to you." "I'm Catherine's lawyer," Mason said. "I know, I know. I know you plan to sue us for defamation, but don't blame me for what Bai Shili did."

"Isn't he representing you?" Mason asked. "Isn't he your spokesperson for this incident?" "He's trying to be my voice. He's advising me on what to do and what not to do, but now I'm making my own decisions." "Do you really think Catherine stole your money?" Mason asked. "That's what your lawyers call a leading question," she said with a small smile. "I'm not going to answer that right now. It doesn't matter what I think anyway." "It's certainly about the evidence," Mason said. "Everyone's rights are guaranteed by the law, especially when accused by others."

"To tell you the truth," she said. "I've lived alone for a long time, and I guess it's made me less trusting and more secretive. I had a hundred dollars in a hatbox on a shelf in a cupboard, which was locked. Someone came in and stole it." One hundred yuan. At first I suspected that Bai Shili stole it. Of course Bai Shili was very angry, and he said that if he wanted to steal it, Catherine would have the best chance. He thought of Catherine first." "In other words, he thinks Catherine is the most suspect, so he says she stole it?" Mason asked. "That's another leading question," she said. "I don't really want to discuss it, but I'd love to get my hundred dollars back. A hundred dollars is a lot of money for a woman like me."

She stared at Mason through wire-rimmed glasses with sharp gray eyes, and said again, "That's a lot of money." "Just a hundred dollars?" Mason asked. "It's exactly one hundred yuan." "Have you been saving for a long time?" Mason asked. "I don't want to discuss my personal financial situation, but I can tell you that I have been saving for a while. I have an account in the bank, and I deposit five yuan every once in a while, and now I have one hundred and fifty yuan I decided to do some shopping and buy some clothes. So I went and got a brand new hundred. But I didn't want to take the money with me, so I put it in the hat box in the cupboard, and I thought that was the safest."

"Did the money disappear when you went to look for it tonight?" "Yes. The box was thrown on the ground... The detective Bai Shili asked to help me remove the fingerprints on the box. He said he would try it." "How many people have touched that box?" Mason asked. "I moved." "Did Bai Shili not move when he went up to look at it?" "Yes, he picked it up to see if he could find any clues." "Has the detective, Mr. Jordan, also moved?" "No. He held it with clips." "So you know there must be Basley's fingerprints on it, don't you?" Mason said.

"yes." "So, if it is proved that Catherine's fingerprints are on the box, then you will not consider the fact that there are also Basley's fingerprints on it?" "Of course, he picked it up. Catherine, on the other hand, shouldn't have touched my cupboard at all." "Conversely, if the person who picked up the box today was Catherine, but there were Basley's fingerprints on the box, you would think that Basley stole the money, wouldn't you?" Mason asked. She stared at Mason sharply for a moment, then smiled and said, "You lawyers really like to confuse people. Mr. Mason, I just want to tell you that I don't want to wrong people. So far, I have not charged Catherine." What. I'm just telling the truth."

"Excuse me, why is Bai Shili your agent?" Mason asked. "He is not my agent." "But he said yes." "It's his wishful thinking. My surrogate is myself." "Have you known him long?" Mason asked. "it's been a while." "How long is a period of time?" "Just for a while." "One year?" "Not that long." "A month?" "Maybe." "Did you only lose a hundred dollars?" "yes." "Are you sure it's exactly one hundred dollars?" Mason asked again. "That's right. A brand new hundred-dollar bill." "Does the bank have a record of your withdrawal?" "Of course. I tell you the truth. I don't like lying." Then there were footsteps on the stairs again.Della came down first, followed by Jordan.Jotun carried a suitcase, Della a light travel bag. Della said, "I took everything I needed urgently. Makeup, a change of clothes, etc., enough for a few days." "She can come back to get the rest at any time," Sophia said. Mason said, "This is my secretary, Miss Streeter; this is Mrs. Elwood." Sophia stood up, walked up to Della, and looked at her carefully. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Streeter." Saying that, she stretched out her hand to Della. Della put down her travel bag and shook Sophia's hand. "Hello, nice to meet you. I picture you as depressed." "I was very depressed," Sofia said. "But I don't want emotions to interfere with my judgment or manners. Miss Streeter, you are a very nice girl, with a good appearance and conversation." "Thank you," Della said. Sophia turned to Mason. "Mr. Mason," she said. "Are you Catherine's lawyer?" Mason nodded. "I didn't know Catherine knew a lawyer." "She knows me." "She knew you before you came here, didn't she?" "yes." "How long have you known each other?" "It's been a while." Sophia laughed. "You're cunning. Now it's my turn to ask you, how long is a period of time?" "Just for a while." Sophia said lightly: "As soon as she has a chance to call, she will call you immediately." "I get a lot of calls from people all the time," Mason said. "I believe that. Mr. Mason, I understand your position very well. Since you are Catherine's lawyer, if I have a lawsuit with her, you naturally don't want to talk to me, but I want to tell you that I have never accused Catherine. I'm just telling the truth. I took a hundred dollars out of my bank account and put it in a hat box on a shelf in the cupboard. When I opened the cupboard, the box fell on the floor and the money disappeared. And I'm going to tell you , the accusations made by Basley or Jotun were their idea and have nothing to do with me." "So, Bai Shili is not your agent anymore? He can't represent you?" Mason asked. "Of course he isn't." "Thank you," Mason said. Sophia smiled slightly. "Mr. Mason, I have said enough. In short, Catherine's departure has nothing to do with me. She can come back to get her things at any time. Miss Streeter, you have enough things for her for a few days?" "it should be OK." "Catherine has a job and can't go without clothes, and I think that job should go on. My philosophy is that work is the best medicine in the world. I persuaded her to work, and I probably gave her some Stress. I know you must be anxious to get your bags to her. I can understand how she feels. Please tell her Aunt Sophia's greetings." "Can I also tell her that you believe she didn't steal the money?" "No!" Sophia said immediately. "I don't predict who is guilty or innocent. I always believe that facts speak louder than words. But I really didn't accuse her. Without evidence, I wouldn't accuse anyone." "Did Basley hire the private detective?" Mason asked. "Son, if you're going to put me on the witness stand, I'll testify on that." Sophia's eyes sparkled. "I have already asked you to pass on what I want to say to Catherine. Now I am retiring. Today is enough trouble, and I am not young anymore." She bowed slightly, smiled and said, "This way, please." Then she led Mason and Della to the door. Mason put the suitcase in the car, and Della said, "What do you think?" "Cunning as a fox," Mason said. "The truth is not difficult to deduce. She must have hidden a large sum of money in that cupboard. Maybe the money was stolen later, or she felt that Catherine already knew where she hid the money. She was afraid that Catherine would report to the IRS , so what should I do? So she took all the money, went to the bank to withdraw a hundred dollars, so as to leave a record, and then threw the box on the ground by herself, yelling loudly that the money was stolen." "You don't think someone else stole it...for example, Bai Shili?" "That's the case," Mason said. "That's not the case with Sophia. When a woman loses all her property, she usually must call the police immediately and try to find the burglar, or at least some of the money." "Maybe she's worried about the IRS coming to make trouble, so she's afraid to report it," Della said. "No matter how difficult it is, she will still try to get the money back and argue with the IRS." Mason said. "In other words, do you think Sophia is acting?" "It seems so," Mason said. "Of course, the premise is that what Catherine said is true." "It's not like we haven't seen people tell lies," Della said. "Indeed." Mason said flatly. They drove back to the hotel, and Mason told Catherine all about his conversation with Sophia. Catherine listened attentively as she unpacked. Suddenly she turned to Della and said, "Did you see a plaid skirt hanging with a pink blouse?" "Are you going to wear that suit?" Della said. "I should have brought it, shouldn't I?" "I hope so. I wanted to call you to tell you, but then I thought it would be better not to. I... I was going to wear them tomorrow. Forget it, I'll wear something else. I wanted to wear those crocodile shoes, Those are the ones I usually wear for work...forget it, I’ll just wear these black leather shoes now.” "Remember, Sophia is very nice herself," Mason said. "She said, you can go back and get the rest of the clothes at any time. However, I think you'd better have a witness when you go back. So it's better to have someone accompany you back. The Derek Detective Agency has people 24 hours a day, you want Find me, you can call there anytime you want. Forget about everything for now and go to sleep." "I tried to sleep and watch," Catherine said. "What happened today is hard to forget." "Try to forget about it," Mason said, patting her gently on the shoulder. "Keep in touch with me." Mason turned to Della and nodded.