Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen

The room at Police Headquarters had iron-barred windows, a clean but slightly damaged table, a dozen chairs, and three large brass spittoons on rubber mats, and nothing else.It was a very ordinary room, obviously used for some special purpose; there was no particular decoration, no cheerful atmosphere.The people detained in the room are like a group of lambs waiting to be driven to the slaughterhouse. Della and Carlo just waited quietly.They sat at the far end of the table, near the window.The policeman who had been instructed to "watch them" sat at the other end of the table, between Della and Carlo and the door, with one elbow resting on the table and his feet On the cross brace under a nearby chair.From Della and Carlo's point of view, he was a man just entering middle age, with a solid and strong shape and outline.

The vicissitudes of the years have made him turn a blind eye to the beauty of women; and the years of working with police colleagues have made him so familiar with human suffering and misery that he has even become numb.His expression showed that although his people were in the house, his mind was already wandering outside. His body looms large between the prisoner and the gate, a scene that feels like he's faithfully carrying out his duties.However, he was still distracted and distracted, thinking about the chances of winning the horse race tomorrow afternoon, and what plans he would have if he was eligible for a pension; The quarrel between the two——her kung fu with the Lion Roar in the River East was really breathless, but he could only find the best rebuttal words after the fact; when he thought of this, he felt a little sad and regretful.His wife has talent in this area, no!Damn it!She's got her mother's personality—well!It must be so.His mother-in-law passed away about ten years ago, and he still remembered some scenes of getting along with him during her lifetime; at that time, Meibao had already learned the tantrums that the old woman often showed.At that time, Meibao hadn't put on weight yet, and she did have a good figure at that time; hmm... Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look back at himself - he also gained weight.Since he stopped playing handball, his figure has been out of shape; in retrospect, he can't remember when he stopped.It turned out he had a flu, and then they changed his practice time, and then...

Della said firmly, "I'm going to call, it's my right." The officer, frowning at the interruption, didn't even look at Della, and said mechanically, "If they let you, you have the right to call a lawyer." "I request immediate permission to speak to a lawyer right now." The police officer didn't say a word, he frowned, still trying to remember: what made him stop playing handball? ——That was related to a personnel change within the police.He wondered in his heart: Is that when the captain accepted the investigation of the grand jury? Della said firmly: "I have the right to contact Mr. Paley Mason; he is my boss and my lawyer."

"Miss, that is of no use to you." "Well, you've heard my request. I'll see if it works for me. I'm sure there must be a law about that." "You can talk to the team leader." "Okay, let me talk to the team leader." "When he is ready, he will see you naturally." "Well, I'm ready, but instead of talking to the team leader—I'm talking to you here." "I'm just doing what I'm told." Della said, "You might find yourself in trouble, you know? Perry Mason wouldn't like you." "Miss, whether Perry Mason likes it or not—that's his family's business, and our team leader doesn't care so much!"

"When Mr. Mason doesn't like something," Della continued. "He's likely to do something about it, he might even consider suing you." The officer slammed his feet on the floor, then turned to look at Della and said, "Accuse me?" "good." "What crime?" "Refused to put me in touch with a lawyer or take me to the nearest law enforcement officer as soon as possible." "Wait a minute," the officer said. "You haven't been arrested yet." "Then why did you lock me up here?" "The district attorney wants to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to the District Attorney." "That's your bad luck." "You mean: I was brought here as a witness?" "Well . . . from a certain point of view, yes. There is a criminal case under investigation." "If I was being called as a witness," Della said. "You need a court order before you can detain me! If I am arrested, you must take me to the nearest law enforcement officer without delay." "Well, we're looking for an opportunity to get in touch with law enforcement officials," the officer said with a smile.

"Whatever you want," Della said. "But in case you get charged, don't say I didn't warn you. You look like a promising police officer, and if something goes wrong with you now and you don't get that pension, then That would be such a pity." "Hey, what are you talking about?" "I'm stating a fact. If you violate my rights and you are sued because of it..." "Hey, hey, listen, I'm just following orders." "To detain me here, but not to speak to my lawyer—is that an order?" "Well... I was ordered to keep you here."

Della said triumphantly: "You should be very clear - when someone starts to press, the senior officer will always say: 'What? We just instructed the officer to provide a few people in the reception room. Seats for them. We didn't tell him they were under arrest. Of course, we thought they were happy to be there, waiting to help us with the case; Think he understands one thing, that they are not deprived of their constitutional rights. If he breaks the law, it is his personal problem; we are not responsible, we never gave him such an order.' " The officer said, "Hey, wait a minute. You look like my wife. You women are all the same."

He pushed back his chair, frowned, as if anticipating something ominous, and walked awkwardly to the door.He opened the door and stood in the hallway, holding the door with one hand, and opened the door five or six inches wide. Carlo said: "Miss Straiter, well said. You made him uneasy." The officer raised his voice and said, "Jim." Then he closed the door. Della and Carlo were alone in the house for about five minutes, then the door opened again, and the officer said, "The team leader wants to see you now." "I don't want to talk to anyone." "Well... don't you want to make a phone call?"

"yes." "In this case, there is no telephone in this room, do you want to go to another room with a telephone?" "OK." "Okay, then please!" Della and Carlo got up and followed the officer out, their footsteps echoing in the corridor.The police officer opened a door and said with a relaxed gesture, "Okay, team leader, here they come." Trager sat at an oak desk in the corner of the room, before which three chairs were arranged in a semicircle. "Please sit down." He invited them politely. Della said, "I'm going to call Mr. Mason."

"I want to ask you a few questions first." "I must call Mr. Mason first." Trager said, "Listen! I don't want to trouble you, Miss Streeter. But when Perry Mason started using you to get his teeth out, I had no choice. I had to send Mason to the events that have happened; and it is only through you that I can make out the connection." "What happened?" Della asked. "What happened—you know it, you know it as well as I do. You and Perry Mason tried to hide the evidence." "Nonsense," Della said. "You rushed to fetch Miss Burbank and then abducted her so that we could not find her." "What nonsense are you talking about? Am I hiding a witness by taking Miss Burbank to a hotel and registering her under her own name? You just have to check with the hotel desk..." "Yes, I know," Trager said. "You did it very skillfully, but the purpose of your doing it is to hide the witness." "You try to prove it to me!" Della said in a challenging tone. "That's exactly what I'm sorry about," said Traeger, "because of your cunning tactic of registering Miss Burbank's own name on purpose, so I can't prove it." "Then why are you detaining me?" "Listen," Trager added with a triumphant smile. "I can detain you for one thing—your attempt to conceal evidence." "What evidence?" Della asked. In a rather dramatic gesture, Team Leader Trager opened a desk drawer, took out a pair of women's shoes, and said, "I suppose you'd say: You've never seen these shoes, have you?" "I really haven't seen it." Della replied immediately. Trager's smile looked domineering. "Miss Streeter, it is a pity that this lie does not correspond to the truth. Paley Mason instructed Miss Carlo Burbank to take the shoes, wrap them in a piece of brown paper, and take them to the package at Union Terminal Deposit at the checkpoint and get a receipt. She does the same and gets a pickup card, which I pass to you. You put that pickup card in an envelope, and write on the envelope with your own hand. the name 'Pelly Mason'." Della was silent for four to five seconds before asking, "Is there something wrong with those shoes?" Captain Trager picked up a magnifying glass, examined the area above the leather soles, and said, "Miss Straiter, there is nothing wrong with these shoes, there is nothing wrong with them, and you are the one with the problem; these shoes... " At this time, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Mason walked into the room quickly and said, "Okay, team leader. You have said enough." A police officer poked his head in and asked, "Did you call him?" "I haven't," Captain Trager said. The officer entered the room and said to Mason, "Get out!" Della said quickly, "Captain Trager! This is my lawyer. If you're going to charge me with anything, he's my counsel; if you're not going to charge me with anything, I'm not going to be anything." Witnesses, I will absolutely not say anything to you. In the future, unless I am summoned with a subpoena according to formal procedures, I will still remain silent." "In my capacity as counsel to these two ladies, I request that they be taken immediately to the nearest and easiest law enforcement official," Mason said. Cui Ge said with a cold smile: "Mason, unfortunately, today is Sunday, I'm afraid you have to wait until Monday morning to find an official who is free to see you..." "Stop kidding," Mason interrupted. "Judge Rothman gave me special favors and allowed me to go to his court, where he's sitting waiting!" Trager pushed back his chair slowly, and sighed wearily. "Okay," he finally gave up his original tough attitude. "Just do it." Mason nodded to Della and Carlo. "You mean, can we go now?" Carlo asked. Trager didn't answer.Mason went to the door, opened it, and Della went out, Carlo following her.As Mason was closing the door, Trager said, "She'll be back by midnight; and next time she'll have to stay." After Mason went out, he closed the door smoothly.Mason's expression didn't show any reaction, as if he didn't hear what Trager said at all.