Chapter 5 chapter Five

Derek showed up at Mason's office at 11:30 the next morning. "Hi, Paul," Mason said. "Have you had enough sleep?" "Enough sleep," Derek said. "At 1:30 this morning, I collected the fingerprints and classified them, and asked a well-known sheriff to call the FBI, and I have already received a reply." "A criminal?" Mason asked. "It's either, or it's not." Derek replied. "Shit." "Lady Warren's maiden name was Margaret Lorna Neely. She used to be secretary to a man named Christel Damon Keaton."

"Where did it happen?" "New York." "Go on." "Ghidon was a man of action, a quick-witted, quick-talking speaker. The postal authorities had two charges against him, but nothing. The third finally got them to him." "What crime?" "Mail fraud. But it's weird, they sued Gitton and his secretary, Margaret Neely, so they both went to federal court. I didn't have enough time to read the verdict, just that Some highlights. Gidon was convicted on multiple counts and Margaret was acquitted by a jury." "Do you know why?" Mason asked.

"Are you asking why Gidon was convicted, or how Margaret was acquitted?" "Ask both." "They convicted Gidon because he gave a bad impression. He was too gentle and polite, he spoke too fast, and the people who confronted him in court were farmers. This group of witnesses came from generations of farmers. It was not easy for the judge to compare the honest farmer with the garrulous Gidon. As for the part of the acquittal, it was a corny story. For she had a young face and an innocent look, a young, dressed The girl in stockings was released. She was only twenty-six years old."

"It's really strange that the prosecutor would prosecute two people at the same time," Mason said. "He did it because he wanted to give Margaret a heavy sentence." "Why? Did he think she was responsible for the crime?" Mason asked. "I don't think they have evidence against her. What they really want is the forty-seven thousand dollars." Mason raised an eyebrow questioningly. "When postal inspectors and government officials flocked to Gidon's office, they found Gidon empty of pockets, empty of safes and bank accounts. Yet Gidon secretly paid his lawyer's fees in advance. , the balance of 47,000 yuan in the original bank account also mysteriously disappeared."

"Don't the banks keep records?" "Well, of course, Gidon said he took the money out and put it in the safe in the office, because he knew that a group of disgruntled customers would come to ask for money the next day, in order not to let the money in and out stay in the transaction record, so I took out the full amount of cash." "As for the safe, I guess it was destroyed by thieves that night and stole the cash." Mason said. "That's right, the thieves took advantage of the night to destroy the safe and steal the cash!" "At the same time, I speculate that the 47,000 yuan has not been traced by the authorities."

"Yes, according to rumors, Margaret knows where the money is, and may have kept it for Gidon. By the way, the police and the FBI are now desperate to know where Margaret is, and Where did I get her fingerprints. They put a lot of pressure on me." "Okay, I see," Mason said. "But you can't give any wind of it." "But it's a lot of pressure," Derek argued. "They even suggested that I acted like an accomplice to a criminal." "Where did the criminal come from?" Mason asked. "Marguerite has been acquitted of the fraud."

"She was brilliant, and she just disappeared," Derek said. "The police thought they could use her social security number or other identification number to pinpoint her whereabouts, but Margaret just disappeared. From what we know now, it can be inferred that she died after the incident. Before long, I met Horace Warren and spent a while in Mexico City under the name Lorna Neely. During that time, Warren was still an ambitious young businessman with a lot of money on hand. There are some assets, but no special blessings from the gods of luck. He didn't start investing big until two years later, when he dug oil on his land."

Mason grinned and said, "Paul, you're such a talker." "I've been listening to you all the way too." "Nobody knows where you got your fingerprints?" "I dare not say that," Derek said. "Although no one has found any news from me, I may have left some clues." "How to say?" "Last night I rented a catering truck with a fingerprint lab." Mason said thoughtfully: "I see, Paul... Even so, I think the authorities should prefer to keep the two parties peaceful. They tried Margaret, but she was released. Now they still What do you want to do?"

"What they want is Christ Keaton." "They've got him." "They only got an empty shell," Derek said. "They suggested to Gidon that he could be paroled or even set free if he was willing to spit out the $47,000." "Did Gidon refuse?" "Ghidon insists he has no knowledge of the whereabouts of the money and he still insists the safe was broken open by thieves at night." "Does he think it was the thief who did it?" "No, he insisted it was done by an outsider. The combination for the safe was taped to the bottom of the drawer on Gidon's desk. Authorities found the drawer pulled open and its contents scattered. The thieves apparently got the combination and opened the safe. Take the money from the cabinet."

"Is there any other evidence that the office was stolen?" "As far as I know, the evidence is considerable: the lock on the office door was broken, the twenty dollars Margaret had kept in her drawer were missing, the ninety-seven dollars in the petty-gold drawer and the copper plates in the stamp drawer, They were all taken away." "So Gidon didn't accept the authorities' quid pro quo for parole?" "He said he couldn't do it. Because he didn't know what happened to the money." "How long has he been in prison?" Mason asked.

"He was released last Friday," Derek said. Mason said thoughtfully: "I guess the authorities must have someone following him closely." "I don't know that," Derek said. "What I can tell you is that for the person concerned, if he has secrets and does not want to be monitored, he will get rid of these eyes and ears sooner or later. The best way is to let the person try to get rid of the stalker first, and then let the person try to get rid of the stalker. He believes that he has achieved his goal, and then secretly followed his actions to find out the whole story. For this purpose, the authorities often send "blatant stalkers" to monitor the client first, so that the client is stuck in the throat. In order to get rid of The stalker will try to get into a crowded building with multiple exits, or find a car to try a traffic signal or two to get rid of the blatant stalker. At this time, the authorities send 'no trace' The stalker' came on." "Has this ever happened to Gidon?" "I don't know anything about what happened after Gidon got out of prison," Derek said. "The authorities have not given me these secrets, but I'd better cooperate with them." Derek stroked the front of his throat with his fingers, making a throat-slitting motion. "Don't mess yourself up," Mason said. "If the authorities end up showing you with a revoked license, tell them I gave you the fingerprints and you're only accountable to me. Tell them to come and talk to me and I'll tell them." "Okay," Derek said. "They still want the $47,000 back." "Do they want to take the money and pay it back?" "They want to take Gidon back again for the crime of providing false information." "But this practice has long been prohibited by the statute of the appeal period." Mason said. "No, the story doesn't stop there." Derek said. "The authorities were very smart. They dug up his confession, and then they ran to tell Giton that they were investigating the case of his safe being stolen. Although Giton claimed that the deadline for appeal had expired, the authorities Still insisting on investigating the theft, and asking Gitton to recount the office theft and the loss of 47,000 yuan. There is a law stating that it is illegal to provide false information to investigating officials, and..." Mason said in an impatient tone: "Giton has finished his prison service, and he has paid the price to the society." "But the authorities don't want to see a con artist walk away with $47,000 after a few years in prison." "I see," Mason said thoughtfully. "Now the police know that you know something about Margaret Neely, so you have to manage your contacts so they don't get it." "I'm going to sever those ties," Derek said. "I don't want to continue with this case. I'm quitting." Mason shook his head and said, "No, you can't." "What do you mean? Mason, I have to keep my license, but I can't give the police the information they want." Mason said: "The police will not charge anyone for any reason. All they want is to find the forty-seven thousand dollars, that's all. If I can, I'd like to get you out of the embarrassment and find another detective." Come take over, but I wouldn't take the risk of connecting with someone else. Think of the mess that would have been if Lorna Warren had been arrested. We can't let that happen, we can't let the news out." "Nobody's going to spill the beans," Derek said. Mason said in a questioning tone: "When the police are angry, Paul, they can do anything cruel." Derek was silent. Mason said: "I want a stalker, Paul. I want Mrs. Warren to be kept under watch, but not to let her know that she is being watched. Tell your partner not to make her suspicious, even if you have to give up the stalker. Meanwhile, I also want Judson Wanney to be stalked for a few days and have your people find a mug shot of Chris Keaton and get acquainted with him. If any of the aforementioned go to see Giaton, or Giaton comes to them , let me know immediately." Derek groaned: "I've been worried that you would come up with such an idea. It's very dangerous, Paley." "Having a bath can be dangerous, Paul, get to work." After Derek left the office, Della said, "Oh my God! You've guessed she's not innocent." Mason said: "Think of it this way, a young, impressive woman who is deeply fascinated by her articulate boss, who sees nothing wrong with what they do. Not only is she bewildered by him, Probably still in love with him. It would have been easy for Gidon to ask her to look after the forty-seven thousand dollars." "I know that part," Della said. "But she shouldn't have gotten herself into the situation she is in by working her way up to this day for a clever liar." "What's the current situation?" Mason asked. "Well," Della said. "For example, by letting her husband know." "what do you know?" "Know about forty-seven thousand dollars in cash." Mason said: "There are still many fragments in the current evidence. First, the authorities did not know that Mrs. Warren was Margaret Neely. Second, her husband knew nothing about her past. Third, even if the authorities wanted to To question Warren, Warren cannot be questioned as a witness because a husband cannot testify against his wife, and Mrs Warren cannot be compelled to testify against herself." "Okay," she said. "What about you? Lawyers must keep the content of the conversation between the client and the client confidential as a priority, but that doesn't mean that lawyers can be lured into becoming accomplices in crimes." "Crime?" Mason asked. "It's a crime," she said. "Giton has been convicted and you can't hide the facts for this crime." "But what do I know?" Mason asked. "What are the facts I know?" "You know about...about..." Mason grinned. "It is true, Della, that I may have heard some rumored evidence, but all I have seen is a suitcase full of old newspapers. Storing newspapers in a suitcase does not constitute a criminal behavior." "What do we do next?" she asked. Mason said: "We took a deposit to protect Mrs. Warren from anyone suspected of fingerprinting. However, the fingerprints belonged to Margaret Neely, so we want to protect Mrs. Warren from her own. Violation." "Are you going to take this case literally?" "There is no other way to choose." Mason said. "We must set about protecting Mrs. Warren from herself." "Her past?" "Her past, present and all." "How are you going to proceed?" Della asked. "Mrs. Warren has handed over the money." "That doesn't mean Gidon has received the money," Mason said. "Let's just assume the money was on its way. According to Warren, the money was still there moments before the suitcase was shown to me. But when we opened it, the cash had been replaced by newspaper. The police must have Started following Gidon, he'd figured it out himself. So instead of being stupid enough to go straight to the Warrens' door and get the money, he'd probably send an intermediary to do it." "Was it someone who was at the dinner party?" Della asked. "That's hard to say," Mason said. "Possibly one of the servants. Gidon is so clever that he may have deployed an accomplice to the Warren servants long before he was released." "So Mrs. Warren paid for it?" "Or a servant stole it," Mason said. "Or maybe her husband stole it so she wouldn't be able to pay; and then gave me a deposit to protect her wife from blackmailers." "It's a mess of twine!" Della sighed. "But," Mason pointed out. "We have an advantage. We have the fingerprints of everyone at the dinner party. After the supervisors complete the fingerprint classification, we can find out whether anyone has a criminal record. We will first investigate the part of the servants." "Suppose we found the burglar," Della asked. "What next? Who will sue?" Mason grinned and said, "No one." "You mean, you want to let the thief take away 47,000 yuan and escape?" "I didn't say that," Mason said. "Once we find the burglar, we're going to have a thrilling show, and we're going to steal the money back." "Why don't you sue him and..." Mason interrupted, shaking his head firmly. "You can't sue in this case—not just income tax concerns. People would jump to the conclusion that the Warrens were taking forty-seven thousand dollars to avoid the bank. Hidden in a suitcase in Mrs. Warren's closet. The IRS will then step in and go after everyone involved in the case. They will know that the money is to pay the blackmailers, and they will notice Mrs. Warren, And look into her past, and soon, they will find out about her ulterior motives. Therefore, Della, this matter must be handled carefully, and it must not be exposed at all." "That's why Mrs. Warren kept quiet about the cash theft, isn't it?" "What can she say?" Mason asked. "If you were, what would you say?" Della thought about it for a while, then replied: "I guess I can't say anything, but it must be very scary if I can't even say a word when the 47,000 yuan in cash that was originally safely kept disappeared. Another frustrating experience." "I think you're quite right - a horrible and frustrating experience."