Chapter 9 chapter eight

Just after four o'clock, Della received a forwarded call. She listened, and a look of astonishment gradually appeared on her face. "What's the matter?" Mason saw Della cover the microphone with her hands, and turned her face to him. "We're back where we started," Della said. "Mrs. Bancroft is in the office and said she has something very important to do and she must see you right away." "Let her wait a minute," Mason said. "Call Harlow Bancroft quickly. Call him at his house by the lake first, and try his office if he isn't there."

Della said into the microphone, "Gerdy, ask her to wait a few minutes, it won't be long, explain to her, and then connect me to the outside line." After waiting for the outside line to connect, Della dialed the number of Bancroft's house by the lake.After a while, she was heard saying: "Is Mr. Bancroft there? It's very important to tell him. I'm Mr. Mason's secretary. . . Oh, I see. Do you know how to find him? Thank you." , I'll call the office to check. I have the phone number, thank you." She hung up the phone and said to Mason, "He's not at home. The person who answered said he might be in the office."

"Take a look," Mason said. Della called and repeated that Mr. Mason's office was urgent and needed Mr. Bancroft. After waiting for a while, I heard her say again: "Thank you, do you know where I can find him? . . . Thank you." Della hung up the phone and said, "People at home thought he was going to the office; people at the office said he might be at home." Mason sighed. "Forget it, let her come in, I have to adapt to the situation." "What are you going to tell her?" "I'm not saying anything," Mason said. "Without her husband's permission, I can't tell what her husband entrusted me, but I don't want to lie to her."

Della nodded and went out, and presently came in with Mrs. Bancroft. Mrs. Bancroft had an air of grandeur.She is obviously younger than her husband, and she is a type that does not age easily. It is obvious from the first glance that she pays attention to maintenance. "Mr. Mason, hello," she said. "I have known your name for a long time. I have seen your photos many times. I am very happy to have the opportunity to meet you. You are my husband's lawyer, right?" Mason raised an eyebrow. "Did your husband tell you?" "no." "May I ask who told you that?"

"It's my daughter." "Your daughter came to see me," Mason said. "Her behavior is actually based on some self-righteous assumptions." "Well, Mr. Mason, I don't want you to admit anything. Similarly, my behavior will be based on certain assumptions. Let me explain first: neither my husband nor my daughter know that I am here." Mason said: "If I were your husband's lawyer, of course I couldn't help telling him that you were here; if I wasn't your husband's lawyer, then I don't want you here..." "Stop it," she interrupted him suddenly. "I understand and respect your position. With your permission, I would now like to sit down and tell you something very confidential."

"You don't want me to be your lawyer?" Mason asked. "No, I just have something to let you know." "Very well, I'm a good listener." "Where's your secretary?" "She's also a good, tight-lipped listener," Mason said. "Okay, so I'll start at the beginning. My daughter Roseanne's fiancé is Jason Blair, and you know the Blair family is well-known in society--what's commonly called 'the famous family'. They're not in the business world. Standout, but still high social status. My husband is a very successful businessman."

"Is he a family man?" Mason asked. "Very family friendly." "Go on," Mason said. She said: "Jason Blair is twenty-four years old this year. He has a brother Charlton, who is two years younger than him. He has a wild personality and caused a lot of trouble to be covered up. Later he joined the army and was incorporated into the Air Force. Was off on an observation flight once and never came back. At first the military said he was missing, and the plane was found over a year later, when it hit a mountain and crashed. Apparently no one survived, but the military couldn't either Prove if all were killed; apparently some were killed instantly and some were badly injured when the crash occurred. The weather and wild animal damage have made it almost impossible to clearly identify the identity. So Charlton was originally listed as missing, and then they simply relisted it as dead."

Mason nodded and said nothing. She continued: "A few years ago there was a man named Alvin Vido Verdes who was in the San Quentin prison for a crime, but he was released after a few weeks. There was a gas station not long ago After being robbed, the police took some photos of the suspects and identified them to the victim after some questioning procedures—they were all newly released or suspected repeat offenders. One of the victims identified Fodis as one of the robbers.” Mason showed great interest on his face. "Go on," he said. At this time, Mrs. Bancroft's tone became cautious. "I heard that Charlton Blair has been declared dead by the military, so his fingerprints have been filed. But I also heard that Charlton was not actually dead, but fled to a hunter's hut, Relying on the food inside to slowly recover his physical strength. At the same time, he was tired of the life in the army and felt that he had failed too much in the past, so he decided to make Charlton Blair disappear forever, and took a pseudonym Alvin Vido. Fordis, returned to the civilized world. But somehow got into a lawsuit and was imprisoned in the prison of San Quentin. Mr. Mason, with the social reputation of the Blair family, unexpectedly produced a person who had been in prison, and now he is still imprisoned Being involved in a robbery case is certainly not a very honorable thing for the upcoming wedding."

"Did your daughter tell you that?" Mason asked. "No, a blackmailer told me." "What's the gangster's purpose?" Mason asked. "What else? Money, of course." Mason narrowed his eyes, as if he wanted to say something, but hesitated to speak. Mrs. Bancroft was silent for a while, and then said: "Of course, this is the most important moment in my daughter's life." "In other words, you paid for it?" Mason asked. "yes." "How many?" "A thousand dollars." Mason tapped the edge of the table with his fingers.

"It was only after I read the newspaper that I realized that the gangsters might have also blackmailed my daughter. I wouldn't be too surprised if they found my husband at the same time." "What about the Blair family?" "Maybe they've been blackmailed too, but I haven't heard of it. The Blairs aren't poor, of course, but they're not very rich either." "At times like this, they're certainly willing to pay a small ransom," Mason said. "I think so." "Can you describe the culprit? Had a pair of sharp gray eyes, about fifty years old..."

She shook her head. "No, it's a young man, not more than twenty-five or six, handsome, with cropped hair, dark eyes, broad shoulders, but a little rough." "Did you pay him a thousand dollars?" "yes." "How did you pay?" "Take ten and twenty dollar bills and put them in the bag." "Did he promise you there would be no next time?" "He promised not to reveal the secret." "He must have given you some proof?" Mason asked. "Of course. He has a file photo of Verdes, fingerprints, height and weight, etc. He also has a photo of Charlton before he joined the army, which is really similar. He also has a set of fingerprints, which he said were left by Charlton when he was in the army. down." "Have you told your husband these things?" "of course not." "why?" "He has enough troubles of his own." Mason said: "Didn't you think that the gangster would find your daughter as well as your husband?" "I did not expect." "Then why did you come to me?" "Because you suddenly came out and messed up everything." "What's wrong with me?" "You know it, Mr. Mason, and now the criminals are going to extort more money from my daughter." "Did you find your daughter again?" "To put it more clearly, the gangster has already called." "how do you know?" "I heard it at the extension." "What did they say on the phone?" "The gangster said she lied to them, but my daughter didn't know if she was pretending to be confused. She thought the other party was a newspaper reporter. She said she had no comment, and said that she knew that the other party was a reporter and deliberately called every household by the lake. Threatening people to see if they can make a case so that they can prove who is being blackmailed. She said she hates this kind of tactics the most. Whoever is being blackmailed is his personal business. This kind of digging by the media It's shamelessly bawdy to have a celebrity's private life played out in a newspaper; she said she wanted the caller to know how she felt." "And then?" Mason asked. "Then she snapped and hung up the phone." Mason said: "It's a very clever trick. The host and guest are completely different. How did you know your daughter was blackmailed? Did she tell you?" "No. But I know, she took the speedboat out and circled around, and she was looking for a red coffee can before. Then I saw the news in the newspaper, of course it was clear at a glance." "Didn't you mention anything to her?" "No." "Then why did you eavesdrop on her phone?" "I think the gangster will definitely contact her again, I want to find out." "Why on earth did you come to me?" "Because I know that my daughter is in danger now; I think my husband must have come to you for help. I know you are playing with fire, and I want you to know all the hidden dangers." "Have you had direct contact with one of the gangsters?" "I was in direct contact with a young man who said bluntly that he knew something, and if I didn't pay him, he would make it public." "How is he going to show off?" "He said there was a scandal magazine that would be willing to pay a thousand dollars for the news, so he set the ransom at a thousand dollars. He needed the money, but he didn't want to use this kind of revealing Way to make money, as long as you get the same money, I would rather help keep it a secret. It sounds quite reasonable." "Are you going to tell your husband about this?" Mason asked. "No." "Would you agree with me to tell him?" "No, I'm just telling you what you should know." "Has it ever occurred to you that you yourself might be in danger?" "Dangerous?" she said. "You mean those gangsters will do me no favors? Come on! Mr. Mason, that's a cowardly sort of man. This fellow extorted a thousand dollars from me, and I think his accomplices extorted three thousand from my daughter. If it hadn't been in the newspapers and the three thousand dollars were in the hands of the police, they'd probably be done with it. You might have thought you had only one blackmail case--my daughter's. It's hard to say how you handled the situation appropriately, but by now you should know that it's more complicated than you think. I just wish you had more insight into what's actually going on." "Why don't you tell your sir the whole truth?" Mason asked. "In a while, I'll talk about it." "Do you know where your husband is now?" "He's probably by the lake, but he'll meet me downtown later." "What about your daughter?" "I don't know where she is, but I know she's going to stay at the house by the lake. I want to make up an excuse and call her to come live in the city. My husband and I are both in the city, and I don't want her to be alone. Stay by the lake." Mrs. Bancroft looked at her watch and said, "I've got a lot to do. I've got to go quickly. Goodbye, Mr. Mason." Smiling, walked to the door. "Thank you for talking to me," she said, and walked out. Mason and Della looked at each other. "It appears that Mr. Bancroft has mistook another set of prior records and fingerprints," Della said. "Really?" said Mason. "This is of course a very reasonable assumption, but don't forget that there are two blackmailers involved here, and the situation is very complicated." Mason tapped his fingers on the edge of the table. At this moment, a harsh telephone rang suddenly. Della answered the phone and said to Mason, "It's Mr. Bancroft." "Is that your call back?" Mason asked. "I don't know, Gertie just said he called," Della said. Mason picked up the receiver and said, "Hello, Bancroft, I was looking for you." "I know," Bancroft said. "I want to see you, but I don't have the time." "Where are you?" "Summer house by the lake." "Are you staying there tonight?" "I don't know yet. It's not important. What I want to tell you is that I'm such a selfish villain. I... Hey, anyway, just ignore what I said before. That blackmail case was not me at all It's another thing entirely... I'll have to explain it to you myself, but... we may all be getting mixed up, and things may not be what you think." "Perhaps," Mason said flatly. "what do you want me to do?" "You judge for yourself," said Bancroft. "How do you know things are not what we think?" "I had an honest conversation with my stepdaughter." "Did you tell her everything you told me?" Mason asked. "No," Bancroft said. "It's her who is talking, I... Mason, it's not appropriate to tell my family anything now, I can only try to help them... You know how to deal with blackmailers. If the gangsters are after me, what happens? It's not the same, but it's not really... I can't talk on the phone, it's not too serious anyway, I think it's better to send them money to buy time. It's not a lot after all - not a lot ...I think your strategy may be too... um...too strong, and you might end up doing something bad by scaring the snake out of the grass." "I told you, I'm just trying to scare people away," Mason said. "But you hit it too hard," Bancroft said. "The result may be the wrong snake...I need to see you tomorrow morning." "Why not tonight?" Mason said. "If it's really that important, I can wait for you." "No, not tonight, I have other things to do... Mason, don't act for now, I will go to you tomorrow morning. Is ten o'clock okay?" "Okay," Mason said. "By the way, did you find your missing gun? Did your stepdaughter take it?" "She said she didn't take it, and was surprised that I would ask her. My stepdaughter is in such an embarrassing situation, and journalists are trying to find out the truth about the blackmail. One person - who seems to be a reporter too - once called For Roseanne's words, she scolded and hung up the phone, but this person may also be one of the gangsters... Mason, I think it's better to pay the money. I appreciate everything you have done, and of course I hope I You can keep your mouth shut about what you have said. In short, you hold back and let us deal with it ourselves, I think I will have a solution." "I told you," Mason said. "There are only four ways to deal with blackmailing gangsters." "I know, I know, but spending money to eliminate disasters is also one of the ways. I always feel that gangsters are just punks, and killing chickens really doesn't need a sledgehammer. I think time will solve the problem. What we need now is to buy time." "I think we should meet tonight," Mason said. "Absolutely impossible, I have other things... But, I will find you tomorrow." "Ten in the morning?" Mason asked. "Ten o'clock. Before that, don't make any moves, just wait and see what happens." "Okay," Mason said. "I'm not going to do anything, but I might catch a fish with some of the lines I cast." "No!" said Bancroft. "We don't want to catch any fish at this point. Just forget about it and don't do anything. It's just a matter of money anyway, and I'm willing to pay, so I decided to do it." "It's up to you," Mason said. "We'll see you tomorrow." Mason hung up and called Derek. "I want you to send someone to protect Roseanne, and another to keep an eye on Eva to make sure they're safe. Other than that, don't do anything—at least tonight." "Okay," Derek said. "If you need anything, I have staff anyway." "No need," Mason said. "You have to be very careful, don't let people notice that we are following, and keep in touch with me at any time." "Okay," Derek said briskly. "no problem."