The Case of the Counterfeit Eye by Erle Stanley Gardner Read Free Book Online Page B

my name hates me bitterly. I have suddenly come to the realization that no matter how self-sufficient a man may think he is, he cannot stand alone. The time comes when he realizes that he must be surrounded by those who care something for him if he is going to be able to exist. I am a rich man in money, and a bankrupt in love. Recently something has happened which I do not need to put on paper, but which convinces me of the futility of trying to hold the love of the woman who is the dearest thing in the world to me. I have, therefore, decided to end it all, if I can get nerve enough to pull the trigger. If I can get nerve enough… if I can get nerve enough…"

    "He's got something in his hand," Dick Basset said. Perry Mason leaned down, hesitated a moment, then pried the fingers slightly apart.
    A glass eye, clutched in the dead hand, stared redly at them, unwinking, evil.
    Mrs. Basset gasped.
    Perry Mason whirled to her.
    "What does that eye mean to you?" he asked.
    "N-n-n-nothing."
    "Come on. Come clean. What does it mean to you?"
    Dick Basset pressed forward. "Look here," he said, "you can't talk to my mother that way."
    Mason waved him away with a gesture of his hand.
    "Keep out of this," he said. "What does that eye mean to you?"
    "Nothing," she said, more defiantly this time.
    Mason turned toward the door.
    "Well," he said, "I guess there's no further need for my services."
    She clutched his sleeve in frenzy.
    "Please," she said. "Please! You've got to see me through this."
    "Are you going to tell me the truth?"
    "Yes," she said, "but not now – not here."
    Dick Basset moved toward the dead man.
    "I want to see," he said, "what…"
    Perry Mason took his shoulder, spun him around, and pushed him out through the door.
    "Turn out the lights, Mrs. Basset," he said.
    She switched out the lights. "Oh, I've dropped my handkerchief'" she said. "Does it make any difference?"
    "You bet it makes a difference," Perry Mason said. "Get your handkerchief and get out."
    She groped around for a few moments. Perry Mason stood impatiently in the doorway. She came toward him.
    "I have it," she breathed, clinging to his arm. "You must protect me, and we've both got to protect Dick. Tell me…"
    He broke away from her, jerked the door closed behind them, and crossed the other office to the entrance room.
    The woman who had been on the couch was now standing. Her face was dead white. Her lips made an attempt at a smile. Mason faced her.
    "Do you know what's in there?" he asked.
    "Is it Mr. Basset?" she half whispered.
    "Yes," Perry Mason said. "You saw the man who came out of the room clearly?"
    "Yes."
    "Did he see you? Would he know your face if he saw you again?"
    "I don't think so. I was in the dark here in the room. The light was coming from that other office. It streamed on his face. I had my back turned to it. My face was in the shadow."
    "He wore this mask?"
    "Yes. That's it. It's carbon paper, isn't it?"
    "You saw one eye socket that was vacant?"
    "Yes, it was awful. The mask was black, you see, and looking through the mask that way with only one eye staring out, and the other a reddish socket! It…"
    "Look, here," Perry Mason said, "the police are coming here. They're going to question you. Then they'll hold you as a material witness. You want to help Dick, don't you?"
    "Yes, of course."
    "All right. I want to go over this thing in detail before the police talk with you. Do you feel well enough to ride in a car?"
    "Yes, I do now. I was groggy at first."
    "Can you drive a car?"
    "Yes."
    He took a key from his pocket, tossed it to her and strode to the telephone.
    "My coupe's out in front," he called over his shoulder. "Get in it and get started. My office is in the Central Utilities Building. I'll have my secretary there by the time you get there."
    He didn't wait for a reply, but dialed a number on the telephone. He heard the ringing of the bell and, a moment later, Della Street's voice saying, in accents thick with sleep, "Yes?