The Case of the Lucky Legs by Erle Stanley Gardner Read Free Book Online Page A

his eye noticed some object lying on the floor near the corner of the room. He walked to it. It was, he saw, a leather-covered billy, or blackjack, with a leather thong on the end to be looped over the wrist.
    He bent to examine it, without touching it, and noticed that there was blood on it.
    Lying on the floor, near the table on which the hat, gloves and stick reposed, was some brown wrapping paper which had not been crumpled, but had evidently been dropped to the floor and was stiff enough to have retained something of its original shape.
    Perry Mason noticed that the wrapping paper was creased as though it might have been wrapped about the knife that he had seen in the other room.
    He opened the door to the corridor, taking care to hold his handkerchief over his finger-tips as he did so. He started to polish the outer knob of the door, then thought better of it. He stepped into the corridor and pushed the door shut with his right hand, making no effort to keep his fingers from touching the outside knob.
    He was just closing the door when he heard the clang of the elevator door and a woman's voice saying, "… you can hear her just as soon as you get opposite the door. She's crying and laughing and saying something about lucky legs."
    There were pounding steps in the corridor, and a man's gruff voice said, "Probably just a woman having hysterics over a love affair."
    "But I heard something fall, Officer. It sounded like a body. It was a jarring thud…"
    Perry Mason looked toward the far end of the corridor. It was a blind corridor with no window. He looked back toward the bend in the corridor, whipped some passkeys from his pocket, selected one and inserted it in the lock of the door. The key worked smoothly. The bolt clicked into place, and Perry Mason was slipping the key back into his pocket as an officer in uniform barged around the bend in the corridor and came to an abrupt stop as he saw Perry Mason in front of the door of apartment 302.
    Perry Mason raised his knuckles and pounded upon the panel, keeping his face toward the door.
    From the corner of his eye, he saw the officer hold out his left hand and restrain a rather fleshy woman of middle age who had rounded the corner in the corridor just back of the officer.
    Perry Mason banged on the panels of the door; then pressed his thumb against the button on the buzzer.
    After a moment, he turned away with an air of dejection, raised his eyes and then, apparently for the first time, saw the officer and the woman.
    He stared at them.
    "Just a minute, buddy," said the officer, moving forward. "I want to talk with you."
    Perry Mason stood still.
    The officer turned to the woman.
    "That the apartment?" he asked.
    The woman nodded.
    Perry Mason turned to face the woman. She wore a rather wrinkled dress, shoes, and no stockings. Her hair was badly disarranged. There was no make-up on her face.
    "Who were you looking for, buddy?" asked the officer.
    Perry Mason jerked his head toward the door of apartment 302.
    "I wanted to see the man who lives in there," he said.
    "Who's the man who lives there?" asked the officer.
    "His name is Frank Patton," Perry Mason said, "- that is, I have reason to believe that's his name."
    "What did you want to see him about?"
    "About a matter of business."
    The officer turned to the woman.
    "Do you know this man?" he asked.
    "No," she said, "I've never seen him before."
    Perry Mason frowned irritably.
    "You don't need to wonder about who I am," he said.
    He pulled a leather card case from his pocket, took out one of his business cards, and handed it to the officer.
    The officer read it, and there was a note of respect in his voice as he looked up and said, "Oh, you're Perry Mason, the big lawyer, eh? I've seen you in court. I remember you now."
    Mason nodded, smiled affably.
    "How long you been trying to get in the apartment?" asked the officer.
    "Oh, perhaps a minute, perhaps a little longer," Mason said.
    "There's no one home?" the officer