The Case of the Sulky Girl by Erle Stanley Gardner Read Free Book Online

go back for my Packard."
    "The Buick was your uncle's machine?" he asked.
    "Yes," she said.
    "He didn't allow you to use it?"
    "He'd never forbidden me to use it," she said, "but I've never used it much. He babies it along a lot, keeps records of the mileage and the oil and gas, and all of that, and has it greased every so many miles, and the oil changed every so often. I don't bother with my Packard that way. I run it until something gets to sounding funny, and then I have it repaired."
    "So you took the Buick without your uncle's consent?"
    "Yes, if you want to put it that way."
    "And where did you drive it?"
    "I don't know. I just drove it around, taking curves as fast as I could take them."
    "That was pretty fast?" he asked.
    "Of course that was pretty fast," she told him.
    "How long were you gone?"
    "I don't know. I came back to the house a little while before the police arrived here. I must have returned ten or fifteen minutes after the murder."
    "And while you were gone your uncle discovered the loss of the car – that is, he discovered that the car was missing. Is that right?"
    "I think that Devoe must have told him," she said.
    "How did Devoe know?"
    "I don't know. Perhaps he heard me drive away, and went out to the garage to see what car I'd taken. I never did like Devoe. He's one of those big, cumbersome fellows who can't think a thought of his own, but goes through life making motions."
    "Never mind that," he told her, "what makes you think that Devoe told your uncle?"
    "I don't know," she said. "It was the time of uncle's telephone call, I guess, and then I always had him figured for a snitcher."
    "What time was the telephone call?"
    "Uncle called the police to report the car theft at about a quarter past eleven. I think the police records show that it was exactly eleven fourteen."
    "When did you leave with the car?" he asked.
    "About ten forty-five, I think it was," she said.
    "Then you'd had the car for half an hour before your uncle reported the theft?"
    "Yes, about that long, I guess."
    "And when did you return?"
    "Somewhere around quarter past twelve. I was out about an hour and a half."
    "What time did the police arrive here?"
    "About an hour and a half ago."
    "No, I mean how long before you returned the car."
    "Ten or fifteen minutes, I guess."
    "All right," he said, "what did your uncle tell the police?"
    "All I know," she said, "is what they told me. One of the detectives talked with me and asked me if I knew any reason why my uncle should have reported the car as stolen."
    "All right," he said, "what did your uncle tell them?"
    "Well," she said, "according to what this detective told me, my uncle telephoned the police and said that it was Edward Norton talking, and that he had a criminal matter to report. Then there was a delay. I think he was cut off or something, and the police officer, I guess they call him a desk sergeant, held the telephone for a minute until Uncle Edward got another connection, and said that he wanted to report a crime – the theft of an automobile. And he described it, a Buick sedan, 6754093, with license number I2MI834."
    "You seem to remember those figures pretty well," said Mason.
    "Yes," she said, "they're likely to be important."
    "Why?" he asked.
    "I don't know," she said. "I just feel that they may be important."
    "Did you tell the detective that you had the car?" he asked.
    "Yes," she said, "I told him exactly what happened. That I took the car out about quarter to eleven, and brought it back about twelve fifteen, but that I hadn't asked my uncle's permission."
    "The police seemed to take that explanation all right?" he asked.
    "Oh yes," she said. "They have discontinued working on that end of the case. At first they thought that perhaps the burglars might have stolen the Buick for a get-away."
    "They've about concluded now, I understand, that there weren't any burglars," said Mason.
    "That's right," she said.
    Mason paced up and down the floor.
    Suddenly he whirled, and