“Okay,” Mason told him. “You can telephone from the drug store and then get an aspirin.”
“Then what?” Drake asked.
“And then,” Mason said with a grin, “you get busy checking all important gem robberies during the last five years. If Lone Bedford can’t identify those diamonds, there’s a good chance someone else can. Of course, Paul, I wouldn’t want to tell you how to run your business, but you might find some reward money if you checked up on the activities of one Austin Cullens, deceased.”
Drake slowly stroked his sore jaw. “For a detective,” he said at length, “I am dumb.”
Chapter 10
Virginia Trent sat up in bed and regarded Mason with heavy eyes. “Good morning, Mr. Mason,” she said thickly.
“How do you feel?” Mason asked.
She made tasting noises with her mouth and said, “I don’t know. The nurse just woke me up.”
A nurse, standing by the side of the bed, said, “You were pretty much unstrung. The doctor gave you a sedative.”
“I’ll say he did,” Virginia Trent said, rubbing her eyes. “I’ll bet I look a fright. Give me a mirror and a drink of water.”