Abruptly the young woman at Mason’s side pushed him away violently and called out, “Officer! This man is annoying me! He…”
Moving with lightning swiftness and before the officer could turn to get them in his field of vision, Mason snatched the purse from under her arm.
Speechless with surprise and indignation, she whirled to stare at him with startled eyes. Mason raised his hat and said, “I’m only trying to return the purse, Madam.”
The officer pushed toward them. “What’s all this? What’s all this?” he asked.
“He’s annoying me,” the young woman said. “He grabbed…”
Mason smiled. “A young woman left her purse on the counter in the drugstore,” he explained to the officer. “I believe the purse belongs to this young woman, but I won’t give it up until she can identify it. That’s only reasonable, isn’t it? Here, you can take it if you want.”
Mason calmly opened the purse and said, “You can see for yourself, officer. There’s…”
She jumped toward Mason, grabbing frantically at the purse. “Don’t you dare…”
Mason turned so as to present one of his broad shoulders to her rushing attack. He pulled a leather folder from her purse, opened it to glance quickly at her driving license, and said, “You can see for yourself, officer. The name and address of the owner of the purse are here on this driving license. All she has to do is give me her name, and I’ll surrender the purse.”
There were quick tears of humiliation and indignation in her eyes.