“She called Paul Drake, and Paul held her on the line while he got in touch with me. I told Paul to give her my private number.”
“This was Mrs. Perlin, Hocksley’s housekeeper?”
“The voice said it was Mrs. Perlin. I don’t think it was.”
“Why not?”
“I think Mrs. Perlin was dead at the time. When I got out to the house on Hillgrade, I found her lying on the floor with a gun in her right hand and a bullet through her heart. It could have been suicide.”
“Did you report to the police?”
“Not directly,” Mason said. “I had other fish to fry. Opal Sunley came wandering in with a story that was just about as wild as mine. I didn’t realize how utterly incredible my story would sound to Lieutenant Tragg until I heard Opal Sunley telling me her version of about the same thing.”
“What did you do?”
Mason grinned. “I let Paul Drake hold the sack,” he said. “The hour was about up. Opal Sunley offered to play square if I wouldn’t notify the police, but give her a chance for a getaway.”
“Isn’t that compounding a felony?”