“Here’s something else,” Mason said. “A Stella Anderson has the house next door to the Prescott place. Apparently she’s the neighborhood gossip. Drop in and kid her along. See if she can’t give you a line on Prescott. Find out whether he spends his evenings home or is out a good part of the time and see if she dishes out any dirt on Prescott’s wife.”
“In other words,” Drake said mournfully, “you want everything.”
“That’s it,” Mason told him. “Put some operatives out doing the leg work. You’d better talk with Mrs. Snoops first, and then pull the rough stuff to make Prescott contact his girl-friend. You can write him an anonymous letter and send it special delivery. Put a couple of shadows on him—”
“Who’s the Snoops dame?” Drake asked.
Mason grinned. “I forgot about that. That’s a pet name for the Anderson woman.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes. While you’re getting the low-down on the neighborhood gossip from Mrs. Anderson, find out about a necking party which she looked in on next door some time this morning.”
“What do you want me to find out about it?”
“Just get her description of it,” Mason said. “It sounds just a little fishy to me.”
“Don’t people neck in the mornings in that neighborhood?” Drake asked.