Dimmick struggled to his feet. “You look here,” he shouted, “you can’t bulldoze us! You’re not doing business with some cheap firm of shysters! Dimmick, Gray & Peabody represent the—”
Mason said, “Don’t forget what the doctor told you, Mr. Dimmick. You mustn’t get excited.”
He strode toward the exit door, opened it, turned to Cuff and said, “How about the wallet you took from Packard’s coat pocket, Cuff?”
“The wallet!” Cuff said, his eyes widening.
Mason nodded.
“There wasn’t any wallet.”
“There isn’t any,” Mason said. “That’s no sign there wasn’t any.”
“But I don’t understand you,” Cuff said. “You—”
“I understand him,” Dimmick said. “He’s going to claim that you wrongfully removed a wallet from Packard’s pocket.”
Mason said, “I’m not going to claim anything of the sort, gentlemen. I am going to point out to the press that it’s most unusual for a man to be driving a car without a driving license. When Dr. Wallace treated Packard at the hospital, Packard had a driving license showing his name and his Altaville residence. That driving license was in a wallet. The wallet and the driving license were returned to him. What became of them?”