“If she goes there,” Mason said, “she’ll put her neck in a noose.”
“Well, I think she’s done it. She’s probably there by this time.”
“What did you do,” Mason asked, “when you found she was gone?”
“I telephoned Paul Drake’s office right away and told them to get in touch with you. I tried to locate you myself, but couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“I went uptown for breakfast, and then stopped in at a barber shop,” Mason told her.
“Well,” she said, “I think Paul Drake’s on the job. I finally got him personally, and explained to him what had happened, and told him to have his men in San Molinas try and pick her up and keep her out of sight.”
“What did Drake say?” Mason asked.
“Drake,” she said with a wan smile, “didn’t seem overly enthusiastic. I guess I caught him before he’d had his morning coffee. He seemed to think that he’d be dragged up before the Grand Jury in San Molinas if he tried anything like that.”
“Did you sell him on the idea?” Mason asked.
“I sold him,” she said grimly, “but I had to get pretty tough with him, in order to do it. He...” She broke off, as Drake’s code knock sounded on the door, and said, “There he is now.”