WINNIE JOYCE HAS NO SISTERS. BETTER FORGET ROMANCE PERRY AND STICK TO BUSINESS. COME HOME. ALL IS FORGIVEN.
Mason, folding the message, said, “Damn him, I’ll get even with him for that.”
“Here comes Mrs. Newberry,” Della Street Said.
Mason returned Mrs. Newberry’s good-morning, and said, “I have some information for you.”
“Can you tell me now?” she asked, glancing dubiously at Della Street.
Mason said, “I have no secrets from Della. Do you want me to beat around the bush, or do you want it straight from the shoulder?”
“Straight from the shoulder.”
“All right. The Products Refining Company is about twenty-five thousand dollars short. Private detectives are looking for your husband. He didn’t win any sweepstakes.”
She kept her profile turned toward them, her eyes staring far out over the ocean. Weariness was stamped on her features. “It’s what I expected,” she said.
Mason said, “I think you’d better have a talk with your husband, Mrs. Newberry.”