The Case of the Mischievous Doll

Mason and Drake entered a reception hallway, and followed the butler into a room which had at one time evidently been a library. Now it was fixed up as a sort of intermediate waiting room with a table, rugs, indirect lighting, deep leather-cushioned chairs and an atmosphere which combined that of a luxurious room in an expensive residence with that of an office where people waited.

“Be seated, please,” the butler said, and left the room.

A moment later a tall, keen-eyed woman in her late forties or early fifties entered the room and strode directly across to Mason. “How do you do, Mr. Mason,” she said. “I am Henrietta Hull, Miss Minden’s confidential secretary and manager; and this, I presume, is Mr. Paul Drake, the detective.”

She moved easily to a chair, regarded the men with keen, appraising eyes for a moment, then said, “You wished to see me, Mr. Mason?”

“Actually,” Mason said, “I want to see Minerva Minden.”

“Many people do,” Henrietta Hull said.

Mason smiled. “Is it Miss Hull or Mrs. Hull?”

“It’s Henrietta Hull,” the woman said, smiling, “but if you need any other handle, it’s Mrs.”

“Would it be possible for us to see Miss Minden?”

“It would be utterly impossible, Mr. Mason. Nothing, absolutely nothing, that you could say would gain you an audience. In fact I may go a little further and state that when Miss Minden’s attorney learned that you were seeking an interview, he gave Miss Minden particular instructions that under no circumstances was she to talk with you.”

“I’ll talk with him if I have to,” Mason said.

Henrietta Hull shook her head. “That would do no good, Mr. Mason. Mr. Knox is not Miss Minden’s regular attorney.”

“Who is?” Mason asked.

“There isn’t any,” Henrietta Hull said. “Miss Minden retains counsel as she needs them. She tries to get the very best in the field. For a matter of this sort Herbert Knox was considered the best available attorney.”

“May I ask why?” Mason asked.

Her eyes softened somewhat. “You’re asking because you feel professionally slighted?” she asked.

“No,” Mason said, “I was just wondering. You seemed so positive. I gathered that you keep some sort of list of attorneys.”

“We do, Mr. Mason,” she said, “and you might be interested to know that you head the list of attorneys available in murder cases or serious felonies. There are other attorneys who are selected for their ability in connection with automobile cases and traffic violations. Mr. Knox was selected in this case because of various qualifications, not the least of which is that he is frequently a golfing partner of the judge before whom the case was tried.”

“And how,” Mason asked, “did you know the particular judge who would be assigned to the case?”

She smiled and said, “After all, Mr. Mason, you had a matter you wanted to take up with Miss Minden.”

“All right,” Mason said, “I’ll put my cards on the table. Miss Minden has hired a double.”

“Indeed?” Henrietta Hull said, her eyebrows raising. “You’re making a positive statement, Mr. Mason?”

“I’m making a positive statement.”

“All right,” Henrietta Hull said. “Your statement is that she hired a double. Now what?”

Mason said, “The disturbance at the airport was shrewdly engineered to bring out the fact that Miss Minden had a double, but Miss Minden did some very fast and some very shrewd thinking and decided it would be better for her to take the responsibility of firing the shots than to expose the fact that she had hired a double.”

“This is rather a startling statement, Mr. Mason. I trust you have evidence to back up your statement.”

“I am making a statement,” Mason said. “I would like to have you convey it to Minerva Minden. I would also like to have you tell her that I can be rather a ruthless antagonist, that I don’t know all the ramifications of the game she is playing but that I rather suspect the ad by which this double was chosen — or rather the ad which served as bait to bring this double into the position that had been selected for her — was shrewdly designed as the elaborate bait in a deadly trap.

“I don’t know whether Minerva Minden knew that this double of hers was going to be placed in a position of danger or not, but a situation has now developed where that young woman is in very great danger. I have been invited to tell the police what I know. I don’t want to release a story which may result in a lot of newspaper notoriety for Miss Minden.”

Henrietta Hull smiled and said, “Miss Minden is not a stranger to newspaper notoriety.”

“You mean she enjoys it?” Mason asked sharply.

“I mean that she is not a stranger to it.”

“All right,” Mason said. “I think I’ve told you enough so that you can appreciate my position and the fact it is imperative I have an immediate interview with Miss Minden.”

“An immediate interview is out of the question,” Henrietta Hull said. “But, as I told you over the telephone, Mr. Mason, I will be glad to convey a message and to call you at your office.”

“When?” Mason asked.