The D.A. Breaks an Egg

“Not a thing — dresses, underclothes, stockings, slippers, nightgowns, apparently just the things a girl would need in traveling. Nothing that’s personal like papers, letters, diary, anything of that sort.”

“There should be an overnight bag somewhere, with lotions and things of that sort, shouldn’t there?”

“Uh-huh. There it is over there by the side of the dresser.”

“Take a look in that.”

“Nothing in here,” Sylvia said, after a few moments, “except creams and toilet sundries.”

“Take a look at those clothes and see if you can find labels in them, and also take a look for cleaning marks. Leave things just the way they are as nearly as you can, but see if you can’t find something which will give us a clue.”

Selby walked over to the telephone, picked up the receiver, and after a moment when he heard the clerk’s voice on the line, said, “You keep a record of phone calls. Look up this room and see if she made any phone calls.”

“Yes, sir. You want to hold the phone?”

“I’ll hold it.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said after an interval. “There are two telephone numbers.”

“Local or long-distance?”

“Local.”

“What are they?”

“West 9328. That was the first one she called. And then Orange 8967.”

“Find out the listing on those numbers,” Selby said. “I’ll hold the line.”

“All right, Mr. Selby. Just a minute... Just hold the phone a minute. Someone’s coming in... Oh, it’s the sheriff... He says to tell you he’s coming right on up to the room.”

“All right,” Selby said. “Get me the listings on those numbers.”

Selby held on to the phone while Sylvia finished going through the suitcase.

“I can’t find a thing, Doug, that will help. There’s a label on a coat from an outfitting company in Los Angeles, and one from a San Francisco department store. She evidently travels and buys clothes here and there as she needs them.”

Selby said, “Rex Brandon’s on his way up here. He may have some additional information, and...”

The clerk said, “I have those numbers for you, Mr. Selby.”

“All right, what are they?”

“The West 9328 number is the number of Mrs. Lorraine Lennox at 836 West Chestnut, and the other is that of Mr. Carr.”

Selby said, excitedly, “You mean A. B. Carr?”

“That’s right, sir. Alfonse Baker Carr, the lawyer.”

“When did she call him?”

“We don’t keep the exact time of the calls. All I can tell is that first she called this number out on Chestnut, and then the Carr number. She arrived here at the hotel about eight o’clock, so it was some time after eight. That’s all I can tell. I’m sorry, Mr. Selby, but we just keep those numbers so we can keep our telephone record straight. The time isn’t important to us.”

“I understand,” Selby said.

Rex Brandon opened the door, grinned at Selby, and said, “I see you’ve struck pay dirt.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Selby said.

He said to the clerk, “All right, remember the signals. Let me know if anyone asks for this woman and if anyone should telephone and ask for this room, try to find out who’s telephoning. Tell them that at this hour of the night you have to keep a record of who’s calling. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay,” Selby said, and hung up the phone. He turned to the sheriff.

“Her name’s Daphne Arcola, Rex. She comes from Windrift, Montana. She placed two calls, one of them to Mrs. Lennox, at 836 Chestnut, and the other one you’ll never guess.”

“Who?”

“Old A. B. C.,” Selby said.

Brandon’s face darkened. “That shyster.”

“Not a shyster,” Selby said. “A remarkably clever, dangerous attorney who makes his living by...”

“By showing crooks how they can get around the law,” Brandon interrupted.

Selby grinned. “Well, he’s in quite a predicament at the moment, Rex. Because of that last case he handled, he found himself faced with criminal prosecution and disbarment, so he had to marry the one witness who could have testified against him.”

“A marriage of inconvenience,” Sylvia Martin said, laughing. “I’d certainly like to look in on their home life.”

“It probably would be quite enlightening,” Selby said.

“He’ll wind up by murdering her,” Brandon said darkly. “And do it in some slick way so no one can ever pin it on him. I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes.”

Sylvia said, “I’ve often wondered how she feels. She was a working girl, suddenly elevated to a position of comparative wealth, and because one phase of the law has never been construed, A. B. Carr doesn’t dare to divorce her until after the three-year statute of limitations has expired. Well, I’m going to have to run on and start pounding away at a typewriter in order to make a deadline. Will you let me know if anything turns up?”

Selby nodded.

“How about that call to the Lennox residence?”

Selby looked at his watch, hesitated, then said, “I suppose we can run out there and interview them quicker than we can get action on the telephone, but in a neighborhood like that we should at least announce that we’re coming.”