She dropped obediently into the chair.

Perry Mason stood leaning against the door, listening.

Minutes passed.

At length there sounded pounding steps in the corridor. Perry Mason pulled a chair close to the door, climbed on the chair, and stood with his ear on a level with the open transom.

Voices were raised in the rising inflection which marks questions. After each question, there was a pause. There was no sound of an answer.

Perry Mason sighed with relief, stepped down from the chair, and smiled over at Marjorie Clune.

"There's just a chance," he said, "that he's man enough to stand pat."

"Of course he is," she said.

Perry Mason stared at Marjorie Clune as she sat in the uncomfortable overstuffed chair and met his gaze with unflinching eyes.

"You decided to marry Bradbury," he said slowly, "because you thought that Bob Doray was guilty of the murder."

She said nothing.

"And Bradbury," said Perry Mason, "was going to put up the money for Bob Doray's defense. Is that right?"

"Of course," she said. "I was afraid that you'd say something that would let him know. He'd have taken a dozen death sentences, rather than let me make such a sacrifice.

"Why did you do it?"

"Because it was the only way to raise money for his defense."

"And you think he needs a defense that bad?"

"Of course he does," she said, "you're a lawyer, you know that."

"Then," said Perry Mason slowly, "Bradbury has been in communication with you since you were in communication with me and promised me that you would wait at the Bostwick Hotel."

She stared steadily at him and said nothing.

"Did you call Bradbury," he asked, "or did he call you?"

"That," she said, "is something I cannot tell you."

"Why?"

"Simply because I can't."

"In other words, you've promised not to?"

"I am not even going to answer that question."

Perry Mason hooked his thumbs in the armholes of his vest, started pacing the floor.

"The officers," he said, "have got Bob Doray, they're working on him right now. If I'm going to represent him, it's important as hell that I know what the facts are. Are you going to tell them to me?"

"Yes."

"All right," he said, "go ahead."

She spoke in a low, steady voice. Once or twice there was a throaty catch in her voice, but her eyes were dry, and she continued to speak steadily through to the end.

"I was naturally elated when I won the contest in Cloverdale. I thought that I was going to be a big movie star. I guess perhaps it went to my head. I'm young. I wouldn't be human if I hadn't become conceited.

"I went to the city in a blaze of glory. I found out that I had been trapped; naturally I was too proud to write home and explain. I determined that I had the stuff in me to make good, and that I'd stay on here in the city and make good. That if Patton had defrauded me into thinking I was going to be a picture star, I would let him go to the devil and become a picture star on my own hook."

Perry Mason nodded.

"I didn't know," she said, "what I was up against. You probably know, you live in the city. I tried everything, then I met Thelma Bell; I met her through Frank Patton. I kept in touch with Frank Patton, because I was trying to get some sort of a settlement out of him. My cash was running low, and I wanted to get enough money to stay on for a while."

"Go on," Perry Mason said. "I know all that stuff, or can surmise it. Tell me what happened."

"I had an appointment," she said, "with Frank Patton the night he was killed. The appointment was for eight o'clock. I saw Bob Doray driving his car on the street that afternoon; it was just a glimpse that I had of him, but I knew he was in town. I started in calling up the hotels, finding out if they had a Dr. Doray registered there. It was an interminable job. I used a girl friend's telephone that was on a flat rate. I won't tell you who she was, I don't want to bring her into this. I spent the entire afternoon telephoning. Finally I found him; he was at the Midwick Hotel. I left word for him to call me as soon as he came in. He came in and called me; I told him where I was and he drove out and picked me up.

"I was frightfully glad to see him; I wept and made something of a scene, I guess. I was so happy that the tears streamed down my face.

"He found out that I had an appointment with Frank Patton. He didn't want me to keep it. He swore that he was going to kill Patton. You understand, he really didn't mean it, it was just a manner of expression."

"Go ahead," Perry Mason said as she paused, looking at him with anxious eyes.

"He had that knife in his car," she said. "God knows what had persuaded him to do any such thing, he must have been almost crazy. I wanted to keep my appointment with Patton, but I didn't want Bob to drive me there. Bob insisted that he was going to drive me there. Finally we compromised. I agreed to let Bob take me to Patton's place, and I would go up and tell Patton that I was finished with him once and for all, that I was going to marry Bob Doray. Bob was to go back to his hotel. I didn't give Bob Frank Patton's exact address, I simply told him where to drive me. When we got there, I told Bob to go on and I'd meet him at the hotel.

"Bob didn't want to leave me, he begged me to let him go up to Patton's apartment with me. I became absolutely terrified. Bob parked the car, I guess he parked it in front of a fire plug; I guess he was so excited that he didn't notice what he was doing, and I know I didn't. I told Bob I was thirsty and got him to take me to an icecream parlor. I went into the ladies' restroom and waited and waited and waited. I sent the maid out to see if Bob was still there. He was, so then I had her go out and tell Bob that I had gone out through the back way; there really wasn't any back way, but I did that in order to get rid of him."

"And you continued to wait in the restroom?" Perry Mason asked.

"Yes, I continued to wait in the restroom."

"For how long?" asked Perry Mason.

"I don't know, it may have been five minutes, perhaps longer."

"So then what?"

"So then when I thought the coast was clear, I went out to the street. I couldn't see any sign of Bob; I went just as fast as I could to Frank Patton's apartment."

"Now just a minute," Perry Mason said. "Before that you'd telephoned and left a message that you were going to be late for your appointment?"

"Yes. You see, I'd found Bob and I was so happy, and I wanted to be with him just as long as I could. I knew that I was going to be just a little bit late."

"So Thelma Bell had an appointment with Frank Patton for that night?"

"Of course, her appointment was for the same time as mine."

"All right," Perry Mason said, "now we're getting somewhere. Go on and tell what happened."

"I went through the lobby of the apartment house," she said. "I took the elevator to the third floor, and walked down to Patton's apartment; I knocked on the door, there was no answer. I mechanically tried the doorknob; the doorknob turned and the door opened. I found myself in the apartment. I noticed the lights were on and that Patton's hat, gloves and stick were on the table. I called out, 'Oh, Mr. Patton, or something like that, and walked through to the bedroom. Then I found him."

"Just a minute," said Perry Mason. "Was the bathroom door open or closed?"

"It was open."

"And he was dead when you entered the bedroom?"

"Of course, I tell you he was lying there with the blood all over the floor. It was awful."

"What happened after that?" Perry Mason inquired.

"Nothing," she said. "I turned around and walked right out. I pulled the door shut behind me; I didn't lock it, I didn't have any key; it was unlocked when I went in and it was unlocked when I left it. I went down the corridor, took the elevator down to the lobby; there was no one in the lobby; I walked out of the apartment house and had just started to walk down the street when I saw you. You looked at me in a peculiar way, with a searching look as though you were trying to find out something that I knew, and it frightened me. It was the first time I realized that I might be involved in some way."