“Not me,” she said. “When Bertha Cool travels she has someone with her to pay expenses—unless there’s been a damn fat retainer paid. No, Donald, I brought my client along. She’s in the next room. She doesn’t know you’re here yet. She’s been talking about you a lot—all the way down. My God, there I was, sick as a horse, and she was talking about you.”

“You mean Sandra?” I asked.

“Hell, no,” she said, jerking her head toward the door to the communicating room. “Sandra will fall for you when you’re there, but she forgets you when you’re away.”

I walked across and opened the door. Alma Hunter was sitting in a chair near the window. When she saw me, she got to her feet and stood staring at me with starry eyes and crimson half-parted lips.

“Here’s the money for the whisky, Donald,” Mrs. Cool called. “Don’t get mushy, my pet. God knows you haven’t a God damn cent to get married on, and you owe me ninety-five cents for taxi fare.”

I walked on into Alma’s room and kicked the communicating door shut with my heel.

THE END

Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

•Were you able to predict any part of the solution to the case?

•Aside from the solution, did anything about the book surprise you? If so, what?

•Did any aspects of the plot date the story? If so, which ones?

•Would the story be different if it were set in the present day? If so, how?

•What role did the setting play in the narrative?

•For those familiar with Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason novels, how did this compare?

•Can you think of any contemporary mystery authors that seem to be influenced or inspired by Erle Stanley Gardner’s writing?

ERLE STANLEY GARDNER

from

AMERICAN MYSTERY CLASSICS