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buys a plane ticket and heads for Brazil?"
    "Get the plane; get the flight number; wire your correspondent in Brazil and pick him up when he lands."
    "In other words, the sky's the limit?"
    "That's right. But what with his having the car serviced and all of that, you can be pretty sure he's going to start out by automobile."
    "And you want me to stay with him?"
    "Like glue," Mason said.
    "Okay," Drake told him. "I'll be reporting. I'll need at least one assistant on the job. I'll phone for one now."
    Mason hung up the phone and faced Della Street with a puzzled frown.
    "How much are you mixed in all this, Chief?" she asked. "I mean, how deep?"
    "Let's put it this way," Mason said, "Dutton tells me he's embezzled money from the beneficiary of the trust. The way he tells it, he's made restitution; and the way he says he did it, it was technically legal within the terms of the trust, provided he told me the truth about the trust.
    "But the way he's acting doesn't coincide with his story to me. Unless you have something on for tonight, Della, let's go tie on a nosebag, then come back to the office and sit around for a while. I have an idea we may have a showdown somewhere along the line. We'll keep in touch with Paul Drake's office and let them know where we are."
    Della Street smiled. "If you can promise an extra cut of rare roast beef for me, with baked potato, onion rings and a green salad, I'm with you until midnight."
    "We'll double it," Mason said. "I know just the place where they specialize in that kind of food."

Chapter Six
    Halfway through the meal, the waiter approached the table and said, "You're accepting calls, Mr. Mason?"
    "Yes, I told the headwaiter when I came in," Mason said.
    The waiter nodded, and plugged in the telephone. Mason picked it up and heard Paul Drake's voice.
    "Where are you now, Paul?"
    "The office told me where you were," Drake said reproachfully. "I'm sitting in my automobile munching on a candy bar to keep my stomach from getting corns where it rubs against my backbone, I'm that hungry."
    "What's the score?"
    "Well, I picked up Dutton, all right."
    "Where did he go?"
    "Right now, he isn't going anyplace. He's sitting in a car, watching."
    "What's he watching?"
    "He followed a guy here who looks like a dressed-up beatnik."
    "Tall, broad-shouldered, with a beard?" Mason asked.
    "That's the fellow."
    "And where is the place he's waiting?"
    "It's the Doberman Apartments on Locks Street. Does that mean anything to you?"
    "It means quite a bit," Mason said. "That's where Desere Ellis lives, and the man with the beard is probably calling on her."
    "And Dutton is checking?"
    Mason thought for a moment; then said, "No. Dutton probably is waiting to be sure the coast is clear when he talks to Desere Ellis. He probably has decided to tell her something rather important and he wants to be certain he isn't interrupted. The beatnik's name is Fred Hedley. He tries to ape the crowd and be a cool cat. Actually he wants to promote a deal with Desere Ellis whereby he can play God to a lot of artists, poets and writers.
    "I can tell you that much, but it's in confidence.
    "If my hunch is right, Paul, Dutton will wait there until Fred Hedley comes out and drives away. Then Dutton will go on up to the apartment."
    "Then what?"
    "When Dutton comes out," Mason said, "shadow him. Have you got a relief yet?"
    "I had a little difficulty getting an operative I could trust," Drake said, "but I finally got one and he's on his way here. My men are tied up today. That is, the good men.
    "I went out on this job myself, because the man I first sent out reported he couldn't get any trace of Dutton. I didn't like to hand you a failure, and I figured there'd be a lead if a man put in enough time looking for it. So I went out and started covering the service stations. I hit pay dirt there and got stuck with the job."
    Mason said, "Get a relief. Put the finger on Dutton and go get a good dinner. Be sure you get a good man."
    "The