A woman with the oddest cleft chin clerks at a used bookstore. The store owner hired Ellen Carter because she is one of his two living relatives. The relationship must be pretty distant, however, since he is Mr. Kraft to her and her ne'er-do-well brother, Kenneth. Kenneth is a scumbag in the usual weak-brother fashion. He gambles and does that poorly. And his sole source of support (since he got fired by Mr. Kraft for stealing from the till) is his clefted sister.
Kenneth: They're going to cream me if I don't pay up. ... OK, Sis, you win. Come visit me at the morgue.
The bookstore has a lot of customers for its size. The layout is dark and grim but there is great signage. There's even a section marked "Folk Music." Adam West is an aspiring novelist and amateur guitarist who comes in daily, purportedly to find just the right piece of folk music for "the Mississippi section of my book." After Ellen Carter is framed for theft, Adam goes to see Perry Mason. His imagery is just enough off to make you wonder what sort of author he is.
Adam: I can't decide whether coming here makes me a double-crosser or a knight on a white mustang.
Mr. Kraft is murdered. He was selling forgeries of rare books and apparently netted $6,000 a month in that racket.
A professor that was used in the trial as an expert witness takes the stand sporting a black eye that he got courtesy of Paul Drake (who also has a black eye). Burger and Tragg confer.
HB: That's some expert witness. Who recommended him?
Tragg turns to Andy Anderson for a quick consultation.
Tragg: A man named Perry Mason.
Confessor: I'd been plotting the old pirate's murder for a long time as a sort of enjoyable mental exercise. Only it wasn't quite so enjoyable after all.
Kenneth: They're going to cream me if I don't pay up. ... OK, Sis, you win. Come visit me at the morgue.
The bookstore has a lot of customers for its size. The layout is dark and grim but there is great signage. There's even a section marked "Folk Music." Adam West is an aspiring novelist and amateur guitarist who comes in daily, purportedly to find just the right piece of folk music for "the Mississippi section of my book." After Ellen Carter is framed for theft, Adam goes to see Perry Mason. His imagery is just enough off to make you wonder what sort of author he is.
Adam: I can't decide whether coming here makes me a double-crosser or a knight on a white mustang.
Mr. Kraft is murdered. He was selling forgeries of rare books and apparently netted $6,000 a month in that racket.
A professor that was used in the trial as an expert witness takes the stand sporting a black eye that he got courtesy of Paul Drake (who also has a black eye). Burger and Tragg confer.
HB: That's some expert witness. Who recommended him?
Tragg turns to Andy Anderson for a quick consultation.
Tragg: A man named Perry Mason.
Confessor: I'd been plotting the old pirate's murder for a long time as a sort of enjoyable mental exercise. Only it wasn't quite so enjoyable after all.