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could do?" he asked. "I'm willing to do anything. You know, I -"
    He suddenly stared at Perry Mason with his eyes wide, a look of consternation on his face.
    "What's the matter?" asked the lawyer.
    "Those newspapers!" said Bradbury. "By Gosh! I came away and forgot them!"
    Perry Mason nodded his head slowly.
    "That's okay," he said. "I wish I had them, but a delay of an hour or so won't make any difference. How long will it take you to get them?"
    Bradbury looked at his watch.
    "I could get them," he said, "in perhaps thirty minutes. A taxicab would get me to the hotel in about fifteen minutes, and it would take about the same to come back. I can put my hand on them even in the dark. I remember I rolled them up and left them on the bed."
    "Any wrapper around them?" asked Mason.
    "No, they're just rolled and tied with a string."
    Perry Mason shook his head in silent rebuke.
    "Don't ever do that," he said. "Whenever you're commencing to put the screws on a crook you want to take care of every bit of evidence you've got. Those newspapers represent evidence, and if Patton should learn that you had them, he'd steal them."
    "We could, of course, get the back files of the newspaper," Bradbury said, "but these are complete files that we can introduce as evidence if we have to."
    "I don't want to introduce them as evidence," Perry Mason told him, "I want to spread them out on a table in front of that crook and make him realize just what he's up against. You go and get them."
    Bradbury dropped his magazine and started for the door. At that moment, the door opened and Della Street smiled at them.
    "Am I late?" she asked.
    "No," Mason told her. "Every one else is early. I'm just going out, Della."
    She glanced meaningly at Bradbury.
    "Mr. Bradbury," said the lawyer, "is going to his hotel to get some papers that he forgot. He'll be back with them within half an hour. You'll probably hear from me within half an hour – within an hour, anyway. Wait here until you hear, and have a shorthand book and some pencils ready. Mr. Bradbury will return to the office, and he'll wait for instructions here."
    Bradbury's face was eager.
    "You think you're going to get somewhere, Mr. Mason?" he asked.
    "Perhaps," said Perry Mason.
    "Look here," Bradbury said, "I'll telephone just as soon as I get to the hotel, so that if you've learned anything you can leave word for me."
    Perry Mason turned his head slightly so that the wink of his right eye was visible only to Della Street.
    "Okay," he said. "It may be that I'll want you to meet me somewhere."
    He turned to Della Street.
    "I'm on my way," he said.
    "By the way," Bradbury said, "there's one question I wanted to ask you."
    Perry Mason turned impatiently at the door.
    "Has Dr. Doray called on you?" asked Bradbury.
    "Yes," Mason said, "he has. Why?"
    "You didn't accept any employment from him?"
    "No, certainly not. That was part of the understanding I had with you. I wasn't to represent him under any circumstances."
    "That is," Bradbury said, "without my consent."
    Mason nodded.
    "Why?" he asked.
    "I want to warn you," said Bradbury, "that Doray is rather a peculiar character. If you get in touch with Marjorie Clune, bear that in mind, and under no circumstances let Doray know where Patton is, if you locate Patton."
    "Why?" Mason asked. "You're afraid that Doray might do something violent?"
    "I am quite certain he might," Bradbury said. "I happen to know of some statements he's made."
    "Okay," Mason said. "There's no particular hurry, Bradbury. I think you've got half an hour anyway, but I'll keep in touch with the office, and you can do the same."
    He pushed his way out into the corridor and slammed the door behind him, leaving Bradbury bending over Della Street's desk, a look of keen interest in his eyes as he offered her a cigarette.

CHAPTER V
    PERRY MASON left his taxicab at Ninth and Olive.
    "I'm going to want you for a while. You stick around," he told the driver.
    He crossed the street to a drug