The Case of the Daring Divorcee by Erle Stanley Gardner Page A

a drive."
    "I did."
    "Where are your dark glasses?"
    "Heavens, I don't wear dark glasses except when I'm crossing the desert in the glare of daylight. I never wear them around the city."
    "But you do have a pair of dark glasses?"
    "Certainly. A person can't drive across the desert between here and Las Vegas without having dark glasses to protect the eyes."
    "Quite a glare?"
    "A terrific glare."
    "What do you do with your dark glasses after you take them off?"
    "I put them in my handbag, in a case."
    "Were your dark glasses in the handbag that I turned over to you?"
    "No."
    "Then someone was wearing them."
    "Of course."
    "You found the empty leather case in your handbag? It was in there when I gave it to you."
    "Yes, it's there."
    "You now have another pair?"
    "Yes. I stopped at a drugstore on the road home yesterday and picked up another pair."
    "And you have your purse and handbag with you this morning?"
    "Yes."
    "Everything was in it, just as I gave it to you?"
    "Yes. Why are you asking these questions, Mr. Mason?"
    "Let's see your dark glasses," the lawyer said.
    She opened her purse, took out a leather case and took out a pair of dark glasses.
    "How does it happen those glasses fit the case as though they had been made for it?" Mason asked.
    "I have a particular brand of dark glasses that I buy, and I was able to pick up a pair that were the same brand and the same size lenses as those I'd lost."
    "So they fitted in the leather case?"
    "Yes."
    "Suppose there's any chance the clerk who sold you the glasses would remember you?"
    "I doubt it. No one sold them to me. I walked into the drugstore, picked out the type of glasses that I wanted, the price was on the glasses and I simply caught the attention of the clerk who was busy waiting on someone else, put the money on the counter, held up the dark glasses and he nodded and waved his hand, indicating it was all right, so I just left the money and walked out. I was in a hurry and he was busy."
    "All right," Mason said, "could you find the drugstore again?"
    She frowned and said, "I don't know whether I could or not. It was-I think I could. I'd know it if I saw it again. That is, I think I would. It was just another drugstore as far as I was concerned."
    "Now, where did you get the money that you used in paying for these dark glasses?"
    "I told you my husband gave me five hundred dollars. I told him about someone stealing my purse and he gave me five hundred dollars and told me to get another purse and that would see me home, that probably I'd get all the contents of my purse back except the money. He said that thieves were usually considerate in the matter of driving licenses and things of that sort. He said they didn't like to have incriminating things in their possession. He said there was nothing distinctive about money that could be identified, so they'd take out the money, then put the other things in a big envelope and mail it back to me. He said I'd probably have it by the time I got home."
    "All right," Mason said, "let's hear all of your story. What brings you here?"
    She said, "You're responsible. I kept thinking over what you said last night. I think something's happened. I'll never feel relaxed again until I know definitely one way or the other."
    Mason said, "Would you mind putting on your dark glasses and letting me take a look at you with them on?"
    She picked up the glasses and put them on.
    Mason regarded her thoughtfully. "Those have very big lenses."
    "The biggest they make," she said. "When you're out in the desert, particularly during the summer months, the glare can be absolutely intolerable. You want to shut out as much of it as possible. I'd use goggles, only they are so hot on your eyes. So I've compromised on these glasses. They're the Willikens Glasses, Number 24-X. That's the code number indicating the large lenses and the heavy coloring. They cost ten dollars."
    "And tax?" Mason asked.
    "No, they're priced at an odd figure so that the ten dollars