The Case of the Troubled Trustee by Erle Stanley Gardner Page A

will excuse me. I am the Jefeof Policia. May I ask which one of you gentlemen is Kerry Dutton from Los Angeles?"
    "And the reason for the request?" Mason asked.
    The chief of police regarded him with appraising eyes. "I do not think," he said pointedly, "that I have the honor of your acquaintance, sir."
    "I am Perry Mason, an attorney at law," Mason said, "and this is my secretary, Miss Della Street."
    The chief bowed deferentially. "It is such a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir, and I am so sorry that I have to interfere with what was perhaps a professional conference-no?"
    "That is right," Mason said. "I am conferring with my client, and my secretary was preparing to take some notes. If you could spare us perhaps a half an hour, I am quite certain that we will be at your service at that time."
    The eyes softened into a smile. "That is what you would call a good try, but unfortunately, Seсor Mason, the business that I have with Mr. Dutton is of the urgency."
    Me turned to Dutton. "Seсor Dutton, it is with great regret that it is necessary for me to inform you that you are in custody of the policia."
    "And the charge?" Mason asked.
    "A warrant of first-degree murder which we will honor here to the extent of declaring that Seсor Dutton is an undesirable alien. As such, we will escort him to the border and ask him to leave Mexico immediately."
    "Murder!" Mason exclaimed. "Who was killed?"
    "That information will, I trust, be forthcoming when Seсor Dutton reaches the border. It is my unpleasant duty to see he is promptly escorted to the border."
    "And at the border?" Mason asked.
    The officer smiled. "At the border," he said, "I feel quite certain that police from your country will be waiting. What would you do if you were a police officer in the United States, and you knew that a man whom you wished to arrest for murder was to be deported as an undesirable alien?"
    "That procedure seems a little high-handed to me," Mason said.
    "Doubtless, it does," the officer announced, "but we do things in our country the way we wish to do them in our country, just as you are permitted to do things in your country the way you wish to do them in your country. That is, we do not interfere with you and we do not care to have you interfere with us.
    "I am going to ask you to withdraw, if you will please be so good."
    Mason said, "I am an attorney at law. My client is accused of a crime and I demand the right to represent him and consult with him."
    The chief smiled. "You are an attorney in the United States?"
    "Yes."
    "And in Mexico?"
    Mason hesitated.
    "In Mexico," the chief of police went on, "attorneys in good standing are referred to as licenciados. That means they have a license granted by the Mexican government to practice law. You perhaps have such a license, Seсor Mason?"
    Mason grinned. "All right, it's your country, your customs and your prisoner."
    "Thank you," the chief said, "and there is no reason why we should detain you further, Seсor Mason."
    "But this man is charged with murder," Mason asked, "and his attorney can't talk with him?"
    The chief shrugged his shoulders. "You are licensed in your country. You can talk with your client there at any time. Here he is charged only with being an undesirable alien. We do not wish undesirable aliens in our country any more than you do."
    "What's undesirable about him?" Mason asked.
    The chief smiled and said, "He is a fugitive from justice in the United States. This makes him very undesirable as a Mexican visitor."
    "There are legal proceedings looking to his deportation?" Mason asked.
    "Only the proceedings necessary to get him transferred to the border. Mere in Mexico we expedite the process of justice as much as possible."
    Mason looked at Dutton, then back at the chief of police. "Zip the lip," he said.
    The chief raised his eyebrows. "I'm afraid I didn't understand you."
    "Pardon me," Mason said, "it was just a bit of American slang."
    "Oh, yes-you Americans. And now,