Perry Mason and the High School Crush Murder

Written by William Shepard, Published on 2/1/2010

It didn’t take much sleuthing, much less the investigative talents of Perry Mason, to figure out that something had gone very wrong at the Parkinson High School. It was a pretty campus, but murder at a class reunion was really not on the program!

We had gone, Perry Mason and I, Della Street, his associate and secretary, because Perry, as a prominent member of the thirtieth reunion class, was scheduled to give a lecture on “Careers In Criminal Law,” open to the public that Saturday morning.

“Funny thing,” he said, “I never thought that someone would take the topic so literally. What I meant to do was to interest people in having careers in that branch of the law. I didn’t mean that someone here would become a defendant in a murder case! Come on, Della, let’s find out what the police already know.”

The victim, Tim Randall, had been found by the maid, Gloria Esteban, in mid morning, as she came to clean up the rooms in the bed and breakfast where he had rented a room for the weekend. She had not touched anything. The bedrooms did not lock. He had been stabbed to death with a B and B pen knife, which was in each bedroom, and the coroner said he had been dead about twelve hours. There was no evidence of a fight, and Lieutenant Travers said that he assumed that Randall had been taken unawares.

“Who else was rooming in this bed and breakfast?” Perry asked.

“Just three people, Tom Gooding, Randolph Johnson, and Morris Ingalls. They were all classmates of Randall, back for the reunion.”

“As I am, Lieutenant,” Perry added. “Any other possible leads at this point?”

“Well, we checked out his movements coming to the campus, and from a pocket sized daily appointments calendar he carried, saw that he was supposed to have luncheon with Sarah Conrad, another classmate.”

“Yes. Circuit Judge Sarah Conrad,” Perry said.

“You mean that same judge who is rumored to be the frontrunner for the next Supreme Court vacancy?” I asked.

“The very person, and as everyone knows, the brightest one in our class. I can’t imagine her having anything to do with this. Still, Lieutenant, you have to check everyone out.”

“Sure, and Mr. Mason, I’d be pleased if you sat in on the questioning.”

“With pleasure, Lieutenant. Della Street, my secretary, will take some notes, if you don’t mind.”

The first interview was with Tom Gooding, a good -ooking and clearly prosperous man in his late ‘forties, the same age as everyone on the list, of course.

“When did you see Tim Randall last, Mr. Gooding?” Lieutenant Travers wanted to know.

“We shared a table for the reunion dinner last night, at the Goodstone Inn, just the two of us. We had some personal matters to discuss.” He saw that sounded suspicious, and so, he went on. “What I mean by that is that Randall was leaving his business and was sounding me out about coming over to work with us.”

“Why did he say he wanted to leave his business?” Perry asked.

“He wasn’t very clear. He did say that his firm was worried about federal regulations.”

“Didn’t he really specialize in credit cards?” Perry added. “I’ve heard his name sometimes mentioned in white collar criminal cases. Nothing specific, but it has been mentioned.”

“Yes,” said Gooding. “He knew everything there was to know about credit cards and the ways that banks could legally turn huge profits by issuing them in large numbers, then squeeze the consumers by raising the interest rates. That’s why I told him that my firm didn’t have an opening for him. His business wasn’t ethical. Which suited me fine. I didn’t like him in high school, either.”

“So, no hard feelings from Randall?” Lieutenant Travers asked.

“None whatsoever. He seemed to expect it. We finished dinner and went our separate ways. There is still nothing much to do in this town. It was rather late, but there was a movie I wanted to see in town, the late show, which finished around midnight, so we parted company. He said he was returning to the B and B we were both staying at.”

“Was it a good movie?”

“Yes, it was the latest starring Tom Cruise. I talked with the ticket seller on the way in - he is also a Tom Cruise fan.”

Randolph Johnson, Perry told me, had been the class clown in high school. He was smart enough, but preferred to slide by with as little work as possible. He was all set to work at his father’s plumbing supply firm anyway. Apparently that had worked out for him

“I don’t think I’ve seen you since high school,” Perry said. “Is this the first reunion you’ve attended?”

“Yes,” Johnson replied. “I live in Omaha, and there wasn’t much reason for me to come back to a reunion so far away from home.”

Lieutenant Travers was curious. “So, why did you come back this time? Any special reason?”

“Well it is the thirtieth. I went back to my twenty-fifth at college last year and had a good time. So I thought, maybe it’s time to take another look at the old high school.”

“Were you friendly with Tim Randall when you were students here?” Perry Mason’s eyes narrowed as he asked the question.

“Well, yes, he and I were in several classes together. Like you and I were, Perry. But I didn’t know him well, if that is what you meant.”

“Did you see him last night?” Lieutenant Travers asked.

“Well, I think so.”

“That’s an odd thing to say. You only think you saw him? Why aren’t you sure?” Now Perry was curious.

“Simple enough, Perry. I was in the washroom when he entered. At least, I think it was Randall. I had just taken my contact lenses out. There must have been some grit under one of the lenses. They had been irritating me all day. So finally and with a great sense of relief, I took them out. But I’m almost helpless without them, and I couldn’t say for sure who anybody was that I saw when I wasn’t wearing my contacts. General shape, a tall thin fellow, sure, but that’s as far as I’ll go.”

“Was anybody else in the washroom at the time?” Lieutenant Travers asked.

“No, nobody. And I left the washroom first. I made it back to my room at the end of the hall. That’s the last time I travel without any prescription glasses, I’ll tell you that!”

“Did you hear anything later that night?”

“No, well, yes. As I was leaving the washroom, the man still there said, ‘I guess I’m not the only one who can’t see a thing without my contact lenses!’”

Sarah Conrad met us during a break in the reunion program. She had already given a speech on the History of the Supreme Court, which I thought was pushing things a bit. Maybe she hoped for another article or two saying how qualified she must be for the next Supreme Court vacancy. She looked long and hard at Perry Mason and me as she sat down.

“Perry, how nice to see you,” was what she said. “And this lady must be Della Street. We’ve all heard so much about you and your cases.” But the way she said it made me uneasy. Clearly she hadn’t known that Perry Mason would be involved in investigating the case.

“Sarah,” Perry began, “we’re looking into everything that might be relevant in this case. And Tim Randall’s daily calendar showed that the two of you were scheduled to have luncheon today. Was there any reason for that? Had you seen him since high school?”

“No, I hadn’t seen him since we left here, many years ago. I was as surprised as could be when out of the blue, he called me last week to see if I would be free for luncheon.”

“Why did he do that?” Lietenant Travers asked.

Her answer made him blush. “Well, I’m not over the hill yet, Lieutenant!”

“I didn’t mean that, Ma’am.” His tone was that of a chastened school-boy.

“When we were here, we talked about getting married. Tim broke the engagement, if that’s what it was. I’ve never been entirely sure why. I always thought that it was his parents who made him do it. They were paying the bills, and we were very young, and were facing college. Maybe they thought he could do better.”

“Nobody could do better,” Perry said. “More fool he, if he took such advice.”

“How gallant, Perry. Anyway, I was rather looking forward to seeing him, I must admit.”

“You hadn’t seen him yet this weekend?”

“No. I did drop by the B and B where he was staying late yesterday afternoon, but without a house key, you can’t even get into the building. I didn’t have one, since I’m staying at the Marriott Hotel on Queen Street.”

“I suppose I’ll have to ask, what you had in mind to tell him at this late date, if you had been able to have luncheon with him?” Lieutenant Travers asked what was on my mind.

“Well, I had rehearsed that all week. There were several possibilities, from a distant frosty luncheon to an indifference that would tell him that my life had been productive, despite him. But I’m afraid that the scenario I liked best was being a few minutes late, then just showing up and telling him, ‘Drop Dead!’ But he has already done that now, hasn’t he!”

Morris Ingalls had been, it turned out, not only Tim Randall’s high school classmate, but his college roommate. We asked him what he knew about Randall and Sarah Conrad. “I was surprised as I could be when he broke up with her,” he said. “Such a wonderful girl. Bright, but didn’t show it.”

“Sounds like you had a crush on her too,” Perry said, his eyes narrowing, as they often do when he gets interested in a case.

“I thought everyone in our class did,” he said. “She certainly didn’t deserve the treatment he gave her. And you know what? He was still the same sleazy guy I’d known at college. I never should have roomed with him at college, and didn’t, after the first semester! Frankly, I never saw what she saw in him.”

Did you have a chance to talk with him this weekend?” Perry asked.

“Yes, several times. I’m not sure anyone else was friendly with him. I wasn’t either, to tell you the truth. I just knew him, and he had nobody else to talk with. The last time, was last night in the washroom. I walked in and found him by himself. He couldn’t see anything, but he sure knew the sound of my voice.”

“Did you talk about anything in particular? What about this luncheon with Sarah Conrad?” Lieutenant Travers asked.

“I’m not sure, but it bothered me. It really did. He seemed to have something on his mind. I don’t know exactly what it was, but he did say, almost under his breath, ‘She’ll never be on the Supreme Court - I can fix that!’”

“What did he mean by that?” Travers and Perry asked together.

“I wasn’t sure,” Ingalls said. “But I was sure he meant it. Say, it’s time for the class picture. Are you coming along, Perry?”

“Not quite yet,” Perry Mason answered. “First, I have a murder to solve.”