Customer Reviews

Case of the Vagabond Virgin (A Perry Mason Mystery)

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Excellent Perry Mason from his top decade, the forties.

A touch dated, though. An important female character is running a blackmail racket good for a fair middle class income, but nothing to write home about. In order to keep her racket going, she has to hitchhike rides with men at the rate of twenty a day and more. Getting pawed is part of the game -- and because she's a "bad girl," I think the reader is not supposed to worry about other problems she's almost sure to run into, hitchhiking at that rate. Rape is only one of her worries. A fraud like hers could not be carried out that often without attracting the attention of the law. In the forties, it might have seemed plausible that men with expensive cars wouldn't be murderers. No longer.

But that's a minor part of the plot, really, and the rest of it ticks along in the Mason mysteries' usual implausible but persuasive way. The murderer is a nice surprise.

I had just had a bad string of Perry Mason mysteries. The last two I read had so many twists and turns that the reader lost interest rather than becoming intrigued. And Mason's defense of his clients seemed to go over the line of morality as well as legality. This one is a real winner, however, with all the elements of the best Perry Mason stories: an interesting collection of characters, a wild plot, surprises by the prosecution and defense, and (most unusual) a mystery that the reader might possibly figure out before the end. The plot, although not exactly "believable," is not so far out that one stops paying attention.

I found it difficult to put down and finished it in two days. A perfect weekend's entertainment.

The Case of the Vagabond Virgin

Perry Mason gets a telephone call from John Racer Addison, the department store man. He wants Perry to rush down to the City Jail to represent Veronica Dale, a nice girl who was arrested as a vagrant. Addison wants his name kept out of this. Veronica tells Perry the arrest was due to a mistake, and she is bailed out; the arresting officer will check her story. Veronica's story checks out, but it does sound odd. Later Mrs. Laura Mae Dale visits Perry to thank him for helping her daughter Veronica. Mrs. Dale was from out of state but was able to track her daughter quickly. Then Perry receives a frantic call from John R. Addison who is threatened with blackmail; we learn about his meeting with Veronica. A gossip columnist may publish these facts to put him in a tight situation with his business partner. [This appears to be a clever blackmail plot.] Perry Mason has a clever ploy to use on the blackmailer in Chapter 4. Chapter 6 explains the effects of a divorce on business ownership.

Perry Mason accompanies John Addison to the property he had visited. Its near the spot where Addison found Veronica Dale. While inspecting the house, they find a dead body! Perry questions Addison about his whereabouts, then advises his innocent client what to do. The attempted blackmail leads to Eric Hansell's arrest for forgery. The police are notified about Edgar Ferrell's death, and question Addison about it. Perry is taken to the police station to answer questions about a check; he could be in hot water. But a lucky call cools things down. Perry and Della meet Veronica Dale and question her about her meeting with Addison. When they return to Della's apartment and find hidden objects Perry improvises a slingshot. One of Paul Drake's detectives gets information about that department store from a young salesgirl (Chapter 14).

Chapter 15 has the Preliminary Hearing and the testimony about the physical evidence. Unknown fingerprints were found at the murder site. Eric Hansell testifies, and we learn he had a female accomplice. Perry's cross-examination of the next witness reveals new facts about the night of the murder (Chapter 17). Afterwards Perry reconsiders the known facts against the Prosecution's theory (Chapter 18). From these facts, he goes to see the person who has stayed in the background and uncovers the solution that will free his client.

For a real example of using the testimony of an innocent girl read Adela St. John's "Final Verdict" chapter 63. Young Alice, sweet sixteen, knew a little too much. Earl Roger's experts testified the police could not see through doors and around corners. Then Earl Rogers produced Alice's husband and the fact that she was well over twenty-one!