You know what I wanted to be when I was a kid in St. Louis? A really little kid about seven or eight? Mr. Longmire, Tutor said. Mason, Della Street, Sybil Harlan, Paul Drake and a policewoman sat in the witness room to one side of the courtroom. He debated on whether to share this with the detectives, but decided not to. It would just piss them off that he had withheld such evidence. And they were getting along so well right now. Well, apparently, youve accepted the fact that youre in jeopardy, and thats half the battle. Like carvebitch into her skin? Of course. He wanted me to come, but I didnt say that I would. They had traveled a few blocks, when the car stopped at a traffic light, and a motorcycle carrying two men pulled alongside. The rider rapped on her side rear window with a knuckle, and the second she saw him she hit the deck and started screaming at her driver to get out of there. He acted quickly, ran the light, and the motorcycle followed and got hit by a cab in the cross traffic. The two riders got up and ran, one of them limping, and they were seen to be getting into gray a van and driving away fast. Reluctantly, Stone put away the pistol and called the Strategic Services team. Doxey cleared his throat importantly.I have all that information in the form of an estimate by contractors as to the cost of leveling and hauling. You see, Mr. Mason, at the time we started it hadnt occurred to us that it would be possible to sell the dirt for the freeway fill. So we had bids as to the estimated amount of yardage and the cost of moving. There was a survey of the northern boundary, but the stakes arent there any more. Until today? The letter itself was written on the back of some kind of supermarket flier. No fancy-pants stationery for Grimes. And it was written with a ballpoint pen that was running out of ink. Some words were imprinted more heavily than others. I could see and hear him shaking the pen impatiently and cursing it out as if it were a human being. Cindy had quite the granddad. Nevertheless, it is significant that your offer comes right on the heels of this letter. Well, dont feel bad, Mason told her, simply because the prosecution called you to testify as its witness when one of your friends is on trial. The defendant told you that under my instructions she was going to test the recollection of a possible witness, didnt she? Judge Hoyt looked thoughtfully at Perry Mason. Yes. Jah, this is Gunderson, the man said. If thats the case, why exchange at all? Dino heard it, too.He just shifted gears. We need a defensive position..