The Case of the Cautious Coquette; The Case of the Negligent Nymph; Not Forever but for Now

 

Okay, back to Perry Mason!

It starts out with Perry looking for a witness to a hit and run. He's representing the young man who was hit and is now injured. Not one but two different witnesses come forward, both claiming to know who hit the young man, and they're pointing the finger at two different men. 

Perry ends up embroiled in a case with too many suspects, too many ex-husbands, and too many keys. Lucille Barton wants to take her ex-husband for every dime she can so she can marry another man without having to give up her monthly alimony. Perry wants nothing to do with her (smart man) but unfortunately gets tangled up when he and Lucille are spotted at the scene of her ex-husband's murder. The DA is gunning for Perry (as always) and he has to use every advantage he has to get out of it and clear his client. 

Perry is out canoeing (working on another case, actually) when he spies a young woman coming out of the water naked, carrying a waterproof bag. Intrigued, he watches through his binoculars as she puts on a fancy dinner gown and goes into the mansion of George Adler. She comes running out with a dog at her heels and dives into the water. Perry rescues her and takes her to her boat, where she shows him what she took: a glass bottle with a note inside. Perry has her make a copy on her typewriter and suggests she give the original back to Adler. 

Adler complicates things by accusing her of stealing $50k worth of jewelry. It turns out the young woman is related to a woman who accuses Adler of killing her in the note in the bottle. There wasn't enough of Della and Paul in this one for me to love it, but it was entertaining. 

Chuck Palahniuk is certainly unique. 

"Not Forever but for Now" is about a family whose business is murder for hire. The grandfather brags about killing Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, etc., and making them look like suicides or overdoes. The mother supposedly killed Princess Di (her husband was supposed to, but he chickened out, so she killed him, too). Otto and Cecil are the heirs apparent. Otto takes to killing like a duck to water, and Cecil happily goes along with his big brother. They go on jobs their grandfather sends them to do as well as practicing their skills on the servants. It was long on dark and short on humor.