The Case of Paul Drake's Dilemma

One of my purposes in watching all the old Perry Mason videos has been to find the only case I remember seeing many years ago. I remember it because of the very poignant final scene. I found it this week! It originally aired November 14th, 1959

Paul’s gun is used in a murder after Paul is knocked unconscious on a job. There are several suspects, each with a compelling motive for the murder, but things get complicated when a wealthy patriarch uses his money and influence to manipulate the evidence so as to cast suspicious away from his own children. Perry defends Paul, and eventually the truth comes out. In the final scene, Perry is summoned to the mansion of the millionaire, who is so delighted that none of his children was the murderer, that he hands Perry a generous check.

“There you are, sir, a very small token, I grant you.”
“Is this what you wanted to see me about?”
“Of course it is, and I’m sending an even bigger one to Paul Drake. Do you realize how foolish I feel after all my efforts to steer the course of events?”
“You very nearly steered them into causing a great injustice; Marsden might have confessed earlier if he hadn’t seen that you were helping to cover everything up.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought it was necessary.”
“That’s the tragedy, Mr. Dameron.”
“What is?”
“You know when I leave here, I’m meeting Paul Drake at a restaurant. He’ll pick up the check for dinner; that’ll be the fee for my services. He’s just a friend, but I never once doubted his innocence.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Mr. Dameron, I’ve never before met a person so far removed from humanity that he believed every one of his own children capable of committing murder.”

Perry picks up the check, tears it in pieces, and tosses it on the desk as he walks out.

tatted baby booties

for customer Cindy in Idaho

Love Chain

When I was about nine years old, my older cousin taught me how to make a chain out of gum wrappers. She called it a Love Chain, for the length would match the height of my true love. Each gum wrapper made two links in the chain, just under an inch in length. I suspected Wrigley started the fad, for it was quite a popular pastime among the adolescent girls who chewed lots of gum to insure their true loves would be on the tall side. Being poor, I acquired most of my wrappers from gutters and sidewalks, much to my mother’s dismay (I was vindicated, however, the day I found a $10 bill on the sidewalk while scouting for wrappers).

During this last Christmas vacation, I taught three of my children to make Love Chains. I had acquired a very large roll of gold wrapping paper which we cut into pieces (a little bigger than gum wrappers). I was amazed they found it so entertaining. As their chains grew, thoughts of future loves kept them excited about this little project and each one took a paper supply back with them.

About the time Jesse finished his chain, he met a very special girl. And so I wonder, is this just a very interesting coincidence or is there a power in the Love Chain after all? Is it because we used gold paper; is it from thinking those positive thoughts? I haven’t asked, but I wonder if her height matches the length of his chain.

February is fast approaching, the month of love. And so perhaps you would like to make your own Love Chain. Good luck with it, and let me know how the power works for you!

emerging chef

In November Isaac and I began an intensive adventure to teach him how to cook. That first month he mastered pies; in December it was candies, and last month we planned out a specialty to work on during each month of 2010. It has been great fun and great eating (that must be how I found those lost pounds). He is tackling it from a physics perspective, wanting to know how different ingredients react and how they affect the results, asking questions like, “If I cook it longer at a lower temperature, what will that do?” I am very impressed, and he is very excited, exclaiming after that first pie success, “Now I am a chef! … Well, an EMERGING chef!”

January is bread month. He has already made biscuits, French bread, and bread sticks. I think he has found his passion, dough! His other creations have thrilled him, but not like the feel of dough in his hands as it yields under the gentle, rhythmic pressure of the kneading process. It was hard for him to part with it long enough for it to raise properly before he formed it into the final product. But oh, the ecstasy as the aroma filled the house while the oven did its part, and then, eating the final product, warm and nourishing; it was “heaven in his mouth.” He nodded in satisfaction and exclaimed, “I think I want to be a baker!”

Isaac's new quilt

ten not-so-noteworthey events of 2009

I have kept you fairly up-to-date on the happenings around here (that is until the last few months, sorry about that), the major events anyway. But as I look back on a most eventful year, I realize I have neglected a few of the smaller events, for example:

Isaac discovered his nose is on crooked. Once he mentioned it to us, we all agreed, “Hey, you’re right, it IS crooked.” We were all amazed that he got this old before anyone noticed. However, I think it is adorable, just the same.

I found the lost shovel. Of course Murphy’s law was in play, I found it after I used my Mothers Day gift card for Target to buy a new one. I found the old one shoved inside the playhouse, behind the sink/cupboard. The only way it could have gotten in there was through a window (I know because that’s the only way I could get it out). I can’t imagine anyone thinking it was more convenient to put it there than in the shed where it belongs and where it has been kept for 17 years… Any thoughts on that, Murphy?

I also found the pounds I lost… Alas, I guess that’s what resolutions are for.

Isaac measured taller than I am. He probably doesn’t consider this a not-so-noteworthy event, since he’s been working on it for 15 years. Of course, we haven’t considered the possibility that I may be shrinking, taller is taller, after all. His nose is still crooked…

Jesse got a haircut. OK, technically that was this year, New Year’s Day. But I cut off what had been growing since I gave him his last haircut, in June. My scraggly rag-a-muffin turned back into his handsome self, and girls, he is eligible!

We haven’t killed the cat (can a non-event count?). Not that we want to kill the cat, it’s just that, well, cats are very different from dogs, and we are having a hard time getting used to the cat. We still miss Penny very much…

I switched the side of the bed that I sleep on. I have my reasons for switching back after 30 years and it is working out great, for example,I’ve yet to get up on the wrong side of the bed!

Hannah has not chosen a major yet, although after this semester she knows it won’t be economics. I am glad she is narrowing it down.

I signed up for Facebook. This would be a “noteworthy” event if I ever posted anything. So far I just check on my children and a few friends occasionally. I keep asking my children for a lesson in how to do things, but I sense a reluctance, as though I would become too intrusive… who, me? So for now, anyway, my Facebook account still falls under the not-so-noteworthy. I DID get myself a bluetooth last month, though, and love the hands-free!

I think I’ve finally had enough of Perry Mason. I was a fan many years ago and mentioned that to a neighbor who happened to have maybe 100 or so episodes on VHS and was very happy to loan them to me. I’ve watched them, about 2 at a time for months now until everything is a jumbled mass of murder in my head. It is going to be a struggle to get through these last six tapes…

Thank you 2009, you have been a fabulous year. Welcome 2010, I have high hopes for many wonderful noteworthy and not-so-noteworthy events! (I promise to post on the blog more often).