The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink
Cover Artist: Silver Studio (cover photograph)By: Gardner, Erle Stanley
Publisher: Pocket Books, Inc. (1107)
Place of Publication:New York, NY
Catalog #: Kelley Box 251: PS3513 .A6322 C26 1956
Contributor: D. Hartman
General
Era: 1950sAuthor as on Cover: Erle Stanley Gardner
Publication:1956
Original Date: 1952
Setting: urban; several scenes in and around Mason's office building, a low-class hotel, and the courthouse
Plot Summary
When Dixie Dayton disappears in the middle of her waitressing shift, leaving behind her paycheck and a slightly moth-eaten mink coat, her boss, Morris Alburg, retains Perry Mason to find out why. Mason takes charge of the mink and in its lining he finds a ticket from a Seattle pawn shop. The plot thickens when police find out that Dixie pawned not only a diamond ring, but a gun as well, and the gun matches the weapon that was used to kill police officer Robert Claremont. Dixie's boyfriend, Thomas Sedgwick, is the prime suspect in the Claremont murder, but Dixie and Alburg find themselves in need of a lawyer when they are implicated in the murder of a bookie named George Fayette. Mason takes them on as clients, and the courtroom scene gets a little bizarre when Mason doubles as counsel for the defense and witness for the prosecution.Major Characters
Perry Mason adult male, middle-aged, brilliant lawyer with tremendous detective skillsDella Street adult female, 30s, pretty, smart, Perry Mason's confidential secretary
Paul Drake adult male, tall, lanky private investigator and owner of the Drake Detective Agency
Dixie Dayton (an alias, her real name is never given), adult female, waitress and owner of the moth-eaten mink
Morris Alburg adult male, owner of Alburg's restaurant; half-brother to Thomas Sedgwick
Minerva Hamlin adult female, night switchboard operator at the Drake Detective Agency
Lieutenant Tragg adult male, tough cop who spends a fair amount of his time on cases concerning Mason's clients
Hamilton Burger adult male, district attorney who frequently finds himself in confrontation with Mason
George Fayette adult male, a bookie who is out to kill Dayton and Alburg; he ends up as a murder victim instead
Robert Claremont adult male, young, dedicated police officer (killed in the line of duty)
Thomas Sedgwick adult male, suspected bookmaker and cop killer; half-brother to Alburg and romantically involved with Dixie Dayton; suffers from tuberculosis
Sergeant Jaffrey adult male, a bad cop in charge of the vice detail; a tie-in with Claremont's murder brought him into the case; killed by Tragg at the end of the novel
Frank Hoxie adult male, hotel desk clerk with a photographic memory