 In Upton, CA the governor s representative, state committeeman William Carter, offers the post of head of the crime commission to Mayor James Henderson over attorney Arnold Webberly, the other candidate for the office. Afterward, Jim s wife Mona makes a cryptic call to real estate developer Tom Stratton. At Mona s bidding, Susan Conley, Jim s secretary, picks up a $10,000 payoff from Stratton, but it s the old badger game. Photographer Frank Sykes bursts in and takes pictures of the bribe. Susan consults Perry Mason, telling him she signed a receipt but did not take the money. Mona accuses Julia Webberly, Arnold s wife, of suborning perjury in one of her husband s major cases, which Mona will keep secret if Arnold withdraws as a competitor to Jim. Perry calls on Jim. They hear a shot and find Mona dead, and the evidence points to Susan.