Leonard Voss is an art dealer of questionable ethics who is shocked that a famous tapestry is about to be put up for auction. His shock is genuine since some 6 years before, he set a fire in a South American gallery that destroyed the tapestry and many other art objects from the collection of Nathan Claver. At that time, Voss framed an employee, Claude Demay, for the arson and Demay served a lengthy prison sentence in Brazil. Voss' shock is compounded when his assistant Brenda Larkin says she saw the same tapestry hanging in the window in a pawn shop nearby. Voss visits the pawn shop where he learns Demay's sister, Sarah, pawned it. He visits her apartment and runs into Demay who wants Voss to give him a piece of the collection Voss stole from Claver in return for the tapestry so Demay can ultimately prove his own innocence. Perry Mason is approached by Demay after the tapestry is stolen from the pawn shop. When Mason and Demay find Voss dead at his office, Demay is charged with murder.
—garykmcd