By the beginning of Chapter 5, we've seen the good and bad in every major player and learned nearly everyone's back story. Paul Drake is a conscientious, by-the-book beat cop struggling with his wife's admonitions to get along with his white superiors, including the creepy and corrupt Detective Ennis; Perry's sidekick and former vice cop Pete Strickland has a foul mouth and an appetite for indiscretions, but is repulsed by the LAPD corruption he sees and has delivered promising leads and background on George Gannon, Emily's lover and would-be patsy among the trio of kidnappers responsible for Baby Charlie's demise. All the while, Della Street has been heroically holding together E.B. Jonathan's law firm, returning home frustrated and angry, finding respite and quiet comfort with Hazel.
To this point, down-on-his-luck Perry has done little to convince Della that he's aiding Emily Dodson's case or cause as Emily is vilified by Barnes and a scandal-hungry press for love letters with George Gannon. E.B. is desperate and without financial means to bail out Emily, and D.A. Maynard Barnes is poised to discredit and isolate him further with revelations of financial misappropriation and the threat of disbarment. And while Della answers phones, picks up dry cleaning, writes and files motions, saves Emily from being brutalized in jail, and keeps E.B. Jonathan & Associates otherwise afloat, Perry is never far from a flask, estranged from his ex-wife, and is seen by Della as a guy who peeks in windows, sells salacious photos, and turned over the love letters that hang Emily in the press before she's even tried.
To this point, Della Street has been the conscience and moral compass in the dirty, depressed Los Angeles of newly 1932. Echoing Perry's explanation of his ethics, "There's what's legal, and what's right," an inspired and resourceful Della sets in motion the events (and a surprise tutorial) that transition E.B. Jonathan's lead investigator into Perry Mason, Attorney for the Defense.
