Queen’s Bureau of Investigation Read Online Free PDF Page B

throwing money around as if the company mines diamonds instead of coal.
    â€œSo for quite a while now each one of you has been in a nice deep hole. And for quite a while now each one of you has been trying to dig himself out by selling part of his stock in The Four Brothers Mining Company.”
    The brothers made little noises.
    Daisy Brothers opened her bag and consulted a slip of paper. “Archibald, the great lover: Arch, you’ve sold nine of your twenty-five shares. Everett, the big brains Ev, you’ve sold seven of your twenty-five. And little Napoleon—Charlton, I mean—you’ve sold ten of yours.”
    There was a silence. Then Archibald laughed. “I never knew a head went with those shoulders.”
    Everett said nothing, but his smile was thoughtful.
    â€œSo I wasn’t the only one,” rasped Charlton, glaring about at his brothers. “Daisy, what’s the point?”
    â€œIn the original agreement you and Dave all signed,” replied the widow briskly, “there’s a certain clause that was put in to prevent just what’s happened. The clause says that if any partner in the corporation gets stock control, he can buy out the others at the original cost of their stock. ”
    The brothers jerked.
    Charlton showed his spiked teeth. “What about it? No one’s got stock control of the company!”
    â€œWrong, brother-in-law,” said the sister-in-law. “The shares you three sold were bought through dummies … by me . Your ten, Charlton. Your seven, Everett. Your nine, Archibald. That’s twenty-six shares I bought up from the three of you. And I own Dave’s twenty-five. Add it up. It’s fifty-one, and it gives me legal control.
    â€œAnd,” said the woman, very gently, “I’m exercising my rights under the agreement.” She rummaged in her bag. “I have here,” she said, “three certified checks. A $16,000 check for your remaining shares, Archibald. An $18,000 check for your remaining eighteen shares, Everett. And a $15,000 check for your remaining fifteen shares, Charlton. Pony up that stock.”
    When Archibald found his voice, it came out blasting. “Sixteen thousand! Why, my sixteen shares are worth more than a million and a half! Do you think you can buy me out at one cent on the dollar?”
    â€œI’ll let your lawyer answer that question.”
    Charlton Brothers was purple to the tips of his ears. “Everett,” he spluttered, “do you remember anything like that in the original agreement? Is this—is she right?”
    Everett nodded, his eyes on the widow.
    Charlton snarled. With his pale lips curled, he looked like an aroused vegetable. “Why, you cheap …! You don’t think you’re going to get away with this!”
    â€œShut up, Charlton.” Archibald came around the table to slip his arm about her shoulders. “Why don’t you and I go somewhere, baby, and … talk this over?”
    She got up so suddenly that the handsome brother almost lost his balance. “I’ll give you three exactly one week to let your lawyers convince you that you’d be crazy to try to break that agreement in court. They’ll tell you you haven’t a prayer, but I guess you’ll want to be told.” She dropped the three checks into her bag, and turned to go.
    But now Everett was on his feet, and he spoke for the first time. “One question, Daisy.”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œWhy?”
    Daisy Brothers leaned on the table, and its high gloss reflected something bitter, and triumphant, too. “Big Dave took me out of the strip stable in the Boom Boom Club. He was a good businessman, Dave was. He knew a bargain when he saw one. He bought me for a two-buck license and a five-dollar bill to the J. P. and he always said I turned out the best deal he’d ever made. Well, he was right. He gave me respectability, and I gave him the ten