The Case of the Baited Hook Read Online Free PDF

wanted to sell the information of course."
    "What did you do?" Mason asked.
    "I suppose I should have gone to the authorities, but I'd had a bitter dose of that medicine so I paid through the nose and got the information."
    "Which shows?" Mason asked.
    "The child was given the name of Byrl. She was adopted by a Mr and Mrs. Gailord. They lived here in this city."
    "How long ago was that?" Mason asked.
    "Within two months of the time I'd left the girl at the orphanage, the Gailords came there looking for a child. They became completely infatuated with this girl. They insisted on having her. The Home told them that she wasn't as yet free for adoption, but they felt certain she would be within a few months, as their experience had convinced them that very few people kept up the payments, and the understanding was that whenever the payments ceased, the child was free for adoption.
    'The Gailords couldn't wait. They offered to pay a fancy price-a thousand dollars. And I suppose there was a little bribe money passed at the same time. They said that if there was any trouble, they'd return the girl… Perhaps they meant to at the time, but they'd become attached to her-and-well, you know how those things are."
    Mason said, "But surely, Mrs. Tump, the girl has now arrived at the age of majority. She can do anything she pleases. She's free, white, and twenty – one. She…"
    "That part of it's all right," Mrs. Tump said. "I've straightened all that out, but here's what happened. The Gailords were wealthy. Frank Gailord died. He left property, half to his widow, half to Byrl. Byrl's half was in a trust fund. She was to get it when she was twenty – seven. In the meantime, the trustee was to pay her such sums as he thought necessary for care, maintenance, and education.
    "Mrs. Gailord married again-a man by the name of Tidings. They lived together five years, and then the woman died, leaving all of her property to Byrl under the same sort of trust and making Mr. Tidings the trustee without bonds. Tidings is no good. He married again, and there's been another separation… You don't need to concern yourself with all these preliminaries, Mr. Mason. I'm giving them to you just so you'll have the background clear in your mind. The point is, that Albert Tidings is now trustee for Byrl's property, and it's a tidy little fortune. He has absolutely no right to be trustee. He's an improper person. He's a crook, if you want my opinion."
    "You've seen him?" Mason asked.
    "Naturally. I went to him and explained matters to him."
    "What did he do?"
    "He said, 'See my lawyer.'"
    "And so you decided to come to me?"
    "Yes."
    "And you've explained matters to Byrl-about her parents?"
    "I most certainly have. It came as something of a shock to her. She'd always considered the Gailords were her real parents."
    "Where is she now?"
    "Here in the city."
    "What," Mason asked, "do you want me to do?"
    "I want you to go after Tidings," she said. "I want you to prove that the original adoption was illegal, that it was a fraud, and was the result of bribery and corruption. I want Tidings out of there as trustee."
    Mason's eyes narrowed slightly. "Meaning," he asked, "that you want to be appointed trustee in his stead?"
    "Well, I certainly think Byrl is entitled to more of her money. She should travel, see something of the world, come into her own inheritance, and marry."
    "She's free to marry whenever she wants to, isn't she?" Mason asked.
    "Yes, but she can't meet the sort of people she should meet… You can take one look at Byrl and realize that she has a most unusual heritage."
    Mason said, "So far as the past history is concerned, Mrs. Tump, it has but little bearing on the legal situation. The trust doesn't depend on the adoption. Byrl is now of age. You have no legal standing in the case. You aren't related to her. The parents asked you to get the girl and protect her. You got her out of Russia. After that-I'll be frank with you, Mrs. Tump-a shrewd lawyer