Chapter 5 Chapter Four

Perry Mason walked into the office at nine-thirty. "Hi, Della," Mason said. "Is there a problem?" "There is a very impatient guest waiting for you outside." "Harlow Bancroft?" Mason asked. She nodded. Mason grinned. "Let him in!" Della went out for a while, then came in with Bancroft. "Mason," Bancroft said. "This is how the same thing?" "What's the matter?" Mason asked. Bancroft slams a newspaper on the table. On the front page was a photo of a very scantily clad young woman with the headline: Swimsuit Beauty Finds Huge Money.

"Tsk tut!" said Mason. "What's the matter?" said Bancroft. "I trust you so much. Why did you increase the ransom to 3,000 yuan? How could this half-naked woman escape?" Bancroft flipped a page and said, "This is... a photocopy of the blackmail letter. My God, this should be kept strictly confidential." "Tsk tut!" said Mason. "what you do not know." "I don't know!" Bancroft yelled at him. "What do you know? You should be more cautious!" "Did your stepdaughter throw the coffee can and the note overboard?" Mason asked.

"Probably, I didn't ask her. She didn't want to tell me yet, so of course I didn't ask anything. But here the whole note was reported, and the amount was raised to 3,000 yuan!" Mason smiled. "Eva Amory is getting the show now, don't you think?" "That's the definition of limelight," Bancroft said dismissively. "That swimsuit is so short that people who don't know it think it's an adult magazine." "This is much more conservative than an adult magazine," Mason read the content carefully, before finally saying, "You don't know."

"I don't know," Bancroft said. "All I know is that I'm disappointed. I thought you were a prudent, honest man. Of course, most importantly, I hope you can keep it a secret." "I'm tight-lipped!" Mason said. "Closed?" Bancroft spread out the newspaper and hammered on the table. "God knows how many millions of readers will read this news! I heard that it has been faxed out, and half of the newspapers in the country will publish it." "It was a blast," Mason said. "Is that all you have to say?" said Bancrowe.

Mason said, "Sit down, Bancroft, calm down, and now I'm going to tell you something." Bancroft sat down slowly, glaring at Mason angrily. "First," Mason said. "Going public is the last thing you want to avoid." "Thanks for reminding me," Bancroft said sarcastically. "But on the other hand," Mason said. "Making public is also what the criminals want to avoid. They can only do it secretly. Now the victim obviously did not call the police, and put the money in the jar exactly as the criminals instructed, and then threw it at the designated time and place, so Gangsters cannot accuse victims of bad faith."

"What I don't understand is, how did the ransom double?" Bancroft said. "The note I saw said 1,500 yuan, and you saw it too—in fact, you even took a photo, but now why did the criminals increase the ransom to 3,000 yuan?" "I added it," Mason said. "what?" "I increased the ransom to three thousand dollars," Mason said. "But my stepdaughter only received 1,500 yuan, and she should only have this much money to pay. But according to the police, there is a total of 3,000 yuan in the jar except for notes and silver coins." A slow smile appeared on Mason's face.

Bancroft seemed to want to say something, but when he saw his smile, his expression suddenly changed. "My God!" he exclaimed. "Not bad at all," Mason said. "This note was typed on a King's portable typewriter. I got an old King's typewriter and crossed out the fifteen hundred and changed it to three thousand. We got the coffee can and added fifteen thousand a hundred dollars, making the total three thousand dollars." "You put in fifteen hundred dollars?" asked Bancrowe. "That's your money," Mason said with a smile on his face. "So I said the cost will be higher."

"But... you mean..." Mason said: "I'm assuming there are at least two people, and you should have noticed that the note said 'us'. Of course this may be just a cover-up, but I always think it should not be. Suppose you are a two-person criminal group. One person, you sent your accomplices to collect a ransom of 1,500 yuan, but the money was not received due to a situation, and the money fell into the hands of the police, but the figure announced by the police increased to 3,000 yuan. At that time, you would not naturally Do you think that your partner may have cheated you and want to keep the extra fifteen hundred yuan for yourself? Once you have this idea, even if your partner denies it, will you still believe it? We can boldly assume that this note The publicity of the crime has put the gangsters on the defensive; the doubling of the ransom has planted the seeds of internal strife among the gangsters."

"It's incredible," said Bancroft. "Also," Mason said. "We are about to have clues to the gangsters, and we will have to make them feel overwhelmed by then." "How?" asked Bancroft. "We're going to find something that worries them," Mason said. "Although blackmailers make a living by exposing other people's scars, they usually have a lot of dark secrets. Except for some amateurs, most of them have committed many crimes, so they are also very worried about falling into the hands of the police. .” Bancroft stood up slowly. "Mason," he said. "I want to apologize to you. The more I think about it, the more I think it was the smartest and most daring move, and you turned the whole situation around—three thousand dollars was well worth it."

"No," Mason said. "Three thousand yuan and a dime will not be lost. Now the money is in the hands of the police, not the gangsters. If you were a gangster, what would you do? You would go to the police and say 'sorry, the money is For me.'?" "Of course not," Bancroft said. "But they're bound to make other demands." "Of course they're going to ask again," Mason said. "Whether they get money or not, they will ask again and again. Wait for them to ask and play it by ear." Bancroft gripped Mason's hand tightly. "Mason, just use your method! If you need anything, just call me."

"Let me warn you first," Mason said. "My approach is quite extraordinary." "You must be right. Do you still need money?" "Not yet," Mason said. "I will get the money back from the police in due course." "How to get it?" "I once wrote a check for three thousand dollars and told the secretary to go to the bank to get ten and twenty dollar bills," Mason said. "I put 1,500 yuan in the safe and another 1,500 yuan in the coffee can. I will tell the police at the right time that the money in the coffee can is to attract criminals. Of course I will take it. That cashed check was given to the police, along with a statement from the bank manager that I had indeed asked the secretary to collect it." Bancroft thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up and laughed. He walked towards the gate, turned back halfway, and said, "Mason, I was so angry when I came in, but now I seem to be walking on clouds." "Don't get too sure," Mason said. "You are not completely out of danger, but our counterattack is indeed enough to make them panic." "That's for sure," Bancroft said. After Bancroft left, Mason picked up the newspaper again, smiling at Eva's picture. "The other version has more pictures," Della said. "How did she fall while water skiing, and how did she see that red coffee can. Boss, what do you think will happen to her in the future?" "She could get a big contract," Mason said. "But she could also be in danger." "Of course there are dangers," Mason said. "As her lawyer, I will keep her safe. If I guess correctly, she will receive threatening calls from Anonymous."