The Case of the Baited Hook by Erle Stanley Gardner Read Free Book Online Page A

afternoon," Mason said. "See what you can do, Paul."
    "Okay, I will."
    Mason hung up the telephone, stretched out on the bed, picked up a book, and tried to resume his reading. He couldn't get interested in the book, nor on the other hand did he feel like sleeping. He tossed the book to the floor, sat up in a chair by the window, smoked three cigarettes, then turned off the lights, raised the windows, and got into bed. It was an hour before he dropped off to sleep.
    By ten o'clock in the morning when he reached the office, events were gathering mass and momentum like a huge snowball rolling down a steep slope.
    The preliminary investigations of the auditors had uncovered what amounted to a serious shortage in the trust funds of the Elmer Hastings Memorial Hospital. They were baffled, however, by the fact that all check stubs, all cancelled checks, and the check ledgers had disappeared. From the remaining books and available data, however, it was evident that some two hundred thousand dollars had been checked out of trust funds, and apparently this sum was not reflected in current assets or legitimate operating expenses. In view of the fact that the trustees had the discretionary right to sell stocks and bonds or other holdings and re – invest the proceeds, the auditors pointed out that it would be necessary to follow the trail of tangible assets through a complicated series of transactions in order to get an accurate picture.
    Because withdrawals from the trust fund could be made only by checks signed by Albert Tidings and one other trustee, it appeared that there were what the newspaper cautiously referred to as "grave and far – reaching implications." The newspaper account mentioned that Robert Peltham was reported to be out of town on business. His office would give no information as to where the architect could be reached. Albert Tidings had mysteriously disappeared. Police, frantically working on clues in connection with the finding of Tidings' automobile with the telltale stains on the front seat and the bullet – pierced topcoat, were making a determined effort to learn more of where Tidings had gone after leaving his office. They had run up against a blank wall.
    Parker C. Stell, the other member of the board of trustees, had consulted the firm of certified public accountants as soon as he knew that the investigation was under way. He had placed his own bookkeeping faculties at the disposal of the accountants. He announced he was deeply shocked and anxious to render every assistance possible. He said that he had been called on from time to time at the request of Tidings to sign some checks, that he thought Peltham had been the one who signed most of the checks with Tidings. He admitted that within what he termed "reasonable limitations" matters were left very much in Tidings' hands, and signing many of the smaller checks was considered a matter of routine formality once Tidings' name appeared on them. Larger checks, however, he said, were scrutinized carefully-at least those which he had signed with Tidings. These had represented monies paid out for securities in which the funds of the trust had been re – invested. The books of the trust fund had, he believed, been kept exclusively by Tidings who submitted detailed reports from time to time as to the state of the trust fund.
    Adelle Hastings had not minced words in her characterization of the members of the board who administered the trust funds. Albert Tidings she accused of criminal mismanagement, Parker Stell of credulous inefficiency, and as for Robert Peltham, she insisted that he was honest, upright, and conscientious, and that Albert Tidings would never have dared submit any checks to him for signature which were not actual bona fide trust fund withdrawals.
    Mason looked up from reading the newspaper to say to Della Street, "Well, I guess this is what he had reference to… Strange, however, that it broke twenty – four hours later than he had