The Case of the Blonde Bonanza by Erle Stanley Gardner Read Free Book Online Page B

reserve supplies."
    "And you're trying to tell me you don't have any money?" Mason asked.
    "Exactly."
    Mason regarded the man thoughtfully. "You're a salesman."
    "That's right."
    "A promoter."
    "That's right."
    "You sell ideas on the strength of your personality."
    "Right."
    "So," Mason said, "instead of talking with me over the telephone, instead of referring me to your attorney, you came here personally to put on your most convincing manner and persuade me that you had no cash and therefore it would be useless for my client to start suit."
    "Correct again, Mr. Mason."
    "Do you have an attorney?"
    "No."
    "You'd better get one."
    "Why?"
    "Because I'm going to make you pay for what you've done to Dianne Alder."
    "You can't get blood out of a turnip, Mr. Mason."
    "No," Mason said, "but you can get sugar out of a beet-if you know how-and in the process you raise hell with the beet."
    Boring regarded him speculatively.
    "Therefore," Mason said, "I would suggest that you get an attorney and I'll discuss the situation with him rather than with you."
    "I don't have an attorney, I don't have any money to hire an attorney, and I'm not going to get one. With all due respect to you, Mr. Mason, you're not going to get a thin dime out of me; at least, as long as you act this way."
    "Was there some other way you had in mind?" Mason asked.
    "Frankly, there was."
    "Let's hear it."
    "My idea is just as good as it ever was. Sooner or later I'm going to get another backer. When I do, Dianne will be sitting on Easy Street. I tell you, Mr. Mason, the idea is sound. People are tired of starving their personalities along with their bodies.
    "You let some well-nourished, firm-fleshed, clear-eyed model come along that has lots of figure, and we'll start a style change overnight."
    "I'm not an expert on women's styles," Mason said. "I try to be an expert on law. I'm protecting my client's legal interests."
    "Go ahead and protect them."
    "All right," Mason said. "My client has a claim of damages against you for whatever that may be worth. We won't argue about that now. My client also has the right to consider your repudiation of the contract as a termination of all future liability on her part."
    "I am not a lawyer, Mr. Mason, but that would seem to be fair."
    "Therefore," Mason said, "regardless of what else may be done, you have no further claims on Dianne Alder or on her earnings."
    "I'd like to see the situation left in status quo," Boring said.
    "Status quo calls for the payment of a hundred dollars a week."
    "I can't do it."
    "Then there isn't any status quo."
    Boring held out his hand to Mason with a gesture of complete friendship. "Thank you, Mr. Mason, for giving me your time. I'm glad we had this talk. Dianne is a nice girl. You do whatever you can to protect her interests, but I just wanted to let you know that trying to collect from me would simply be throwing good money after bad."
    Boring kept talking while he was shaking hands. "If I ever get any money of my own, Mason, you won't need to sue me for it because I'd back this idea of mine with every cent I had. It's a red-hot idea and I know it's going to pay off. I realize that the situation is a little discouraging at the moment as far as Dianne is concerned, but I know that sooner or later my idea is going across. I feel in my bones that within a few short months Dianne will be the toast of the town."
    "Let's be very careful," Mason said, moving Boring toward the exit door, "that the toast doesn't get burnt."
    "I can assure you, Mr. Mason, with every ounce of sincerity I possess, that I have her best interests at heart."
    "That's fine," Mason said, "and you can be assured that I have them at heart."
    Mason held the exit door open for Boring, who smiled affably then turned and walked down the corridor.
    Mason turned to Della Street as the door closed. "You got Paul Drake?" he asked.
    "That's right. He'll be under surveillance from the time he leaves the building. One of Drake's operatives