Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Vol. 12, No. 6, May 1963

“I think I get you. You’re going to fake some kind of a real estate deal between the two of us to make them think they’re losing out. Is that it?”

“Yes,” Shayne said.

When Effie came into the den about fifteen minutes later, she found her grandfather and Mike Shayne engrossed in a survey of some Indian arrowheads.

“Gentlemen,” she said pleasantly, “dinner is served.”

Dinner consisted of turtle steak, boiled potatoes and a cream pie that was out of this world. Whatever else she might turn out to be, Effie Bascom was a superb cook. Shayne ate with relish. Hat Raymond, in spite of his troubles, had a hearty appetite. For all his years, he ate like a waterfront longshoreman. Tod Bascom ate delicately.

Effie had slipped on a green frock for dinner. She looked pretty, prim and every inch the granddaughter of an old timer like Hat Raymond.

“Some food, eh, Shayne?” Hat Raymond chortled.

“A feast,” the redhead agreed, keeping a close eye on the Bascoms. But nothing suspicious passed between them. Not by word or glance. Tod was politely listening to everything the old man said and deferring to Shayne in the conversation.

Effie smiled. “More pie, Mr. Shayne?”

“Please, no. I’m chock full of good food as it is, Effie.” The redhead leaned back in his chair.

Hat Raymond looked pleased. “Effie’s a fine housekeeper, Shayne.”

Just after dessert, the phone rang in the living room. Prim Effie Bascom answered it, nodding. “It’s for you, Mr. Shayne. It’s a Miss Hamilton!”

He took the call and turned his back on the dinner table. “Hello, Lucy,” he said. “Did that package arrive from my aunt?”

“Yes, Michael,” Lucy said crisply. “Tod Bascom was married in Macon, Georgia, to a Miss Effrella Raymond.”

“Fine, fine,” Shayne said. “When did the package come?”

“Just one week ago to be exact. That help you, Michael?”

“Yes. Thanks. I’ll pick it up when I get there. Say about ten o’clock tonight. You go on home, Lucy.”

“Michael, you’re sure everything is all right?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” He hung up and returned to the table smiling.

“That’s a relief,” he said. “I’ve been trying to buy a special vase for my aunt. Miss Hamilton, my secretary, finally found the right piece. My aunt will be pleasantly surprised.”

Effie smiled. “I like vases too. They’re so graceful.”

“You should,” Shayne said offhandedly, tackling the dessert. “New bride like you.”

“Not new as all that,” she said. “It’s been six months now.”

“Yeah,” Hat Raymond rumbled. “Six months since this rascal stole the apple of my eye. You should have seen Effie’s mother, Shayne. She come late in my life but she was as pretty as they can come. A real lady, besides.”

“Grandpa,” Effie said softly, blushing.

Tod Bascom changed the subject. “I never did hear how you know Grandpa, Mr. Shayne.”

The angular face of Michael Shayne crinkled into hard, granite lines.

“We have a similar interest in property. Hat and I are financing a land deal of some importance. We’re just about ready to consummate the deal.”

Tod Bascom looked amazed. “You never mentioned that, Grandpa!”

Hat Raymond took Shayne’s lead. “I don’t have to tell everybody all my business, son.”

Shayne said, “Yes, this is official. We’re all set to go ahead with the project. We’re working out of Miami with a corporation there. Your grandfather, my old friend Hat, is putting up five hundred thousand dollars for the deal.”

“Oh,” Tod Bascom’s bloodless face was all the answer Shayne could have needed. “Well, you do go in for big surprises, Grandpa. Hear that, Effie? While we weren’t looking, this old fox has been making busy plans.”

“And why not?” Hat Raymond cried. “What for is money if not for building and creating things? Course, I haven’t changed my mind about Effie. She’ll get the bulk of it all when I’m gone.”

“Hush,” Effie said. “I’d rather not think of that.”

“Forget it,” Tod said. “Grandpa is healthier and heartier than nine out of ten men who walk into my office. He’ll outlive us all.”

“Amen to that,” Shayne said, raising his glass for a toast. The bait had been cast on the waters and the fish were beginning to nibble hungrily. The Bascoms both looked pale and unhappy.

Lucy Hamilton’s information about the Bascom-Raymond nuptials had proved conclusively that Tod and Effie had come from Georgia a few months ago and pretended to be man and wife for the old man’s benefit. Then when Tod had learned she was really the old man’s heiress, he had finally married her. They had obviously skipped off for a few days last week to do it. That had to mean something.

Hat Raymond’s life had to be in grave danger.

V

Along about eight-thirty, Mike Shayne rose to his feet and stretched luxuriously. Hat Raymond who had been dozing on the lounge blinked awake and looked surprised. Effie and Tod Bascom looked politely puzzled.

“Well, folks. Time I was getting back.” Shayne smiled at Effie. “A marvelous dinner, Effie. I’ll have to make it up to you sometime.”

“Nonsense. It was a pleasure, Mr. Shayne.”