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

door was unlocked and slightly ajar," Mason said.
    "Well, Homicide will be here in a minute or two. The radio dispatcher rushed us out to hold things until Homicide could get here. You haven't touched anything, have you?"
    "No, nothing important."
    "Doorknobs and things like that?"
    "Perhaps."
    The officer frowned. "Okay," he said. "Get out. It's a pleasant day. You can wait outside as well as in. Let's not get any more fingerprints around… You didn't touch the body, did you?"
    "No."
    "Go through the clothes?"
    "No."
    "Where is it?"
    "In that bedroom."
    "Okay," the officer said. "Go on out… What's this – blood on the floor?"
    "That's what led us to the corpse," Mason said. "We noticed the bloodstains on the floor. You notice they go from the outer threshold into the door of the bedroom."
    "Okay," the officer said. "Go on out. I'll take a peek in that bedroom." He opened the door, looked in, then stepped back and pulled the door shut.
    Mason said, "There's some reason to believe the body is that of Albert Tidings, this woman's husband. Wouldn't it be well to have her make an identification?"
    "She can do that when Homicide gets here," the radio officer said. "I'm just keeping the evidence lined up. Go on. Out with you. I'll call you if I want anything."
    Mason led the way out into the fresh air and warm sunlight. The radio officer followed them to the door and called to his partner, who sat behind the wheel of the radio car. "Keep an eye on this outfit, Jack. There's a stiff in here. It's a job for Homicide right enough." He stepped back inside the house and slammed the door.
    Mason offered Mrs. Tidings a cigarette, which she accepted gratefully. Drake shook his head in refusal. Mason placed one between his own lips, and snapped a match into flame. As he held the light to Mrs. Tidings' cigarette, the grind of a motor running fast in second gear could be heard from the grade.
    "That'll be Homicide," Mason said.
    The Homicide car flashed swiftly around the turn, hit the more level stretch of roadway along the ridge, and swept down upon them. Men jumped out. The radio officer got out from his car and reported in a low voice. The other radio officer appeared at the door of the house. "In here, boys," he said.
    Sergeant Holcomb strode across to Mason. "Hello, Mason."
    "Good morning, Sergeant."
    "How's it happen you're here?"
    "I had some business with Albert Tidings," Mason said. "I had a tip I could find him here."
    "Did you?"
    "I think it's his body," Mason said. "On a guess, I'd say it had been here at least since yesterday afternoon. The gas heat's turned on, and the windows and doors are tightly closed. That's a condition you'll have to take into consideration in determining the time of death."
    "When did you get here?"
    "About half an hour ago."
    "You didn't have any reason to think you'd find a body?"
    "No."
    "You've seen him before?"
    "No."
    "Talked with him over the telephone?"
    "I called his office yesterday, yes."
    "What time?"
    "I don't know. I would say it was shortly before eleven o'clock."
    "What did he say?"
    "I had a tentative appointment with him," Mason said. "I wanted to cancel it, and make one at a later date."
    "Have any argument?"
    "Not exactly."
    "What was your business with him?"
    Mason smiled and shook his head.
    "Come on," Sergeant Holcomb said. "Kick through. If we're going to solve a murder, we've got to have motives. If we knew something about that business you wanted to discuss with him, we might have a swell motive."
    "And again," Mason said, "you might not."
    Sergeant Holcomb clamped his lips shut. "Okay," he said. "Don't leave here until I tell you you can… That your car?"
    "Yes."
    "Who's the other one belong to?"
    "Mrs. Tidings… Mrs. Tidings, may I present Sergeant Holcomb?"
    Sergeant Holcomb didn't remove his hat. "What are you to him?" he asked.
    "His wife."
    "Living with him?"
    "No. We've separated."
    "Divorced?"
    "No, not yet… That is, no. I haven't divorced him."
    "Why not?"
    She