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age. If I fail to do that… and he can prove it in court… my share reverts to him and I’ll be dependent on him for the rest of my life.”
    “Your mother,” said Shayne bitterly, “was a fool.”
    “Of course she was. Saul took her in completely. But that’s spilled milk now, isn’t it? These are the facts I have to live with.”
    “What happens if Henderson dies before you’re twenty-one?”
    “Then I get my half at once. Don’t you see? That’s what I’m banking on. He doesn’t deserve to live. And the moment he dies, I’m free. That’s why I mentioned fifty thousand dollars. I haven’t anything right now, but the moment Saul Henderson is dead I can pay anything. I’ll give you a demand note. I’ll sign any sort of legal document you want so you can collect after his death. It’s as simple as that. Will you or won’t you?”
    “Kill your stepfather so you can collect your share of your mother’s estate immediately?” asked Shayne.
    “So I can become a free woman,” she cried out wildly. “So I can rid myself of the incubus he has become. I can’t go on like I am. I’m going crazy.”
    “Then walk away from him,” Shayne advised her evenly.
    “He’ll follow me and bring me back. Legally, he’s my guardian.”
    “Nuts. Prefer charges against him. Tell any judge in the country what you’ve just told me, and he’ll spend the rest of his life in jail while you enjoy your inheritance.”
    “I’ve threatened him with that,” she cried out desperately, “and he laughs at me. He says to go ahead and try to make it stick. And even if I did succeed, think of the disgrace and scandal. It would be a Roman holiday for the newspapers. I can’t face that. I just can’t.”
    “Almost anything is better than murder,” Shayne told her.
    “I’m in love,” she told him in a choked voice. “For the first time in my life, I know what love is. With a nice clean innocent boy who would just die if he ever found out the truth. That’s one of the reasons I asked you if you loved your friend. I thought you’d understand better.”
    “Just walk away from the whole set-up,” advised Shayne coldly. “Henderson can’t do one damned thing to stop you. Pay no attention to his threats. He doesn’t want publicity any more than you do.”
    “What would I do for money?” wailed Jane. “The boy I’m in love with hasn’t any. He’s working hard on a salary to get established. He can’t afford to marry a poor girl.”
    “Then the bastard isn’t worth marrying at all,” Shayne said angrily. “Look, kid.” He controlled his voice with an effort. “There are young couples all over the country no worse off than you two. You’re nineteen years old, perfectly healthy and reasonably intelligent. You say you’re in love with a boy who has a job and is working hard. So, marry the guy. Walk away from your stepfather and marry him. Get a job of your own if you have to in order to make ends meet.”
    “What kind of job can I get? I haven’t any training…”
    “You can clerk in a ten-cent store, goddamn it. Lots of girls do and survive.”
    “And let that horrible Saul Henderson get away with a quarter million dollars that belongs to me?”
    “In the first place,” Shayne gritted, “I don’t believe he’d ever manage to get away with it. Take my advice and get out from under, and I’ll get you the best legal advice in Miami to work on your case. But don’t come crying to me about being sexually misused when it’s your own damned choice that you are. I can sort of understand your going along with the situation while your mother was alive. But the moment she died, you should have walked out. Or put a knife in him yourself the first time he tried to take you after your mother’s death.”
    “I wish to God I had,” she cried shrilly.
    “But you didn’t,” Shayne pointed out. “You compromised instead… and felt sorry for yourself. And now you’re trying to hire me to commit a murder to