The Case of the Backward Mule

Ricardo Taonon made the thing sound so convincing that I felt certain taking twenty-five thousand dollars of the profits on the gold mine and investing it temporarily in me partnership business would give us just the added capital we needed to get over the hump and would enable us to turn what would otherwise have been a hundred-thousand-dollar loss into a half-million-dollar profit.

Either the man hypnotized me or I was crazy. I did as he suggested. That involved signing papers. I signed them — papers showing the whole gold mine was a partnership investment. Then I asked Taonon for an accounting. It was men he told me I could draw out any sum of money I wished to reimburse Miss Renton for her trust funds but that the documents I had signed were to the effect I had acted for the partnership in the mining deal. I was trapped in my own duplicity. True, Cynthia would sustain no impairment of her trust funds, but she had lost enormous profits. I decided to try again I put five thousand in an oil deal for her. This oil proposition looked better than the mining deal ever had. I convinced myself Taonon’s treachery had all been for the best. And then the oil deal failed to be profitable. It gives every sign of simply dying on the vine. But Cynthia Renton is asking for an accounting. I am satisfied that Edward Harold, to whom she is engaged and who has just called me, is suspicious and intends to make a detailed investigation.

The only way I can really make atonement is by a full confession. Cynthia Renton is the real owner of all my interest in the Eastern Art Import and Trading Company. Moreover, she is entitled to all the assets of that company. She is also the real owner of the contents of the envelope which I am leaving in plain sight on the desk. There is nothing I can add to this statement. I only wish to God that I could subtract from it. I have loved Cynthia Renton. I have been entrusted with her confidence. I have failed her, and I have failed myself. The only thing I can say by way of justification is that Ricardo Taonon is unspeakably evil. The man has a hypnotic influence upon those with whom he comes in contact. Under his suave, persuasive influence I have done that which has robbed me of the desire to live. I am taking the easy way out. I only hope that Cynthia will forgive me.

On the other hand, however, I have received money from the partnership. Taonon is evil, but the other partners are blameless. I leave a fair sum in insurance and no immediate relatives. I therefore give, devise and bequeath all of my individual estate, share and share alike, to George Gloster, Stacey Nevis and Ricardo Taonon as copartners transacting business under the firm name and style of Eastern Art Import and Trading Company.