Wilkinson laughed.
“I saw Palermo quite frequently after that. He was always talking of his great experiments — that they were coming well, but slowly. He was working up to what he wanted — an extension on the note.
“About two weeks ago, he dropped in to see me. He showed me some bonds on Consolidated Airways.
He suggested that I take them as security instead of his note.
“I looked over the bonds. They were better security, but I followed a hunch. I told Palermo to wait until the end of the six-month period; then I would take the bonds.
“That satisfied him, and he left.
“But I noticed something, Chatham. I remembered the numbers on two of the bonds. The next day, I began an investigation. I located the very same bonds that Palermo had shown me.
“I learned, positively, that his bonds were counterfeits!”
Wilkinson paused. “That revealed Palermo’s game. He thought that, with the bonds in my possession, I would grant him another six months at least — for the bonds were worth much more than the money he owed me.
“But suppose that he had never chosen to pay his debt? I would have been left with nothing but the fake bonds in my possession.”