“Yes. He and Pops had a big row about that, and, of course, Pops swore up and down it was all a big lie. After the way she behaved with Ted Granger, I guess Ralph realized the letters weren’t lies, after all.”
“And they never discovered who wrote the anonymous letters?”
“No.” She looked at him steadily, but spots of high color flared in her cheeks. “They never did.”
“So now we come to Ted Granger. Fill me in on him and exactly what happened.”
“Ted’s all right,” she said carelessly. “Sort of an innocent bystander and an awful fool. He’s Ralph’s cousin and doesn’t amount to much, and there was this weekend party where Nora got tight and made a terrific play for him. But, when they got caught and Ralph used that as grounds for divorce, Ted went all heroic and noble and took all the blame on himself. Maybe one night with Nora was enough to make a man fall in love with her,” she went on, her scarlet lips curling with contempt. “Ted went mooning around afterward declaring he would marry her if she would have him. But she didn’t want him. She wanted Ralph, or at least a good hunk of Ralph’s money as alimony.”
“Did Ralph have much money?”
“Only what he made from his invention. Of course, Pops says it’s worth millions.”
“But not if Ralph admitted what you think is the truth and turned it back to Vulcan.”
“No. Though I think there would have been some sort of settlement. They’re always generous about giving a share in a discovery to whoever makes it.”
“Your father says not,” Shayne commented dryly. “According to him, Ralph made several valuable discoveries during the years he worked in the Vulcan laboratories, and received nothing from them.”