John held up his hand.
“One moment, please,” he said. “Captain Bangs, I want to explain a few things. As you know, I have been acting as Mr. Kendrick's attorney in the matter of the property occupied by Mrs. Barnes. He wished me to find a means of forcing her to sell that property to him. Now, when a person owning property does not wish to sell, that person cannot be forced into giving up the property unless it is discovered that the property doesn't belong to that particular person. That's plain, isn't it?”
He was speaking to Captain Obed, and the captain answered.
“But it does belong to her,” he declared. “Her Uncle Abner Barnes willed it to her. Course it belongs to her!”
“I know. But sometimes there are such things as flaws in a title. That is to say, somewhere and at some time there has been a transfer of that property that was illegal. In such a case the property belongs to the previous holder, no matter in how many instances it has changed hands since. In the present case it was perfectly plain that Mrs. Barnes thought she owned that land, having inherited it from her uncle. Therefore she could not be forced to sell unless it was discovered that there was a flaw in the title—that she did not own it legally at all. I told my client—Mr. Kendrick, here—that, and he ordered me to have the title searched or to search it myself. I have spent a good deal of time at the recorder's office in Ostable doing that very thing. And I discovered that there was such a flaw; that Mrs. Barnes did not legally own that land upon which her house stands. And, as the land was not hers, the house was not hers either.”
Holliday Kendrick struck the desk a thump with his fist.
“Good!” he cried. “Good enough! I told 'em I generally got what I wanted! Now I'll get it this time. Kendrick—”
“Wait,” said John. “Captain Obed, you understand me so far?”
The captain's outraged feelings burst forth.
“I understand it's durn mean business!” he shouted. “I'm ashamed of you, John Kendrick!”