mr ted tenner proved to be every bit as gentlemanly as advertised, when taffy, accompanied by geraldine, visited him at his office in downtown kansas city.
a cool breeze blew through the open windows of the office. the sky was blue outside. nothing could have been more civilized.
mr tenner listened attentively as taffy somewhat hesitantly - and with a few friendly prompts and clarifications from geraldine - told her tale.
mr tenner had a pad of paper on his desk and he made a few notes on it as taffy spoke, and continued writing for a few seconds after she finished.
“well, what do you think?” geraldine asked brightly. “a pretty interesting story, don’t you think?”
“yes,” tenner agreed. he put his pencil down. and smiled at taffy. “a few basic questions, if you please, miss james?”
“yes?”
“first off, you are quite certain that this patent that mister gray won from your father is really that valuable, that it is the source of most - or at least a great deal of - mister gray’s fortune?”
taffy hesitated. “my understanding is that it is.”
“well, that is one thing that can be checked. my second question is - this patent, it was something your father had himself obtained from another man, not something he developed himself?”
“oh no - father is not an inventor.”
“i did not think so. the reason i ask - looking a great deal down the road, it is possible that the original inventor might come forward - assuming all this somehow came out in court or in public - and stake some sort of claim himself.”
taffy hesitated. “i - i confess i never thought of such a thing. certainly father never mentioned such a thing.”
tenner smiled. “good. it is just something to keep in mind. and my final question - you came here on your own, miss james, and your father himself has no interest in pursuing this matter?”
taffy flushed slightly. “that is correct. he considers it - he thinks it would be against his honor or some such - to contest mister gray’s right to the patent.”
“i understand.” tenner put his fingertips together and looked thoughtful.
“come on, ted, what about it?” geraldine prodded him. “it has to be more interesting than most of what you hear. and a lot more money involved, ” she added with a laugh.
“let me put it this way,” tenner addressed taffy directly. “i get people in here all the time with stories and propositions that are pure moonshine - pure moonshine and fairy tales, that i can not, in good conscience, consider taking up. leaving aside such cases, i have to say this is the longest shot of any case i have ever heard.”
“oh,” was all taffy managed to answer.
“i’ll bet he says that to all his clients,” said geraldine. “just to make himself look good if he succeeds. come on, ted, take the poor child’s case.”
“i will tell you what i will do, miss james,” tenner announced. “i will take your case, but since the outcome is so uncertain, i will not charge you anything up front. instead, i will take a renumeration of a small percentage of any money that the james family makes from recovering the patent. say, one percent. or one-half of one percent.”
“but,” said taffy. “even if you find something, father might not pursue the matter. “
“i will take that chance.,” tenner smiled. “as for the exact amount i would be renumerated, and how it would be calculated, we can work that out with our lawyers.”
taffy hesitated. “i don’t have a lawyer of my own. if i use the family lawyers, father will find out what i am doing,”
“i can find her a lawyer, ted,” said geraldine. “don’t worry your handsome head about that.”
“then in that case, maybe we can set something up. but i caution you both again, nothing much is likely to come of this.”
“well, what did you think of ted?’ geraldine asked as they walked down ward parkway to where her chauffeur and car were waiting.
taffy sighed. “he did not really hold out much hope, did he? i am afraid this may be the proverbial wild goose chase.”
“he seemed like a very gentlenmanly gentleman. more than i might have expected, given his profession.”
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