The Case of the Baited Hook (Morrow, 1940) is the last appearance of Sergeant Holcomb in the Perry Mason series by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889–1970). Holcomb is the typical bullying cop of the 1930s pulps, more brawn than brains, and Mason ran circles around him. The next book in the series, The Case of the Silent Partner, introduces Lieutenant Tragg, a more intelligent and competent police officer than Holcomb could ever be. He was a much better match for Mason and made Mason and his team put on their running shoes.
It’s also the second appearance of Gertie the switchboard operator, who was introduced in the previous book, The Case of the Rolling Bones, as Gertrude Lade, a lanky quick-witted woman who could create a distraction as needed with a fire in a wastebasket and tossed off whiskey with Mason to celebrate confusion of the enemy, in this case traffic cops who wanted to issue Mason a ticket for reckless driving. Unfortunately in her second appearance, Gardner changed her to a flaky plump blonde and she stayed that way until he phased her out sometime late in the 1950s, when he became engrossed in the television series based on the books.
The story opens with a midnight phone call on Mason’s unlisted number from an anonymous man, telling him there were two $1000 bills waiting for him if he would meet with the caller in his office. The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing began issuing $1000 bills in 1861 and stopped in 1934. They were withdrawn from circulation in 1969 but still constitute valid tender. The two notes themselves would be worth up to $6000 apiece as collectibles today. The purchasing power of $2000 in 1940 would equal a little over $67,000 now. So it’s not surprising Mason agreed to leave his warm apartment and drive through a storm to meet his caller.
The caller was Robert Peltham, an architect, who brought a masked woman with him. He wanted to retain Mason to protect the woman, whom he refused to identify and who remained disguised the duration of the meeting. Peltham cut a $10,000 bill into two pieces and gave Mason one part and the woman the other. Peltham told Mason the woman who presented the matching section of the currency to him was to be represented by Mason on any matter and that the rejoined bill was his fee. Mason quite reasonably objected to the arrangement but Peltham stood firm.
The $10,000 bill began circulation in 1878 and the last of them were printed in 1934. It is the highest value currency note issued to the public by the United States. Its value as a collectible is as much as $400,000 now. Its buying power in 1940 would be worth a little more than $336,000 today, a fortune to a nation that had been sunk in a series of economic recessions for a decade. So it’s no wonder that, while the requirement was more than a little irregular, Mason decided to go along with it.
Thus begins one of Mason’s most complicated cases. In addition to unidentified clients, there is a Russian orphan adopted illegally but named as heir to a sizable trust fund, an older woman acting as her protector against a trustee accused of embezzlement, the trustee himself, the trustee’s secretary, and a questionable securities transaction of mining stock that might be worthless, as well as other assorted players. Gardner often listed the characters in his books and here I think it’s needed. Of course murder ensues.
As often happens in real life, the time of death was essential to the solution, which was harder to determine 80+ years ago. In classic Golden Age style, although there were no train schedules, establishing where everyone was during the hours believed to be critical occupied a lot of Mason’s and Paul Drake’s time. No courtroom pyrotechnics in this story, Mason was still focusing on identifying the killer rather than embarrassing the police and the district attorney, which came later in the series.
This title was selected to be reprinted as part of the American Mystery Classics series and it is a good place to start reading the books for anyone familiar only with the television version.