The party was over and Perry and Della had the nanny at the house. Life was good. Perry and Della went to the office and went to work on a breaking and enter case. Their client was innocent and Perry was going to be going to court for the next day. There were many briefs to be filled out and preparations made for the presentation to the jury.

The jury had been chosen this past week. It consisted of four women and two men. Perry Mason was sure that he could prove that his client was innocent. There was never enough time for him to cover all the cases that he was requested to cover and his days were always full.

Eric Reed was working at his home with his photography equipment and the pictures that he and his wife had taken at the adoption party. He had done lots of parties for all kinds of things, but this party had been the best. Everyone was so happy and the guest of honor little Sally Mason had been a trouper. She had sat still for all the photos and smiled for every shot.

Eric and his wife Nancy had been very excited to see the lady from the society page Mrs. Lawrence. If she used some of the photos that he had taken for the newspaper people would see his work and it might bring him business. He heard the doorbell and went out to answer the door. At the door was his brother in law Brain.

Brian had always been trouble and was always asking for money. Eric let him to the house, but not happily. As Brian came in and used the shy shuffle Eric knew that he was looking for money. Nancy wasn't home and so he was being forced to talk to him. This time the man needed five thousand dollars. This was a huge amount, as he usually only needed a couple of hundred.

Eric looked at him and told him that he didn't have that kind of money. Eric practically begged him "I know that Nancy and you just did a photo shoot for the famous lawyer Perry Mason and he paid you a lot of money. I can pay you back in a couple of weeks." he promised.

This was too much for Eric. Now, Brian was asking to come to them for money anytime he and Nancy made money doing photography? This was too much . With a swift move, Eric opened the door and showed Brian how to use it. He had it. It was time that he learned that he had to make his own way in his life.

When Nancy got home later Eric told her of what had happened. She knew that her brother was always broke and five thousand dollars would eat their entire bank account up. They had to take care of themselves, and for once she agreed with her husband. When she saw Brian she would explain everything to him once again. She loved him, as he was her only brother, but something had to be done.

But that night as Nancy and Eric had feared, Brian came back. He said that he had a chance to go in on a small business at the marina where he and his friend would run a clam shack. It was true that Brian had worked the past five years at the same clam shack, and it was probably a good investment, but five thousand dollars was a lot of money.

When Brian left that night, Nancy and Eric had a huge argument and they finally agreed that they would loan Brian half of the money. If he did not pay them back, it would be Nancy who would have to make the money good, or Eric would get the motorcycle that he had always wanted.

Eric had known that it was a lost cause. He knew that his wife was going to give the money to Brian and he had been right. But, there was a chance that the business would work out, and he would be paid back for once.

Brian came over that evening and thanked his sister and brother in law for the loan. He had needed at least twenty-five hundred and the extra would have helped with the establishment of the business, but he was all right. He called his friend Tammy and told her that he had the money and the two of them got together to work out the details of the partnership that they were planning to form.

As the two partners got together and wrote down their agreement, Brian relaxed. He hoped that at twenty-five he would finally be able to settle down and make some serious money. He was sick and tired of living hand to mouth and always having to borrow money to make ends meet. What he hated most was practically begging his brother in law Eric and his sister Nancy.

Tammy and Brian worked for two straight weeks getting the shack ready for the opening weekend. They were all set and everything was turned on when his sister Nancy and her husband came over to see how the clam shack was coming.

Both of them were impressed , the shack was right on the beach and it had been cleaned top to bottom. The board of health had been out and had given them a certificate so that they could open the following day. They had met Tammy before from when they had worked at the clam shack. The business had been there on the beach for over ten years, but the owner had just recently retired. He and his wife had moved to Arizona.

Brian was at the clam shack alone that evening when he found out that he was short on some supplies. The opening day was going to be in two days and he was out of money. He had no money at all and he was going to need at least two hundred dollars worth of items. He called Tammy, but there was no hope, she was strapped also. So it was decided that they each would come up with one hundred dollars.

Brian didn't want to do it but once again he called his brother in law Eric. "I can't open the shack without these supplies. I thought that it would be all right, but the supplier will only take cash. This money should be able to be paid back on Monday, if we do good over the weekend." Brain begged his brother in law.

Poor Nancy was out working overtime to come up with extra money and here was Eric giving out more money to her brother. But, he agreed to give him the money and headed over to the clam shack.

As Eric went to the beach and saw Brian's car there. When he walked up to the shack he called his name, but heard or saw nothing. It was not until he looked over the counter top that he saw Brian's legs. As he walked over to him, Eric could see that he was dead. Brian had been shot. He couldn't believe it and was just getting ready to call the police when he saw two police cars pulling up. The police yelled at him to freeze, as without thinking he had picked up the gun.

Eric was arrested there on the spot. Someone had called the police reporting the sound of gunfire and Eric had been caught holding the gun. He needed a lawyer. He needed Perry Mason,