The Mystery of the Millionaire

so-called flaws in the products. That gets them off the hook. I must admit it’s a clever con job, but con job it is.”
    “Isn’t there anything we can do?” Trixie asked. “Can’t we report them to the Better Business Bureau, or sue, or—or something?”
    “A lawsuit would cost much more than the ten dollars Mart has already lost, and there’s very little chance of winning. A letter to the Better Business Bureau is a good idea, but there’s probably a list of complaints a mile long already on file. The problem is that the people who are lured in by schemes like this are the very ones who are unlikely to check up on the reputation of the company.”
    “Like me,” Mart said miserably.
    “Like you in some ways,” his father agreed. “They’re people who want jobs and money and the things that money can buy, but who are too young or too old or in some other way unqualified for most work.”
    “Those are the very people who can least afford to spend ten dollars on a crooked scheme like this,” Helen Belden said in a pained voice.
    “There must be something we can do,” Trixie said.
    “I think you’d have to start by changing our whole society,” Brian said solemnly. “You’d have to get rid of all the ads on television and in the papers that make people want things they don’t really need. You’d have to convince people that there’s more to life than owning more and more things every year.”
    “You’d also have to make people realize that their worth as human beings doesn’t depend on how much money they have,” Peter Belden added.
    “Ouch! That was ‘a very palpable hit,’ as the Bard put it,” Mart said.
    “Mart wanted to make some money so that he could help out with his college tuition and help Jim support the boys’ school,” Trixie explained.
    Peter Belden reached out and put his hand on Mart’s shoulder. “That’s a very worthy ambition, son,” he said sympathetically. “It’s one you’ll achieve, too, I’m sure. That’s how you’re different from some of the other people who answer ads like that one. You have the intelligence and ability to get a good, legitimate job one day soon.”
    “If I have so much intelligence, why did I answer that ad?” Mart asked miserably.
    “Because you wanted to help Dad and Jim,” Trixie told him loyally.
    “And because the people at this Carlson Company are more intelligent than you are when it comes to deception,” his father added. “They’re so clever, in fact, that I think you can pride yourself on seeing through the scheme as soon as you did. I’m sure there are many people who send a second ten dollars and a third—and possibly even a fourth, still believing that they’ll be able to turn out a product the company will pay them for.”
    Mart gave his father a lopsided smile. “Faint praise, but a source of consolation, nonetheless.” He reached for a bowl of fried potatoes. “I will assuage my aching pride with alimentary delights.”
    His family laughed, relieved that Mart was taking his defeat with good humor. Trixie knew, though, that Mart’s hurt and embarrassment would last a long, long time.
    That afternoon, Trixie told Honey about Mart’s experience. Her best friend’s hazel eyes were on the verge of tears as she listened to the story.
    “That’s awful!” Honey exclaimed. “How could anyone be that mean? Those people are just taking someone’s willingness to work and turning it against them!”
    “It makes me angry, too,” Trixie said. “The worst part of it is that I’ve suddenly realized the same thing has just happened to us!”
    “To us?” Honey repeated, puzzled. “We haven’t answered any ads.”
    “We answered a phony request for help,” Trixie countered. “You know what I’m talking about.”
    “Oh, Trixie—” Honey began.
    “Don’t ‘Oh, Trixie’ me, Honey Wheeler. It’s the exact same thing, and I’m willing to admit it, even if you aren’t. Mark McGraw used our willingness to work with a real detective against us. He wasn’t honest enough to tell us we’d just be in his way... that he was too important to waste time with a couple of kids. Instead, he made up a bunch of phony assignments, which we spent hours working on, when he never intended to do anything with them.”
    “You don’t know that for a fact,” Honey argued. “You’re jumping to a conclusion, just as you accused him of doing. What I said before still stands: We did discuss strangers in town,