. "Yes, I think you will. I'm quite sure of it, in fact. Won't cost
you a cent, either."

"Eh?"

Meyerhoff grinned unpleasantly. He brushed an imaginary lint fleck from
his lapel, and looked up at Zeckler slyly. "That--uh--jury trial. The
Altairians weren't any too happy to oblige. They wanted to execute you
outright. Thought a trial was awfully silly--until they got their money
back, of course. Not too much--just three million credits."

Zeckler went white. "But that money was in banking custody!"

"Is that right? My goodness. You don't suppose they could have lost
those papers, do you?" Meyerhoff grinned at the little con-man. "And
incidentally, you're under arrest, you know."

A choking sound came from Zeckler's throat. "_Arrest!_"

"Oh, yes. Didn't I tell you? Conspiring to undermine the authority of
the Terran Trading Commission. Serious charge, you know. Yes, I think
we'll take a nice long vacation together, straight back to Terra. And
there I think you'll face a jury trial."

Zeckler spluttered. "There's no evidence--you've got nothing on me! What
kind of a frame are you trying to pull?"

"A _lovely_ frame. Airtight. A frame from the bottom up, and you're
right square in the middle. And this time--" Meyerhoff tapped a
cigarette on his thumb with happy finality--"this time I _don't_ think
you'll get off."

Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from "Tiger by the Tail and Other Science
Fiction Stories by Alan E. Nourse" and was first published in _If
Magazine_ January 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any
evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without
note.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Letter of the Law, by Alan Edward Nourse

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