Madeline was the daughter of Lionel Payne, a remarkably skilled detective known and feared by criminals as "Payne, the Expert." Lionel was shot dead while pursuing a case when Madeline was only six months old. Her mother married a selfish scheming man named John Arthur who wanted the small fortune that she had inhereted. When Madeline's mother died, she left her stepfather and swore to get revenge on him for all the pain he had caused her mother. She supported herself taking on a career as a detective.