“Never mind that. Why didn’t you open the envelope?”
“Because I’d seen Ringold put the letters in the envelope and seal it. That’s just what he’d done with the other letters. He’d show them to me and then—”
“Did you open that envelope after you got home?” I asked.
“No. I didn’t. There were so many startling developments and—”
“Did you burn it?”
“Not yet. I was getting ready to, and then you—”
“How do you know this whole thing isn’t a trap the D.A. set for you?” I asked.
She stared at me. “How could it be?”
“He wants to use those letters to prove motive for the murder. It won’t do so much good to show letters that Lasster wrote you unless he can show that you answered them, but if he can show that you paid thirty thousand dollars to get those letters back, that would be better than anything else.”
“But, Donald, can’t you see? He won’t have the letters. He—”