“Then out of a clear sky, Mrs. Tump hunted me up. She offered me a thousand dollars in cash and fifteen thousand dollars later on if I’d bolster up her story about the adoption proceedings and about the Russian parentage of the girl… The entire thing was made up out of whole cloth. The girl was the illegitimate child of her daughter. The daughter’s married to a Des Moines banker. He’d have a fit if he ever found out… But that wasn’t the game that Mrs. Tump was gunning for. Byrl was getting along in society. Mrs. Tump had a marriage staked out with this man Reeger.”
“And then Tidings came back into the picture?”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted me to promise that when the time came, I’d tell the absolute truth. That was all he asked.”
“What did you do?”
“I tried to protect Mrs. Tump. I told him that I couldn’t. He laughed at me, and said he had enough on me to convict me of perjury if I didn’t; and then he offered me ten thousand dollars and… well, there was nothing I could do. I had to take the money. Otherwise, I’d have had to do just as he wanted, and wouldn’t have had a cent for it. You see, he had me… Anyone could have had me who was willing to go to court. My record for the last few years wouldn’t stand investigation. I knew it as well as anyone.”
“Did you,” Mason asked, “kill Tidings?”
“No, of course not.”
“Tidings had plenty on you,” Mason said. “Tidings was a hard man. He might have crowded you too far.”