Mrs. Tump said, “Mr. Mason, I want to talk with you frankly.”
“Go ahead.”
“I’m not one to mince words.”
“Let’s have them unminced then,” Mason said with a smile.
She said, “Very well, Mr. Mason. When I wanted you to handle Byrl’s case, you began stalling for time.”
Mason raised his eyebrows in silent interrogation.
“Now, of course, Mr. Mason, when we first came to you, you had no way of knowing that Mr. Tidings was dead.”
“Correct,” Mason said.
“Now, as I understand it, if you can prove that Mr. Tidings died somewhere before eleven o’clock on Tuesday morning, it will enable Byrl to get fifty thousand dollars back into the trust fund.”
“Correct.”