“And Adelle Hastings?”
“What do you mean?”
“What’s she to you?”
“Why, nothing. Just a friend, that’s all. She’s a swell girl, and I’ve always admired her, but that’s all there is to it.”
“She knows about your feeling for Mrs. Tidings?”
“Certainly not. No one knows about that. I’ve gone to the greatest trouble to keep that entirely secret.”
“Why?” Mason asked.
“Because of what would have happened. Can’t you see? I was on a board of trustees with Tidings. Tidings distrusted me. There was a shortage. Tidings would have yelled ‘frame-up,’ that I wanted him in prison so I could marry his wife. Nadine wanted a divorce. Tidings had just enough on her so he could drag her name through the mud.”
Mason said, “And you were foolish enough to think that any such crazy scheme as the one you tried, would protect Mrs. Tidings?”
“Of course it would. It has, hasn’t it?”