Mason said, “Tidings found out about you. He…”
“No, he didn’t. I swear that he didn’t.”
“I’m telling you,” Mason said, “what the district attorney is going to say to a jury. You were having a secret rendezvous with Nadine Tidings in her house. Albert Tidings was still her lawful husband. You decided to kill him, thereby getting him out of the way as a husband, sealing his Ups, protecting Nadine’s good name, and your good name, and leaving the way free to marry her.”
“I swear that’s not true. I swear by all…”
“Save it,” Mason said. “You don’t have to convince me.”
“But I want to convince you.”
“It won’t do any good,” Mason told him. “I bought this package. Whatever’s in it is mine. I hope Nadine Tidings isn’t guilty, but I’m going to represent her whether she’s guilty or innocent. It’s a bargain I’ve made, and I keep my bargains… But after this, if anyone ever gets me to go groping around in the dark, you can have me committed to an insane asylum. You baited a trap with a ten-thousand-dollar bill. You probably didn’t know it was a trap at the time, and I didn’t. But the trap has sprung. I’m caught, and you’re caught. Nadine Tidings is caught… We’ve got to get out. The first thing is to let the district attorney believe that you’re dead — and let the murderer of Albert Tidings believe that you’re dead.”
“Why?”
“Can’t you see?”
“No.”