“Doesn’t that make her look like a logical suspect, Chief?” Della Street asked.
“That’s what the officers seem to think. They’re going to check her alibi. Holcomb put through a long distance call to Reno while I was there. Apparently, there’s no question but what she was with friends just as she said… However, I got my usual complex.”
“What do you mean?”
Mason grinned. “Made a stab in the dark,” he said, “figuring that she might hold the other part of that ten-thousand-dollar bill.”
“Any results?”
“No. She couldn’t have been the one, anyway. She left town Monday afternoon. Her friends say she arrived in Reno before daylight. The Reno police are checking up, but it sounded pretty good over the telephone. Even Holcomb accepted it… Well, let’s get Mrs. Tump and the Gailord girl in here and see how they react to the news.”
“There won’t be any need for you to represent them if Tidings is dead, will there, Chief?”
“Probably not,” he said. “I can keep an eye on things; but there’s nothing much to be done. The court will appoint another trustee.”
“Mrs. Tump?” Della Street asked.
Mason said, “Probably not. It’s more apt to be some trust company. The accounts will take a lot of going over.”