“And I assured you that I didn’t,” Mattern said.
Mason arose, stretched, yawned, and said casually, “Know Colonel Gilliland?”
“No,” Mattern said.
“In charge of the income tax evasions detail here,” Mason said. “Charming chap. You’ll probably get acquainted with him later on.”
There was anxiety in Mattern’s eyes.
“Friend of mine,” Mason went on. “You know, the government has quite a system. If anyone gives ’em a tip on an income tax evasion, the government will investigate, and if they recover a tax on the strength of that tip, they’ll pay a reward amounting to a percentage of the tax. You can’t fool the government, you know. They can examine the records of banks and the books of corporations… Well, I’ll be running along, Mattern.”
Mattern said, “Hey, wait a minute. You aren’t going to tell this man Gilliland anything about me?”
“Why not?” Mason asked.
“Because— Well, because under the circumstances that would be the hell of a thing to do.”
“Why?”
“Haven’t I co-operated with you?”
Mason said, “It’s all right, Mattern. There’s nothing to worry about. If you didn’t get any cut out of that fifty thousand, no one can do a thing to you. Of course, Gilliland will go into the books of the Western Prospecting Company, will scrutinize Bolus’ income tax statement, check the bank records, look into your bank deposits, and work on a few other angles. He’ll make a good job of it.”
Mattern said, “Come back here, Mason. Sit down.”
Mason raised his eyebrows. “Why?”
Mattern said, “You’ve got me.”
“Got you?” Mason asked. “What do you mean?”
“I got ten grand out of that sale,” Mattern blurted.
“That’s better,” Mason observed, walking over to a chair and seating himself. “Tell me about it.”
“There’s nothing much to tell,” Mattern said meekly. “I felt like a heel all the time, but I needed the money. I just had to have it.”
“Why?” Mason asked.
“Oh, some bum hunches on horses,” Mattern said.
“Did Bolus get in touch with you?”
“No. I got in touch with him. I knew something about the stock. I put the proposition up to him. I was to interest Tidings as trustee in the stock, and get a fifty per cent cut… And it’s really a good stock at that, Mr. Mason, a very good speculative buy.”
“But you didn’t get fifty per cent?” Mason asked.
“No,” Mattern said bitterly. “Bolus, the damn crook, chiseled me. After I’d brought the parties together and got the deal so far under way that I couldn’t have backed out of it without making everyone suspicious, Bolus told me he’d been under more expense than he’d figured, that he’d have to give some banker a cut, and that I’d have to take ten thousand instead of twenty-five.”
“Why give the banker a cut?” Mason asked.
“Some banker that Tidings had asked for a report on the stock developed an itching palm. Anyhow, that’s what Bolus said.”
“All right,” Mason said. “Go ahead. Tell me how you knew Tidings was dead?”
“I tell you I didn’t know it.”
“Bunk,” Mason said.
“Honestly, Mr. Mason, everything else is just as I told you.”
Mason said, “Mattern, I’m getting damn tired of your lies… Know what I think I’ll do? I think I’ll go down to the D.A. and give him a tip on you.”
“You’ve got nothing on me,” Mattern said.
“No?” Mason asked with a cold smile.
“Absolutely not.”
“In the first place,” Mason said, “you needed that ten grand because you’d made a mistake in picking ponies. Is that right?”
“Yes. What of it? Lots of people play the races.”
“Uh huh,” Mason said. “But you need money in order to play the races.”
“Well, I got the money, didn’t I?”
“After you’d incurred the losses,” Mason said. “My best guess, Mattern, is that the original bets were made from money you’d embezzled from Tidings and the trust accounts. The audit of Tidings’ books would have left you in quite a spot if it hadn’t been for that ten grand.”
Mason needed no more than a look at Mattern’s dismayed countenance to serve as confirmation of his charge.
“All right,” he said. “There you are. You’ve been embezzling money. Tidings called you on Tuesday morning. He had the dope. He was going to send you to jail. You knew that if you could stall things along for a few hours, that Western Prospecting sale would go through, and you’d have money enough to make restitution. You figured you could juggle the books so that the original embezzlement could be covered. You got desperate and excited and pulled a gun on Tidings. Tidings came for you, and you pulled the trigger.”
“That’s a lie,” Mattern shouted.
“Perhaps it is,” Mason observed, “but you’d never make a jury believe it.”
“No jury could ever find me guilty of murder. There isn’t a shred of evidence.”
Mason smiled. “Thanks a lot, Mattern. You’ve given me a perfect out. I don’t need to worry about my client. You’re the fall guy. Good night.”
Once more Mason arose from his chair.
“Listen,” Mattern said desperately. “I’ll give you the real low-down, Mr. Mason. I’ll tell you how it was. Honestly, I didn’t kill him. He’d been dead for a long time when I saw him.”
“When was that?”
“About eight-thirty Tuesday morning.”
“Where?”
“Right where he was lying. Right on the bed where the body was found.”
“What happened?” Mason asked.
Mattern said, “Tidings was trying to get something on his wife. He told me that she was mixed up with some man who had to keep in the background because of what might happen in a divorce action. Tidings said he’d found out about this man and that he was going out to see his wife and call for a showdown. There were some important papers he had to go over, and he promised to be at the office at seven-thirty Tuesday morning to sign them.
“When he hadn’t shown up at the office at eight o’clock, I put the papers in a brief case, and drove out to his wife’s house. I thought that perhaps they’d effected a reconciliation. He really was crazy about her. The door was unlocked. I went in. There were bloodstains on the floor. I followed the bloodstains to the bedroom… You know what I found.”
“What did you do?” Mason asked.
“I beat it,” Mattern said. “I was scared stiff. I figured that with his death, his books would be gone over, my embezzlement discovered, and that I’d go to jail. I was good and sore. If he’d only lived a few hours more, I’d have been in the clear… So then I figured that it might be a long while before anyone would find the body, and I might be able to stall things along so I could get that Western Prospecting deal through. I knew that the cashier’s check was all made out payable to the brokers… Well, you know the rest.”
“And that was you who talked with me over the telephone that morning?”
“Yes. When you rang up and wanted to talk with Tidings, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to say he wasn’t in the office… And then I got the idea that saved me from making any admissions. I knew you hadn’t heard Tidings’ voice. I have a little ability when it comes to controlling my voice. I’ve done a bit of work in amateur theatricals.”
Mason said, “Well, Mattern, you know where this leaves you.”
“Where does it leave me?”
Mason said, “You’re a pushover for the DA.”
“But I’m innocent. Surely you must believe me.”
Mason studied him thoughtfully. “Better start helping me look for the real murderer, Mattern. That’s your only out.”