A witness’s sudden first promotion before testifying reveals the fix is in.

Evidence

Schlichtmann could get nothing more out of Barbas, but he felt sure that Barbas knew much more. After the deposition, in the office that evening, Schlichtmann reflected on how very odd it was that Barbas should have gotten his first and only promotion just now, just before his deposition, after twenty-two years in the paint shop. — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 814

Categorization

• QUESTION: Did the promotion actually buy Barbas’s silence, or did it backfire by tipping Schlichtmann off? Worth chasing how he later uses this.
• STORYSTEM: A twenty-two-year paint-shop man gets his first promotion the week before he’s deposed — a whole short story about what a raise buys and what it costs.