The reward posters in the local stores seeking information on an as yet unsolved murder in my town have been replaced with ones that offer more money. Although the neighborhood crime rate has increased, I don’t think we’ve had too many murders – especially mysterious ones. My amateur opinion is that it was impulsive youth gone too far, not a serial killer on the loose. But I bet someone knows more than they are telling.

A friend of mine who worked for the FBI said that most crimes are solved because the criminal told someone who eventually spilled. There is something about us that we can’t keep big news like that inside- even bad news. Eventually we feel compelled to tell. Surely the person who murdered this teenage girl has told someone. I wonder if the confidante has seen how high the reward is now. I wonder how much the killer thinks he’s worth to his confidante.

It got me hypothesizing. What factors would you consider if turning someone in? I suppose it depends on your relationship with the murderer and the deceased. If, for example, it was my close friend and her psychotic ex, I doubt I’d spill the beans. If the murderer was my child I imagine I would keep the secret, I suppose depending on the victim. If my kids did it, I would guess the victim might have done something terrible to them. But what if your coworker confessed? Your boss? Your brother? Your spouse? How high would the reward have to be? Would you turn them in for 5 thousand? 50 thousand? Would you wait and see if the reward went higher?

The other influencing factor would be how bad you needed the money. Say you had a sick child in need of expensive treatments that insurance isn’t covering. You are sinking deeper in debt, coming perilously close to bankruptcy. The reward money would bail you out and create a nice cushion. Would you turn in your sister? Your neighbor? Your mom?

I was discussing this on a second date recently that turned into the second-to-the-last date. I asked him how high the reward would have to be to turn me in. He insisted he wouldn’t.

“Oh come on!” I contended. “Everyone has a price. You hardly know me.”
“I can’t answer that because then we’d just haggle over the price.” He was clearly not a free thinking individual. He was trying to find the right answer to please me. How annoying.
“I’d turn you in,” I declared with a smile.

He looked surprised. He should have been paying attention.