There, so it seems, gentlemen of the jury, lay the catch, the real point of the elaborate plot. For if I used the money to buy their freedom I was simply losing whatever I gave him without suffering any serious harm. But if I bought them formally and agreed to take over their debts assuming, since I had no previous information, that these were negligible, he meant to set all his creditors and contributors I.e., friends who had made loans to the business. The money would be repaid in instalments free of interest. Cf. §§ 9 and 11. on me, using the agreement as a trap.