Adams said she's heard that Wead's motive was primarily financial.

"Around publishing water coolers it's being whispered and rewhispered that Friend Wead played them for his publisher as a marketing tool," the Post columnist reports. "Marketing for himself, that is."

It was Wead's "financial ploy," she says. "The tapes are what got Friend Wead an extra few quid in his contract."

The fact that Wead's publisher knew there were tapes that existed "for playing and replaying" sweetened the pot.

"Et tu, Wead?" Adams concludes.

Editor's note: