am ought to have helped him?"

"My father helped him when he was young. What my uncle did was the
grossest ingratitude."

"You resented it."

"Yes."

"And quarreled with him?"

"I wrote him a letter an' told him what I thought of him. Later, when
we met by chance, I told him again face to face."

"You had a bitter quarrel?"

"Yes."

"That was how long ago?"

"Three years since."

"In that time did your feelings toward him modify at all?"

"My opinion of him did not change, but I had no longer any feelin' in
the matter."

"Did you write to him or hear from him in that time?"

"No."

"Had you any expectation of being remembered in your uncle's will?"

"None whatever," answered Kirby, smiling. "Even if he had left me
anything I should have declined to accept it. But there was no chance
at all that he would."

"Yet when you came to town you called on him at the first opportunity?"

"Yes."

"On what business?"

"I reckon we'll not go into that."

Johns glanced at his notes and passed to another line of questioning.
"You have heard the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Hull and of Mr. Ellis.
Is that testimony true?"

"Except in one point. It lacked only three or four minutes to ten when
I knocked at the door an' Mrs. Hull opened it."

"You're sure of that?"

"Sure. I looked at my watch just before I went into the Paradox
Apartments."

"Will you tell the jury what took place between you and Mrs. Hull?"

"'Soon as I saw her I knew she was scared stiff about somethin'. So
was Hull. He was headin' for a bedroom, so I wouldn't see him."

The slender, well-dressed woman in the black veil, sitting far over to
the left, leaned forward and seemed to listen intently. All over the
room there was a stir of quickened interest.

"How did she show her fear?"

"No color in her face, eyes dilated an' full of terror, hands
tremblin'."

"And Mr. Hull?"

"He was yellow. Color all gone from his face. Looked as though he'd
had a shock."

"What was said, if anything?"

"I asked Mrs. Hull where my uncle's apartment was. That gave her
another fright. At least she almost fainted."

"Did she say anything?"

"She told me where his rooms were. Then she shut the door, right in my
face. I went upstairs to Apartment 12."

"Where your uncle lived?"

"Where my uncle lived. I rang the bell twice an' didn't get an answer.
Then I noticed the door was ajar. I opened it, called, an' walked in,
shuttin'