rk office or in the bank. That is all I know of the matter."

Gregory Hall's demeanor was dignified and calm, his voice even and,
indeed, cold. He was like a bystander, with no vital interest in the
subject he talked about.

Knowing, as I did, that his interest was vital, I came to the conclusion
that he was a man of unusual self-control, and an ability to mask his
real feelings completely. Feeling that nothing more could be learned
at present, I left the group in the library discussing the loss of the
will, and went down to the district attorney's office.

He was, of course, surprised at my news, and agreed with me that it gave
us new fields for conjecture.

"Now, we see," he said eagerly, "that the motive for the murder was the
theft of the will."

"Not necessarily," I replied. "Mr. Crawford may have destroyed the will
before he met his death."

"But that would leave no motive. No, the will supplies the motive. Now,
you see, this frees Miss Lloyd from suspicion. She would have no reason
to kill her uncle and then destroy or suppress a will in her own favor."

"That reasoning also frees Mr. Hall from suspicion," said I, reverting
to my former theories.

"Yes, it does. We must look for the one who has benefited by the
removal of the will. That, of course, would be the brother, Mr. Philip
Crawford."

I looked at the attorney a moment, and then burst into laughter.

"My dear Mr. Goodrich," I said, "don't be absurd! A man would hardly
shoot his own brother, but aside from that, why should Philip Crawford
kill Joseph just at the moment he is about to make a new will in
Philip's favor? Either the destruction of the old will or the drawing
of the new would result in Philip's falling heir to the fortune. So he
would hardly precipitate matters by a criminal act. And, too, if he had
been keen about the money, he could have urged his brother to disinherit
Florence Lloyd, and Joseph would have willingly done so. He was on the
very point of doing so, any way."

"That's true," said Mr. Goodrich, looking chagrined but unconvinced.
"However, it frees Miss Lloyd from all doubts, by removing her motive.
As you say, she wouldn't suppress a will in her favor, and thereby turn
the fortune over to Philip. And, as you also said, this lets Gregory
Hall out, too, though I never suspected him for a moment. But, of
course, his interests and Miss Lloyd's are identical."

"Wait a moment," I said, for new thoughts were rapidly followi