n it, or tear it into infinitesimal
pieces. Remember that everything depends upon you now--upon your
discretion and diplomacy."

Hamilton followed Blaine's instructions to the letter, and an hour
after he had left the detective he was closeted with the senior member
of the firm of Anderson & Wallace.

"My dear Mr. Hamilton, we have had so little time," Mr. Anderson
expostulated. "Remember that Mr. Lawton's death occurred little more
than a fortnight ago, and even the most cursory examination has shown
us that his affairs were in a most chaotic condition. It will take us
weeks, months, to settle up so involved an estate.

"At present we can give you little information. It is by no means
certain that Mr. Lawton was an absolute bankrupt--we have not yet
assured ourselves that nothing can be saved from the wreckage. You
cannot imagine how aghast, thunderstruck, we were, when this present
state of affairs was made known to us. We have been Mr. Lawton's
attorneys for more than twenty years, and we thought that we knew
every detail of his multifarious transactions, but for some reason
which we cannot fathom he saw fit, within the last two years, to
change his investments without taking us into his confidence--and with
disastrous results."

"Mr. Lawton was always conservative. He took no one fully into his
confidence," Ramon Hamilton replied guardedly.

"You knew, of course, that he had ideas about the disposal of his vast
wealth which many other financiers would consider peculiar. He would
never invest in real estate, to our knowledge. His millions were
placed entirely in stocks and bonds, and for years he had stated that
his object was, in the event of his death, to save his daughter and
the trustees from unnecessary trouble over real-estate matters. This
makes his later conduct all the more inexplicable. Mr. Mallowe has
told me that Mr. Lawton made several suggestions to him and to his
associates, Mr. Rockamore and Mr. Carlis, to go with him into the
unfortunate speculations which ultimately caused his ruin. They were
far-seeing enough to refuse."

"Just what were these speculations, Mr. Anderson?"

"I can't tell you at this moment. You'll understand that we don't wish
to make any statement until we can do so definitely, and we are still,
as I said, quite at sea. We'll try to straighten everything out as
soon as possible, and give you and Miss Lawton a full report. In the
meantime, why not consult Mr. Mallowe? He ca