ld think of no other way. You will remember that, in
consequence of the War economics practiced at Styles, no waste paper was
thrown away. There was therefore no means of destroying a thick document
such as a will. The moment I heard of a fire being lighted in Mrs.
Inglethorp's room, I leaped to the conclusion that it was to destroy
some important document--possibly a will. So the discovery of the
charred fragment in the grate was no surprise to me. I did not, of
course, know at the time that the will in question had only been made
this afternoon, and I will admit that, when I learnt that fact, I fell
into a grievous error. I came to the conclusion that Mrs. Inglethorp's
determination to destroy her will arose as a direct consequence of the
quarrel she had that afternoon, and that therefore the quarrel took
place after, and not before the making of the will.

"Here, as we know, I was wrong, and I was forced to abandon that idea.
I faced the problem from a new standpoint. Now, at 4 o'clock, Dorcas
overheard her mistress saying angrily: 'You need not think that any
fear of publicity, or scandal between husband and wife will deter me."
I conjectured, and conjectured rightly, that these words were addressed,
not to her husband, but to Mr. John Cavendish. At 5 o'clock, an hour
later, she uses almost the same words, but the standpoint is different.
She admits to Dorcas, 'I don't know what to do; scandal between husband
and wife is a dreadful thing.' At 4 o'clock she has been angry, but
completely mistress of herself. At 5 o'clock she is in violent distress,
and speaks of having had a great shock.

"Looking at the matter psychologically, I drew one deduction which I
was convinced was correct. The second 'scandal' she spoke of was not the
same as the first--and it concerned herself!

"Let us reconstruct. At 4 o'clock, Mrs. Inglethorp quarrels with
her son, and threatens to denounce him to his wife--who, by the
way, overheard the greater part of the conversation. At 4.30, Mrs.
Inglethorp, in consequence of a conversation on the validity of wills,
makes a will in favour of her husband, which the two gardeners witness.
At 5 o'clock, Dorcas finds her mistress in a state of considerable
agitation, with a slip of paper--'a letter,' Dorcas thinks--in her
hand, and it is then that she orders the fire in her room to be lighted.
Presumably, then, between 4.30 and 5 o'clock, something has occurred to
occasion a complete revolution of fe