"What do you mean by that, Mr. Barras?" she demanded, breathlessly.
"Exactly what I say, Miss Baird; and I would have you remark that I addressed myself to Dr. Jerce here, who has not yet replied."
"You take me by surprise, Barras," said Jerce, with a shrug. "All I can reply is that Horran was the most strictly honest man of my acquaintance. Had he not been so, the late Mrs. Baird would hardly have chosen him as her executor, or as the guardian of her children."
"Exactly," said the lawyer again, and opened his portentous black bag. "But the question is, may not the late Mrs. Baird have been mistaken as to the true character of the man?"
"Your own client?" said Clarice, indignantly.
"I am a man, as well as a lawyer," retorted Barras, coldly.
"Still, Uncle Henry, whom every one liked--"
"Popularity implies weakness, to my mind, Miss Baird. Strength has its enemies, I have always found."
"What do you think, Ferdy?" asked Clarice, staggered by the lawyer's air of conviction.
"About Uncle Henry? Oh, it's all rot. He was one of the best, even though we didn't get on over well."
"There, Mr. Barras," said Clarice, with an air of triumph.
He took no notice of her, but produced from his bag a sheaf of important-looking documents. "I had better read the will," said Barras, coldly.
"One moment," broke in Jerce, as Barras unfolded a sheet of parchment with a judicial air. "We must tell you about the death, and--"
"I have heard everything," interrupted the lawyer, mounting his golden pince-nez. "I have read all that was to be read in the papers."
"I think that my late client was the eighth victim of the Purple Fern series, murdered by the surviving villain."
"And the motive?" questioned Miss Baird, suddenly.
"The same motive that brought about the death of the other victims," was the solicitor's cold reply--"wealth, or, if you like, robbery."
"I don't agree with you. Nothing was taken from the room."
"Because I know everything that is in the room, and nothing is missing. That is plain enough."
"On the face of it," admitted Barras, "but I think that I can show you your error."
"Do you mean to say that the motive for Uncle Henry's murder was robbery?" asked Ferdy, sitting up from his lounging attitude.