Pointer meditated some time over this before he filed it. Another cable was sent to Toronto asking for full particulars of the warrant out against the two men, and the photos of both were duly posted for identification.
Mr. Russell dropped in on the Chief Inspector at lunch, but beyond a question as to whether he had ever heard that Robert Erskine was interested in any business Pointer kept his own counsel. The solicitor was evidently unaware that young Erskine did not still own the ranch.
“So you didn't get anything helpful by coming to Paris?” the solicitor continued, as the two men turned in for a cup of tea. He himself had been prostrated by the rough crossing the night before, and had hardly been able to exchange a couple of words with his companion in the crowded railway carriage.
“Except a general idea of the deceased's character as shown in his letters.”
“Ah, yes, true. I had a long conversation with Mrs. Erskine and a very trying one.”
“How so trying?”
“Aye, women, even the best of them shouldn't be trusted with money.”
The Scotsman drank his tea sternly. “She wants everything sold out and put into an annuity.”
“She” of course referred to Mrs. Erskine. The Chief Inspector turned the matter over carefully to see whether he could extract any grist for his mills from it.
“Well, why not?”