“Evangeline Stableford.”
“Then how did it come into Lady Rellingham’s hands?”
“Assuming there is a person posing as Lady Rellingham, you get a motive which may account for the fact that Evangeline was murdered. I’m not sure at present that it was the actual motive. There may, perhaps, have been another, but the letter was stolen at the time of her death. You know I’ve always said she was murdered by that woman who was staying in the hotel in the name of Mrs. Garnett. Mrs. Garnett is the woman who is now posing as Lady Rellingham. She is the woman who was in the court on those two occasions—the woman Yardley tracked to the Hotel Victoria, where she was staying as Mrs. Seymour. Now, mark you! the letter is not used on Sir John’s death. It is not used until I have declared, in open court, that the directions for disposing of the trust have been destroyed. Clutch & Holdem have probably got as their client that woman Mrs. Garnett, but it doesn’t absolutely follow she is identical with Lady Rellingham. Still, I think she must be. You see, Evangeline was the legitimate daughter of Sir John. I’ve felt fairly certain all along that Mrs. Garnett was Evangeline’s mother.”
“Well, what had we better do? I’m here for professional advice, Tempest.”
“Oh! you must decline to pay. Say you will accept service of a writ, as you prefer to submit the matter to the arbitrament of the court. I’ll keep your name straight before the court. Nobody shall go away with the impression that you were declining to pay simply so that you could stick to the money. You see, Baxter, they must produce their client in court. They can’t get out of doing it. The only documents they can cite are the will and this letter. As the two stand together they don’t prove their case. They must obviously explain the letter by the evidence of their client. You must have the papers in court, in case the jury seem inclined to believe the woman. We’ll open the packet there, if necessary. This letter from Sir John is obviously the eventuality he created and ample justification for your opening the packet; but, as I am pretty sure it has got into the wrong hands, we won’t meddle with the secret until it becomes unavoidable, and then we’ll cross-examine this Lady Rellingham.”
“Can we keep the papers secret until then? Surely Clutch & Holdem will get discovery?”
“How can they? They can’t get a general fishing order. They can only get discovery of documents they can specify.”
“But they’ll require an affidavit of documents?”
“I suppose they will. Put into the affidavit the sealed packet you had, and say that it was destroyed. They know that much. They will never dream of there being a duplicate set of papers. Why, this action is only brought because they know the papers have been destroyed. Besides, the set which are now at the safe deposit place have never been reduced into custody yet. I tell you what. Don’t swear an affidavit of documents at all. Don’t wait till you are asked for one, but treat it as all in the day’s march; and, before they ask, send them an informal list of your documents. Send it with a kind of put-off letter, saying you don’t wish to inconvenience them, so send them at once a list of the documents, and say that a thorough search is being made amongst the office papers for additional papers, if any; and consequently, with their consent, you will postpone swearing a formal affidavit till the last moment. Then forget all about it. They’ll probably never tumble to what your game is. They’ve very likely got one or two documents themselves which they would rather keep up their sleeve at the moment, so, if you don’t worry them for their affidavit, very likely they won’t bother you. They think they know you have nothing of the least importance.”
In due course the case came on for hearing in one of the chancery courts. Barnett, K. C., and Mr. Hayford were for Lady Rellingham; Tempest was alone, as usual, for the surviving partners in the firm of Rellingham, Baxter, Marston & Moorhouse.