"But I know my late client better than you do. She changed her will frequently, but her fortune was always left to her relatives, not to any institution or charity."
"She said that she had never thought of it before," Mr. Bowen related, "but that she considered it a fine idea."
"Oh, then you proposed it?" said Timken.
"Yes, I did," replied the clergyman, "I suggested it half jestingly, but when Mrs. Pell acquiesced with evident gladness, I certainly hoped she would put at least part of her fortune into such a good cause."
"You heard this discussion, Miss Clyde?" asked the coroner.
"Of course I did; it occurred at the dinner table."
"And were you not afraid your aunt would make good her promise?"
"She didn't really promise——"
"Afraid then that she would carry out the minister's suggestion."
"I didn't really think much about it. If you mean, did I kill her to prevent such a possibility, I answer I certainly did not!"