"What for?" he demanded. "What has she got to do with the affair? I won't have strangers present."
"My young friend," Wrayson said, "I may just as well warn you that I think you are going to be disappointed. I am almost certain that I know the contents of that packet. You will find that it consists, as I told you before, not of securities at all, but simply a few old letters."
Barnes' eyes narrowed.
"Whatever they are," he said, "they meant a couple of thousand a year to Morry, and they were worth his life to somebody! How do you account for that, eh?"
"You want the truth?" Wrayson asked.
"Yes!"
"Your brother was a blackmailer!"
The breath came through Barnes' teeth with a little hiss. He realized his position almost at once. He was trapped.
He walked up to Wrayson's side. His voice shook, but he was in deadly earnest.
"Look here," he said, "the contents of that packet, whatever they may be, are mine—mine and hers! You have nothing to do with the matter at all. I will not have you in the room when they are opened."