“He pretends?”
“Yes, pretends; for Casco found out that old Barker had no children when he died. That gave him a hold on Barker.”
“I see. Go on.”
“Grogan knew Barker before he turned up at your uncle’s place. He once told me, when he was full of liquor, that Barker’s real name was Bill Dix, and that he was a Virginia outlaw, wanted for shooting a man in Petersburg.”
“And that gave Grogan his hold on Barker?”
“It did. But all three are hard customers, and will do anything to get money.”
“I’ve found that out. But why did Barker pretend to be my uncle’s nephew?”
“Because your uncle was a bachelor, very old, and worth a pile of money. He thought if he could get you out of the way he would come in for part if not all of the fortune.”
“And how did he get me out of the way?”
“In rather a roundabout fashion. I was working for your uncle at the time, and Sarah, my daughter, who is married to a young man named Paul Marks, was working for a woman named Rose.