"I take it, then, that the will was not made when Edwin came here."
"No. What are you getting at? Do you mean to say that there is a will, and that I have destroyed it?"
"Oh, no. But I merely point out that as no will was made Edwin had no reason to murder Sir Hector."
"He murdered him because he did not wish Hector to marry you."
"You forget," said Claudia, coolly. "Your reappearance prevented Sir Hector from making me his wife. Edwin had no reason to fear the prevention of his marriage with me from that quarter. And as Sir Hector wished to make a will in Edwin's favour, Edwin would scarcely have been such a fool as to murder the man and spoil the chance of his getting five thousand a year."
"I think you should have been a lawyer, Miss Lemby; you argue so well."
"Thank you. But I should like to know, what you think of the case as I have put it? You must see that Edwin had no reason to murder Sir Hector."
"Oh, I see that!" sneered Lady Wyke, crossly. "The question is, would a jury see it?"
"I think so. Absence of motive for the commission of a crime goes a long way towards proving the innocence or an accused person. And remember all the evidence is purely circumstantial."
"Circumstantial or not, I have the whip hand, and I mean to use the whip."