"Of course he did not Stephen. If he had left the money to anyone else you would not be here."
"I am not so sure about that," replied the young man savagely. "Frisco might have taken the second will from the corpse. At all events I know that Frith and Frith drafted no new will. If it was drawn the Colonel must have drawn it himself. However Frisco let out in one of his drunken fits at Beorminster that Carr intended to cut me off. My mother heard the news and came home in a frenzy of rage. It was for that reason she called on Carr on the afternoon you know of. The twenty-fourth was it not? She intended to argue him into a better frame of mind. He only laughed at her and said he would leave his money as pleased him. She told me the next day. But Carr was dead then."
"What made you decide to frighten him?"
"Am I not telling you!" said Stephen impatiently. "When my mother went to Saxham I knew she would fail. A woman could not deal with a devil like my beloved uncle. I determined to see what I could do with a revolver. I would have fought a duel with him to keep my rights," said the young man fiercely, "but I would not have killed him in cold blood. No, indeed."
"Well go on," said Bess, "I want to know all."
"There is little to tell," said Marsh-Carr. "I was going to Saxham to fetch home my mother who was at the rectory. I thought I would visit 'The Pines' and see the Colonel. I did so, some time before nine."
"Ah! it was about that hour Sidney saw you."
"I daresay. I stood on the lawn looking at the tower, and could not make up my mind to enter the house. It was all ablaze with lights, and quite deserted."
"No," said Bess recalling her own experience. "I heard you fire the shots and saw Frisco at the door. He was drunk and hanging on to the post."
"You heard me fire the shots. I did not know you were about?"