"No. I tell you he never saw the envelope till he handed it to me."
"Hold on a shake," said Tracey, handing Calvert a cigarette; "smoke this while I get my thinking-machine into order."
"You'll find it difficult to guess what it is," said Calvert, lighting up. "Merry and I were an hour over it this morning. He doesn't know what it means, and I'm sure I don't."
"You must be a couple of thick-heads," snapped Tracey, whose temper was not improved by Mrs. Baldwin's visit; "the way it's worded shows that Mrs. Brand expected to be killed."
Arnold started to his feet. "What do you say?"
"Mrs. Brand expected to be killed," said the American, with great distinctness; "she says, 'if you get the money'--well, you couldn't get the money till she was dead."
"No, but what does the message mean?"
Tracey laid the paper on his knees and looked across Calvert's shoulder with his bright eyes dancing. "Oh, I guess it's panning out all square," said he quietly; "I came here as you know in the hope of finding some papers overlooked by that man--or woman--I guess it was a woman--who made hay while the house was deserted. Evidently the idea was to destroy all trace of your cousin's past life. Well, sir, I hunted everywhere without success. Now we'll look for the coffee stain, and under it we will find some papers which will give the whole show away. We're on the verge of learning the truth, sir."
"Then you think that, expecting to be murdered, she hid certain papers giving a clue to her probable assassin?"
"Yes I do, and the poor soul dared not put the message plainer, lest it should fall into other hands than yours."