“All I want is to prevent you from going on a wild goose chase after poor old Winter. I’ve known him since I was a baby, and he is quite incapable of doing what you suggest.”
“That is as may be, Mr. Woodman. We are not inclined to suspect him seriously without further evidence. But I will certainly look into what you tell me about Mr. Walter Brooklyn. And now, there is another matter about which I want to ask you one or two questions.”
“Ask away.”
“You were good enough to give me very full particulars about the contents of Sir Vernon Brooklyn’s will; but there were one or two points about which I omitted to ask you. Perhaps you will not mind clearing them up now. In the first place, as matters stand now, who did you say were the principal beneficiaries? I have the facts here in my notebook, but I want to check them.”
“Let me see. Mrs. George Brooklyn gets one half of the sum which would have gone to George Brooklyn, and Miss Cowper half of what would have gone to John Prinsep. Mr. Walter Brooklyn is the residuary legatee, and stands, I suppose, to inherit about half a million, unless the will is altered.”
“Thank you. The further point I want to know is what the position would be if Mr. Walter Brooklyn were to die before Sir Vernon. Who would be the residuary legatee in that case?”
Woodman paused for a moment before replying. Then he said, “The residue would go, of course, to the next of kin.”
“Who is that? I think you have not mentioned any other relatives.”
“To the best of my belief, inspector, I myself am the next of kin after Walter Brooklyn.”
The inspector whistled. “Then you would inherit the bulk of the money if Sir Vernon Brooklyn died after Walter Brooklyn.”