Mottisfont looked as though the wind had been taken out of his sails, and was beginning to grumble that he had been misled, when Paula came down the stairs, and interrupted him.
"I suppose you have heard the latest news?" she said. She was not laughing now; she looked hard and angry, and it was evident that she meant to vent her displeasure on as many people as possible.
"What news?" said Mottisfont.
"Oh, so you haven't! Well, you may be interested to hear that Stephen is not the heir, and that I do not get my legacy!"
Mottisfont stared at her. "Do you mean that a later will has been discovered?"
"Oh no! Nothing like that! Merely that this one is invalid!" said Paula savagely.
"Indeed! I am very sorry to hear it, but I can hardly suppose that it concerns me," said Mottisfont.
She laughed shortly. "Not interested, in fact!"
The Inspector said: "Well, I'm interested, at all events, miss. In what way is the will invalid?"
She was too angry to care what she said, or to whom. "It's invalid because it wasn't signed in the presence of the witnesses. That fact has just been disclosed to us by our engaging butler."