“There were important alterations?” Poole’s voice was tense.
“There was one. Ryland Fratten was cut out of the will as a residuary legatee.”
CHAPTER VIII.
Ryland Fratten
Poole sat for a while in silence, allowing this significant piece of information to sink into his mind.
“That means, then,” he said at last, “that if Sir Garth had died on the evening of the 25th of October instead of the 24th, Miss Inez Fratten would have inherited the whole of the residuary estate of her father—nearly half a million pounds—and her brother would have had nothing?”
“Not nothing. He was to have received an annuity of £300; Sir Garth did not want him to be quite destitute—he doubted Ryland’s ability to earn a living for himself, and to a certain extent he blamed himself for bringing the boy up in the expectation of idle riches.”
“Still, it meant £300 a year instead of £10,000?”
“Exactly.”
“That,” thought Poole to himself, “may be considered to be a motive for murder.”
Aloud, he said: “Did Mr. Ryland Fratten know of this new will?”