“And where did she claim to have found this document?” Penny asked.
“Why, somewhere in the house. I was so upset I didn’t think to inquire. Now that I know Uncle Jacob left everything to her, I shall leave at once.”
Penny caught Rosanna by the arm. “Don’t be in too much of a hurry to get away,” she advised. “It may be that Mrs. Leeds’ claims are false.”
“But I saw the will for myself.”
“Perhaps it was forged.”
“I never thought of that,” Rosanna gasped. “Do you think she would resort to such a trick?”
“I believe she’d do almost anything to gain a fortune.”
Penny had been thinking swiftly. She recalled the secretive actions of Mrs. Leeds and Max Laponi when they were closeted together in the library. They had been engrossed in writing a document of some sort. Doubtless it was the will which Mrs. Leeds now claimed to have found.
Penny’s face puckered into a worried frown. Mrs. Leeds’ unexpected action might complicate the entire situation and ruin her own plans. She feared too that the woman actually had destroyed Jacob Winters’ true will.
“She was burning it in the fireplace that day when I came upon her,” Penny thought. “That’s why she feels so safe about forging another one in her own favor.”