The instant Mrs. Leeds had disappeared, Penny snatched a charred piece of paper from the hearth. It was the only scrap which had not been completely consumed by the flames.
Only a few scattered lines with many words missing were visible. The others were blackened or torn away.
Penny distinguished a part of the writing: “Last will and testam— —do bequeath to my niece, Ro—”
“This must be a portion of Jacob Winters’ will!” she thought. “Mrs. Leeds probably found it somewhere in the house and decided to destroy it because she or her daughter weren’t mentioned!”
She stared at the word which began Ro——. The remaining letters had been torn away. Had Mr. Winters written Rosanna’s name? If only she had entered the living room a minute earlier she might have prevented the document from being destroyed!
In reviewing Mrs. Leeds’ actions during the past two days, Penny could not doubt that the woman had actually found the missing will. Since her arrival at Raven Ridge she had spent most of her time poking about into odd corners of the house. The locked drawer of the desk had annoyed her exceedingly.
“I’ll just take a look and see if it’s still locked,” Penny thought.
She opened the desk and tried the drawer. It readily opened.
“Empty,” Penny commented grimly. “Just as I suspected.”
She examined the lock. It was evident at a glance that it had been broken by a sharp instrument and not unlocked with a key.