“He had no bonds at the time he sent for Norris. His large fortune was almost all in cash or in real estate. His father left him a great deal of land, in and about Hamilton, and Hamilton Estates. I’d prefer not to call the Hamilton Trust into the matter, though we may find it necessary in the long run to do so.”
“Surely, if the Hamilton Bank had been asked to handle the check you would have heard something about the matter, either directly, or indirectly, during all the years you have lived at the Arms,” was Leslie’s further opinion.
“I’m inclined to that view of it, too. I doubt if the Hamilton Bank is in any way concerned in this Norris business.”
“Why not let my father investigate for you?” proposed Leslie. “He’s coming to Hamilton to see me for a day or two, soon after he lands. If, by that time, you haven’t found the secret drawer, then please let my father help you in the matter, Miss Susanna,” Leslie earnestly petitioned.
“Peter? I never once thought of him!” Miss Susanna exclaimed, brightening visibly. “He’s the very man I need to help me. I should be eternally grateful to him, if he would.”
“He will,” Leslie promised.
“There’s more to this than appears on the surface.” Miss Hamilton’s lips set themselves in severe line. “Granted we find the secret drawer, the finding of the data relating to the honor fund may only serve to prove treachery to his trust on Lawyer Norris’s part. As heir to my uncle’s fortune and estate, Hamilton Arms, he at least owed it to me to inform me of the trust Uncle Brooke had reposed in him.”
“Possibly he was under the impression that you knew of the fifty-thousand dollar fund through your uncle, and had been instructed by Mr. Brooke to assume the responsibility of choosing ‘the one’ in the event of his death,” Marjorie made meditative suggestion. “In such case, he might wait for you to communicate with him regarding it.”
“I’ll admit such a contingency,” the old lady conceded rather reluctantly. “We’re all at sea in the matter, it seems. Either Norris, or else the secret drawer, must be found; both preferably.”
“This much seems certain, Lawyer Norris was not commissioned by Mr. Brooke to choose ‘the one’ in the event of Mr. Brooke’s decease,” Marjorie said.