"Further, your record doesn't state the names of this Emily Leonard's parents."
Hapgood tossed back the unruly lock of hair.
"I ought to have gone back one step farther," he conceded. "I might have known you'd ask that."
"Naturally."
"I'll send to the county clerk and get that straightened out."
"It might be well," advised Mr. Clark mildly. "One other point prevents my acceptance of these documents as proof that your niece belongs to our family. Neither the investigator whom we had working on the case nor my nephew have ever told us the date of birth of our Emily Leonard. We can, of course, obtain that, if it is not already in my nephew's possession, but without it we can't be sure that our cousin was of marriageable age on December fifteenth, 1860."
It was Mr. Clark's turn to rub his hands together complacently as Hapgood looked more and more discomfited.
"In fact, my dear sir," Mr. Clark continued, "you have proved nothing except that some Emily Leonard married a man named Smith on the date named."
He tapped the papers gently with a thin forefinger and returned them to their owner, who began to bluster.
"I might have known you'd put up a kick," he exclaimed.