“You won’t find much,” said Mr. Hooper. “I wish—”
“You wish what, Mr. Hooper?” Connie inquired curiously.
“Oh, I was only thinking I wish you’d stumble onto some of my sister’s handwriting.”
“Maybe we will.”
“Not in that trunk, I’m afraid.”
“We may find a letter tucked away somewhere,” Connie insisted hopefully. “Would it mean a lot to you to have one?”
“I’d give a hundred dollars for a sample of my sister’s handwriting,” Mr. Hooper said. More talkative than usual, he went on: “You see, Ella made a will leaving this orchard to me. It was a typed document drawn by a lawyer.
“Ella signed it, of course, in the presence of witnesses. All well and good. I thought she had left me her entire property, including this orchard. But a short while ago, a cousin, Carl Wingate, appears with another will.”
“Had your sister made two of them?” Connie asked in surprise.