“Damason?” questioningly.
“Yes, sir; Fernando’s twin brother and Mr. Meredith’s chauffeur. He sleeps in the lodge down by the gate,” Herman added. “It took some time to rouse him and that made me late in closing the house.”
“I see!” Penfield fussed with his papers. “Just one more question, Herman. Did you find the house locked this morning as you had left it on going to bed?”
“It was, sir.” Herman rose and stood respectfully waiting, and at Penfield’s gesture of dismissal he left the library. As he sought his pantry he passed the drawing-room and hurried his footsteps at sight of Mrs. Meredith sitting composedly by a window, reading a book.
Sam Hollister did not keep Penfield waiting. His quick and courteous replies to every question put to him, after the oath had been administered, gained grateful looks from the reporters whose eyes had traveled several times to the clock on the mantel during Herman’s testimony.
“You state that you drew up some legal papers last night for Mr. Meredith which he signed in the presence of Miss Lucille Hull and Mr. Gerald Armstrong,” repeated Coroner Penfield. “Where are those papers now?”
“I have no idea,” replied Hollister. “I last saw them on the bed by Mr. Meredith. This morning, in the presence of Doctor Leonard McLane, and with the assistance of Inspector Mitchell, I searched Meredith’s desk and his room, but could find no trace of the documents.”
“So!” Penfield gnawed at his underlip, a habit of his when in doubt. “What were the documents, Mr. Hollister?”
Hollister drew out two folded papers and spread them open. “This is a rough draft,” he explained. “It is what is known as a prenuptial agreement, and in it Mr. Meredith settled upon his niece, Anne Meredith, and her fiance, Doctor David Curtis, a yearly income of fifty thousand dollars, share and share alike, for their lifetime, and a sum in cash of ten thousand dollars apiece upon their marriage within the week. He also,” the lawyer spoke more slowly, “wished a codicil added to his will in which he revoked a bequest of one million dollars to Anne and gave it to his cousin’s daughter, Miss Lucille Hull.”
“Did he give a reason for altering the bequest to his niece in favor of her cousin?” questioned Penfield, after a brief pause.