Mrs. Sidebottom tossed her head.
Philip drew his penknife from his pocket, opened it, and leisurely cut through the top of the envelope, extracted the document, and unfolded it. He glanced at the heading, and then, with lawyer-like instinct, at the end, then, with a sharp look of surprise at Salome, who waited with lowered eyes, he said: 'This is worthless. The signature has been torn away.'
'Torn away!' echoed Mrs. Sidebottom.
Salome looked up in astonishment.
'This is a cancelled will,' said Philip. 'It is of no more value than waste paper. When do you say my uncle entrusted it to you?'
'Shortly before he left the house on the night that he disappeared. I am quite sure he thought it was of importance, from his manner towards me in commending it. He said it was a trust, an important trust.'
'Then,' said Philip, 'there is some mystery behind unsolved.'
'Read it,' urged Mrs. Sidebottom; 'and see if that will clear it up.'
'I will read it, certainly,' said Philip; 'but it is a document entirely devoid of legal force.'
Philip began to run his eye over it before reading aloud.