The moment the detective crossed the threshold he was approached by a young girl, with clear blue eyes and a good carriage, who instantly addressed him.
"You are Josiah Broadbrim?" she said questioningly. "Yes, you are the detective whom I sent for?"
Old Broadbrim nodded.
"Then, come with me. He is in the library and I have locked the door."
The detective was conducted from the parlor and the nabob's ward opened the door of the library.
In another instant she had closed it and they stood in the large chamber, elegantly furnished, and containing rows of books magnificently bound, for Custer Kipp had spared no pains with his tastes.
"There he is," said the girl with lowered voice, as she pointed toward a figure in the armchair. "No one has touched him, for I forbade it, and you are the first person to see him dead beside myself and the person who did the deed."
The detective stepped forward, and the hand of Nora Doon turned the gas a little higher.
Custer Kipp was leaning back in the chair with his white face turned toward the ceiling.
The arms hung downward as if they had slipped over the sides of the seat, and the face showed traces of the death agony.