"Did you ever make a will?"
"I never thought of such a thing!"
"Well, I'll tell you. If you were to die your interest in this property would go to Hooper."
"What makes you think so? I thought it would go to the state."
"I'm guessing," I acknowledged, "but I believe I'm guessing straight. A lot of these old Arizona partnerships were made just that way. Life was uncertain out here. I'll bet the old original partnership between your father and Hooper provides that in case of the extinction of one line, the other will inherit. It's a very common form of partnership in a new country like this. You can see for yourself it's a sensible thing to provide."
"You may be right," she commented. "Go on."
"You told me a while ago it was best to face any situation squarely. Now brace up and face this. You said a while ago that Hooper would not dare kill you. That is true for the moment. But there is no doubt in my mind that he has intended from the first to kill you, because by that he would get possession of the whole property."
"I cannot believe it!" she cried.
"Isn't the incentive enough? Think carefully, and answer honestly: don't you think him capable of it?"
"Yes—I suppose so," she admitted, reluctantly, after a moment. She gathered herself as after a shock. "Why hasn't he done so? Why has he waited?"