“Did you know that Ben Todd had made you his sole heir?”
“No!” emphatically. “He said he’d split with me—if he found a mine. Why should I be a witness in this—I don’t know who shot the old coot.”
They excused Violet La Verne, and she swept out of the courtroom. The six-man jury grinned and brought in the usual verdict, killed by a person, or persons, unknown.
“That woman knows something,” declared Judge quietly.
“At her age—and occupation—she should,” agreed Henry.
As they walked back to the office Judge said:
“If that La Verne woman knew that Ben Todd had willed everything he owned to her—”
“But she says she didn’t, Judge.”
“My dear, Henry, you are a trusting soul. What is her word worth? She lied about the amount she gave Ben Todd.”
“Only a matter of fifty dollars, Judge. It is possible that the woman is poor in mathematics.”