"You admit that there will be a great deal more than £10,000."
"I admit nothing that is not proved."
"Then you refuse to give my client anything?" His air of assurance began to desert him. In fact, he had been especially charged to open the proceedings by demanding such an advance.
"We refuse to do anything illegal. The papers will show the extent and the nature of the estate. You can then claim the whole. But you must first send in your claim and be prepared with the release."
Mr. Bisse hesitated. "My instructions are to demand a strict scrutiny of all the accounts."
"They are waiting for you. Would you like to see the papers?" Mr. Redman led him into an adjoining room where on shelves and on the tables the books and papers were laid out in order—tied up and labelled. "My clerk," said Mr. Redman, "will go through these papers with you. I shall look on."
"All these papers?" Mr. Bisse gazed with dismay upon the piles before him.
"You will have to peruse, to examine, to pass every scrap of paper in this room. Captain Crowle, sir, is the most methodical man in the world."
"All these papers? But it will take months."
"Years, perhaps. You have your instructions."