"Did you actually call on the afternoon of the fire?"
"A short delay, occasioned by my failure to find Mr. Hardwood, the locksmith, who was to assist me in opening the safe, retarded my arrival until 3:45. At that time the paper was beyond my reach."
"You could not testify as to the contents of the will?"
"Only in a general way."
"Do you know any reason why, if the accused were expecting you, as he stated that he was when he ordered the housemaid to dust the room, do you know any reason why he should leave the house suddenly, without any instructions as to your reception?"
"That's the best point the prosecution has made!" exclaimed Wye.
Ecks was executing a series of caricatures illustrating the involution of Hodgkins' face back into a crab-apple. "You leave out his cunning," suggested Wye, looking over the heads.
"Not unless he had lighted this fire," said the senior member solemnly. At which answer Shagarach rose with a shade more promptitude than usual.
"Why do you profess to be the executor of Benjamin Arnold's will?"
"I am so styled over his own signature," answered Hodgkins, flourishing the professor's letter.