ation at once flashed on me, and I was
on the point of blurting out my sympathy, when I saw by the look which
Craig and Tom exchanged that they had already realised it and understood
each other. Without the will the blood-relatives would inherit all of
Lewis Langley's interest in the old Langley estate. Tom and his sister
would be penniless.

It was late, yet we sat for nearly an hour longer, and I don't think we
exchanged a half-dozen sentences in all that time. Craig seemed absorbed
in thought. At length, as the great hall-clock sounded midnight, we rose
as if by common consent.

"Tom," said Craig, and I could feel the sympathy that welled up in his
voice, "Tom, old man, I'll get at the bottom of this mystery if human
intelligence can do it."

"I know you will, Craig," responded Tom, grasping each of us by the
hand. "That's why I so much wanted you fellows to come up here."

Early in the morning Kennedy aroused me. "Now, Walter, I'm going to ask
you to come down into the living-room with me, and we'll take a look at
it in the daytime."

I hurried into my clothes, and together we quietly went down. Starting
with the exact spot where the unfortunate man had been discovered,
Kennedy began a minute examination of the floor, using his pocket lens.
Every few moments he would stop to examine a spot on the rug or on
the hardwood floor more intently. Several times I saw him scrape
up something with the blade of his knife and carefully preserve the
scrapings, each in a separate piece of paper.

Sitting idly by, I could not for the life of me see just what good it
did for me to be there, and I said as much. Kennedy laughed quietly.

"You're a material witness, Walter," he replied. "Perhaps I shall need
you some day to testify that I actually found these spots in this room."

Just then Tom stuck his head in. "Can I help?" he asked. "Why didn't you
tell me you were going at it so early?"

"No, thanks," answered Craig, rising from the floor. "I was just making
a careful examination of the room before anyone was up so that nobody
would think I was too interested. I've finished. But you can help me,
after all. Do you think you could describe exactly how everyone was
dressed that night?"

"Why, I can try. Let me see. To begin with, uncle had on a
shooting-jacket--that was pretty well burnt, as you know. Why, in fact,
we all had our shooting-jackets on. The ladies were in white."

Craig pondered a little, but did not seem