t
was his father's will. Against that he declared that its contents did
not astonish him in the slightest degree, that he himself knew of the
testator's intentions, but that he certainly thought his father had
entrusted the will to the care of Mr. Wethered, who did all his business
for him.

"'I only very cursorily glanced at the signature,' he concluded,
speaking in a perfectly calm, clear voice; 'you must understand that the
thought of forgery was very far from my mind, and that my father's
signature is exceedingly well imitated, if, indeed, it is not his own,
which I am not at all prepared to believe. As for the two witnesses'
signatures, I don't think I had ever seen them before. I took the
document to Messrs. Barkston and Maud, who had often done business for
me before, and they assured me that the will was in perfect form and
order.'

"Asked why he had not entrusted the will to his father's solicitors, he
replied:

"'For the very simple reason that exactly half an hour before the will
was placed in my hands, I had read that Mr. Patrick Wethered had been
murdered the night before. Mr. Hibbert, the junior partner, was not
personally known to me.'

"After that, for form's sake, a good deal of expert evidence was heard
on the subject of the dead man's signature. But that was quite
unanimous, and merely went to corroborate what had already been
established beyond a doubt, namely, that the will dated February 1st,
1908, was a forgery, and probate of the will dated 1891 was therefore
granted to Mr. Murray Brooks, the sole executor mentioned therein."

CHAPTER XXIII

A MEMORABLE DAY

"Two days later the police applied for a warrant for the arrest of Mr.
Percival Brooks on a charge of forgery.

"The Crown prosecuted, and Mr. Brooks had again the support of Mr.
Oranmore, the eminent K.C. Perfectly calm, like a man conscious of his
own innocence and unable to grasp the idea that justice does sometimes
miscarry, Mr. Brooks, the son of the millionaire, himself still the
possessor of a very large fortune under the former will, stood up in the
dock on that memorable day in October, 1908, which still no doubt lives
in the memory of his many friends.

"All the evidence with regard to Mr. Brooks' last moments and the forged
will was gone through over again. That will, it was the contention of
the Crown, had been forged so entirely in favour of the accused, cutting
out every one else, that obviously no one but t