s Norman will."

"Hold on," cried Aurora, shrewdly. "Maud may not be Lemuel Krill's
child, or she may have been born before Krill married the mother, but in
any case, Sylvia Norman isn't the child of a legal marriage. Krill
certainly committed bigamy, so his daughter Sylvia can't inherit."

"Well," said Hurd, "I can't say. I'll see Pash about the matter. After
all, the will left the money to 'my daughter,' and that Sylvia is beyond
doubt, whatever Maud may be. And I say, Aurora, just you go down to
Stowley in Buckinghamshire. I haven't time to look into matters there
myself."

"What do you want me to do there?"

"Find out all about the life of Mrs. Krill before she married Krill and
came to Christchurch. She's the daughter of a farmer. You'll find the
name in this." Hurd passed along a copy of the marriage certificate
which Mrs. Krill had given to Pash. "Anne Tyler is her maiden name. Find
out what you can. She was married to Krill at Beechill, Bucks."

Miss Qian took the copy of the certificate and departed, grumbling at
the amount of work she had to do to earn her share of the reward. Hurd,
on his part, took the underground train to Liverpool Street Station, and
then travelled to Jubileetown. He arrived there at twelve o'clock and
was greeted by Paul.

"I've been watching for you all the morning," said Beecot, who looked
flushed and eager. "Sylvia and I have made such a discovery."

Hurd nodded good-humoredly as he entered the house and shook hands with
the girl.

"Miss Norman has been doing some detective business on her own account,"
he said, smiling. "Hullo, who is this?"

He made this remark, because Mrs. Purr, sitting in a corner of the room
with red eyes, rose and dropped a curtsey.

"I'm called to tell you what I do tell on my Bible oath," said Mrs.
Purr, with fervor.

"Mrs. Purr can give some valuable evidence," said Paul, quickly.

"Oh, can she? Then I'll hear what she has to say later. First, I must
clear the ground by telling you and Miss Norman what I have discovered
at Christchurch."

So Mrs. Purr, rather unwillingly, for she felt the importance of her
position, was bundled out of the room, and Hurd sat down to relate his
late adventures. This he did clearly and slowly, and was interrupted
frequently by exclamations of astonishment from his two hearers. "So
there," said the detective, when finishing, "you have the beginning of
the end."

"Then you think that Mrs. Krill killed her husband