wford, I have been through all
the papers of the estate."

"Well, then, Burroughs, let us build up the scene. Mr. Joseph Crawford,
after returning from his lawyer's that night, goes to his office.
Naturally, he takes out his will, that he thinks of changing, and--we'll
say--it is lying on his desk when Mr. Lemuel Porter calls. He talks of
other matters, and the will still lies there unheeded. It is there when
Miss Lloyd comes down later. She has said so. It remains there until
much later--when Philip Crawford comes, and, after discovering that his
brother is dead, sees the will still on the desk and takes it away with
him, and also sees the pistol on the desk, and takes that, too. Now,
granting that the murderer came between the time Miss Lloyd left the
office and the time Philip Crawford came there, then it was while the
murderer was present that the drawer which held the pistol was opened,
the pistol taken out, and the murder committed, Since Mr. Joseph
Crawford showed no sign of fear of violence, the murderer must have
been, not a burglar or an unwelcome intruder, but a friend, or an
acquaintance, at least. His visit must have been the reason for opening
that drawer, and that not to get the pistol, but to look at or discuss
the papers contained in that drawer. The pistol, thus disclosed, was
temptingly near the hand of the visitor, and, for some reason
connected with the papers in that drawer, the pistol was used by the
visitor--suddenly, unpremeditatedly, but with deadly intent at the
moment."

"But who--" I began.

"Hush," he said, "I see it all now--or almost all. Let us go to Philip
Crawford's at once--before it is time to go to Miss Lloyd's."

We did so, and Fleming Stone, in a short business talk with Mr.
Crawford, learned all that he wanted to know. Then we three went over to
Florence Lloyd's home.

Awaiting us were several people. The district attorney, of course, and
Lawyer Randolph. Also Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Porter, who had been asked
to be present. Gregory Hall was there, too, and from his crestfallen
expression, I couldn't help thinking that he had had an unsatisfactory
interview with Florence.

As we all sat round the library, Fleming Stone was the principal
speaker.

He said: "I have come here at Miss Lloyd's request, to discover, if
possible, the murderer of her uncle, Mr. Joseph Crawford. I have learned
the identity of the assassin, and, if you all wish me to, I will now
divulge it."

"We