.

"Yours faithfully,

"LOUDWATER."

"Rather a curt way of disposing of such a large sum," said Mr. Flexen,
taking the letter and going to the window.

"It was the way Lord Loudwater did things," said Mr. Harrison.

"Yes, yes; I know," said Mr. Carrington. "Some things."

They both looked at Mr. Flexen, who was examining the letter through a
magnifying glass.

He studied it for a good two minutes, turned to them with a quiet smile
of triumph on his face and said: "I've never seen Lord Loudwater's
signature. But this is a forgery."

"A forgery?" said the manager sharply, stepping quickly towards Mr.
Flexen with outstretched hand.

"I'm not surprised to hear it," said Mr. Carrington.

"Well, the signature is not written with the natural ease with which a
man signs his name," said Mr. Flexen, giving the letter to Mr. Harrison.

Mr. Harrison studied it carefully. Then he pressed a button on his desk
and bade the clerk who came bring all the letters they had received
from Lord Loudwater during the last three months of his life and bring
them quickly.

Then he turned to Mr. Flexen and said stiffly: "I'm bound to say that the
signature looks perfectly right to me."

"I've no doubt that it's a good forgery. It was done by a very clever
man," said Mr. Flexen.

"A first-class young scoundrel," Mr. Carrington amended.

"We shall soon see," said Mr. Harrison, politely incredulous.

The clerk came with the letters. There were eight of them, all written
by Mr. Manley and signed by Lord Loudwater.

The manager compared the signatures of every one of them with the
signature in question, using a magnifying glass which lay on his desk.

Then, triumphant in his turn, he said curtly: "It's no forgery."

"Allow me," said Mr. Flexen, and in his turn he compared the signatures,
again every one of them.

Then he said: "As I said, it's an uncommonly good forgery. You see that
the bodies of the letters are all written with the same pen, a
gold-nibbed fountain-pen; the signatures are written with a steel nib. It
cuts deeper into the paper, and the ink doesn't flow off it so evenly.
The forged signature is written with the same kind of nib as the genuine
ones. Also, the bodies of the letters are written in a fountain-pen
ink--the 'Swan,' I think. The signatures are written in Stephens'
blue-black ink. The forged signature is also written in Stephens'
blue-black ink. No error there, you see."

"You seem to know a good dea