the new evidence then?"

Simon nodded, and a few moments of silence followed.

"Tell me honestly," demanded Ned at last, "have you actually no clue at
all? No suspicion of any kind? Haven't you got on the track of any
possible reason for the deed?"

"Reason?" repeated Simon. "Now we come to business, Mr. Cromarty. What's
the motive? That's the point."

"Have you found one?"

Simon looked judicially discreet.

"At this moment all I can tell you is to answer the question: 'Who
benefits by Sir Reginald Cromarty's death?'"

"Well--who did? Seems to me every one who knew him suffered."

"Sentimentally perhaps--but not financially."

Ned looked at him in silence, as if an entirely new point of view were
dawning on his mind. But he compressed his lips and merely asked:

"Well?"

"To begin with, nothing was stolen from the house. Therefore no outside
thief or burglar gained anything. I may add also that the police have
made enquiries throughout the whole county, and no bad characters are
known to be in the place. Therefore there is no ground for supposing the
deed was the work of a robber, and to my mind, no evidence worth
considering to support that view. The only people that gained anything,
Mr. Cromarty, are those who will benefit under Sir Reginald's will."

Cromarty's expression did not change again. This was evidently the new
point of view.

Simon opened a drawer and took from it a document.

"In the ordinary course of events Sir Reginald's will would not be known
till after his funeral to-morrow, but if I may regard this conversation
as confidential, I can tell you the principal facts so far as they
affect this case."

"I don't want you to do anything you shouldn't," said Ned quickly. "If
it's not the proper game to read the will now, don't."

But Silent Simon seemed determined to oblige this morning.

"It is a mere matter of form delaying till to-morrow, and I shall not
read it now; merely tell you the pertinent facts briefly."

"Fire away then. The Lord knows I want to learn every derned pertinent
fact--want to badly!"

"In the first place," the lawyer began, "Lady Cromarty is life rented in
the mansion and property, less certain sums to be paid to other people,
which I am coming to. She therefore lost her husband and a certain
amount of income, and gained nothing that we know of."

"That's a cold-blooded way of putting it," said Ned with something like
a shiver. "However, what next?"

"Sir M