Part 13 (1/2)

”Not the slightest!” exclaimed Barthorpe. ”Have you?”

”None! Of course--the police are on the go?”

”Oh, of course!”

”All right,” said Burchill. ”Tonight, then.”

He opened the door for his visitor, nodded to him, as he pa.s.sed out, and when he had gone sat down in the easy chair which Barthorpe had vacated and for half an hour sat immobile, thinking. At the end of that half-hour he rose, went into his bedroom, made an elaborate toilet, went out, found a taxi-cab, and drove off to Portman Square.

CHAPTER X

MR. BENJAMIN HALFPENNY

When Barthorpe Herapath left his cousin, Mr. Tertius, and Selwood in company with the newly discovered will, and walked swiftly out of the house and away from Portman Square, he pa.s.sed without seeing it a quiet, yet smartly appointed coupe brougham which came round the corner from Portman Street and pulled up at the door which Barthorpe had just quitted. From it at once descended an elderly gentleman, short, stout, and rosy, who bustled up the steps of the Herapath mansion and appeared to fume and fret until his summons was responded to. When the door was opened to him he bustled inside at the same rate, rapped out the inquiry, ”Miss Wynne at home?--Miss Wynne at home?” several times without waiting for a reply, and never ceased in his advance to the door of the study, into which he precipitated himself panting and blowing, as if he had run hard all the way from his original starting-point. The three people standing on the hearthrug turned sharply and two of them uttered cries which betokened pleasure mixed with relief.

”Mr. Halfpenny!” exclaimed Peggie, almost joyfully. ”How good of you to come!”

”We had only just spoken--were only just speaking of you,” remarked Mr.

Tertius. ”In fact--yes, Mr. Selwood and I were thinking of going round to your offices to see if you were in town.”

The short, stout, and rosy gentleman who, as soon as he had got well within the room, began to unswathe his neck from a voluminous white silk m.u.f.fler, now completed his task and advancing upon Peggie solemnly kissed her on both cheeks, held her away from him, looked at her, kissed her again, and then patted her on the shoulder. This done, he shook hands solemnly with Mr. Tertius, bowed to Selwood, took off his spectacles and proceeded to polish them with a highly-coloured bandana handkerchief which he produced from the tail of his overcoat. This operation concluded, he restored the spectacles to his nose, sat down, placed his hands, palm downwards, on his plump knees and solemnly inspected everybody.

”My dear friends!” he said in a hushed, deep voice. ”My dear, good friends! This dreadful, awful, most afflicting news! I heard it but three-quarters of an hour ago--at the office, to which I happened by mere chance, to have come up for the day. I immediately ordered out our brougham and drove here--to see if I could be of any use.

You will command me, my dear friends, in anything that I can do. Not professionally, of course. No--in that respect you have Mr. Barthorpe Herapath. But--otherwise.”

Mr. Tertius looked at Peggie.

”I don't know whether we shan't be glad of Mr. Halfpenny's professional services?” he said. ”The truth is, Halfpenny, we were talking of seeing you professionally when you came in. That's one truth--another is that a will has been found--our poor friend's will, of course.”

”G.o.d bless me!” exclaimed Mr. Halfpenny. ”A will--our poor friend's will--has been found! But surely, Barthorpe, as nephew, and solicitor--eh?”

Again Mr. Tertius looked at Peggie.

”I suppose we'd better tell Mr. Halfpenny everything,” he remarked. ”Of course, Halfpenny, you'll understand that as soon as this dreadful affair was discovered and the first arrangements had been made, Barthorpe, as only male relative, began to search for a will. He resented any interference from me and was very rude to me, but when he came here and proposed to examine that safe, I told him at once that I knew of a will and where it was, though I didn't know its terms. And I immediately directed him to it, and we found it and read it a few minutes ago with the result that Barthorpe at once quitted the house--you must have pa.s.sed him in the square.”

”G.o.d bless us!” repeated Mr. Halfpenny. ”I judge from that, then--but you had better show me this doc.u.ment.”

Mr. Tertius at once produced the will, and Mr. Halfpenny, rising from his chair, marched across the room to one of the windows where he solemnly half-chanted every word from start to finish. This performance over, he carefully and punctiliously folded the doc.u.ment into its original lines, replaced it in its envelope, and grasping this firmly in his hand, resumed his seat and motioned everybody to attention.

”My dear Tertius!” he said. ”Oblige me by narrating, carefully, briefly, your recollection of the circ.u.mstances under which your signature to this highly important doc.u.ment was obtained and made.”

”Easily done,” responded Mr. Tertius. ”One night, some months ago, when our poor friend was at work here with his secretary, a Mr. Frank Burchill, he called me into the room, just as Burchill was about to leave. He said: 'I want you two to witness my signature to a paper.'

He----”

”A moment,” interrupted Mr. Halfpenny. ”He said--'a paper.' Did he not say 'my will'?”

”Not before the two of us. He merely said a paper. He produced the paper--that paper, which you now hold. He let us see that it was covered with writing, but we did not see what the writing was. He folded it over, laid it, so folded, on that desk, and signed his name. Then we both signed it in the blank s.p.a.ces which he indicated: I first, then Burchill. He then put it into an envelope--that envelope--and fastened it up. As regards that part of the proceedings,” said Mr. Tertius, ”that is all.”