Chapter XXII: Discovery of the Will

After Nick had made himself known the lawyer was quite willing to visit the house of Mr. Peters, as the detective suggested, but he admitted that he did not have any confidence that Nick would be able to trace the missing document.

“I have searched the house from cellar to garret, and can find no sign of the will,” said Smart, with confidence. “I do not believe that it is in the house now, if it still exists.”

“Another look will not do any harm, if you have no objections,” said Nick.

“None in the least. I only hope that you may succeed, as this matter is giving me a great deal of annoyance.”

“Is the house far from here?”

“About a mile,” answered Northrup. “We will take the automobile.”

The host gave the necessary orders, and in a few minutes they were speeding over the fine roads in the direction of old man Peters’ house.

As there was no response to their rings and repeated knocking at the door, the lawyer admitted the party with his key.

“Tell me briefly what were the old man’s habits just before he died,” said Nick. “Was he able to get around himself after his stroke?”

“He was not exactly helpless, but had to be assisted in walking--in fact, practically carried. He would put his arms around his servant’s neck, and, in a sort of a pig-a-back fashion, he was moved around the house.”

“Had he any favorite place where he used to spend the days?”

“Almost invariably he would pass the day in his study, reading or writing. His mind was very active.”

“In what room was the will drawn?”

“In his study.”

“Did you leave him there when you left the house?”

“Yes. I simply notified the old servant that I was going, so that he might know that his master was alone again.”

“The will is in the study. Let us go there. It is a waste of time to look elsewhere.”

“But I have searched the study and every nook and cranny where he might have hidden the document,” said the lawyer, showing some annoyance.

“Why should he hide the will?” asked Nick coolly.

“I am sure I do not know, but it is gone.”

“That’s just it. There can be no reason for his secreting the will, but you did not, perhaps, look in the obvious places where he might have laid it away temporarily. Let us try the library.”

Mr. Smart led the way to a large handsomely furnished room on the lower floor, and, turning on the lights, Nick cast a quick glance around the apartment.

“This was his seat?” asked Nick, as he took the big revolving-chair in front of a roll-top desk.

“Yes,” answered the lawyer, “that is where he spent his days.”

Nick stepped to the chair and sat down as if he were about to go to work at the desk. He glanced quickly over the top of the desk, into the pigeonholes in the back, and then sat for a moment thinking.

“Have you asked the servant if he saw anything of the document in the hands of Mr. Peters?” he inquired finally.

“Yes. The man had seen nothing of it, and I think if the old gentleman had had it exposed to view in his presence he would have noticed it. He is a very observant person, and had the interests of his master at heart. In fact, he aided him in much of his clerical work.”

“If Mr. Peters had had the will in his hand when the servant helped him up or down-stairs, you think the man would have noticed it?”

“Undoubtedly.”

“Then the will is in this desk.”

Nick spoke with the utmost confidence, and again the lawyer showed some irritation.

“But I tell you I have searched the desk throughout,” he said.

“Yes,” replied Nick, “but you must remember that you were looking for a place where he might have hidden it. He did not hide it. He simply put it one side, and, as it was a document that he did not mean should be read by any chance caller, he simply placed it under his blotting-pad.”

As Nick spoke with that confidence for which he was noted when he believed he had solved a problem, he removed a large dictionary that lay on one side of the large blotting-pad, and, lifting the blotters from the leather corners, disclosed a paper which had been pushed under them.

“I think you will find that that is the will for which you are looking,” said the detective calmly, rising and pointing to the desk.

In amazement the lawyer dropped into the chair which Nick vacated, and, seizing the paper, glanced hurriedly at it.

“It is the lost will,” he cried. “Mr. Carter, you are a wonder. Your detective instincts are simply remarkable.”

“Not at all,” replied Nick modestly. “Most apparently tough problems are simple when they are solved. The obvious is almost always to be depended on to clear up nine mysteries out of ten. Some gentlemen of my craft are too prone to look at the involved and most unlikely side of a case as a means for discovering a solution.”

“Is there any way in which I can recompense you for your trouble, Mr. Carter?” asked the lawyer, in some embarrassment, as he felt that as a friend of Northrup and while a guest in his home the detective would not consider that he had been acting professionally, so far as reward went. And yet, the finding of the will was an important matter to the estate, which was amply able to pay well.

“Yes, you can,” was Nick’s unexpected reply. “Let me look over the will.”

“With pleasure,” said the lawyer, handing the document to Nick.

The detective glanced through the paper quickly.

“I see that the beneficiary figures in the document under his professional name of ‘Red Morgan.’ Do you object to telling me the family name which you say he whispered to Mr. Peters? I suppose he confided that to you.”

“Yes, to be sure, but to tell the truth I paid little attention to it, as I did not believe the man’s story. Criminals are all liars.”

“Have you forgotten the name?” asked Nick, in surprise.

“In fact I have, but I made a memorandum of it at the time, and perhaps I have it here.”

The lawyer dug into his pockets, and, after a time, exclaimed:

“Ah! yes, here it is.”

“What is the name?” asked Nick, with some excitement.

With some difficulty the lawyer read the blurred paper:

“Thomas Danton.”