The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1908-05-07

eyes upon the walls and ceiling. But 40
looked the doctor straight in the face.
ION what WAS that win writtenY Try
your utmost now to reeollect that;
great deal depends ON Il.
The first will was not written upon
paper, The second contained some slight
beQUests to friends and to favorite SER
wants. l believe | was mentioned my
self for some trlhing amount. In other
respects the two wills were Identical The
first one was drawn up by Madame Ron-
| pel's lawyers. She kept the second viii
az her bankers The FIRST one remained
in the house. 1t was engrossed on parch-
/ ment."
ION parchment. = repeated NJ. Cassagne.
WAS It anything like thisq~ and he
over to the doctor.
where did you find this?- inquired
the doctor when be could sufficiently re-
cover from his astonshment to speak.
Il found il upstairs" replied Nj. Cas-
sagne. Il put il in my pocket. because
il was in a queer place for scrap Of
parchment. l found Il with four other
pieces. in the fireplace Of Madame Rou-
pell's bedroom. OF course, l have a the
DRY, now. how they came there. First Of
all. however, before l come TO that. tell
me il you are certain that the scraps
were torn from Madame Roupell's will
the first viii. mean-the parchment
onesr
The physician did not Immediately re-
ply. He fully realized the importance Of
his answer. and how much hung on Il.
~Give me the scraps" he said II
there Is any writing on them I should
be able to tell by that IL was a very
peculiar hand II looked as II il had been
engrossed BY an English scrivener. Yes.
the handwritings are Identical"
1T is enough" muttered Cassagne,
sweeping the pieces Of parchment up
from the table and putting them carefully
away in his p0cketbook. Now for my
theory. Henry Graham IS the man We
want to find. Mind you. I don't say he
committed the murder. but you'll see he
is implicated in 1t in some way or other.
He had everything to gain by Madame
Roupelrs death. provided she died intes-
tate He must have learned in some way
that his sister had made a viii disinherit-
ing him. To gain possession OF what he
thought was the only will was his object.
IL he could do that. his sister, being ig-
norant OF the fact that the viii was de-
stroyed, would 20 10 her grave believ-
ing herself testate- On her death her
brother could have come forward and
claimed the property"
II was clever reasoning. The doctor
listened with breathless interest as the
continued:
Assuming thar it Is this Henry Ora
ham. let US see what be knew and what
be did. He must have heard OF the max
Ine OF this first will. and somehow or
other he must have learned Of its con-
tents. He was ignorant OF the making :
of the second instrument Now let Us see 4
how he acted. tie gained an entrance
70 the chateau. How he did this Il IS Inn !.
possible TO state at present Probably
le may have been in collision with some
,ody in the house; but don't know YET
de was evidently well posted as to the
movements Of the family. for he chose z
line when. as be thought, they had gone
o the opera. IL was a mere accident a
We don't know whether It was or not, but y
We win assume so-that Miss Harriet
Weldon did not accompany the party.
IN myself inclined to think there was
ONE love affair between her and Van "
18th. which accounts for his presence in e
be house that night. and which also
counts for his silence. You understand u
that I mean. He won't speak for fear In
I compromising the young lady" re-
The doctor nodded That Is good" he =
aid. very good. indeed: 20 ahead"
The assassin was little Disconnected
/ finding Miss Weldon and your friend =
| the chateau. Instead Of entering the en-
ouse from the front. which would be 70
easy. he was compelled to VI
, 20 BIZ the rear. running the risk Of
ling seen By the servants. He gained 70
[adane RoupelI's chamber and proceed
10 search for the document lie ran y,
lcked the desk and then threw the pa
rs about. Unconsciously he stayed
niger than he intended. So absorbed
a. he In his search that he was surpris- lea
By his victim. He drew the sfiletto. sit
abbed her, and quietly resumed his ~,
arch for the paper. After a time. be ia
und It. He was about TO destroy Il b,.
fire. when it occurred 70 him that a -
rchment would burn better II It was
small pieces. He started to tear Il n
|. when be altered his mind. and instead iro
burning It then and there, put It In his M
cket to be destroyed at some more fav- III
able opportunity. Unluckily for him. yea
his hurry he did not pick Up the scraps
tore Of
(To be confinued-) r