He asked us into his private office, mustier, if possible, than his ante-room. He moved feebly but with the dignity of an old soldier. After reassuring himself that we were comfortable, he retired into the folds of his own armchair and waited for the detective to begin inquiry. “I shall be very glad to tell you what I can,” he said, after Smith had made known his mission. “Of course, you understand I cannot divulge the contents of the will until the proper time. But I dare say you won’t press me on that. I expect to read it in half an hour. Now--” he cleared his throat, and one gnarled hand played with a yellow ivory pen-holder--“you ask me the circumstances that led Mrs. Breese to make this will. I can tell you only what I know. “Some time ago--to be exact, shortly after that very unfortunate divorce action--” he shook his head mournfully--“an unhappy lady, Mrs. Breese. Dreadful tragedy.” He looked off and then seemed to collect his thoughts. “But, as I was saying, shortly after her divorce trial, Mrs. Breese consulted Henry O’Brien in New York. Mrs. Breese asked Mr. O’Brien to write her will. Unfortunately, just as Mr. O’Brien set to work, Mrs. Breese said she must leave for Havana. So Mr. O’Brien very kindly suggested that I attend to the will when she got here. I received a letter from him to that effect. “I waited for Mrs. Breese to come here, but she didn’t. So I took it upon myself to call on her, and she received me, and we had a very interesting talk. I made out the will. I really had very little to do with it. I was unfamiliar with Mrs. Breese or her family, and I merely took down what she dictated and had my clerks sign as witnesses.” He paused. “I think that’s all I know, gentlemen, and I’m sure I’ll be delighted if it can be of any help to you.” “Then we are to understand,” inquired Smith, “that Mrs. Breese was not particularly anxious to make out a will? That she only did so because you suggested it?” “I had my instructions from Mr. O’Brien,” the lawyer explained. Smith nodded. “That’s a very important point,” he explained. “If Mrs. Breese made out a will a week ago under someone’s influence--someone connected with her establishment--we would want to know that. It might be a very important factor.” “As far as I know, gentlemen,” the lawyer said, “Mrs. Breese made her will under no undue influence. No one was with her when I called first, or when she signed the document here in my office in the presence of my clerks.” The white-whiskered office boy (I later learned that he had been his employer’s bugler in the war) announced Gordon Rice’s arrival. Mr. Brennon instructed that the promoter be shown in at once. Rice greeted us briskly. He seemed to regard the forthcoming ceremony as an event of no particular importance and he fumed at the tardiness of the others.