"You judge me by yourself. You might act so, but I should not. However, it is useless to prolong this talk. I now know that you are an envious and disappointed man, and to get my money you are willing to go to the length of getting me hanged." "You shouldn't murder people, you know," taunted Mallien, believing that he was now top dog and could have everything his own way. Rupert passed over the accusation. "I suppose," he remarked, laying a trap for his foe, "that if I hand you over the property, will or no will, you won't say anything to the police?" Mallien's dark eyes gleamed with greed and triumph, as he had not expected to gain so sudden a victory. Hendle had evidently surrendered without firing a shot. "Yes," he said eagerly. "After all, I don't want to wash dirty family linen in public, and it would be unpleasant for me and for Dorinda to see you in the dock. After all, also, the will leaves everything to me, as the descendant of Eunice Filbert." "The will has yet to be found; it has yet to be proved legal," said Rupert calmly, "and we are not even certain if this presumed will is not a figment of Leigh's brain." "Leigh could not have invented such a story," said Mallien doggedly. "And whether he did or not matters little. The property is mine----" "That has yet to be proved," interpolated Hendle quietly. "If you don't climb down, it will be proved at the expense of your arrest for the murder," threatened Mallien. "I see." Rupert's lip curled with contempt. "And if I give you all I have, you will condone a felony?" "I don't care what beastly terms you use," snapped Mallien uneasily. "You know that it is in my power to have you arrested." "And in Mrs. Beatson's also." "Oh, I'll make it worth her while to keep quiet." "I wonder how Dorinda ever came to have so dishonorable a man for her father," commented Rupert reflectively. "I always knew you to be a bully and an avaricious animal, but I did expect some decency." "Take care," raged Mallien, growing livid again. "I shall tell the police what I know, if you insult me further." "It is impossible to insult you. A man who had agreed to hush up what he supposes to be a crime cannot be insulted. He is beyond the pale of decency. I presume, Mallien, that it never occurred to you that if I were weak enough to agree to your blackmailing, that you could be arrested later as an accessory after the fact, always supposing that I am guilty, which I am not." "Oh, for your own sake you'll hold your tongue," said the other confidently, "and Mrs. Beatson can be squared. I don't think she'll connect the murder and the will, anyhow, as I have done." "I see. She is not quite so clever as you are. Well, then, if I hand over the property to you straightway, and not bother about finding the will----" "Which you have already got and destroyed." "I see. We'll let it go at that. I am guilty, and you will condone my guilt on condition that you get my money?" "Yes," said Mallien impudently.