"That I can very readily do," said the lawyer. "When I showed Mr. James Melray the loan-office documents, with what purported to be three separate signatures of his attached thereto, he at once, in the most emphatic and indignant terms, denounced the whole affair as an audacious mixture of forgery and fraud. He had never seen Noyes in his life, much less applied to him for a loan, or pledged his policy of assurance. But when he had reached that point of his disclaimer I said to him, 'Would it not be as well to satisfy yourself that the policy is still in your possession?' 'Why, I had it in my hand no longer ago than yesterday,' was his reply. 'It lies where it has always lain, on the top shelf in the large safe, one of a bundle of documents tied round with red tape.' Thereupon, as if to make assurance doubly sure, he rose, crossed the room, unlocked the safe, and produced from the interior the bundle of papers of which he had spoken and extracted from the rest a large oblong envelope, which he brought to the table. It was labelled in his own writing, 'Paid-up Policy of Assurance on Own Life for 2,000_l_.; 'There,' he said, with a little triumph in his tone, 'whatever else the rogue may have been guilty of he has not succeeded in making away with this.' 'I hope you won't think me unreasonable,' I replied, 'if I ask you to open the envelope and examine its contents.' Scarcely had the words left my lips before, with his office knife, he had slit open one end of the envelope and drawn forth the enclosure. An instant later he sank back in his chair with a groan. All that the envelope contained was some blank sheets of engrossing paper.