An astonished silence ensued. The lawyer's observation was so very unexpected, that no one knew exactly how to reply. Mr. Barras did not look like a man inclined to jest, being lean-faced, dour¹, and clean-shaven, with a thin-lipped mouth, and scanty² iron-grey hair. His severe black eyes peered sternly at the world from under shaggy grey eyebrows³, and he constantly appeared to hold the attitude of a hanging judge, sentencing a criminal to the gallows⁴. Barras was not popular with his fellows, but he had the name of an extremely honest man, and was supposed to be aggressively just. Also he was deliberately⁵ cautious in expressing an opinion; therefore it was scarcely to be wondered at, that his late remark considerably⁶ startled the three people who had assembled to hear the will read. Being a woman, Clarice was the first of the trio to recover the use of her tongue, and spoke⁷ indignantly.  
"What do you mean by that, Mr. Barras?" she demanded, breathlessly.
 
"Exactly what I say, Miss Baird; and I would have you remark that I addressed myself to Dr. Jerce here, who has not yet replied."
 
"You take me by surprise, Barras," said Jerce, with a shrug⁸. "All I can reply is that Horran was the most strictly⁹ honest man of my acquaintance. Had he not been so, the late Mrs. Baird would hardly have chosen him as her executor, or as the guardian¹⁰ of her children."
 
"Exactly," said the lawyer again, and opened his portentous¹¹ black bag. "But the question is, may not the late Mrs. Baird have been mistaken as to the true character of the man?"
 
"Your own client?" said Clarice, indignantly.
 
"I am a man, as well as a lawyer," retorted Barras, coldly.
 
"Still, Uncle Henry, whom every one liked--"
 
"Popularity implies weakness, to my mind, Miss Baird. Strength has its enemies, I have always found."
 
"What do you think, Ferdy?" asked Clarice, staggered by the lawyer's air of conviction.
 
"About Uncle Henry? Oh, it's all rot. He was one of the best, even though we didn't get on over well."
 
"There, Mr. Barras," said Clarice, with an air of triumph.
 
He took no notice of her, but produced from his bag a sheaf of important-looking documents. "I had better read the will," said Barras, coldly.
 
"One moment," broke in Jerce, as Barras unfolded a sheet of parchment with a judicial¹² air. "We must tell you about the death, and--"
 
"I have heard everything," interrupted the lawyer, mounting his golden pince-nez. "I have read all that was to be read in the papers."
 
"And you think?--"
 
"I think that my late client was the eighth victim of the Purple Fern series, murdered by the surviving villain¹³."
 
"And the motive¹⁴?" questioned Miss Baird, suddenly.
 
"The same motive that brought about the death of the other victims," was the solicitor¹⁵'s cold reply--"wealth, or, if you like, robbery."
 
"I don't agree with you. Nothing was taken from the room."
 
"How do you know?"
 
"Because I know everything that is in the room, and nothing is missing. That is plain enough."
 
"On the face of it," admitted Barras, "but I think that I can show you your error."
 
"Do you mean to say that the motive for Uncle Henry's murder was robbery?" asked Ferdy, sitting up from his lounging attitude.
 
"I do, and I have good reason to say so."
 
"Then explain," said Clarice, curtly¹⁶, but secretly bewildered.
 
"I am about to do so, if you will permit me," said Barras, with his most acid smile.
 
"I beg your pardon. Go on."
 
Mr. Barras made a short explanation before reading the will, as they thought he was about to do. "Your parents," he began, looking at the twins, "Mr. and Mrs. Baird, lived at Tremby Hall, a short distance out of this town. Mr. Baird died, and left the property, which came to about four thousand a year, more or less, solely¹⁷ to his wife, your mother. When she died, the property was handed over to my late client, Mr. Henry Horran, who acted as your guardian. For this he received, under the late Mrs. Baird's will, five hundred a year. It was much needed by Mr. Horran, as he was then desperately¹⁸ poor."
 
"How do you know that?" questioned Clarice, listening intently.
 
"I was Mrs. Baird's lawyer, and afterwards became Mr. Horran's," said the iron-grey man, severely¹⁹, "so I speak of what I know. Mr. Horran, as I have just explained, received five hundred a year, as your guardian. He had also, seeing that you both were infants, so to speak, complete control of the property--that is, you each were left two thousand a year, and it was arranged that you should come into possession at the age of twenty-five. Meanwhile, Mr. Horran was to look after you, educate you, and guide you."
 
"He did all that," said Clarice, with emotion, although Ferdy did not openly second her speech, and wriggled²⁰ uneasily.
 
"At five hundred a year," remarked Barras, pointedly²¹.
 
"Go on--go on," said Jerce, impatiently.
 
"You, Mr. Baird, and you, Miss Baird, being twins, were each three years of age when your mother died. You are now each three and twenty, and in another two years will come into unfettered possession of four thousand a year, divided equally. You, Mr. Baird, receive, at the age of twenty-five, two thousand a year; and you, Miss Baird, also at the age of twenty-five, receive the same sum, annually²²."
 
"Yes, yes," said Jerce, who appeared to be irritated by the minute way in which the lawyer was detailing everything; "and, of course, there is the accumulation on the income of four thousand a year, for--let me see--twenty years, up to the present."
 
"That is the whole point," remarked Barras, solemnly, "but I shall come to that point shortly. You, Mr. Baird, were allowed two hundred a year from the age of twenty--that is for the last three years."
 
"Yes," snapped Ferdy, "and little enough it is."
 
"I quite understand that, seeing you are young and gay," said the lawyer, drily. "Well, then, for three years you have been receiving this allowance, which comes--I may tell you--from the letting of Tremby Hall to those Americans. So you see, all of you, that the income of Mr. Ferdinand Baird, coming from this outside source, so to speak, leaves the four thousand a year intact."
 
Clarice heaved a weary sigh. "Why explain all this?" she asked. "We know the most part of it."
 
"Quite so," said Barras, deliberately, "but you do not know all."
 
"All what?"
 
"All that I am about to tell you, if you will permit me to speak."
 
The girl looked at him hard. There seemed to be a great deal lurking²³ behind the solicitor's manner. "Go on, please," she said, apprehensively²⁴.
 
"When Dr. Jerce refers to the accumulation on the income of four thousand a year for twenty years," continued Mr. Barras, "he must not forget, that besides the five hundred per annum to Mr. Horran, there was also the sum required for education, for the keep of this house, and for the clothing of the children--I allude²⁵ to you two," added Barras, looking over his pince-nez.
 
Ferdy nodded. "I understand and so does Clarry."
 
"Now, then," said Mr. Barras, having reached this point, "I shall read the will, as you no doubt understand exactly how the monies stand--that is, how they were left by your late mother."
 
"But we don't understand about the accumulations," protested Clarice. "I am coming to that," said the lawyer, significantly. "Allow me to conduct this conversation in my own way, so as to make everything plain. The will--listen--the will of Mr. Henry Horran--"
 
"But he had nothing to leave," burst out Ferdy; "you said so."
 
"I did not exactly say so," said Barras, deliberately, "but it is a fact. Since the five hundred a year ceased at Mr. Horran's death, seeing that he could not longer continue his duties as guardian, he certainly had nothing to leave. But the will of the late Mrs. Baird gave him the power to appoint a new guardian."
 
"What a shame!" cried Ferdy, flushing; "we--Clarry and I--are old enough to handle our own money."
 
"Possibly, but the will must stand," said Barras, drily, "and, after all, as you will see, the new guardian is the best that could be appointed. From what I have seen of this young lady"--he bowed to Clarice--"and from the frequency with which ............