In the private library they found the detective who had been left
there alone at his own request. There was a brief interview between
the three, after which Mr. Whitney begged his companion to excuse
him for a moment, and beckoning Mr. Merrick into the tower-room,
asked eagerly,-

"Well, what success? Have you struck the trail?"

With an enigmatical smile, the detective replied, "The game has
doubled back on the trail pretty adroitly, but I have made one or
two little discoveries that may be of value later. What do you
think of this?"

Opening a small note-book, he took therefrom several pieces of burnt
paper, most of which were so blackened that the faint traces of
writing which they bore were illegible. On a few pieces, however,
words and parts of words could be distinctly read.

Mr. Whitney studied the bits of discolored paper for a moment, and
then exclaimed in excited tones,

"Good heavens, man! it is the will! The will drawn up in these
rooms yesterday! See, here is the date, 'this seventh day of July,
in the year of our' - the rest is gone."

"Here is part of a name," said the detective, "'nor Houghton
LaGra' - "

"Eleanor Houghton LaGrange!" exclaimed the attorney, "and below
you can just trace the words, 'this amount of annuity to be'; and