“I knew that Thorndyke was writing to you to this effect,” I replied, “but I must frankly confess that I can make nothing of it. Have you acted on his advice?”

“Certainly not!” shouted the irascible lawyer. “Do you suppose that we wish to make ourselves the laughingstock of the courts? The thing is impossible⁠—ridiculously impossible!”

“It can’t be that, you know,” I said, a little stiffly, for I was somewhat nettled by Mr. Winwood’s manner, “or Thorndyke would not have written this letter. The conclusion looks as impossible to me as it does to you; but I have complete confidence in Thorndyke. If he says that the will is a forgery, I have no doubt that it is a forgery.”

“But how the deuce can it be?” roared Winwood. “You know the circumstances under which the will was executed.”