Carson Drew picked up the notebook and glanced through it with interest.
“The fortune will make a nice nest egg for someone,” he commented, as he looked over the lists of stocks and bonds owned by Crowley. “These securities are of the best, too. All gilt edge.”
“I hope the Tophams will be cut off without a cent,” Nancy declared.
“It’s likely they will be; but of course you never can be certain until the will is read. Unless I am mistaken, your discovery will strike the Tophams at an especially awkward time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, there’s a rumor going the rounds to the effect that Richard Topham has been losing heavily in the stock market this last month. He has been getting credit at a number of the banks on the strength of the inheritance, and I suspect he is depending on Crowley’s money to pull him through a tight place. At least he has made every effort to speed up the settlement of the estate.”
“It would serve the Tophams right if they lose everything,” Nancy said decisively. “They never had a particle of charity for anyone. They would let their relatives starve before they would help them.”
Carson Drew glanced again at the notebook in his hand.
“Now that you have found this, the thing to do is locate the will at once before Richard Topham gets wind of what is up,” he advised. “We want to administer the coup de grâce before the Tophams have a chance to get the fortune into their hands. Once the estate is settled, it will not be easy to wrest it away from them.”
“I’d like to turn the matter over to you,” Nancy responded promptly, “I’m not familiar with legal procedure and you know exactly what