“That constitutes a very powerful motive,” said the lawyer. “The love of money is the root of all evil, you know.”
“I do not like to suspect my brother-in-law of such baseness,” said Mrs. Lindsay, “but I fear I must.”
“How are his own means? Has he considerable property?”
“He had. Both my husband and himself inherited a large property; but I have reason to think that, at the time I speak of, he had lost large sums by gambling. He had passed two years abroad, and I heard from acquaintances, who met him there, that he played for high stakes at Baden Baden and other German gambling resorts, and lost very heavily. I suspect that he must have reduced his means very much in this way.”
“You are probably correct, and this supplies what we lawyers always seek—the motive. I can quite understand that to a man so situated a hundred thousand dollars must have been a powerful temptation. I must ask you another question. Has Mr. James Lindsay derived any advantage from your child’s property thus far?”
“He has, though it was legally decided that he could not come into absolute possession, since my child’s death was not definitely ascertained; at least, until such time as, if living, she would have attained her majority, it was decreed that the income derived from the property should be paid to him, this payment to cease only in case of Jenny’s restoration.”
“Then Mr. James Lindsay has for the last six years received the income of a hundred thousand dollars.”
“And you never suspected his agency in the affair, in spite of all this?”
“Never. I knew James profited by my dear child’s loss, but I was not prepared to suspect him of such baseness.”
“I should have thought of it at once; but then we lawyers see so much of the bad side of human nature that we are prone to suspect evil.”
“Then I should not wish to be a lawyer. It pains me to think ill of others.”
“I respect you for the sentiment, madam, though in my profession I am compelled to repudiate it. May I inquire whether your brother-in-law yet suspects that you have discovered his complicity in the plot against your child?”
“It is that which brings me to see you to-day. I feel sure that in some way he has gained a knowledge of my secret, though I endeavored to conceal it from him.”