author:C. N. Williamson

“ Barlow and the two Australian nephews had departed in haste after their loss. They might or might not have read in the papers about the coffin containing the body of a woman picked up at sea by a yacht. Probably they had read of it, since the word “coffin” at the head of a column would be apt to catch their guilty eyes. But, even so, they would hardly expect that this coffin and a certain other coffin were one and the same. In any case, they need not greatly fear suspicion falling upon them, and Roger and I thought they would remain at the farm engaged in eager, secret search. ”

“ Only you wasn't quite smart enough. The fellers laugh best who laugh last. And we're those fellers!”
“You spring to conclusions,” I said. But my voice sounded small in my own ears, small and thin as the voice of a child. Oh, to know if this brute spoke truth about his brother and Roger Fane and the car, or if he were fighting me with my own weapon—bluff!
Hank Barlow laughed aloud, though he mightn't laugh last!
“Do you call yourself a 'conclusion?' I'll give you just two minutes, my handsome lady, to make up your mind. ”

“ At sight of me she jumped and almost dropped a pan of meal; but even the most innocent person is entitled to jump! She recovered herself quickly and called up the ghost of a welcoming smile, such a smile as may decently decorate the face of a newly made widow. ”

“ I said, “because you have no 'sad affliction.' Your husband is as much alive as I am. The only loss you've suffered is the loss of the coffin in which he wasn't buried!”
The woman dropped like a jelly out of its mold into a kitchen chair. “My heavens! Miss Elizabeth, you don't know what you're saying!” she gasped, dry-lipped.
“I know quite well,” I caught her up. “And to show that I know, I'm going to reconstruct the whole plot.” This was bluff. But it was part of the plan. “Barlow's nephews were expert thieves. They'd served a term for stealing at home in Australia. ”

“ I said, “everything is known. Not only do I know, but others. And we have all the stolen things in our possession. I've come here to offer you a chance of saving yourselves, though it's compounding a felony or something, I suppose! We can put you in the way of replacing the heirlooms in the night, just as they were taken away, by that secret passage you know. If you try to play us false, and hope to get the things back, we won't have mercy a second time. We shall find Barlow before you can warn him. And as for his nephews——”
“Yes! What about his nephews?” ”

“ They bribed you and Barlow to help them carry it out. Every man is said to have his price. You two had yours! Just how much more than others you knew about old, secret 'hide-holes' in the Abbey, I can't tell, but I'm sure you did know more than any of us. ”