Anything Goes

wicked grin. Mr. Kessler mumbled at him in an undertone.
    “Yes, but there’s more that isn’t,“ Robert said.
    “At this dinner we attended at the Winslows’,“ Lily said, “I was seated facing a family portrait. Major Winslow had his cane across his knees. I thought nothing of it until I remembered that I’d been told that Uncle Horatio had suffered a deadly wound in the back of his head from a round, very hard object. Chief Henderson, when you see the portrait, I think you’ll recognize the large, round, gold head of the cane matches this description. It isn’t the cane Major Winslow is using these days.“
    “Daddy will pay the money back. It was only ten dollars,“ Sissy burst out.
    A dreadful silence fell as the rest of the group realized Sissy had completely missed the point of what Lily was saying.
    Lily said, rather more gently, “Sissy, tell us the rest of the truth. You didn’t bring my scarf back here like you said, did you?”
    Sissy shook her head miserably. “No, Daddy said I was to say so. When the police came the next day and asked about the scarf, he told them I’d taken it back to Grace and Favor. He explained to me later.“
    “He explained what?“ Robert asked.
    “That Claude had been away from the table for a long time during dinner. It might have been at the same time that the horrible Billy person was killed and we didn’t want the police to get the wrong idea about Claude.”
    At this, Claude himself rose from his chair like an angry rhinocerous in bellowing indignation. “You old bastard! You were trying to pin this on me!“
    “ I was trying to protect you, for Sissy’s sake. We wanted her to marry well,“ Winslow said. He was running out of steam.
    “Marry a girl who has to steal from my cousins to buy food? You fool. You absolute blithering old fool.”
    Robert firmly waved Claude back to his seat. Claude sat down, seething and muttering to himself.
    “Sissy,“ Robert said, “Claude wasn’t the only person who was gone from the table for a long time.”
    Suddenly Sissy caught on to what was really happening around her. “No!“ she screamed. “Not Daddy!“ She collapsed in wracking sobs.
    Mrs. Winslow finally got her wits together and whispered, “May I take her away?”
    Chief Henderson nodded. Mrs. Winslow led Sissy out of the room, pausing to take a long, hard look at her husband before she closed the door behind them. He wouldn’t meet her gaze.
    Lily looked at Mr. Kessler. “Is Major Winslow the man you thought you saw following our uncle down to the cabin?”
    Kessler nodded. “I was pretty sure it was he.”
    Jonathan Winslow ignored Kessler’s remark and said with what he apparently meant as withering sarcasm, “Even if this were all true, which it isn’t, it proves nothing. And my finances are my business. No one else’s.”
    At this point, Mr. Prinney, who had been quietly sitting in a corner, opened a drawer in the table next to him and took out some papers, then came to stand by Lily and Robert. “That’s not quite true, Winslow. I’m afraid you are going to have to provide a financial statement. You see, I received a letter last week that perplexed me considerably. Allow me to read from it.”
    Everyone who remained in the room, except Jonathan Winslow, was leaning forward in anticipation. Winslow was gazing about the room with poorly feigned unconcern.
    Mr. Prinney said, “This is from the county clerk of Orange County, California, who says,
     
    Dear Mr. Prinney,
    I’m writing you in regard to the deed dated April 1, 1931, which was filed in this office. It came by mail from Mr. Horatio Brewster on April 10th of the same month. In checking the title records, I discovered that the deed, signed over to his co-owner, Major Jonathan Winslow—who, according to Mr. Brewster’s cover letter, was to subsequently sell it to a local film company—had the property description incorrect. I immediately wrote to Mr. Brewster, asking if he and his partner Major Jonathan Winslow wished to file an amended deed and if he wished this one returned or destroyed. I never heard from him. The buyer is anxious that the title be corrected promptly so that he may pay the new sole owner and take title to the property. Since you are the attorney of record and notarized the signatures, I would appreciate it if you could consult with Mr. Brewster with all due haste.”
     
    Prinney folded up the letter carefully and looked at Jonathan Winslow. “The clerk