“Let’s read it right away,” Nancy begged.
Mr. Jensen handed the sheets to Mr. Drew. “Maybe you can decipher this. The handwriting is too much for me.”
The lawyer took the will. Then, as Nancy looked over his shoulder, he haltingly read aloud, giving an interpretation rather than a word by word account.
“Mr. Jensen—Mr. Warren, your bank has been named as executor,” he said.
“Very good.” The president smiled. “But I expect Mr. Topham won’t be happy to hear this.”
Mr. Drew had turned to the last page. “The signature of Josiah is in order,” he remarked, “and there are two witnesses—Dr. Nesbitt and Thomas Wackley. No wonder this will didn’t come to light. Both those men died in April.”
As Nancy tried to decipher the handwriting, she noticed to her delight that the Hoover girls and Abby Rowen were mentioned.
At this moment the president said, “Mr. Drew, the bank’s regular lawyer had just left for Europe on an extended vacation. Since you and your daughter have solved the mystery and are so vitally interested in it, would you handle this case for us?”
Nancy held her breath as Mr. Jensen opened the
safe-deposit box
Nancy’s eyes sparkled and Mr. Drew smiled. “I’d certainly be very glad to,” he said.
“What instructions have you for us?” Mr. Warren asked.
Mr. Drew thought a moment, then said, “Because of the unusual aspects of this case, I believe that first of all I’d like you to have photostats of the will made, so I can study the contents carefully.”
“We’ll be happy to do that,” Mr. Jensen replied. “And then?”
“After I’m sure everything is legal,” Mr. Drew went on, “I’ll deliver the original will for probate and notify the people who will benefit from Mr. Crowley’s estate.”
“Fine,” said Mr. Jensen. “We have photostating equipment right here. I’ll have a couple of copies made while you wait. Or shall I send them to your office?”
Mr. Drew glanced at his daughter. “We’ll wait,” he said, smiling.
While the photostats were being made, Nancy’s mind was racing. “Oh, I hope Allison receives enough money to pay for singing lessons, and the other deserving people get nice amounts,” she whispered to her father, who nodded.
The wait seemed interminable to Nancy, who could not sit still. She walked back and forth until finally her father remarked teasingly, “You’re like a caged lion.”
Nancy pretended to pout. “At least I’m not growling,” she said, and Mr. Drew grinned.
Soon a messenger brought back the will, together with two photostats of the document.
“Thank you,” said Mr. Jensen, who handed the photostatic copies to Mr. Drew.
“I’ll work on this at once,” the lawyer promised as he put the papers in his brief case. Then he and his daughter left the bank.
Mr. Drew insisted that he and Nancy stop for lunch and refused to let her look at the will while they were waiting to be served. “Relax, young lady,” he warned. “There’s no point in letting any prying eyes know our secret.”
As he saw his daughter’s animation fading, Mr. Drew said, “Suppose you come to my office with me and we’ll work on the problem together. I’ll have the will typed. In this way its full meaning can be understood more easily.”
“Oh, thanks, Dad,” said Nancy.
In the lawyer’s office the young sleuth sat down beside his typist, Miss Lamby. As each page came from the machine, Nancy read it avidly.
“Mr. Crowley certainly seemed to know the correct phraseology for drawing up a will,” she remarked.
Finally, when the typing had been completed, Nancy said to the secretary, “I have a lot of questions to ask Dad.”
Miss Lamby smiled. “If they’re legal ones, he’ll know all the answers,” she said. “There’s no better lawyer in River Heights than your father.”
Nancy smiled as she dashed into her father’s office. The two Drews sat down to study Josiah Crowley’s last will and testament.
“If this does prove to be legal,” said Nancy, “it will certainly be a blow to the Tophams.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Dad, when you call a meeting of all the relatives and read the will aloud,” Nancy said, “please may I be there?”
Mr. Drew laughed. “I’ll humor you this time, Nancy. You may be present when the Tophams get the surprise of their lives!”
CHAPTER XIX
Startling Revelations
“DAD, it’s nearly two o’clock now. Mr. Crowley’s relatives should be here in a few minutes! I’m so excited!”
Carson Drew, who stood in the living room of the Drew home with Mr. Warren from the bank, smiled at his daughter as she fluttered about, arranging chairs.
“I believe you’re more thrilled than if you were inheriting the fortune yourself,” he remarked.
“I am thrilled,” Nancy admitted. “I can scarcely wait until the will is read aloud. Won’t everyone be surprised? Especially the Tophams. Do you think they will come?”
“Oh, yes, the Tophams will be here. And, unless I am mistaken, they will bring a lawyer with them. Just as soon as they learned that another will had come to light, they began to worry. They will certainly want to hear what is in this one.”
“Are you certain the will we found can’t be broken?” Nancy inquired anxiously.
“Of course I can’t be certain, Nancy. But I have gone over it carefully, and so far as I can tell, it is technically perfect. I also asked a couple of lawyer friends and they agree. Josiah Crowley was peculiar in some ways, but he was a very smart man. I’ll promise you the Tophams will have a difficult time if they try to contest this will.”
“The bank will help you fight,” Mr. Warren put in.
With the exception of Abby Rowen, who was still confined to bed, all the old gentleman’s relatives had promised to be present. Grace and Allison Hoover, although not relatives, had also been invited.
“It’s too bad Mrs. Rowen can’t come,” said Nancy. “But I’ll take the news to her this very afternoon.”
“The size of the fortune will probably be a great surprise to everyone but the Tophams,” said her father with a smile. “Nancy, you did a remarkable piece of detective work.”
“It was fun,” she said modestly. “And I can hardly wait to have it all cleared up.”
“We may have some trying minutes with the Tophams, Nancy,” her father warned.
“Yes, I suppose so. I expect anybody would be sorry to see a fortune slip away.... Dad, I see Grace and Allison coming up the walk now,” Nancy announced, glancing out the window.
She greeted them with kisses and escorted the sisters into the living room, where she introduced them to Mr. Warren. As Allison sat down, she whispered to Nancy:
“Is it true a later will has been found?”
“You and Grace have no cause to worry,” Nancy assured her with a mysterious smile.
The doorbell rang. This time Nancy admitted Edna and Mary Turner, who were dressed as if for a party. With them was little Judy, who threw herself into Nancy’s arms. A few minutes later the Mathews brothers, William and Fred, arrived.
“I guess everyone is here except the Tophams,” Mr. Drew commented. “We had better wait for them a few minutes.”
There was no need to wait, for at that moment the bell rang sharply. Nancy opened the door and the four members of the Topham family walked in haughtily, merely nodding to the others in the room. As Mr. Drew had predicted, they were accompanied by a lawyer.
“Why have we been called here?” Mrs. Topham demanded, addressing Mr. Drew. “Have you the audacity to claim that another will has been found?”
“I have a will written only this past March, Mrs. Topham,” Carson Drew replied evenly. “And I’d like to introduce to all of you Mr. John Warren, trust officer of the Merchants Trust Company, of Masonville, which has been named as executor.”
“It’s preposterous!�
�� Mrs. Topham stormed. “Josiah Crowley made only one will and in that he left everything to us with my husband as executor.”
“It looks like a conspiracy to me,” Ada added tartly, as she gazed coldly upon the relatives and friends who were seated about the room.
Isabel did not speak, but tossed her head contemptuously. Richard Topham likewise did not offer a comment, but uneasily seated himself beside his own attorney.
“If you will please be seated, Mrs. Topham, I will read the will,” Mr. Drew suggested.
Reluctantly Mrs. Topham sat down.
“As I have said,” Mr. Drew began, “a recent will of the late Josiah Crowley was found in a safe-deposit box in the Masonville bank. The will is unusually long, and with your permission I will read from a typed copy only the portions which have to do with the disposal of the property. But first I want to ask Mr. Topham what value he puts on the estate.”
“A hundred thousand after taxes,” the man replied.
“Oh!” the Turners exclaimed, and Mary said, “I had no idea Josiah had that much money.”
“Nor I,” Edna agreed.
Mr. Drew picked up several typewritten sheets from the table, and began to read in a clear voice:
“ ‘I, Josiah Crowley, do make this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me at any time made. I give and bequeath all my property, real and personal, as follows:
“ ‘To my beloved friends and neighbors, Grace and Allison Hoover, a sum equal to twenty per cent of my estate, share and share alike.’ ”
“I must be dreaming!” Grace gasped.
“You mean I’m going to get ten thousand dollars?” Allison cried out. She burst into tears. “Oh, Nancy, you did this for me! Now I can have my voice lessons.”
Isabel Topham eyed her disdainfully. “It would take more than ten thousand dollars to make a singer out of you!” she said maliciously.
“Quiet!” commanded her father. “Let’s hear what else this will says.”
His daughter subsided, but his wife exclaimed spitefully, “The will is a fraud. The Hoovers aren’t even relatives.”
“It is no fraud,” Mr. Drew told her quietly. Again he picked up the will and began to read:
“ ‘To Abby Rowen, my late wife’s cousin, in consideration of her kindness to me, a sum equal to ten per cent of my estate.’ ”
“Oh, I’m so glad,” Grace murmured. “Now she’ll be able to get the medical and other attention she needs.”
“And have someone live at her house to take care of her,” said Nancy.
“That old lady gets ten thousand dollars?” Ada Topham said harshly. “What did she ever do for Cousin Josiah?” Angrily she turned to her mother. “We took care of him for years—she didn’t!”
“I’ll say not,” Isabel echoed, her voice tart.
“ ‘To my cousins, Fred and William Mathews, a sum equal to twenty per cent of my estate, share and share alike,’ ” Mr. Drew read.
“We didn’t expect that much,” Fred Mathews declared in genuine surprise. “Josiah was very kind.” Fred smiled. “Now we can take a trip like we’ve always wanted to do, William.”
“That’s right. I just can’t believe it. A long trip on an ocean liner or a plane.”
“ ‘To my cousins, Edna and Mary Turner, twenty per cent of my estate, share and share alike.’ ”
“Oh, how generous!” Edna murmured. “Now little Judy can have the things we’ve always wanted to give her.”
“Yes,” said Mary Turner. “Oh, I feel so relieved.”
“Aren’t we mentioned at all?” Mrs. Topham broke in sharply.
Mr. Drew smiled. “Yes, you are mentioned. I’m coming to that now. ‘To Richard Topham, five thousand dollars. To Grace and Allison Hoover—’ ”
“Hold on!” cried Mrs. Topham. “What about me and the girls?”
“No money was left to you,” the lawyer stated simply.
Isabel gave a shriek. “Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, Mother, all those bills! What’ll we do?”
Ada too had cried out. “I’ll have to go to work! Oh, I can’t bear the thought of it!”
When the furor died down, Mr. Drew read on, “ ‘To Grace and Allison Hoover my household furniture now in the possession of Mrs. Richard Topham.’ ”
There was a gasp of surprise from everyone in the room, and Mrs. Topham half arose from her chair. It was generally known in River Heights that she had practically confiscated Josiah Crowley’s furniture at the time he had been induced to make his home with the Tophams.
“How insulting!” the woman cried. “Does Josiah Crowley dare hint that I took his furniture?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what was in his mind at the time he wrote the will,” Mr. Drew told her with a smile.
Grace Hoover interposed quickly, “We have enough furniture without Josiah Crowley’s.”
Allison nodded. “We’ll not take any of it from you, Mrs. Topham.”
Mr. Drew carefully folded the document he had been reading, and after placing it in his pocket, he said to the people in the room:
“That is all, except that there is a proviso for the executor to pay all Mr. Crowley’s just debts, including his funeral expenses, and that what balance is left in the estate goes to the Manningham Old Men’s Home. I understand Josiah Crowley kept his assets in a liquid state. It will not be difficult to convert the estate into cash. For that reason I should think it would be possible to draw on your inheritances at once.”
Ada wheeled upon Nancy, her face convulsed with anger. “You engineered this whole thing, Nancy Drew!” she accused bitterly.
“Any good I’ve done I’m happy about,” Nancy answered.
“We’ll break the will!” Mrs. Topham announced firmly.
CHAPTER XX
A Happy Finale
“OF COURSE you may take the matter into court if you like,” Mr. Drew responded to Mrs. Topham’s threat. “But I warn you it will be a waste of your time and money. If you don’t wish to accept my judgment, ask your own lawyer.”
“Mr. Drew is right,” the other lawyer said, after arising and looking carefully at the legal document which Mr. Drew took from his pocket.
“Oh, he is, is he?” Mrs. Topham retorted. “If that’s all you know about law, you’re discharged! We’ll get another lawyer and we’ll fight to the last ditch!”
With that she arose and stalked from the room. Isabel and Ada followed, after bestowing a withering glance upon Nancy. Mr. Topham brought up the rear. As soon as the door had closed behind them, their lawyer arose and picked up his brief case.
“Well, I can’t say I’m sorry to be taken off the case,” he remarked as he, too, took his leave. “But I advise you to be on your guard. That woman is certainly belligerent.”
At once the atmosphere in the Drew living room became less strained, though each person was fearful Mrs. Topham would make trouble. Everyone began to talk at once.
“Oh, Nancy, I can hardly believe it yet!” Allison declared happily. “The money means so much to Grace and me! And we owe it all to you, Nancy Drew! You haven’t told us how you came to find the will, but I know you were responsible.”
When the Hoover girls and Mr. Crowley’s relatives begged her for the details, Nancy told of her adventure with the thieves at Moon Lake. After she had finished the story, they praised her highly for what she had done.
“We’ll never be able to thank you enough,” Grace said quietly. “But after the estate has been settled, we’ll try to show our appreciation.”
It was on the tip of Nancy’s tongue to say that she did not want a reward, when Mr. Drew turned the conversation into a different channel.
“Mrs. Topham will not give up the money without a fight,” he warned. “My advice would be to go along as you have until the court has decided to accept this will as the final one. However, if Mrs. Topham and her daughters bring the matter into court, I’ll give them a battle they’ll never forget!”
After thanking Mr. Drew and
Nancy for everything they had done, the relatives and friends departed. Allison and Grace were the last to leave. On the porch, Allison paused to hug Nancy and say, “Please let us know what develops. I’m so eager to start taking voice lessons.”
Nancy wanted to set off at once to see Abby Rowen and tell her the good news. But upon second thought she decided to wait. Suppose the Tophams succeeded in upsetting the whole case!
For a week Nancy waited impatiently to hear the result of the battle over the will. As she and her father had anticipated, Mrs. Topham was fighting bitterly for the Crowley estate. She had put forth the claim that the will Nancy had unearthed was a forged document.
“This suspense is just awful,” Nancy told her father one morning. “When are we going to get final word?”
“I can’t answer that, Nancy. But apparently Mr. Topham thinks it’s a losing battle. I suppose you’ve heard about the family.”
“Why, no, what about them?”
“They’re practically bankrupt. Richard Topham has been losing steadily on the stock market of late. After his failure to recover the Crowley fortune, the banks reduced his credit. He’s been forced to give up his beautiful home.”
“No, really? How that must hurt Mrs. Topham and the two girls!”
“Yes, it’s undoubtedly a bitter pill to swallow. They are moving into a small house this week, and from now on they’ll have to give up their extravagant way of living. Both girls are working. Personally, I think it will be good for them.”
Word came that the three furniture thieves had finally confessed to many robberies and their unsold loot was recovered. Among the pieces were all the heirlooms they had stolen from the Turners.
One evening Mr. Drew came home wearing a broad smile. Facing Nancy and laying both hands on her shoulders, he said:
“We’ve won, my dear. The will you located has been accepted as the last one Mr. Crowley wrote.”
“Oh, Dad, how wonderful!” she cried, whirling her father about in a little dance. “First thing tomorrow morning, may I go and tell Allison and Grace and the others?”
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