There Was an Old Woman [= The Quick And the Dead]

“No, indeed,” continued the great man, “you were trapped by the trap of circumstance, Charley. You did the only possible thing: you tried to make us believe the Old Woman’s confession was untrue. The simplest way to do that was to make it appear a forgery. If we could be led to believe it was a forgery then logically we’d conclude the Old Woman had not been the killer at all, we would continue the investigation, and eventually, following the trail you were so carefully laying down, we would arrive at Thurlow.”

And now Charles Hunter Paxton turned from the window and stood black and stormy against it, rocking a little on the balls of his feet and glaring at the revolver in the Inspector’s hand which was aimed steadily at his belly.

“I referred a few moments ago,” said Ellery amiably, “to the only serious mistake you made, Charley my boy — the mistake that gives the D.A. his evidence and will bring your career to a fitting climax.

“What was your mistake? You had to prove the Old Woman’s confession a forgery. To accomplish this, two series of actions on your part were mandatory.

“One: You had to get hold of some document which the authorities knew of their own knowledge had been signed by Cornelia Potts. You remembered the stock memorandum, the signing and discussing of which had taken place before our eyes and ears. That would serve admirably, so you decided to get the original stock memo—”

“Sure!” said the Inspector. “It was in that kneehole desk in the Potts library Paxton always used for business.”

“Yes. You had to get hold of it, Charley, prepare an exact duplicate on the Old Woman’s portable, and then you had to trace onto the duplicate memo the signature at the bottom of the Old Woman’s confession.”

“Just a minute, Ellery.” The Inspector seemed troubled. “Since the original stock memo was in this fellow’s desk in the library, anybody in the house could have got to it. It doesn’t necessarily pin anything on Paxton.”

“How true,” said Paxton.

“Yes, Dad,” said Ellery patiently, “but what was the second thing Professor Moriarty had to do? He had to get hold of the confession in order to trace its signature onto the faked stock memo. And who had access to the Old Woman’s confession? One person. Of all the people in the world, one person only. And that’s how I know Charles Hunter Paxton forged the stock memorandum. That’s why I say there’s evidence to convict him.”

“Only Paxton had possession of Cornelia’s confession?” muttered the Inspector.

“It’s a tight little question of knowledge and opportunity,” smiled his son. “All capable of confirmation. First, the confession in its envelope lay in the larger sealed envelope which also contained the will. When we found that large sealed envelope in Cornelia’s hand, not only didn’t we know that it contained a confession, we couldn’t have known. It was just a large sealed envelope with the words on it: Last Will and Testament, and signed Cornelia Potts.

“Second step: You, Dad, hand that large sealed envelope, contents thought to be only a will, to Mr. Paxton. The envelope is still sealed; it hasn’t been opened or tampered with. You hand it to him in that bedroom, over the still warm corpse of old Cornelia, only a few minutes after we found it in her dead hand. And you ask Mr. Paxton to hold that large sealed envelope containing what we can only think is the dead woman’s will — to hold it until the formal reading after the funeral.”

Mr. Paxton began to breathe quickly, and the Inspector’s weapon waved a little.

“Third: At the formal reading Mr. Paxton produces the large sealed envelope. It is opened, we discover the confession as well as the will... and from that instant you, the officer in charge of the case, Dad, take possession of that confession as important new evidence in the case. It becomes part of an official file.

“Now we know,” said Ellery with a cold smile, “we can prove, that some time before the opening of that envelope at the formal reading of the will, the envelope had been secretly opened by someone, because we have proved that the Cornelia Potts signature on the confession had been used as a guide to forge a signature on the fake stock memorandum, and it couldn’t possibly have been done after it got into your possession, Dad, and the police files. When, then specifically, could that envelope have been opened? Only in the interim between the finding of it in the dead woman’s hand and the opening of it before us all in the library for purposes of the will reading. Who could have done it in that interim? Only the person who had possession of the large sealed envelope.