Free Postmark Murder by Mignon G. Eberhart

education. Laura then worked for him as his secretary. That is why he made her a co-trustee for the Stanislowski fund. Charlie Stedman is the other trustee. I think I told you that. He is a manufacturer, and an old friend of Conrad Stanley’s.”
    There was again a short silence in the room. Laura sensed rather than saw a kind of uneasiness in Matt; perhaps it lay in his stillness, or in the intent yet somehow guarded way he looked at a tiny silver box of matches he was turning in his hand.
    Then Lieutenant Peabody said quietly, “It’s odd that you should find the claimant to all this money murdered, isn’t it, Miss March?”

EIGHT
    T HERE WAS A LITTLE clatter as Matt dropped the silver box on the table and rose. Laura said in a suddenly brittle voice that did not seem to belong to her, “Lieutenant Peabody, I did not kill Conrad Stanislowski in order to get a third of his money.”
    “My dear young lady!” Lieutenant Peabody managed to look rather shocked yet his dreamy gaze was very observant.
    A curious cold kind of anger flicked Laura. She said directly, “I thought that’s what you meant.”
    Matt glanced at her with a quick flash of approval.
    The Lieutenant said very politely, “I’m sorry. I was only reasoning logically that now that the claimant to this fund is dead, a very large sum of money will be divided among you, the other trustee and, of course, the widow. So in a sense it is advantageous to you that Conrad Stanislowski died.”
    Matt said, “You’ve forgotten the child.”
    The Lieutenant eyed him. “I see. What exactly did you intend to do about her? I mean, if this man had not turned up this afternoon?”
    “That’s why we brought her from Vienna, Lieutenant. I thought I made that clear. We regarded her as her father’s heir and we thought it logical to assume that he was dead. In any event, whether he was dead or alive—”
    Peabody interrupted. “Let me get this straight. Did Conrad Stanley specifically mention any heirs of his nephew in his will?”
    “No, he didn’t. You can take a look at the will yourself.”
    “I’ll do that, Cosden,” Peabody said quietly.
    Matt said, “Mr. Stanley drew it up for the most part without legal aid. He was like that. Of course, it’s a perfectly legal document, all clear and properly witnessed. He referred to his nephew by name, he had never seen him and he had had no communication with him. In fact, he must have been himself a little uncertain as to whether the nephew was still alive. Nevertheless, he had a feeling about his name and his blood relatives and, as I told you, Conrad Stanley always felt that he owed so great a debt to America for the opportunities it had given him that he wished to pass on this opportunity to his nephew. The three-year provision was, I suppose, in his mind a reasonable provision, meant to cover the very likely contingency that his nephew would not be found. Naturally, since he did not know that his nephew had a daughter, he made no specific provision for the child. And, of course, he made no provision at all to cover the exact situation which had developed, that is, that we were able to find Conrad Stanislowski’s child but were not able to find Stanislowski himself. But however the will might be interpreted, Conrad Stanley’s intent was very clear. Our idea is that the trust fund should be continued until Jonny is of age and should then be turned over to her as her father’s heir.”
    “Is that settled?”
    “No. It isn’t settled yet, legally. It will have to go through the courts. But I don’t think there’s much doubt of the interpretation of the intent of the will.”
    “But you have agreed to this among yourselves. I mean Mrs. Stanley, Stedman and Miss March—all of you have agreed to petition the court to continue the fund for the little girl?”
    Matt hesitated for a barely perceptible second; then he said, “There is, I’m sure, no disagreement among us. We have postponed the exact and legal