XXIV
The Coup de Grâce
“Oh, father, it’s nearly two o’clock now. The relatives should be coming in a few minutes! I’m so excited!”
Carson Drew, who stood in the living room of the Drew home smiled indulgently 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.”
“Are you certain the will 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. Josiah Crowley was peculiar in some ways, but he was no one’s fool. I’ll promise you the Tophams will have a difficult time of it if they try to break the will.”
After locating the Crowley will in a safety deposit box at the Masonville National Bank in the town of Masonville, Carson Drew and his daughter had read it carefully. Without disclosing the contents to anyone, they had called a special meeting of the relatives at the Drew home.
With the exception of Abigail Rowen, who was confined to her bed, all had promised to be present. Grace and Allie Horner, although not relatives, had also been invited to attend the meeting.
“It’s too bad Abigail Rowan can’t come,” said Nancy. “But we’ll get the news to her fast enough.”
“It will probably be a great surprise all around,” said her father, with a little smile. “Nancy, you have done a remarkable piece of work.”
“Oh, I can hardly wait to have it all cleared up,” cried the happy girl.
“We may have some hard minutes with the Tophams, Nancy.”
“Yes, I suppose so. I suppose anybody would be sorry to see a fortune slipping away.”
“Well, we’ll see what happens,” returned the lawyer.
“The Horner girls are coming up the walk now,” Nancy announced, glancing out of the window. “I’m dying to tell them the news, but I’ll wait.”
She greeted Allie and Grace cordially and escorted them to comfortable chairs in the living room.
“Is it true the will has been found?” Allie whispered.
“You and Grace have no cause to worry,” Nancy assured her, with a mysterious smile.
No sooner had she seated the Horner sisters than the doorbell rang again. This time she admitted Edna and Matilda Turner, who were dressed in their best black silk gowns. A few minutes later, the Mathews brothers, William and Fred, arrived.
“I guess everyone is here now except the Tophams,” Carson Drew commented. “We had better wait for them a few minutes.”
There was no need to wait, for at that moment the doorbell jangled sharply. Nancy opened the door and the four members of the Topham family sailed grandly in. As Carson 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 the will here, Mrs. Topham,” Carson Drew replied politely.
“It’s preposterous!” Mrs. Topham stormed. “Josiah Crowley made only one will and in that he left everything to us!”
“It looks like a conspiracy to me,” Ada added tartly, as she gazed coldly upon the relatives 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 the lawyer who had accompanied him.
“If you will kindly be seated, Mrs. Topham, we will read the will,” Mr. Drew suggested.
Reluctantly, Mrs. Topham obeyed.
“As you have probably learned by this time,” Mr. Drew began, “a second will of the late Josiah Crowley has been found in a safety deposit box in a Masonville bank. The will is unusually long, and with your permission I will read only the portions which have to do with the disposal of the property.”
Mr. Drew picked up several sheets of typewriting from the table, and after a moment’s hesitation 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, Allie and Grace Horner, the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars each.’ ”
“Oh, I can’t believe it!” Allie gasped.
“Neither can I!” Mrs. Topham snapped. “One hundred and fifty thousand dollars when they aren’t even relatives. Why, that’s nearly half of the estate. The will is a fraud!”
“There is no mistake,” Mr. Drew told her quietly. Again he picked up the will and began to read:
“ ‘To Abigail Rowen, in consideration of her kindness to me, the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars.’ ”
“Oh, I’m so glad,” Grace murmured.
“Now, she’ll be able to get the medical attention she needs,” Allie added.
“I wish she could have been here,” Nancy said quietly. “But I’ll see to it that she is notified before the day is over.”
“That old lady gets seventy-five thousand dollars?” Ada Topham demanded harshly. “What did she ever do for Crowley?” Angrily, she turned to her mother. “We kept him for years. And this is the pay we get!”
“ ‘To my nephews, Fred and William Mathews, the sum of twenty thousand dollars each,’ ” Mr. Drew read.
“We didn’t expect that much,” the Mathews brothers declared, in genuine surprise.
“ ‘To my cousins, Edna and Matilda Turner, the sum of twenty thousand dollars each.’ ”
“Oh, how generous!” Edna murmured.
“Aren’t we mentioned at all?” Mrs. Topham broke in sharply.
Mr. Drew smiled.
“Yes, you are mentioned, but perhaps not in the way you anticipate. I’m coming to that now.
“ ‘To Grace and Allie Horner, 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 about River Heights that the Tophams had practically confiscated Josiah Crowley’s furniture at the time they induced him to make his home with them.
“How insulting!” Mrs. Topham 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,” Carson Drew told her, with a smile.
“Oh, we have enough without the furniture,” Grace interposed quickly. “Haven’t we, Allie?”
Allie nodded.
“We’ll not take the household goods from you, Mrs. Topham.”
Carson Drew carefully folded the document he had been reading, and after placing it in a drawer, turned to the relatives.
“That is all there is except that there is a proviso to pay all his just debts, including his funeral expenses and that what little balance is left—maybe three or four thousand dollars—goes to the Manningham Old Men’s Home. Fortunately, 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.”
“We’re actually cut off without a cent?” Richard Topham asked in disbelief. His face was unusually white.
“I am afraid you are,” Mr. Drew replied.
“But it can’t be,” Mr. Topham returned. “You don’t understand. I must have the money!”
“I can’t help you. I did not make the will.”
“It’s a conspiracy!” Ada cried bitterly. She wheeled upon Nancy, her face convulsed with anger. “You had something to do with this, Nancy Drew,” she said bitterly.
“Perhaps I had,” Nancy admitted pleasantly.
“We’ll break the will!” Mrs. Topham announced firmly.
“Of course you may drag the matter into court if you like,” Mr. Drew responded. “But I warn you it will be only 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 lawyer said promptly, without waiting for Mrs. Topham to question him.
“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 grandly 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 briefcase.
“Well, I can’t say I’m sorry to lose the case,” he remarked to Mr. Drew, as he, too, took his leave.
At once the atmosphere became less strained. Everyone began to talk at once.
“Oh, Nancy, I can hardly believe it yet!” Allie 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.”
As the Horner girls and Mr. Crowley’s relatives begged her for the details, Nancy Drew told of her adventure with the robbers at Moon Lake. When 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.
“The Tophams will not give up the money without a fight,” he said. “My advice would be to ask the court to appoint an administrator at once.”
“We all want you, I’m sure,” Grace Horner declared quickly. She regarded the others questioningly.
Everyone nodded assent.
“And of course we want you to act as our lawyer,” Grace added.
“I’ll be glad to assist you,” Mr. Drew promised. “If the Tophams bring the matter into court, I’ll give them a battle they’ll never forget!”
After thanking Mr. Drew and Nancy for what they had done, the relatives at last took their departure. Allie and Grace were the last to leave. As they turned to say goodbye to Nancy, Carson Drew opened a closet and took out the Crowley clock.
“I guess this belongs to you now,” he remarked, handing the clock to Allie. “It was included in Crowley’s household goods.”
“I don’t know what we’ll do with it,” Allie laughed.
Presently, the Horner girls departed with the clock. On the porch they paused to whisper significantly to Nancy:
“You’ll hear from us again.”
After everyone had left the house, Mr. Drew turned to his daughter with a smile.
“Well, we administered the coup de grâce to the Tophams all right.”
“Yes, wasn’t it funny to watch their faces when they learned they were cut off without a cent?”
“They took it hard. It’s my opinion the Tophams won’t be able to hold their heads so high after this. Richard Topham looked rather sick when he left. I suspect he’s desperately in need of ready cash.”
“The Tophams deserved to be cut off without a cent,” Nancy Drew declared. “I’m so glad everything came out right and that Allie and Grace received the bulk of the fortune.”
“Yes, they are charming girls. Unless I am mistaken they intend to reward you for what you did, Nancy.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me. But of course I’ll not take money from them. However, if they should offer me a reward, I know what I shall ask for!”
“What is that?”
“Oh, you must wait and see,” and Nancy laughed mysteriously. “They haven’t offered me anything yet.”
Before Carson Drew could quiz her, she skipped out the side door and vanished.