They all gathered over a somber breakfast the next morning . Karen asked Jarvis to bring her a cordless phone, and she dialed the hospital . Everyone watched her silently as she waited for the doctor to come on the line .

"Hello ---- Yes . . . Oh, thank goodness !" Turning to the rest of them, she whispered, "There's been no change ." Then, she turned her attention back to the phone . "Oh . . . . I see . . . but it is possible he'll recover fully, isn't it ? Isn't it ?" Her face fell as she listened . She turned to the others and in a halting, croaking voice she said, "The doctor says if he lives, he'll probably have severe brain damage ."

An audible gasp rippled through the room at the awful news . But Karen's attention was suddenly riveted back to the phone . "What ? I don't understand . Yes, but ---- no ! You can't be serious !" Her face drained of color as she stared at Nila and slowly hung up the phone .

"What is it ?" Jack asked, springing up and going over to her .

"It wasn't a heart attack after all," Karen told them, her eyes wide and blinking rapidly . "It was an overdose of Father's medicine . It slowed his metabolism down so much that his brain was starved for oxygen, and he went into a coma. The doctor says he's calling in the police ."

"You," Philip shouted, pointing at Nila, who had shrunk back in her chair, thunderstruck . "You poisoned him !"

He moved forward, but Nancy stopped him . "Just hold on a minute !" she ordered . "Let's not accuse anyone of anything . None of us knows what happened ."

"Of course we do," Cecilia suddenly piped up . She seemed extremely agitated and upset . "Nila always gives Uncle Charles his medicine ."

Eleanor bit her lip, her eyes shifting nervously . "It's true," she agreed . "And we're all aware that Charles met with Mr. Bishop yesterday ."

"Of course," Jack broke in, furious . "Isn't it obvious what's happened ? As soon as she knew the money was hers, she tried to get rid of him ."

"Stop it !" Nila screamed, covering both ears with her hands . "Stop it, all of you ! I didn't give Charles his medicine last night . I already told you, he was unconscious when I went into the room !"

Nancy and Bess exchanged glances . Nancy frowned, remembering the nearly empty water glass and the open bottle of pills by Pierce's bedside . Clearly, he had taken the pills . Was Nila lying ? Or was there another explanation ?

Pierce could have taken the overdose of pills himself, but Nancy didn't think that a likely possibility ---- a man in love and about to get married didn't kill himself deliberately . Nor could it have been an accident . Not with Nila keeping track of everything .

No, there was only two likely explanations . Either Nila had done what the others were accusing her of, or someone else had done it ---- someone who had repeatedly tried and failed to kill Nila, and who was now trying to kill Pierce and frame her of his murder .

For an awful moment Nancy remembered how long she and Bess waited for Philip to return to the basement rec room the night before . But picturing Philip's stricken face at his father's bedside made her dismiss the idea . At least for now .

Just then Mr. Bishop, Pierce's lawyer, was ushered in by the butler . "I heard the news this morning and got over here as fast as I could," he told them . "It's already on the radio about Mr. Pierce's heart attack ."

"Tell me, Mr. Bishop," Jack said, staring at Nila . "Can a murderer inherit money from her victim ?"

"Why, no," Bishop said, taken aback . "Why do you ask ?"

"Because," Nila interrupted, "he thinks I tried to kill Charles . They all think so . But it isn't true ! I love Charles . No," she said, staring at them all in cold fury, "one of you has been trying to kill me, and now you've tried to kill Charles . But you're too late . Even if he dies, you won't get his money . He made a new will yesterday, leaving everything to me ! Isn't that right, Mr. Bishop ?"

Bishop went red in face . "I . . . . er . . . I'm not supposed to say," he stammered . "In fact, I was supposed to come over here this morning to pick up the signed copies . I left them here yesterday for Mr. Pierce to sign and have witnessed ."

Nancy and Bess exchanged glances . None of the others knew what they know ---- that the will had never been signed . But Nancy decided not to say anything . She wanted to watch the way everyone behaved . She knew that when people were upset, they often let things slip .

"Jarvis," Mr. Bishop said, "would you mind going to Mr. Pierce's study and fetching the copies of the new will for us ?"

"Certainly, Mr. Bishop," the butler said, and left the room .

Nancy couldn't take her eyes off Nila . Her face had changed completely, from that of a grieving wife-to-be to a mask of cold, bitter fury . Her ice-blue eyes challenged everyone in the room .

Nancy tried to think through the events of the last twelve hours . Had Nila given Pierce the overdose ? She certainly had a strong motive, assuming she thought the will had already been signed .

Of course, if Pierce pulled through and regained full mental capacity, he'd be able to identify whoever had administered the overdose . But as the doctor had said, that didn't seem likely . And as a nurse, Nila would have been well aware of what constituted a lethal dose .

Suddenly they all heard running footsteps . The butler ran into the room, gasping for breath . "Oh, Mr. Bishop !" he said fearfully . "Mr. Bishop ---- the copies of the new will ---- they're gone ! They've disappeared !"
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