What-son was now beside himself with exasperation.  'By God Homes, either you really were crazy back then, or, this is merely a continuation of a game I suspected you had pulled from this morning on.'
        Sure-Luck could not hold back this time.  He bent over with laughter.  Shortly, he composed himself enough to look at What-son without breaking out again.
        'Now by heavens, just which is it ?  A true story or a game ?'
        Homes sighed and replied, 'As I've repeatedly said all morning, this is no game.  It is a true story of my very first case.'
        'I find that MOST difficult to believe !  For instance, you have just contradicted yourself.  Not long ago, you specifically stated that Mr. Langford typed out his own will, and now you turn right around of accusing those two of fraud, implying the will was phony, and murder, no less.  And by jove, just where did Bryon suddenly come in to it all ?  Homes, this "tale" of yours has a most peculiar "smell" to it !'
        Homes chuckled and replied, 'What-son, old friend, you've surely known me long enough to realize I'm not joshing you.  But be as it may, I'll continue with the case.  Now as for the reason for the arrest of those two, it would help if you first understood what transpired to lead up to it.
        Let's begin with the phone call from Maria.  That call itself was to soon lead to the knowledge of Bryon's involvement.  When I met her downtown, she stated her cousin, Bryon, would be arriving late that evening.  He had to work some extra hours at the Hospital there in Portsmouth.               
        The fact that there was a peculiar situation involving the unsigned will, caused me to immediately check with the Hospital where he worked.  Surprisingly, he had already transferred to our city some 3 months earlier, but obviously never told Maria or his uncle about it.  That was enough to pursue some additional checking.
        I decided, on a hunch, to find out what type of work he had done there, and they told me he was in charge of dispensing appropriate drugs to the nurses who required them for their patients.  Now THAT had me really suspicious.  And so I pursued things further by asking if they had a given new drug available there.  They said yes. 
        I'm referring to a drug found in the roots of a South American plant, which when added to other drug elements, creates a most remarkable pain killer.  However, in a virgin state, it is extremely deadly and fast acting.
        Well, at this point, I told Maria what the hospital relayed to me.  I then made a most difficult decision.  I decided to ask Maria if she would permit an immediate autopsy on her father, looking for a specific drug just mentioned.  I warned her that time was of the essence, for any delay at all, might allow the drug  to dissipate.  It was, of course, a most painful decision to make, but the thought that her father may have actually been killed, was enough to agree on it.
        Thankfully What-son, that is, under the circumstances, the autopsy did indeed find the drug present.  The drug, by the way, instantly induces heart stoppage.  So now we knew we had a murder on our hands.  And we had to find the killer.
        This required an all out plan of secrecy by numerous organizations.  No knowledge of the autopsy findings was to be released to anyone.  Only select people were told about it all, and it was decided that I should be the one to investigate the death, but under cover, of course.
        Now throughout that inquiry of mine, you noticed I spent so much more time with Bryon, than Melonie, even though it appeared that it was the young woman herself who assumedly administered the drug to him.  I did so, not only because Miss Elsworth had such an air-tight excuse, her "lack of memory", but because I quickly realized when I first went to Maria's home, that Bryon was obviously a very shrewd young man.  I figured he was the real mastermind behind it all.  And as a result, when the opportunity arose, I instructed Maria to keep Melonie as busy as possible so I could put my full attention in checking out Bryon.  Well, it paid off, to be sure.
        Now as for Bryon himself, I eventually learned his childhood was to lead to that fateful day, more or less.  Bryon's father was certainly not a wealthy man, not like his brother.  And while Maria seemed to get "everything", Bryon of course got very little.  Needless to say, he became quite jealous of Maria.  And it appears it continued right on into adulthood, for when he saw an opportunity to get some of his uncle's wealth for himself, he made plans to do so.
        Obviously this implies that Bryon and Melonie were in the "plan" together.  It was Bryon who suggested the plan to his girlfriend, Melonie.  And her being quite greedy herself, naturally went along with it.   
        So Maria's father having met Miss Elsworth at a Social gathering was no accident.  It was planned that she be there and make sure he took an interest in her.  Well, considering her beauty, it was almost a guarantee that he would do so.  And you can be sure, for the next 3 months, she put on one of the most brilliant acting jobs imaginable.
        Now a somewhat unimportant side note involves the fact that the original plan was to hope that Mr. Langford would ask Melonie to marry him.  Then when the opportunity arose for her to get her hands on his bank account, she would withdraw a considerable amount of cash and her and Bryon would then . . . "fly the coup" to parts unknown.  But Mr. Langford's loss of his wife prevented him from allowing his feelings for Melonie to reach the point of a second marriage, however.  Sadly enough, this then led to their "deadly" alternate plan.  This all was learned, as you might imagine, during a confession by the two. 
        Okay, I believe this should pretty much cover the major background points.  Now lest I forget, I want to now explain why Maria chose to live at home with her father.  Quite frankly, it was for his own protection, so to speak. 
        Ever since his initial heart attack, he had to depend on taking blood pressure medication.  This involved taking one pill per day, during a meal, preferably.  And his medication was in capsule form, which will become important to know, later on.
        Maria's decision to remain living at home was due to her father's forgetfulness.  Often times, during the first year or so following his attack, he would neglect to take his pills, primarily because he had such a poor memory about doing so.
        Maria and his doctor then came up with a plan.  He was to be given a pill box and every Sunday, place 7 pills in it from his pill bottle.  Then beginning Monday, he would take a pill, leaving 6 remaining on Tuesday, prior to taking one again.  On Tuesday, he would take one, leaving 5 left, etc.  By this plan, it was easier to determine if he had taken a pill or not on any given day.  But of course, it also required Maria's constant reminding, to help the plan to work effectively.
        So let's now proceed to that fateful Friday.  The couple had finished lunch and had retired to the Study, as always.  It should be realized that ever since Miss Elsworth came into Mr. Langford's life, it was she who took on the responsibility of reminding him to take his pills.
        It had become customary for Mr. Langford to take a pill each day at 1:00 PM, which would therefore occur while he and she were together in the Study.  And Melonie had decided to make a "game" out of this ritual.  She would have him first sit at the desk, the chair far enough away for her to sit on his lap.  Then she would reach into his pocket to get his pill box, take one out and have him close his eyes while she dropped a pill in his mouth.
        And Yes, What-son, now you know why the chair was positioned back away from the desk too far for him to have done any adequate typing.
        At any rate, on this given Friday, she purposely kept his mind occupied enough to forget the 1:00 pill.  She waited till nearly 2:30 to "remember" about it herself.  Then, in so doing, they went to the desk as usual.  But this time, she had a "poisoned" pill secretly hidden in her hand, and when she took one out of the box, she slipped him the other "poisoned" one instead, when his eyes were closed.
        The pill worked rather fast, once the coating had dissolved.  How long she sat there for it to happen is anyone's guess, though it couldn't have been more than about 10 minutes, since she had appeared in the kitchen about 2:45 that afternoon, when she was allegedly so excited.
        Okay, now you know HOW Mr. Langford died.  Now there was a lot of evidence linking Miss Elsworth to obtaining pills from his bottle, to have doctored up with the poison drug, but I'll put off explaining that later.
        I'm sure you'd rather hear about the disputed will and it's evidence which you find so puzzling.'
        'I certainly do !' exclaimed the most impatient doctor.  'And I must say, this should prove very interesting , considering how you have spoken so contrarily about it.  You've literally made a "riddle" out of it !'
        Homes grinned, but said nothing at the time.