firm to an outsider to make that happen. My lawyer says it's a

 reasonable offer. Trying to straighten out this mess could cost

 more than the business is worth."

    "You don't want to sell?"

    "No," Wells said. "Oh, I could set up my own shop, but it

 wouldn't be the same. I started working in the office when I was

 10. First sweeping up and emptying the trash, then running

 drawings to the blue printers. Grandpa would never have cut me

 out by leaving the firm entirely to my uncle. After the forensic

 report came in, someone suggested I consult you. Said you like

 to solve old mysteries. Well, this is sure a mystery to me."

    "Obviously your lawyer believes this will is valid," Simon

 said.

    "It meets the standard for a holographic will. It's dated,

 written entirely by hand, and it was kept with the writer's

 important papers. We found this stuck in back of the old office

 safe. Grandpa must have put it there years ago and we missed it

 after he died."

    This detail seized Simon's interest. "How did you find it?"

 Simon asked.

    "When we remodeled our office. It looks great, too. We set up

 the lobby to look like the original space. That was Richard's

 idea. We cleaned out the old safe, moved Grandpa's roll-top, the

 old oak file cabinets and his drawing board É"

    "Really," Simon said.

    "Is that important?"

    "Could this old desk contain old stationery, old pens, old

 ink, and old papers in your grandfather's handwriting?"

    When Wells realized what had been done to him, he lost what

 composure he still had. He slammed his fist down hard on Simon's

 desk. Simon calmly fielded a paperweight just before it slid to

 the floor.

    "My God," Wells said. "That bastard!"

    "Your cousin's an artist, he's had time to practice your

 grandfather's handwriting, to plan the 'discovery' of this will

 ..."

    "How can I prove it? More forensics?"

    Simon shook his head. "Not likely," he said. "Museums and

 libraries all over the world are full of forgeries that passed

 intense authentication procedures. I doubt you can prove

 anything scientifically."

    "So what can I do? I'll be damned if I'll let him get away

 with this."

    "You know," Simon said. "These days we tend to think that

 when science fails us a problem must be insoluble."

    "Excuse me?" Wells said.

    "Look at the words," Simon said. "Words have histories."

    "I'm not following you," Wells said.

    "I'm pretty sure that 'after-tax' didn't exist in the

 vocabulary in 1968. And I know 'roots' wasn't used this way -

 not until Alex Haley published 'Roots' in 1976. Your cousin

 thought of everything except the words he used. Your grandfather