I wish to make my will. I am an invalid and cannot leave my room.
Will you come to me? The enclosed reference will answer for my
respectability. If it satisfies you and you decide to accommodate me,
please hasten your visit; I have not many days to live. A carriage will
meet you at Highland Station at any hour you designate. Telegraph reply.
A. Postlethwaite, Gloom Cottage, ----, N. J.
The reference given was a Mr. Weed of Eighty-sixth Street--a well-known
man of unimpeachable reputation.
Calling him up at his business office, I asked him what he could tell
me about Mr. Postlethwaite of Gloom Cottage, ----, N. J. The answer
astonished me:
“There is no Mr. Postlethwaite to be found at that address. He died
years ago. There is a Mrs. Postlethwaite--a confirmed paralytic. Do you
mean her?”