That is, it was presumably so transferred."
"Presumably. Pre-sumably? You mean--?"
"I mean that this certificate is--well, let us say, rather queer. To
begin with, no one knows who this Bradley is, or was. His name appears
nowhere except on that certificate, unless, of course, it did appear on
the stub where the scratching has been done; we doubt that, for reasons.
Nobody ever heard of the man; and his transfer to your brother was made,
and the certificate signed by him, only three years ago, when the Akrae
Company sold out. It will take too long to go into details; but thanks
to the kindness of the Para concern, which has offices in this city--we
have been able to examine this Bradley certificate. Experts have
examined it, also. And they tell us--"
He paused.
"Well, what do they tell?" demanded the captain.
"They tell us that--that, in their opinion, the certificate was never
issued at the time when, by this date, it presumes to have been. It was
made out no longer ago than five years, probably less. The signature of
Bradley on the back is--is--well, I hate to say it, Captain Warren, but
the handwriting on that signature resembles very closely that of your
brother."
Captain Elisha was silent for some moments. The others did not speak,
but waited.
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