The Adventure of the Spinster's Will

Wealthy spinster Miss Murgatroyd Pierpoint has died in her sleep. The deceased, found in the bedroom of her townhouse near the Park, had on her bedside table an unread newspaper, a packet of aspirin, and a bottle of brandy which Miss Pierpoint claimed to have used for medicinal purposes.

A reading of the elderly lady's will was conducted this morning.

To her niece, Miss Florence Catlett, Miss Pierpoint bequeathed the sum of five thousand pounds with the sole condition that the money would be forfeit if her niece married within five years.

The proviso drew an outburst from Miss Catlett's fiance, Alfred Wadsworth, a Customs Officer at the Docks.

Housemaid Daphne Farber was remembered with a trust paying two thousand pounds a year. The trust was to be continued as long as the maid cared for Miss Pierpoint's poodle "Flopsy".

To chemist Arthur Paisley, Miss Pierpoint facetiously bequeathed a worked out gold mine, which she claimed was as worthless as Paisley's promises to marry her had been.

The chemist took his misfortune in good humour, stating that the spinster had over the years relished informing him of her vindictive provision.

The remainder of Miss Pierpoint's estate was to revert to lawyer Stirling Ballard on whom the increasingly nearsighted spinster had come to rely to transact her affairs.

Dr. Watson, who examined the spinster only last week and found her in excellent health, suspects foul play.