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diff --git a/10476-0.txt b/10476-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf5f1cb --- /dev/null +++ b/10476-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11067 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10476 *** + +THE VANISHING MAN + +A Detective Romance + +BY R. AUSTIN FREEMAN + +1911 + + + + + + + + +TO MY FRIEND + +A.E.B. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I THE VANISHING MAN + II THE EAVESDROPPER + III JOHN THORNDYKE + IV LEGAL COMPLICATIONS AND A JACKAL + V THE WATERCRESS-BED + VI SIDELIGHTS + VII JOHN BELLINGHAM'S WILL + VIII A MUSEUM IDYLL + IX THE SPHINX OF LINCOLN'S INN + X THE NEW ALLIANCE + XI THE EVIDENCE REVIEWED + XII A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY + XIII THE CROWNER'S QUEST + XIV WHICH CARRIES THE READER INTO THE + PROBATE COURT + XV CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE + XVI "O! ARTEMIDORUS, FAREWELL!" + XVII THE ACCUSING FINGER +XVIII JOHN BELLINGHAM + XIX A STRANGE SYMPOSIUM + XX THE END OF THE CASE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE VANISHING MAN + + +The school of St. Margaret's Hospital was fortunate in its lecturer on +Medical Jurisprudence, or Forensic Medicine, as it is sometimes +described. At some schools the lecturer on this subject is appointed +apparently for the reason that he lacks the qualifications to lecture on +any other. But with us it was very different: John Thorndyke was not +only an enthusiast, a man of profound learning and great reputation, but +he was an exceptional teacher, lively and fascinating in style and of +endless resources. Every remarkable case that had ever been recorded he +appeared to have at his fingers' ends; every fact--chemical, physical, +biological, or even historical--that could in any way be twisted into a +medico-legal significance, was pressed into his service; and his own +varied and curious experiences seemed as inexhaustible as the widow's +cruse. One of his favourite devices for giving life and interest to a +rather dry subject was that of analysing and commenting upon +contemporary cases as reported in the papers (always, of course, with a +due regard to the legal and social proprieties); and it was in this way +that I first became introduced to the astonishing series of events that +was destined to exercise so great an influence on my own life. + +The lecture which had just been concluded had dealt with the rather +unsatisfactory subject of survivorship. Most of the students had left +the theatre, and the remainder had gathered round the lecturer's table +to listen to the informal comments that Dr. Thorndyke was wont to +deliver on these occasions in an easy, conversational manner, leaning +against the edge of the table and apparently addressing his remarks to a +stick of blackboard chalk that he held in his fingers. + +"The problem of survivorship," he was saying, in reply to a question put +by one of the students, "ordinarily occurs in cases where the bodies of +the parties are producible, or where, at any rate, the occurrence of +death and its approximate time are actually known. But an analogous +difficulty may arise in a case where the body of one of the parties is +not forthcoming, and the fact of death may have to be assumed on +collateral evidence. + +"Here, of course, the vital question to be settled is, what is the +latest instant at which it is certain that this person was alive? And +the settlement of that question may turn on some circumstance of the +most trivial and insignificant kind. There is a case in this morning's +paper which illustrates this. A gentleman has disappeared rather +mysteriously. He was last seen by the servant of a relative at whose +house he had called. Now, if this gentleman should never reappear, dead +or alive, the question as to what was the latest moment at which he was +certainly alive will turn upon the further question: 'Was he or was he +not wearing a particular article of jewellery when he called at that +relative's house?'" + +He paused with a reflective eye bent upon the stump of chalk that he +still held; then, noting the expectant interest with which we were +regarding him, he resumed: + +"The circumstances in this case are very curious; in fact, they are +highly mysterious; and if any legal issues should arise in respect of +them, they are likely to yield some very remarkable complications. The +gentleman who has disappeared, Mr. John Bellingham, is a man well known +in archaeological circles. He recently returned from Egypt, bringing +with him a very fine collection of antiquities--some of which, by the +way, he has presented to the British Museum, where they are now on +view--and having made this presentation, he appears to have gone to +Paris on business. I may mention that the gift consisted of a very fine +mummy and a complete set of tomb-furniture. The latter, however, had not +arrived from Egypt at the time when the missing man left for Paris, but +the mummy was inspected on the fourteenth of October at Mr. Bellingham's +house by Dr. Norbury of the British Museum, in the presence of the donor +and his solicitor, and the latter was authorised to hand over the +complete collection to the British Museum authorities when the +tomb-furniture arrived; which he has since done. + +"From Paris he seems to have returned on the twenty-third of November, +and to have gone direct from Charing Cross to the house of a relative, a +Mr. Hurst, who is a bachelor and lives at Eltham. He appeared at the +house at twenty minutes past five, and as Mr. Hurst had not yet come +down from town and was not expected until a quarter to six, he explained +who he was and said he would wait in the study and write some letters. +The housemaid accordingly showed him into the study, furnished him with +writing materials, and left him. + +"At a quarter to six Mr. Hurst let himself in with his latchkey, and +before the housemaid had time to speak to him he had passed through into +the study and shut the door. + +"At six o'clock, when the dinner bell was rung, Mr. Hurst entered the +dining-room alone, and, observing that the table was laid for two, asked +the reason. + +"'I thought Mr. Bellingham was staying to dinner, sir,' was 'The +housemaid's' reply. + +"'Mr. Bellingham!' exclaimed the astonished host. 'I didn't know he was +here. Why was I not told?' + +"'I thought he was in the study with you, sir,' said the housemaid. + +"On this a search was made for the visitor, with the result that he was +nowhere to be found. He had disappeared without leaving a trace, and +what made the incident more odd was that the housemaid was certain that +he had not gone out by the front door. For since neither she nor the +cook was acquainted with Mr. John Bellingham, she had remained the whole +time either in the kitchen, which commanded a view of the front gate, or +in the dining-room, which opened into the hall opposite the study door. +The study itself has a French window opening on a narrow grass plot, +across which is a side gate that opens into an alley; and it appears +that Mr. Bellingham must have made his exit by this rather eccentric +route. At any rate--and this is the important fact--he was not in the +house, and no one had seen him leave it. + +"After a hasty meal Mr. Hurst returned to town and called at the office +of Mr. Bellingham's solicitor and confidential agent, a Mr. Jellicoe, +and mentioned the matter to him. Mr. Jellicoe knew nothing of his +client's return from Paris, and the two men at once took the train down +to Woodford, where the missing man's brother, Mr. Godfrey Bellingham, +lives. The servant who admitted them said that Mr. Godfrey was not at +home, but that his daughter was in the library, which is a detached +building situated in a shrubbery beyond the garden at the back of the +house. Here the two men found, not only Miss Bellingham, but also her +father, who had come in by the back gate. + +"Mr. Godfrey and his daughter listened to Mr. Hurst's story with the +greatest surprise, and assured him that they had neither seen nor heard +anything of John Bellingham. + +"Presently the party left the library to walk up to the house; but only +a few feet from the library door Mr. Jellicoe noticed an object lying in +the grass and pointed it out to Mr. Godfrey. + +"The latter picked it up, and they all recognised it as a scarab which +Mr. John Bellingham had been accustomed to wear suspended from his +watch-chain. There was no mistaking it. It was a very fine scarab of the +eighteenth dynasty fashioned of lapis lazuli and engraved with the +cartouche of Amenhotep III. It had been suspended by a gold ring +fastened to a wire which passed through the suspension hole, and the +ring, though broken, was still in position. + +"This discovery, of course, only added to the mystery, which was still +further increased when, on inquiry, a suit-case bearing the initials +J.B. was found to be lying unclaimed in the cloak-room at Charing Cross. +Reference to the counterfoil of the ticket-book showed that it had been +deposited about the time of arrival of the Continental express on the +twenty-third of November, so that its owner must have gone straight on +to Eltham. + +"That is how the affair stands at present, and, should the missing man +never reappear or should his body never be found, the question, as you +see, which will be required to be settled is, 'What is the exact time +and place, when and where, he was last known to be alive?' As to the +place, the importance of the issues involved in that question are +obvious and we need not consider them. But the question of time has +another kind of significance. Cases have occurred, as I pointed out in +the lecture, in which proof of survivorship by less than a minute has +secured succession to property. Now, the missing man was last seen alive +at Mr. Hurst's house at twenty minutes past five on the twenty-third of +November. But he appears to have visited his brother's house at +Woodford, and, since nobody saw him at that house, it is at present +uncertain whether he went there before or after calling on Mr. Hurst. If +he went there first, then twenty minutes past five on the evening of the +twenty-third is the latest moment at which he is known to have been +alive; but if he went there after, there would have to be added to this +time the shortest possible time in which he could travel from the one +house to the other. + +"But the question as to which house he visited first hinges on the +scarab. If he was wearing the scarab when he arrived at Mr. Hurst's +house, it would be certain that he went there first; but if it was not +then on his watch-chain, a probability would be established that he +went first to Woodford. Thus, you see, a question which may conceivably +become of the most vital moment in determining the succession of +property turns on the observation or non-observation by this housemaid +of an apparently trivial and insignificant fact." + +"Has the servant made any statement on the subject, sir?" I ventured to +inquire. + +"Apparently not," replied Dr. Thorndyke; "at any rate, there is no +reference to any such statement in the newspaper report, though, +otherwise, the case is reported in great detail; indeed, the wealth of +detail, including plans of the two houses, is quite remarkable and well +worth noting as being in itself a fact of considerable interest." + +"In what respect, sir, is it of interest?" one of the students asked. + +"Ah!" replied Dr. Thorndyke, "I think I must leave you to consider that +question yourself. This is an untried case, and we mustn't make free +with the actions and motives of individuals." + +"Does the paper give any description of the missing man, sir?" I asked. + +"Yes; quite an exhaustive description. Indeed, it is exhaustive to the +verge of impropriety, considering that the man may possibly turn up +alive and well at any moment. It seems that he has an old Pott's +fracture of the left ankle, a linear, longitudinal scar on each +knee--origin not stated, but easily guessed at--and that he has tattooed +on his chest in vermilion a very finely and distinctly executed +representation of the symbolical Eye of Osiris--or Horus or Ra, as the +different authorities have it. There certainly ought to be no +difficulty in identifying the body. But we will hope that it won't come +to that. + +"And now I must really be running away, and so must you; but I would +advise you all to get copies of the paper and file them when you have +read the remarkably full details. It is a most curious case, and it is +highly probable that we shall hear of it again. Good afternoon, +gentlemen." + +Dr. Thorndyke's advice appealed to all who heard it, for medical +jurisprudence was a live subject at St. Margaret's and all of us were +keenly interested in it. As a result, we sallied forth in a body to the +nearest newsvendor's, and, having each provided himself with a copy of +the _Daily Telegraph_, adjourned together to the Common Room to devour +the report and thereafter to discuss the bearings of the case, +unhampered by those considerations of delicacy that afflicted our more +squeamish and scrupulous teacher. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE EAVESDROPPER + + +It is one of the canons of correct conduct, scrupulously adhered to +(when convenient) by all well-bred persons, that an acquaintance should +be initiated by a proper introduction. To this salutary rule, which I +have disregarded to the extent of an entire chapter, I now hasten to +conform; and the more so inasmuch as nearly two years have passed since +my first informal appearance. + +Permit me, then, to introduce Paul Berkeley, M.B., etc., recently--very +recently--qualified, faultlessly attired in the professional frock-coat +and tall hat, and, at the moment of introduction, navigating with +anxious care a perilous strait between a row of well-filled coal-sacks +and a colossal tray piled high with kidney potatoes. + +The passage of this strait landed me on the terra firma of Fleur-de-Lys +Court, where I halted for a moment to consult my visiting list. There +was only one more patient for me to see this morning, and he lived at 49 +Nevill's Court, wherever that might be. I turned for information to the +presiding deity of the coal shop. + +"Can you direct me, Mrs. Jablett, to Nevill's Court?" + +She could and she did, grasping me confidentially by the arm (the mark +remained on my sleeve for weeks) and pointing a shaking forefinger at +the dead wall ahead. "Nevill's Court," said Mrs. Jablett, "is a alley, +and you goes into it through a archway. It turns out of Fetter Lane on +the right 'and as you goes up, oppersight Bream's Buildings." + +I thanked Mrs. Jablett and went on my way, glad that the morning round +was nearly finished, and vaguely conscious of a growing appetite and of +a desire to wash in hot water. + +The practice which I was conducting was not my own. It belonged to poor +Dick Barnard, an old St. Margaret's man of irrepressible spirits and +indifferent physique, who had started only the day before for a trip +down the Mediterranean on board a tramp engaged in the currant trade; +and this, my second morning's round, was in some sort a voyage of +geographical discovery. + +I walked on briskly up Fetter Lane until a narrow, arched opening, +bearing the superscription "Nevill's Court," arrested my steps, and here +I turned to encounter one of those surprises that lie in wait for the +wanderer in London byways. Expecting to find the grey squalor of the +ordinary London court, I looked out from under the shadow of the arch +past a row of decent little shops through a vista full of light and +colour--a vista of ancient, warm-toned roofs and walls relieved by +sunlit foliage. In the heart of London a tree is always a delightful +surprise; but here were not only trees, but bushes and even flowers. The +narrow footway was bordered by little gardens, which, with their wooden +palings and well-kept shrubs, gave to the place an air of quaint and +sober rusticity; and even as I entered a bevy of work-girls, with +gaily-coloured blouses and hair aflame in the sunlight, brightened up +the quiet background like the wild flowers that spangle a summer +hedgerow. + +In one of the gardens I noticed that the little paths were paved with +what looked like circular tiles, but which, on inspection, I found to be +old-fashioned stone ink-bottles, buried bottom upwards; and I was +meditating upon the quaint conceit of the forgotten scrivener who had +thus adorned his habitation--a law-writer perhaps, or an author, or +perchance even a poet--when I perceived the number that I was seeking +inscribed on a shabby door in a high wall. There was no bell or knocker, +so, lifting the latch, I pushed the door open and entered. + +But if the court itself had been a surprise, this was a positive wonder, +a dream. Here, within earshot of the rumble of Fleet Street, I was in an +old-fashioned garden enclosed by high walls and, now that the gate was +shut, cut off from all sight and knowledge of the urban world that +seethed without. I stood and gazed in delighted astonishment. Sun-gilded +trees and flower-beds gay with blossom; lupins, snap-dragons, +nasturtiums, spiry foxgloves, and mighty hollyhocks formed the +foreground; over which a pair of sulphur-tinted butterflies flitted, +unmindful of a buxom and miraculously clean white cat which pursued +them, dancing across the borders and clapping her snowy paws fruitlessly +in mid-air. And the background was no less wonderful: a grand old house, +dark-eaved and venerable, that must have looked down on this garden when +ruffled dandies were borne in sedan chairs through the court, and gentle +Izaak Walton, stealing forth from his shop in Fleet Street, strolled up +Fetter Lane to "go a-angling" at Temple Mills. + +So overpowered was I by this unexpected vision that my hand was on the +bottom knob of a row of bell-pulls before I recollected myself; and it +was not until a most infernal jangling from within recalled me to my +business that I observed underneath it a small brass plate inscribed +"Miss Oman." + +The door opened with some suddenness, and a short, middle-aged woman +surveyed me hungrily. + +"Have I rung the wrong bell?" I asked--foolishly enough, I must admit. + +"How can I tell?" she demanded. "I expect you have. It's the sort of +thing a man would do--ring the wrong bell and then say he's sorry." + +"I didn't go as far as that," I retorted. "It seems to have had the +desired effect, and I've made your acquaintance into the bargain." + +"Whom do you want to see?" she asked. + +"Mr. Bellingham." + +"Are you the doctor?" + +"I am _a_ doctor." + +"Follow me upstairs," said Miss Oman, "and don't tread on the paint." + +I crossed the spacious hall, and, preceded by my conductress, ascended a +noble oak staircase, treading carefully on a ribbon of matting that ran +up the middle. On the first-floor landing Miss Oman opened a door and, +pointing to the room, said: "Go in there and wait; I'll tell her you're +here." + +"I said _Mr_. Bellingham--" I began; but the door slammed on me, and +Miss Oman's footsteps retreated rapidly down the stairs. + +It was at once obvious to me that I was in a very awkward position. The +room into which I had been shown communicated with another, and though +the door of communication was shut, I was unpleasantly aware of a +conversation that was taking place in the adjoining room. At first, +indeed, only a vague mutter, with a few disjointed phrases, came through +the door, but suddenly an angry voice rang out clear and painfully +distinct: + +"Yes, I did! And I say it again. Bribery! Collusion! That's what it +amounts to. You want to square me!" + +"Nothing of the kind, Godfrey," was the reply in a lower tone; but at +this point I coughed emphatically and moved a chair, and the voices +subsided once more into an indistinct murmur. + +To distract my attention from my unseen neighbours I glanced curiously +about the room and speculated upon the personalities of its occupants. A +very curious room it was, with its pathetic suggestion of decayed +splendour and old-world dignity: a room full of interest and character +and of contrasts and perplexing contradictions. For the most part it +spoke of unmistakable though decent poverty. It was nearly bare of +furniture, and what little there was was of the cheapest--a small +kitchen table and three Windsor chairs (two of them with arms); a +threadbare string carpet on the floor, and a cheap cotton cloth on the +table; these, with a set of bookshelves, frankly constructed of grocer's +boxes, formed the entire suite. And yet, despite its poverty, the place +exhaled an air of homely if rather ascetic comfort, and the taste was +irreproachable. The quiet russet of the tablecloth struck a pleasant +harmony with the subdued bluish green of the worn carpet; the Windsor +chairs and the legs of the table had been carefully denuded of their +glaring varnish and stained a sober brown; and the austerity of the +whole was relieved by a ginger-jar filled with fresh-cut flowers and set +in the middle of the table. + +But the contrasts of which I have spoken were most singular and +puzzling. There were the bookshelves, for instance, home-made and +stained at the cost of a few pence, but filled with recent and costly +works on archaeology and ancient art. There were the objects on the +mantelpiece: a facsimile in bronze--not bronzed plaster--of the +beautiful head of Hypnos and a pair of fine Ushabti figures. There were +the decorations of the walls, a number of etchings--signed proofs, every +one of them--of Oriental subjects, and a splendid facsimile reproduction +of an Egyptian papyrus. It was incongruous in the extreme, this mingling +of costly refinements with the barest and shabbiest necessaries of life, +of fastidious culture with manifest poverty. I could make nothing of it. +What manner of man, I wondered, was this new patient of mine? Was he a +miser, hiding himself and his wealth in this obscure court? An eccentric +savant? A philosopher? Or--more probably--a crank? But at this point my +meditations were interrupted by the voice from the adjoining room, once +more raised in anger. + +"But I say that you _are_ making an accusation! You are implying that I +made away with him." + +"Not at all," was the reply; "but I repeat that it is your business to +ascertain what has become of him. The responsibility rests upon you." + +"Upon me!" rejoined the first voice. "And what about you? Your position +is a pretty fishy one if it comes to that." + +"What!" roared the other. "Do you insinuate that I murdered my own +brother?" + +During this amazing colloquy I had stood gaping with sheer astonishment. +Suddenly I recollected myself, and, dropping into a chair, set my elbows +on my knees and slapped my hands over my ears; and thus I must have +remained for a full minute when I became aware of the closing of a door +behind me. + +I sprang to my feet and turned in some embarrassment (for I must have +looked unspeakably ridiculous) to confront the sombre figure of a rather +tall and strikingly handsome girl, who, as she stood with her hand on +the knob of the door, saluted me with a formal bow. In an instantaneous +glance I noted how perfectly she matched her strange surroundings. +Black-robed, black-haired, with black-grey eyes and a grave, sad face of +ivory pallor, she stood, like one of old Terborch's portraits, a harmony +in tones so low as to be but a step removed from monochrome. Obviously a +lady in spite of the worn and rusty dress, and something in the poise of +the head and the set of the straight brows hinted at a spirit that +adversity had hardened rather than broken. + +"I must ask you to forgive me for keeping you waiting," she said; and as +she spoke a certain softening at the corners of the austere mouth +reminded me of the absurd position in which she had found me. + +I murmured that the trifling delay was of no consequence whatever; that +I had, in fact, been rather glad of the rest; and I was beginning +somewhat vaguely to approach the subject of the invalid when the voice +from the adjoining room again broke forth with hideous distinctness. + +"I tell you I'll do nothing of the kind! Why, confound you, it's +nothing less than a conspiracy that you're proposing!" + +Miss Bellingham--as I assumed her to be--stepped quickly across the +floor, flushing angrily, as well she might; but, as she reached the +door, it flew open and a small, spruce, middle-aged man burst into the +room. + +"Your father is mad, Ruth!" he exclaimed; "absolutely stark mad! And I +refuse to hold any further communication with him." + +"The present interview was not of his seeking," Miss Bellingham replied +coldly. + +"No, it was not," was the wrathful rejoinder; "it was my mistaken +generosity. But there--what is the use of talking? I've done my best for +you and I'll do no more. Don't trouble to let me out; I can find my way. +Good morning." With a stiff bow and a quick glance at me, the speaker +strode out of the room, banging the door after him. + +"I must apologise for this extraordinary reception," said Miss +Bellingham; "but I believe medical men are not easily astonished. I will +introduce you to your patient now." She opened the door and, as I +followed her into the adjoining room, she said: "Here is another visitor +for you, dear. Doctor--" + +"Berkeley," said I. "I am acting for my friend Doctor Barnard." + +The invalid, a fine-looking man of about fifty-five, who sat propped up +in bed with a pile of pillows, held out an excessively shaky hand, which +I grasped cordially, making a mental note of the tremor. + +"How do you do, sir?" said Mr. Bellingham. "I hope Doctor Barnard is not +ill." + +"Oh, no," I answered; "he has gone for a trip down the Mediterranean on +a currant ship. The chance occurred rather suddenly, and I bustled him +off before he had time to change his mind. Hence my rather unceremonious +appearance, which I hope you will forgive." + +"Not at all," was the hearty response. "I'm delighted to hear that you +sent him off; he wanted a holiday, poor man. And I am delighted to make +your acquaintance, too." + +"It is very good of you," I said; whereupon he bowed as gracefully as a +man may who is propped up in bed with a heap of pillows; and having thus +exchanged broadsides of civility, so to speak, we--or, at least, +I--proceeded to business. + +"How long have you been laid up?" I asked cautiously, not wishing to +make too evident the fact that my principal had given me no information +respecting his case. + +"A week to-day," he replied. "The _fons et origo mali_ was a hansom-cab +which upset me opposite the Law Courts--sent me sprawling in the middle +of the road. My own fault, of course--at least, the cabby said so, and I +suppose he knew. But that was no consolation to me." + +"Were you much hurt?" + +"No, not really; but the fall bruised my knee rather badly and gave me a +deuce of a shake up. I'm too old for that sort of thing, you know." + +"Most people are," said I. + +"True; but you can take a cropper more gracefully at twenty than at +fifty-five. However, the knee is getting on quite well--you shall see it +presently--and you observe that I am giving it complete rest. But that +isn't the whole of the trouble or the worst of it. It's my confounded +nerves. I'm as irritable as the devil and as nervous as a cat, and I +can't get a decent night's rest." + +I recalled the tremulous hand that he had offered me. He did not look +like a drinker, but still-- + +"Do you smoke much?" I inquired diplomatically. + +He looked at me slyly and chuckled. "That's a very delicate way to +approach the subject, Doctor," he said. "No, I don't smoke much, and I +don't crook my little finger. I saw you look at my shaky hand just +now--oh, it's all right; I'm not offended. It's a doctor's business to +keep his eyelids lifting. But my hand is steady enough as a rule, when +I'm not upset, but the least excitement sets me shaking like a jelly. +And the fact is that I have just had a deucedly unpleasant interview--" + +"I think," Miss Bellingham interrupted, "Doctor Berkeley and, in fact, +the neighbourhood at large, are aware of the fact." + +Mr. Bellingham laughed rather shamefacedly. "I'm afraid I did lose my +temper," he said; "but I am an impulsive old fellow, Doctor, and when +I'm put out I'm apt to speak my mind--a little too bluntly, perhaps." + +"And audibly," his daughter added. "Do you know that Doctor Berkeley was +reduced to the necessity of stopping his ears?" She glanced at me, as +she spoke, with something like a twinkle in her solemn grey eyes. + +"Did I shout?" Mr. Bellingham asked, not very contritely, I thought, +though he added: "I'm very sorry, my dear; but it won't happen again. I +think we've seen the last of that good gentleman." + +"I am sure I hope so," she rejoined, adding: "And now I will leave you +to your talk; I shall be in the next room if you should want me." + +I opened the door for her, and when she had passed out with a stiff +little bow I seated myself by the bedside and resumed the consultation. +It was evidently a case of nervous breakdown, to which the cab accident +had, no doubt, contributed. As to the other antecedents, they were no +concern of mine, though Mr. Bellingham seemed to think otherwise, for he +resumed: "That cab business was the last straw, you know, and it +finished me off, but I have been going down the hill for a long time. +I've had a lot of trouble during the last two years. But I suppose I +oughtn't to pester you with the details of my personal affairs." + +"Anything that bears on your present state of health is of interest to +me if you don't mind telling it," I said. + +"Mind!" he exclaimed. "Did you ever meet an invalid who didn't enjoy +talking about his own health? It's the listener who minds, as a rule." + +"Well, the present listener doesn't," I said. + +"Then," said Mr. Bellingham, "I'll treat myself to the luxury of telling +you all my troubles; I don't often get the chance of a confidential +grumble to a responsible man of my own class. And I really have some +excuse for railing at Fortune, as you will agree when I tell you that, a +couple of years ago, I went to bed one night a gentleman of independent +means and excellent prospects and woke up in the morning to find myself +practically a beggar. Not a cheerful experience that, you know, at my +time of life, eh?" + +"No," I agreed, "nor at any other." + +"And that was not all," he continued; "for, at the same moment, I lost +my only brother, my dearest, kindest friend. He disappeared--vanished +off the face of the earth; but perhaps you have heard of the affair. The +confounded papers were full of it at the time." + +He paused abruptly, noticing, no doubt, a sudden change in my face. Of +course, I recollected the case now. Indeed, ever since I had entered the +house some chord of memory had been faintly vibrating, and now his last +words had struck out the full note. + +"Yes," I said, "I remember the incident, though I don't suppose I should +but for the fact that our lecturer on medical jurisprudence drew my +attention to it." + +"Indeed," said Mr. Bellingham, rather uneasily, as I fancied. "What did +he say about it?" + +"He referred to it as a case that was calculated to give rise to some +very pretty legal complications." + +"By Jove!" exclaimed Mr. Bellingham, "that man was a prophet! Legal +complications, indeed! But I'll be bound he never guessed at the sort of +infernal tangle that has actually gathered round the affair. By the way, +what was his name?" + +"Thorndyke," I replied. "Doctor John Thorndyke." + +"Thorndyke," Mr. Bellingham repeated in a musing, retrospective tone. "I +seem to remember that name. Yes, of course. I have heard a legal friend +of mine, a Mr. Marchmont, speak of him in reference to the case of a man +whom I knew slightly years ago--a certain Jeffrey Blackmore, who also +disappeared very mysteriously. I remember now that Doctor Thorndyke +unravelled that case with most remarkable ingenuity." + +"I daresay he would be very much interested to hear about your case," I +suggested. + +"I daresay he would," was the reply; "but one can't take up a +professional man's time for nothing, and I couldn't afford to pay him. +And that reminds me that I'm taking up your time by gossiping about my +purely personal affairs." + +"My morning round is finished," said I, "and, moreover, your personal +affairs are highly interesting. I suppose I mustn't ask what is the +nature of the legal entanglement?" + +"Not unless you are prepared to stay here for the rest of the day and go +home a raving lunatic. But I'll tell you this much: the trouble is about +my poor brother's will. In the first place, it can't be administered +because there is no sufficient evidence that my brother is dead; and in +the second place, if it could, all the property would go to people who +were never intended to benefit. The will itself is the most diabolically +exasperating document that was ever produced by the perverted ingenuity +of a wrong-headed man. That's all. Will you have a look at my knee?" + +As Mr. Bellingham's explanation (delivered in a rapid _crescendo_ and +ending almost in a shout) had left him purple-faced and trembling, I +thought it best to bring our talk to an end. Accordingly I proceeded to +inspect the injured knee, which was now nearly well, and to overhaul my +patient generally; and having given him detailed instructions as to his +general conduct, I rose to take my leave. + +"And remember," I said as I shook his hand, "no tobacco, no coffee, no +excitement of any kind. Lead a quiet, bovine life." + +"That's all very well," he grumbled, "but supposing people come here and +excite me?" + +"Disregard them," said I, "and read _Whitaker's Almanack_." And with +this parting advice I passed out into the other room. + +Miss Bellingham was seated at the table with a pile of blue-covered +note-books before her, two of which were open, displaying pages closely +written in a small, neat handwriting. She rose as I entered and looked +at me inquiringly. + +"I heard you advising my father to read _Whitaker's Almanack_," she +said. "Was that as a curative measure?" + +"Entirely," I replied. "I recommended it for its medicinal virtues, as +an antidote to mental excitement." + +She smiled faintly. "It certainly is not a highly emotional book," she +said, and then asked: "Have you any other instructions to give?" + +"Well, I might give the conventional advice--to maintain a cheerful +outlook and avoid worry; but I don't suppose you would find it very +helpful." + +"No," she answered bitterly; "it is a counsel of perfection. People in +our position are not a very cheerful class, I am afraid; but still they +don't seek out worries from sheer perverseness. The worries come +unsought. But, of course, you can't enter into that." + +"I can't give any practical help, I fear, though I do sincerely hope +that your father's affairs will straighten themselves out soon." + +She thanked me for my good wishes and accompanied me down to the street +door, where, with a bow and a rather stiff handshake, she gave me my +_congé_. + +Very ungratefully the noise of Fetter Lane smote on my ears as I came +out through the archway, and very squalid and unrestful the little +street looked when contrasted with the dignity and monastic quiet of the +old garden. As to the surgery, with its oilcloth floor and walls made +hideous with gaudy insurance show-cards in sham gilt frames, its aspect +was so revolting that I flew to the day-book for distraction, and was +still busily entering the morning's visits when the bottle-boy, +Adolphus, entered stealthily to announce lunch. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +JOHN THORNDYKE + + +That the character of an individual tends to be reflected in his dress +is a fact familiar to the least observant. That the observation is +equally applicable to aggregates of men is less familiar, but equally +true. Do not the members of the fighting professions, even to this day, +deck themselves in feathers, in gaudy colours and gilded ornaments, +after the manner of the African war-chief or the "Redskin brave," and +thereby indicate the place of war in modern civilisation? Does not the +Church of Rome send her priests to the altar in habiliments that were +fashionable before the fall of the Roman Empire, in token of her +immovable conservatism? And, lastly, does not the Law, lumbering on in +the wake of progress, symbolise its subjection to precedent by head-gear +reminiscent of the days of good Queen Anne? + +I should apologise for obtruding upon the reader these somewhat trite +reflections; which were set going by the quaint stock-in-trade of the +wig-maker's shop in the cloisters of the Inner Temple, whither I had +strayed on a sultry afternoon in quest of shade and quiet. I had halted +opposite the little shop window, and, with my eyes bent dreamily on the +row of wigs, was pursuing the above train of thought when I was startled +by a deep voice saying softly in my ear: "I'd have the full-bottomed one +if I were you." + +I turned swiftly and rather fiercely, and looked into the face of my +old friend and fellow-student, Jervis, behind whom, regarding us with a +sedate smile, stood my former teacher, Dr. John Thorndyke. Both men +greeted me with a warmth that I felt to be very flattering, for +Thorndyke was quite a great personage, and even Jervis was several years +my academic senior. + +"You are coming in to have a cup of tea with us, I hope," said +Thorndyke; and as I assented gladly, he took my arm and led me across +the court in the direction of the Treasury. + +"But why that hungry gaze at those forensic vanities, Berkeley?" he +asked. "Are you thinking of following my example and Jervis's--deserting +the bedside for the Bar?" + +"What! Has Jervis gone into the law?" I exclaimed. + +"Bless you, yes!" replied Jervis. "I have become parasitical on +Thorndyke! 'The big fleas have little fleas,' you know. I am the +additional fraction trailing after the whole number in the rear of a +decimal point." + +"Don't you believe him, Berkeley," interposed Thorndyke. "He is the +brains of the firm. I supply the respectability and moral worth. But you +haven't answered my question. What are you doing here on a summer +afternoon staring into a wigmaker's window?" + +"I am Barnard's locum; he is in practice in Fetter Lane." + +"I know," said Thorndyke; "we meet him occasionally, and very pale and +peaky he has been looking of late. Is he taking a holiday?" + +"Yes. He has gone for a trip to the Isles of Greece in a currant ship." + +"Then," said Jervis, "you are actually a local G.P. I thought you were +looking beastly respectable." + +"And, judging from your leisured manner when we encountered you," added +Thorndyke, "the practice is not a strenuous one. I suppose it is +entirely local?" + +"Yes," I replied. "The patients mostly live in the small streets and +courts within a half-mile radius of the surgery, and the abodes of some +of them are pretty squalid. Oh! and that reminds me of a very strange +coincidence. It will interest you, I think." + +"Life is made up of strange coincidences," said Thorndyke. "Nobody but a +reviewer of novels is ever really surprised at a coincidence. But what +is yours?" + +"It is connected with a case that you mentioned to us at the hospital +about two years ago, the case of a man who disappeared under rather +mysterious circumstances. Do you remember it? The man's name was +Bellingham." + +"The Egyptologist? Yes, I remember the case quite well. What about it?" + +"The brother is a patient of mine. He is living in Nevill's Court with +his daughter, and they seem to be as poor as church mice." + +"Really," said Thorndyke, "this is quite interesting. They must have +come down in the world rather suddenly. If I remember rightly, the +brother was living in a house of some pretensions standing in its own +grounds." + +"Yes, that is so. I see you recollect all about the case." + +"My dear fellow," said Jervis, "Thorndyke never forgets a likely case. +He is a sort of medico-legal camel. He gulps down the raw facts from the +newspapers or elsewhere, and then, in his leisure moments, he calmly +regurgitates them and has a quiet chew at them. It is a quaint habit. A +case crops up in the papers or in one of the courts, and Thorndyke +swallows it whole. Then it lapses and everyone forgets it. A year or two +later it crops up in a new form, and, to your astonishment, you find +that Thorndyke has got it all cut and dried. He has been ruminating on +it periodically in the interval." + +"You notice," said Thorndyke, "that my learned friend is pleased to +indulge in mixed metaphors. But his statement is substantially true, +though obscurely worded. You must tell us more about the Bellinghams +when we have fortified you with a cup of tea." + +Our talk had brought us to Thorndyke's chambers, which were on the first +floor of No. 5A King's Bench Walk, and as we entered the fine, spacious, +panelled room we found a small, elderly man, neatly dressed in black, +setting out the tea-service on the table. I glanced at him with some +curiosity. He hardly looked like a servant, in spite of his neat, black +clothes; in fact, his appearance was rather puzzling, for while his +quiet dignity and his serious, intelligent face suggested some kind of +professional man, his neat, capable hands were those of a skilled +mechanic. + +Thorndyke surveyed the tea-tray thoughtfully and then looked at his +retainer. "I see you have put three tea-cups, Polton," he said. "Now, +how did you know I was bringing someone in to tea?" + +The little man smiled a quaint, crinkly smile of gratification as he +explained: + +"I happened to look out of the laboratory window as you turned the +corner, sir." + +"How disappointingly simple," said Jervis. "We were hoping for something +abstruse and telepathic." + +"Simplicity is the soul of efficiency, sir," replied Polton as he +checked the tea-service to make sure that nothing was forgotten, and +with this remarkable aphorism he silently evaporated. + +"To return to the Bellingham case," said Thorndyke, when he had poured +out the tea. "Have you picked up any facts relating to the parties--any +facts, I mean, of course, that it would be proper for you to mention?" + +"I have learned one or two things that there is no harm in repeating. +For instance, I gather that Godfrey Bellingham--my patient--lost all his +property quite suddenly about the time of the disappearance." + +"That is really odd," said Thorndyke. "The opposite condition would be +quite understandable, but one doesn't see exactly how this can have +happened, unless there was an allowance of some sort." + +"No, that was what struck me. But there seem to be some queer features +in the case, and the legal position is evidently getting complicated. +There is a will, for example, which is giving trouble." + +"They will hardly be able to administer the will without either proof or +presumption of death," Thorndyke remarked. + +"Exactly. That's one of the difficulties. Another is that there seems to +be some fatal defect in the drafting of the will itself. I don't know +what it is, but I expect I shall hear sooner or later. By the way, I +mentioned the interest that you had taken in the case, and I think +Bellingham would have liked to consult you, but, of course, the poor +devil has no money." + +"That is awkward for him if the other interested parties have. There +will probably be legal proceedings of some kind, and as the law takes no +account of poverty, he is likely to go to the wall. He ought to have +advice of some sort." + +"I don't see how he is to get it," said I. + +"Neither do I," Thorndyke admitted. "There are no hospitals for +impecunious litigants; it is assumed that only persons of means have a +right to go to law. Of course, if we knew the man and the circumstances +we might be able to help him; but, for all we know to the contrary, he +may be an arrant scoundrel." + +I recalled the strange conversation that I had overheard, and wondered +what Thorndyke would have thought of it if it had been allowable for me +to repeat it. Obviously it was not, however, and I could only give my +own impressions. + +"He doesn't strike me as that," I said; "but, of course, one never +knows. Personally, he impressed me rather favourably, which is more than +the other man did." + +"What other man?" asked Thorndyke. + +"There was another man in the case, wasn't there? I forget his name. I +saw him at the house and didn't much like the look of him. I suspect +he's putting some sort of pressure on Bellingham." + +"Berkeley knows more about this than he is telling us," said Jervis. +"Let us look up the report and see who this stranger is." He took down +from a shelf a large volume of newspaper-cuttings and laid it on the +table. + +"You see," said he, as he ran his finger down the index, "Thorndyke +files all the cases that are likely to come to something, and I know he +had expectations respecting this one. I fancy he had some ghoulish hope +that the missing gentleman's head might turn up in somebody's dust-bin. +Here we are; the other man's name is Hurst. He is apparently a cousin, +and it was at his house that the missing man was last seen alive." + +"So you think Mr. Hurst is moving in the matter?" said Thorndyke, when +he had glanced over the report. + +"That is my impression," I replied, "though I really know nothing about +it." + +"Well," said Thorndyke, "if you should learn what is being done and +should have permission to speak of it, I shall be very interested to +hear how the case progresses; and if an unofficial opinion on any point +would be of service, I think there would be no harm in my giving it." + +"It would certainly be of great value if the other parties are taking +professional advice," I said; and then, after a pause, I asked: "Have +you given this case much consideration?" + +Thorndyke reflected. "No," he said, "I can't say that I have. I turned +it over rather carefully when the report first appeared, and I have +speculated on it occasionally since. It is my habit, as Jervis was +telling you, to utilise odd moments of leisure (such as a railway +journey, for instance) by constructing theories to account for the facts +of such obscure cases as have come to my notice. It is a useful habit, I +think, for, apart from the mental exercise and experience that one gains +from it, an appreciable proportion of these cases ultimately come into +my hands, and then the previous consideration of them is so much time +gained." + +"Have you formed any theory to account for the facts in this case?" I +asked. + +"Yes; I have several theories, one of which I especially favour, and I +am waiting with great interest such new facts as may indicate to me +which of these theories is probably the correct one." + +"It's no use your trying to pump him, Berkeley," said Jervis. "He is +fitted with an information-valve that opens inwards. You can pour in as +much as you like, but you can't get any out." + +Thorndyke chuckled. "My learned friend is, in the main, correct," he +said. "You see, I may be called upon any day to advise on this case, in +which event I should feel remarkably foolish if I had already expounded +my views in detail. But I should like to hear what you and Jervis make +of the case as reported in the newspapers." + +"There now," exclaimed Jervis, "what did I tell you? He wants to suck +our brains." + +"As far as my brain is concerned," I said, "the process of suction isn't +likely to yield much except a vacuum, so I will resign in favour of you. +You are a full-blown lawyer, whereas I am only a simple G.P." + +Jervis filled his pipe with deliberate care and lighted it. Then, +blowing a slender stream of smoke into the air, he said: + +"If you want to know what I make of the case from that report, I can +tell you in one word--nothing. Every road seems to end in a cul-de-sac." + +"Oh, come!" said Thorndyke, "this is mere laziness. Berkeley wants to +witness a display of your forensic wisdom. A learned counsel may be in +a fog--he very often is--but he doesn't state the fact baldly; he wraps +it up in a decent verbal disguise. Tell us how you arrive at your +conclusion. Show us that you have really weighed the facts." + +"Very well," said Jervis, "I will give you a masterly analysis of the +case--leading to nothing." He continued to puff at his pipe for a time +with slight embarrassment, as I thought--and I fully sympathised with +him. Finally he blew a little cloud and commenced: + +"The position appears to be this: Here is a man who is seen to enter a +certain house, who is shown into a certain room and shut in. He is not +seen to come out, and yet, when the room is next entered, it is found to +be empty; and that man is never seen again, alive or dead. That is a +pretty tough beginning. + +"Now, it is evident that one of three things must have happened. Either +he must have remained in that room, or at least in that house, alive; or +he must have died, naturally or otherwise, and his body have been +concealed; or he must have left the house unobserved. Let us take the +first case. This affair happened nearly two years ago. Now, he couldn't +have remained alive in the house for two years. He would have been +noticed. The servants, for instance, when cleaning out the rooms, would +have observed him." + +Here Thorndyke interposed with an indulgent smile at his junior: "My +learned friend is treating the inquiry with unbecoming levity. We accept +the conclusion that the man did not remain in the house alive." + +"Very well. Then did he remain in it dead? Apparently not. The report +says that as soon as the man was missed, Hurst and the servants +together searched the house thoroughly. But there had been no time or +opportunity to dispose of the body, whence the only possible conclusion +is that the body was not there. Moreover, if we admit the possibility of +his having been murdered--for that is what concealment of the body would +imply--there is the question: Who could have murdered him? Not the +servants, obviously, and as to Hurst--well, of course, we don't know +what his relations with the missing man have been--at least, I don't." + +"Neither do I," said Thorndyke. "I know nothing beyond what is in the +newspaper report and what Berkeley has told us." + +"Then we know nothing. He may have had a motive for murdering the man or +he may not. The point is that he doesn't seem to have had the +opportunity. Even if we suppose that he managed to conceal the body +temporarily, still there was the final disposal of it. He couldn't have +buried it in the garden with the servants about; neither could he have +burned it. The only conceivable method by which he could have got rid of +it would have been that of cutting it up into fragments and burying the +dismembered parts in some secluded spots or dropping them into ponds or +rivers. But no remains of the kind have been found, as some of them +probably would have been by now, so that there is nothing to support +this suggestion; indeed, the idea of murder, in this house at least, +seems to be excluded by the search that was made the instant the man was +missed. + +"Then to take the third alternative: Did he leave the house unobserved? +Well, it is not impossible, but it would be a queer thing to do. He may +have been an impulsive or eccentric man. We can't say. We know nothing +about him. But two years have elapsed and he has never turned up, so +that if he left the house secretly he must have gone into hiding and be +hiding still. Of course, he may have been the sort of lunatic who would +behave in that manner or he may not. We have no information as to his +personal character. + +"Then there is the complication of the scarab that was picked up in the +grounds of his brother's house at Woodford. That seems to show that he +visited that house at some time. But no one admits having seen him +there; and it is uncertain, therefore, whether he went first to his +brother's house or to Hurst's. If he was wearing the scarab when he +arrived at the Eltham house, he must have left that house unobserved and +gone to Woodford; but if he was not wearing it he probably went from +Woodford to Eltham and there finally disappeared. As to whether he was +or was not wearing the scarab when he was last seen alive by Hurst's +housemaid, there is at present no evidence. + +"If he went to his brother's house after his visit to Hurst, the +disappearance is more understandable if we don't mind flinging +accusations of murder about rather casually; for the disposal of the +body would be much less difficult in that case. Apparently no one saw +him enter the house, and, if he did enter, it was by a back gate which +communicated with the library--a separate building some distance from +the house. In that case it would have been physically possible for the +Bellinghams to have made away with him. There was plenty of time to +dispose of the body unobserved--temporarily, at any rate. Nobody had +seen him come to the house, and nobody knew that he was there--if he +_was_ there; and apparently no search was made either at the time or +afterwards. In fact, if it could be shown that the missing man ever left +Hurst's house alive, or that he was wearing the scarab when he arrived +there, things would look rather fishy for the Bellinghams--for, of +course, the girl must have been in it if the father was. But there's the +crux: there is no proof that the man ever did leave Hurst's house alive. +And if he didn't--but there! as I said at first, whichever turning you +take, you find that it ends in a blind alley." + +"A lame ending to a masterly exposition," was Thorndyke's comment. + +"I know," said Jervis. "But what would you have? There are quite a +number of possible solutions, and one of them must be the true one. But +how are we to judge which it is? I maintain that until we know something +of the parties and the financial and other interests involved we have no +data." + +"There," said Thorndyke, "I disagree with you entirely. I maintain that +we have ample data. You say that we have no means of judging which of +the various possible solutions is the true one; but I think that if you +will read the report carefully and thoughtfully you will find that the +facts now known to us point clearly to one explanation, and one only. It +may not be the true explanation, and I don't suppose it is. But we are +now dealing with the matter speculatively, academically, and I contend +that our data yield a definite conclusion. What do you say, Berkeley?" + +"I say that it is time for me to be off; the evening consultations begin +at half-past six." + +"Well," said Thorndyke, "don't let us keep you from your duties, with +poor Barnard currant-picking in the Grecian Isles. But come in and see +us again. Drop in when you like, after your work is done. You won't be +in our way even if we are busy, which we very seldom are after eight +o'clock." + +I thanked Dr. Thorndyke most heartily for making me free of his chambers +in this hospitable fashion and took my leave, setting forth homewards by +way of Middle Temple Lane and the Embankment; not a very direct route +for Fetter Lane, it must be confessed; but our talk had revived my +interest in the Bellingham household and put me in a reflective vein. + +From the remarkable conversation that I had overheard it was evident +that the plot was thickening. Not that I supposed that these two +respectable gentlemen really suspected one another of having made away +with the missing man; but still, their unguarded words, spoken in anger, +made it clear that each had allowed the thought of sinister +possibilities to enter his mind--a dangerous condition that might easily +grow into actual suspicion. And then the circumstances really were +highly mysterious, as I realised with especial vividness now after +listening to my friend's analysis of the evidence. + +From the problem itself my mind travelled, not for the first time during +the last few days, to the handsome girl who had seemed in my eyes the +high-priestess of this temple of mystery in the quaint little court. +What a strange figure she made against this strange background, with her +quiet, chilly, self-contained manner, her pale face, so sad and worn, +her black, straight brows and solemn grey eyes, so inscrutable, +mysterious, Sibylline. A striking, even impressive, personality this, I +reflected, with something in it sombre and enigmatic that attracted and +yet repelled. + +And here I recalled Jervis's words: "The girl must have been in it if +the father was." It was a dreadful thought, even though only +speculatively uttered, and my heart rejected it; rejected it with an +indignation that rather surprised me. And this notwithstanding that the +sombre black-robed figure that my memory conjured up was one that +associated itself appropriately enough with the idea of mystery and +tragedy. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LEGAL COMPLICATIONS AND A JACKAL + + +My meditations brought me by a circuitous route, and ten minutes late, +to the end of Fetter Lane, where, exchanging my rather abstracted air +for the alert manner of a busy practitioner, I strode forward briskly +and darted into the surgery with knitted brows, as though just released +from an anxious case. But there was only one patient waiting, and she +saluted me as I entered with a snort of defiance. + +"Here you are, then?" said she. + +"You are perfectly correct, Miss Oman," I replied; "in fact, you have +put the case in a nutshell. What can I have the pleasure of doing for +you?" + +"Nothing," was the answer. "My medical adviser is a lady; but I've +brought a note from Mr. Bellingham. Here it is," and she thrust the +envelope into my hand. + +I glanced through the note and learned that my patient had had a couple +of bad nights and a very harassing day. "Could I have something to give +me a night's rest?" it concluded. + +I reflected a few moments. One is not very ready to prescribe sleeping +draughts for unknown patients, but still, insomnia is a very distressing +condition. In the end, I temporised with a moderate dose of bromide, +deciding to call and see if more energetic measures were necessary. + +"He had better take a dose of this at once, Miss Oman," said I, as I +handed her the bottle, "and I will look in later and see how he is." + +"I expect he will be glad to see you," she answered, "for he is all +alone to-night and very dumpy. Miss Bellingham is out. But I must remind +you that he's a poor man and pays his way. You must excuse my mentioning +it." + +"I am much obliged to you for the hint, Miss Oman," I rejoined. "It +isn't necessary for me to see him, but I should like just to look in and +have a chat." + +"Yes, it will do him good. You have your points, though punctuality +doesn't seem to be one of them," and with this parting shot Miss Oman +bustled away. + +Half-past eight found me ascending the great, dim staircase of the house +in Nevill's Court preceded by Miss Oman, by whom I was ushered into the +room. Mr. Bellingham, who had just finished some sort of meal, was +sitting hunched up in his chair gazing gloomily into the empty grate. He +brightened up as I entered, but was evidently in very low spirits. + +"I didn't mean to drag you out after your day's work was finished," he +said, "though I am very glad to see you." + +"You haven't dragged me out. I heard you were alone, so I just dropped +in for a few minutes' gossip." + +"That is really kind of you," he said heartily. "But I'm afraid you'll +find me rather poor company. A man who is full of his own highly +disagreeable affairs is not a desirable companion." + +"You mustn't let me disturb you if you'd rather be alone," said I, with +a sudden fear that I was intruding. + +"Oh, you won't disturb me," he replied; adding, with a laugh: "It's +more likely to be the other way about. In fact, if I were not afraid of +boring you to death I would ask you to let me talk my difficulties over +with you." + +"You won't bore me," I said. "It is generally interesting to share +another man's experiences without their inconveniences. 'The proper +study of mankind is--man,' you know, especially to a doctor." + +Mr. Bellingham chuckled grimly. "You make me feel like a microbe," he +said. "However, if you would care to take a peep at me through your +microscope, I will crawl on to the stage for your inspection, though it +is not _my_ actions that furnish the materials for your psychological +studies. I am only a passive agent. It is my poor brother who is the +_Deus ex machina_, who, from his unknown grave, as I fear, pulls the +strings of this infernal puppet-show." + +He paused, and for a space gazed thoughtfully into the grate as if he +had forgotten my presence. At length he looked up, and resumed: + +"It is a curious story, Doctor--a very curious story. Part of it you +know--the middle part. I will tell it you from the beginning, and then +you will know as much as I do; for, as to the end, that is known to no +one. It is written, no doubt, in the book of destiny, but the page has +yet to be turned. + +"The mischief began with my father's death. He was a country clergyman +of very moderate means, a widower with two children, my brother John and +me. He managed to send us both to Oxford, after which John went into the +Foreign Office and I was to have gone into the Church. But I suddenly +discovered that my views on religion had undergone a change that made +this impossible, and just about this time my father came into a quite +considerable property. Now, as it was his expressed intention to leave +the estate equally divided between my brother and me, there was no need +for me to take up any profession for a livelihood. Archaeology was +already the passion of my life, and I determined to devote myself +henceforth to my favourite study, in which, by the way, I was following +a family tendency; for my father was an enthusiastic student of ancient +Oriental history, and John was, as you know, an ardent Egyptologist. + +"Then my father died quite suddenly, and left no will. He had intended +to have one drawn up, but had put it off until it was too late. And +since nearly all the property was in the form of real estate, my brother +inherited practically the whole of it. However, in deference to the +known wishes of my father, he made me an allowance of five hundred a +year, which was about a quarter of the annual income, I urged him to +assign me a lump sum, but he refused to do this. Instead, he instructed +his solicitor to pay me the allowance in quarterly instalments during +the rest of his life; and it was understood that, on his death, the +entire estate should devolve on me, or if I died first, on my daughter +Ruth. Then, as you know, he disappeared suddenly, and as the +circumstances suggested that he was dead, and there was no evidence that +he was alive, his solicitor--a Mr. Jellicoe--found himself unable to +continue the payment of the allowance. On the other hand, as there was +no positive evidence that my brother was dead, it was impossible to +administer the will." + +"You say that the circumstances suggested that your brother was dead. +What circumstances were they?" + +"Principally the suddenness and completeness of the disappearance. His +luggage, as you may remember, was found lying unclaimed at the railway +station; and there was another circumstance even more suggestive. My +brother drew a pension from the Foreign Office, for which he had to +apply in person, or, if abroad, produce proof that he was alive on the +date when the payment became due. Now, he was exceedingly regular in +this respect; in fact, he had never been known to fail, either to appear +in person or to transmit the necessary documents to his agent, Mr. +Jellicoe. But from the moment when he vanished so mysteriously to the +present day, nothing whatever has been heard of him." + +"It's a very awkward position for you," I said, "but I should think +there will not be much difficulty in obtaining the permission of the +Court to presume death and to proceed to prove the will." + +Mr. Bellingham made a wry face. "I expect you are right," he said, "but, +unfortunately, that doesn't help me much. You see, Mr. Jellicoe, having +waited a reasonable time for my brother to reappear, took a very unusual +but, I think, in the special circumstances, a very proper step: he +summoned me and the other interested party to his office and +communicated to us the provisions of the will. And very extraordinary +provisions they turned out to be. I was thunderstruck when I heard them. +And the exasperating thing is that I feel sure my poor brother imagined +that he had made everything perfectly safe and simple." + +"They generally do," I said, rather vaguely. + +"I suppose they do," said Mr. Bellingham; "but poor John has made the +most infernal hash of his will, and I am certain that he has utterly +defeated his own intentions. You see, we are an old London family. The +house in Queen Square where my brother nominally lived, but actually +kept his collection, has been occupied by us for generations, and most +of the Bellinghams are buried in St. George's burial-ground close by, +though some members of the family are buried in other churchyards in the +neighbourhood. Now, my brother--who, by the way, was a bachelor--had a +strong feeling for the family traditions, and he stipulated, not +unnaturally, in his will that he should be buried in St. George's +burial-ground among his ancestors, or, at least, in one of the places of +burial appertaining to his native parish. But instead of simply +expressing the wish and directing his executors to carry it out, he made +it a condition affecting the operation of the will." + +"Affecting it in what respect?" I asked. + +"In a very vital respect," answered Mr. Bellingham. "The bulk of the +property he bequeathed to me, or if I predeceased him, to my daughter +Ruth. But the bequest was subject to the condition that I have +mentioned--that he should be buried in a certain place--and if that +condition was not fulfilled, the bulk of the property was to go to my +cousin, George Hurst." + +"But in that case," said I, "as you can't produce the body, neither of +you can get the property." + +"I am not so sure of that," he replied. "If my brother is dead, it is +pretty certain that he is not buried in St. George's or any of the other +places mentioned, and the fact can easily be proved by production of the +registers. So that a permission to presume death would result in the +handing over to Hurst of almost the entire estate." + +"Who is the executor?" I asked. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "there is another muddle. There are two executors; +Jellicoe is one, and the other is the principal beneficiary--Hurst or +myself, as the case may be. But, you see, neither of us can become an +executor until the Court has decided which of us is the principal +beneficiary." + +"But who is to apply to the Court? I thought that was the business of +the executors." + +"Exactly. That is Hurst's difficulty. We were discussing it when you +called the other day, and a very animated discussion it was," he added, +with a grim smile. "You see, Jellicoe naturally refuses to move in the +matter alone. He says he must have the support of the other executor. +But Hurst is not at present the other executor; neither am I. But the +two of us together are the co-executor, since the duty devolves upon one +or other of us, in any case." + +"It's a complicated position," I said. + +"It is; and the complication has elicited a very curious proposal from +Hurst. He points out--quite correctly, I am afraid--that as the +conditions as to burial have not been complied with, the property must +come to him, and he proposes a very neat little arrangement, which is +this: That I shall support him and Jellicoe in their application for +permission to presume death and administer the will, and that he shall +pay me four hundred a year for life; the arrangement to hold good _in +all eventualities_." + +"What does he mean by that?" + +"He means," said Bellingham, fixing me with a ferocious scowl, "that if +the body should turn up at any future time, so that the conditions as to +burial should be able to be carried out, he should still retain the +property and pay me the four hundred a year." + +"The deuce!" said I. "He seems to know how to drive a bargain." + +"His position is that he stands to lose four hundred a year for the term +of my life if the body is never found, and he ought to stand to win if +it is." + +"And I gather that you have refused his offer?" + +"Yes; very emphatically, and my daughter agrees with me; but I am not +sure that I have done the right thing. A man should think twice, I +suppose, before he burns his boats." + +"Have you spoken to Mr. Jellicoe about the matter?" + +"Yes, I have been to see him to-day. He is a cautious man, and he +doesn't advise me one way or the other. But I think he disapproves of my +refusal; in fact, he remarked that a bird in the hand is worth two in +the bush, especially when the whereabouts of the bush is unknown." + +"Do you think he will apply to the Court without your sanction?" + +"He doesn't want to; but I suppose, if Hurst puts pressure on him, he +will have to. Besides, Hurst, as an interested party, could apply on his +own account, and after my refusal he probably will; at least, that is +Jellicoe's opinion." + +"The whole thing is a most astonishing muddle," I said, "especially when +one remembers that your brother had a lawyer to advise him. Didn't Mr. +Jellicoe point out to him how absurd the provisions were?" + +"Yes, he did. He tells me that he implored my brother to let him draw +up a will embodying the matter in a reasonable form. But John wouldn't +listen to him. Poor old fellow! he could be very pig-headed when he +chose." + +"And is Hurst's proposal still open?" + +"No, thanks to my peppery temper. I refused it very definitely, and sent +him off with a flea in his ear. I hope I have not made a false step; I +was quite taken by surprise when Hurst made the proposal and got rather +angry. You remember, my brother was last seen alive at Hurst's +house--but there, I oughtn't to talk like that, and I oughtn't to pester +you with my confounded affairs when you have come in for a friendly +chat, though I gave you fair warning, you remember." + +"Oh, but you have been highly entertaining. You don't realise what an +interest I take in your case." + +Mr. Bellingham laughed somewhat grimly. "My case!" he repeated. "You +speak as if I were some rare and curious sort of criminal lunatic. +However, I'm glad you find me amusing. It's more than I find myself." + +"I didn't say amusing; I said interesting. I view you with deep respect +as the central figure of a stirring drama. And I am not the only person +who regards you in that light. Do you remember my speaking to you of +Doctor Thorndyke?" + +"Yes, of course I do." + +"Well, oddly enough, I met him this afternoon and we had a long talk at +his chambers. I took the liberty of mentioning that I had made your +acquaintance. Did I do wrong?" + +"No. Certainly not. Why shouldn't you tell him? Did he remember my +infernal case, as you call it?" + +"Perfectly, in all its details. He is quite an enthusiast, you know, and +uncommonly keen to hear how the case develops." + +"So am I, for that matter," said Mr. Bellingham. + +"I wonder," said I, "if you would mind my telling him what you have told +me to-night. It would interest him enormously." + +Mr. Bellingham reflected awhile with his eyes fixed on the empty grate. +Presently he looked up, and said slowly: + +"I don't know why I should. It's no secret; and if it were, I hold no +monopoly in it. No; tell him, if you think he'd care to hear about it." + +"You needn't be afraid of his talking," I said. "He is as close as an +oyster; and the facts may mean more to him than to us. He may be able to +give a useful hint or two." + +"Oh, I'm not going to pick his brains," Mr. Bellingham said quickly and +with some wrath. "I'm not the sort of man who goes round cadging for +free professional advice. Understand that clearly, Doctor." + +"I do," I answered hastily. "That wasn't what I meant at all. Is that +Miss Bellingham coming in? I heard the front door shut." + +"Yes, that will be my girl, I expect; but don't run away. You're not +afraid of her, are you?" he added as I hurriedly picked up my hat. + +"I'm not sure that I'm not," I answered. "She is a rather majestic young +lady." + +Mr. Bellingham chuckled and smothered a yawn, and at that moment his +daughter entered the room; and, in spite of her shabby black dress and +a shabbier handbag that she carried, I thought her appearance and manner +fully justified my description. + +"You come in, Miss Bellingham," I said as she shook my hand with cool +civility, "to find your father yawning and me taking my departure. So I +have my uses, you see. My conversation is the infallible cure for +insomnia." + +Miss Bellingham smiled. "I believe I am driving you away," she said. + +"Not at all," I replied hastily. "My mission was accomplished, that was +all." + +"Sit down for a few minutes, Doctor," urged Mr. Bellingham, "and let +Ruth sample the remedy. She will be affronted if you run away as soon as +she comes in." + +"Well, you mustn't let me keep you up," I said. + +"Oh, I'll let you know when I fall asleep," he replied, with a chuckle; +and with this understanding I sat down again--not at all unwillingly. + +At this moment Miss Oman entered with a small tray and a smile of which +I should not have supposed her to be capable. + +"You'll take your toast and cocoa while they're hot, dear, won't you?" +she said coaxingly. + +"Yes, I will, Phyllis, thank you," Miss Bellingham answered. "I am only +just going to take off my hat," and she left the room, followed by the +astonishingly transfigured spinster. + +She returned almost immediately as Mr. Bellingham was in the midst of a +profound yawn, and sat down to her frugal meal, when her father +mystified me considerably by remarking: + +"You're late to-night, chick. Have the Shepherd Kings been giving +trouble?" + +"No," she replied; "but I thought I might as well get them done. So I +dropped in at the Ormond Street library on my way home and finished +them." + +"Then they are ready for stuffing now?" + +"Yes." As she answered she caught my astonished eye (for a stuffed +Shepherd King is undoubtedly a somewhat surprising phenomenon) and +laughed softly. + +"We mustn't talk in riddles like this," she said, "before Doctor +Berkeley, or he will turn us both into pillars of salt. My father is +referring to my work," she explained to me. + +"Are you a taxidermist, then?" I asked. + +She hastily set down the cup that she was raising to her lips and broke +into a ripple of quiet laughter. + +"I am afraid my father has misled you with his irreverent expressions. +He will have to atone by explaining." + +"You see, Doctor," said Mr. Bellingham, "Ruth is a literary searcher--" + +"Oh, don't call me a 'searcher'!" Miss Bellingham protested. "It +suggests the female searcher at a police-station. Say investigator." + +"Very well, investigator or investigatrix, if you like. She hunts up +references and bibliographies at the Museum for people who are writing +books. She looks up everything that has been written on a given subject, +and then, when she has crammed herself to bursting-point with facts, she +goes to her client and disgorges and crams him or her, and he or she +finally disgorges into the Press." + +"What a disgusting way to put it!" said his daughter. "However, that is +what it amounts to. I am a literary jackal, a collector of provender for +the literary lions. Is that quite clear?" + +"Perfectly. But I don't think that, even now, I quite understand about +the stuffed Shepherd Kings." + +"Oh, it was not the Shepherd Kings who were to be stuffed. It was the +author! That was mere obscurity of speech on the part of my father. The +position is this: A venerable archdeacon wrote an article on the +patriarch Joseph--" + +"And didn't know anything about him," interrupted Mr. Bellingham, "and +got tripped up by a specialist who did, and then got shirty--" + +"Nothing of the kind," said Miss Bellingham. "He knew as much as +venerable archdeacons ought to know; but the expert knew more. So the +archdeacon commissioned me to collect the literature on the state of +Egypt at the end of the seventeenth dynasty, which I have done; and +to-morrow I shall go and stuff him, as my father expresses it, and +then--" + +"And then," Mr. Bellingham interrupted, "the archdeacon will rush forth +and pelt that expert with Shepherd Kings and Seqenen-Ra and the whole +tag-rag and bobtail of the seventeenth dynasty. Oh, there'll be wigs on +the green, I can tell you." + +"Yes, I expect there will be quite a lively little skirmish," said Miss +Bellingham. And thus dismissing the subject, she made an energetic +attack on the toast while her father refreshed himself with a colossal +yawn. + +I watched her with furtive admiration and deep and growing interest. In +spite of her pallor, her weary eyes, and her drawn and almost haggard +face, she was an exceedingly handsome girl; and there was in her aspect +a suggestion of purpose, of strength and character that marked her off +from the rank and file of womanhood. I noted this as I stole an +occasional glance at her or turned to answer some remark addressed to +me; and I noted, too, that her speech, despite a general undertone of +depression, was yet not without a certain caustic, ironical humour. She +was certainly a rather enigmatical young person, but very decidedly +interesting. + +When she had finished her repast she put aside the tray and, opening the +shabby handbag, asked: + +"Do you take any interest in Egyptian history? We are as mad as hatters +on the subject. It seems to be a family complaint." + +"I don't know much about it," I answered. "Medical studies are rather +engrossing and don't leave much time for general reading." + +"Naturally," she said. "You can't specialise in everything. But if you +would care to see how the business of a literary jackal is conducted, I +will show you my notes." + +I accepted the offer eagerly (not, I fear, from pure enthusiasm for the +subject), and she brought forth from the bag four blue-covered, quarto +note-books, each dealing with one of the four dynasties from the +fourteenth to the seventeenth. As I glanced through the neat and orderly +extracts with which they were filled we discussed the intricacies of the +peculiarly difficult and confused period that they covered, gradually +lowering our voices as Mr. Bellingham's eyes closed and his head fell +against the back of his chair. We had just reached the critical reign of +Apepa II when a resounding snore broke in upon the studious quiet of +the room and sent us both into a fit of silent laughter. + +"Your conversation has done its work," she whispered as I stealthily +picked up my hat, and together we stole on tiptoe to the door, which she +opened without a sound. Once outside, she suddenly dropped her bantering +manner and said quite earnestly: + +"How kind it was of you to come and see him to-night! You have done him +a world of good, and I am most grateful. Good night!" + +She shook hands with me really cordially, and I took my way down the +creaking stairs in a whirl of happiness that I was quite at a loss to +account for. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WATERCRESS-BED + + +Barnard's practice, like most others, was subject to those fluctuations +that fill the struggling practitioner alternately with hope and despair. +The work came in paroxysms with intervals of almost complete stagnation. +One of these intermissions occurred on the day after my visit to +Nevill's Court, with the result that by half-past eleven I found myself +wondering what I should do with the remainder of the day. The better to +consider this weighty problem, I strolled down to the Embankment, and, +leaning on the parapet, contemplated the view across the river; the grey +stone bridge with its perspective of arches, the picturesque pile of the +shot-towers, and beyond, the shadowy shapes of the Abbey and St. +Stephen's. + +It was a pleasant scene, restful and quiet, with a touch of life and a +hint of sober romance, when a barge swept down through the middle arch +of the bridge with a lugsail hoisted to a jury mast and a white-aproned +woman at the tiller. Dreamily I watched the craft creep by upon the +moving tide, noted the low freeboard, almost awash, the careful +helmswoman, and the dog on the forecastle yapping at the distant +shore--and thought of Ruth Bellingham. + +What was there about this strange girl that had made so deep an +impression on me? That was the question that I propounded to myself, and +not for the first time. Of the fact itself there was no doubt. But what +was the explanation? Was it her unusual surroundings? Her occupation and +rather recondite learning? Her striking personality and exceptional good +looks? Or her connection with the dramatic mystery of her lost uncle? + +I concluded that it was all of these. Everything connected with her was +unusual and arresting; but over and above these circumstances there was +a certain sympathy and personal affinity of which I was strongly +conscious and of which I dimly hoped that she, perhaps, was a little +conscious, too. At any rate, I was deeply interested in her; of that +there was no doubt whatever. Short as our acquaintance had been, she +held a place in my thoughts that had never been held by any other woman. + +From Ruth Bellingham my reflections passed by a natural transition to +the curious story that her father had told me. It was a queer affair, +that ill-drawn will, with the baffled lawyer protesting in the +background. It almost seemed as if there must be something behind it +all, especially when I remembered Mr. Hurst's very singular proposal. +But it was out of _my_ depth; it was a case for a lawyer, and to a +lawyer it should go. This very night, I resolved, I would go to +Thorndyke and give him the whole story as it had been told to me. + +And then there happened one of those coincidences at which we all wonder +when they occur, but which are so frequent as to have become enshrined +in a proverb. For, even as I formed the resolution, I observed two men +approaching from the direction of Blackfriars, and recognised in them my +quondam teacher and his junior. + +"I was just thinking about you," I said as they came up. + +"Very flattering," replied Jervis; "but I thought you had to talk of the +devil." + +"Perhaps," suggested Thorndyke, "he was talking to himself. But why were +you thinking of us, and what was the nature of your thoughts?" + +"My thoughts had reference to the Bellingham case. I spent the whole of +last evening at Nevill's Court." + +"Ha! And are there any fresh developments?" + +"Yes, by Jove! there are. Bellingham gave me a full and detailed +description of the will; and a pretty document it seems to be." + +"Did he give you permission to repeat the details to me?" + +"Yes. I asked specifically if I might and he had no objection whatever." + +"Good. We are lunching at Soho to-day as Polton has his hands full. Come +with us and share our table and tell us your story as we go. Will that +suit you?" + +It suited me admirably in the present state of the practice, and I +accepted the invitation with undissembled glee. + +"Very well," said Thorndyke; "then let us walk slowly and finish with +matters confidential before we plunge into the madding crowd." + +We set forth at a leisurely pace along the broad pavement and I +commenced my narration. As well as I could remember, I related the +circumstances that had led up to the present disposition of the property +and then proceeded to the actual provisions of the will; to all of which +my two friends listened with rapt interest, Thorndyke occasionally +stopping me to jot down a memorandum in his pocket-book. + +"Why, the fellow must have been a stark lunatic!" Jervis exclaimed, when +I had finished. "He seems to have laid himself out with the most +devilish ingenuity to defeat his own ends." + +"That is not an uncommon peculiarity with testators," Thorndyke +remarked. "A direct and perfectly intelligible will is rather the +exception. But we can hardly judge until we have seen the actual +document. I suppose Bellingham hasn't a copy?" + +"I don't know," said I; "but I will ask him." + +"If he has one, I should like to look through it," said Thorndyke. "The +provisions are very peculiar, and, as Jervis says, admirably calculated +to defeat the testator's wishes if they have been correctly reported. +And, apart from that, they have a remarkable bearing on the +circumstances of the disappearance. I daresay you noticed that." + +"I noticed that it is very much to Hurst's advantage that the body has +not been found." + +"Yes, of course. But there are some other points that are very +significant. However, it would be premature to discuss the terms of the +will until we have seen the actual document or a certified copy." + +"If there is a copy extant," I said, "I will try to get hold of it. +Bellingham is terribly afraid of being suspected of a desire to get +professional advice gratis." + +"That," said Thorndyke, "is natural enough, and not discreditable. But +you must overcome his scruples somehow. I expect you will be able to. +You are a plausible young gentleman, as I remember of old, and you seem +to have established yourself as quite the friend of the family." + +"They are rather interesting people," I explained; "very cultivated and +with a strong leaning towards archaeology. It seems to be in the blood." + +"Yes," said Thorndyke; "a family tendency, probably due to contact and +common surroundings rather than heredity. So you like Godfrey +Bellingham?" + +"Yes. He is a trifle peppery and impulsive, but quite an agreeable, +genial old buffer." + +"And the daughter," said Jervis, "what is she like?" + +"Oh, she is a learned lady; works up bibliographies and references at +the Museum." + +"Ah!" Jervis exclaimed, with deep disfavour, "I know the breed. Inky +fingers; no chest to speak of; all side and spectacles." + +I rose artlessly at the gross and palpable bait. + +"You're quite wrong," I exclaimed indignantly, contrasting Jervis's +hideous presentment with the comely original. "She is an exceedingly +good-looking girl, and her manners all that a lady's should be. A little +stiff, perhaps, but then I am only an acquaintance--almost a stranger." + +"But," Jervis persisted, "what is she like, in appearance I mean. Short? +fat? sandy? Give us intelligible details." + +I made a rapid mental inventory, assisted by my recent cogitations. + +"She is about five feet seven, slim but rather plump, very erect in +carriage and graceful in movements; black hair, loosely parted in the +middle and falling very prettily away from the forehead; pale, clear +complexion, dark grey eyes, straight eyebrows, straight, well-shaped +nose, short mouth, rather full; round chin--what the deuce are you +grinning at, Jervis?" For my friend had suddenly unmasked his batteries +and now threatened, like the Cheshire Cat, to dissolve into a mere +abstraction of amusement. + +"If there is a copy of that will, Thorndyke," he said, "we shall get it. +I think you agree with me, reverend senior?" + +"I have already said," was the reply, "that I put my trust in Berkeley. +And now let us dismiss professional topics. This is our hostelry." + +He pushed open an unpretentious glazed door and we followed him into the +restaurant, whereof the atmosphere was pervaded by an appetising +meatiness mingled with less agreeable suggestions of the destructive +distillation of fat. + +It was some two hours later when I wished my friends adieu under the +golden-leaved plane trees of King's Bench Walk. + +"I won't ask you to come in now," said Thorndyke, "as we have some +consultations this afternoon. But come in and see us soon; don't wait +for that copy of the will." + +"No," said Jervis. "Drop in in the evening when your work is done; +unless, of course, there is more attractive society elsewhere--Oh, you +needn't turn that colour, my dear child; we have all been young once; +there is even a tradition that Thorndyke was young some time back in the +pre-dynastic period." + +"Don't take any notice of him, Berkeley," said Thorndyke. "The egg-shell +is sticking to his head still. He'll know better when he is my age." + +"Methuselah!" exclaimed Jervis; "I hope I shan't have to wait as long +as that!" + +Thorndyke smiled benevolently at his irrepressible junior, and, shaking +my hand cordially, turned into the entry. + +From the Temple I wended northward to the adjacent College of Surgeons, +where I spent a couple of profitable hours examining the "pickles," and +refreshing my memory on the subjects of pathology and anatomy; +marvelling afresh (as every practical anatomist must marvel) at the +incredibly perfect technique of the dissections, and inwardly paying a +respectful tribute to the founder of the collection. At length, the +warning of the clock, combined with an increasing craving for tea, drove +me forth and bore me towards the scene of my, not very strenuous, +labours. My mind was still occupied with the contents of the cases and +the great glass jars, so that I found myself at the corner of Fetter +Lane without a very clear idea of how I had got there. But at that point +I was aroused from my reflections rather abruptly by a raucous voice in +my ear. + +"'Orrible discovery at Sidcup!" + +I turned wrathfully--for a London street-boy's yell, let off at +point-blank range, is, in effect, like the smack of an open hand--but +the inscription on the staring yellow poster that was held up for my +inspection changed my anger into curiosity. + +"Horrible discovery in a watercress-bed!" + +Now, let, prigs deny it if they will, but there is something very +attractive in a "horrible discovery." It hints at tragedy, at mystery, +at romance. It promises to bring into our grey and commonplace life that +element of the dramatic which is the salt that our existence is +savoured withal. "In a watercress-bed," too! The rusticity of the +background seemed to emphasise the horror of the discovery, whatever it +might be. + +I bought a copy of the paper, and, tucking it under my arm, hurried on +to the surgery, promising myself a mental feast of watercress; but as I +opened the door I found myself confronted by a corpulent woman of +piebald and pimply aspect who saluted me with a deep groan. It was the +lady from the coal shop in Fleur-de-Lys Court. + +"Good evening, Mrs. Jablett," I said briskly; "not come about yourself, +I hope." + +"Yes, I have," she answered, rising and following me gloomily into the +consulting-room; and then, when I had seated her in the patient's chair +and myself at the writing-table, she continued: "It's my inside, you +know, Doctor." + +The statement lacked anatomical precision and merely excluded the domain +of the skin specialist. I accordingly waited for enlightenment and +speculated on the watercress-beds, while Mrs. Jablett regarded me +expectantly with a dim and watery eye. + +"Ah!" I said, at length; "it's your--your inside, is it, Mrs. Jablett?" + +"Yus. _And_ my 'ead," she added, with a voluminous sigh that filled the +apartment with odorous reminiscences of "unsweetened." + +"Your head aches, does it?" + +"Somethink chronic!" said Mrs. Jablett. "Feels as if it was a-opening +and a-shutting, a-opening and a-shutting, and when I sit down I feel as +if I should _bust_." + +This picturesque description of her sensations--not wholly inconsistent +with her figure--gave the clue to Mrs. Jablett's sufferings. Resisting a +frivolous impulse to reassure her as to the elasticity of the human +integument, I considered her case in exhaustive detail, coasting +delicately round the subject of "unsweetened," and finally sent her +away, revived in spirits and grasping a bottle of Mist. Sodae cum +Bismutho from Barnard's big stock-jar. Then I went back to investigate +the Horrible Discovery; but before I could open the paper, another +patient arrived (_Impetigo contagiosa_, this time, affecting the "wide +and archèd-front sublime" of a juvenile Fetter Laner), and then yet +another, and so on through the evening until, at last, I forgot the +watercress-beds altogether. It was only when I had purified myself from +the evening consultations with hot water and a nail-brush and was about +to sit down to a frugal supper, that I remembered the newspaper and +fetched it from the drawer of the consulting-room table, where it had +been hastily thrust out of sight. I folded it into a convenient form, +and, standing it upright against the water-jug, read the report at my +ease as I supped. + +There was plenty of it. Evidently the reporter had regarded it as a +"scoop," and the editor had backed him up with ample space and +hair-raising head-lines. + +"HORRIBLE DISCOVERY IN A WATERCRESS-BED AT SIDCUP! + +"A startling discovery was made yesterday afternoon in the course of +clearing out a watercress-bed near the erstwhile rural village of Sidcup +in Kent; a discovery that will occasion many a disagreeable qualm to +those persons who have been in the habit of regaling themselves with +this refreshing esculent. But before proceeding to a description of the +circumstances of the actual discovery or of the objects found--which, +however, it may be stated at once, are nothing more or less than the +fragments of a dismembered human body--it will be interesting to trace +the remarkable chain of coincidences by virtue of which the discovery +was made. + +"The beds in question have been laid out in a small artificial lake fed +by a tiny streamlet which forms one of the numerous tributaries of the +River Cray. Its depth is greater than is usual in watercress-beds, +otherwise the gruesome relics could never have been concealed beneath +its surface, and the flow of water through it, though continuous, is +slow. The tributary streamlet meanders through a succession of pasture +meadows, in one of which the beds themselves are situated, and here +throughout most of the year the fleecy victims of the human carnivore +carry on the industry of converting grass into mutton. Now it happened +some years ago that the sheep frequenting these pastures became affected +with the disease known as 'liver-rot'; and here we must make a short +digression into the domain of pathology. + +"'Liver-rot' is a disease of quite romantic antecedents. Its cause is a +small, flat worm--the liver-fluke--which infests the liver and +bile-ducts of the affected sheep. + +"Now how does the worm get into the sheep's liver? That is where the +romance comes in. Let us see. + +"The cycle of transformations begins with the deposit of the eggs of the +fluke in some shallow stream or ditch running through pasture lands. Now +each egg has a sort of lid, which presently opens and lets out a +minute, hairy creature who swims away in search of a particular kind of +water-snail--the kind called by naturalists _Limnaea truncatula_. If he +finds a snail, he bores his way into its flesh and soon begins to grow +and wax fat. Then he brings forth a family--of tiny worms quite unlike +himself, little creatures called _rediae_, which soon give birth to +families of young _rediae_. So they may go on for several generations, +but at last there comes a generation of _rediae_ which, instead of +giving birth to fresh _rediae_, produce families of totally different +offspring; big-headed, long-tailed creatures like miniature tadpoles, +called by the learned _cercariae_. The _cercariae_ soon wriggle their +way out of the body of the snail, and then complications arise: for it +is the habit of this particular snail to leave the water occasionally +and take a stroll in the fields. Thus the _cercariae_, escaping from the +snail, find themselves on the grass, whereupon they promptly drop their +tails and stick themselves to the grass-blades. Then comes the +unsuspecting sheep to take his frugal meal, and, cropping the grass, +swallows it, _cercariae_ and all. But the latter, when they find +themselves in the sheep's stomach, make their way straight to the +bile-ducts, up which they travel to the liver. Here, in a few weeks, +they grow up into full-blown flukes and begin the important business of +producing eggs. + +"Such is the pathological romance of 'liver-rot'; and now what is its +connection with this mysterious discovery? It is this. After the +outbreak of 'liver-rot,' above referred to, the ground landlord, a Mr. +John Bellingham, instructed his solicitor to insert a clause in the +lease of the beds directing that the latter should be periodically +cleared and examined by an expert to make sure that they were free from +the noxious water-snails. The last lease expired about two years ago, +and since then the beds have been out of cultivation; but, for the +safety of the adjacent pastures, it was considered necessary to make the +customary periodical inspection, and it was in the course of cleaning +the beds for this purpose that the present discovery was made. + +"The operation began two days ago. A gang of three men proceeded +systematically to grub up the plants and collect the multitudes of +water-snails that they might be examined by the expert to see if any of +the obnoxious species were present. They had cleared nearly half the +beds when, yesterday afternoon, one of the men working in the deepest +part came upon some bones, the appearance of which excited his +suspicion. Thereupon he called his mates, and they carefully picked away +the plants piecemeal, a process that soon laid bare an unmistakable +human hand lying on the mud amongst the roots. Fortunately they had the +wisdom not to disturb the remains, but at once sent off a message to the +police. Very soon, an inspector and a sergeant, accompanied by the +divisional surgeon, arrived on the scene, and were able to view the +remains lying as they had been found. And now another very strange fact +came to light; for it was seen that the hand--a left one--lying on the +mud was minus its third finger. This is regarded by the police as a very +important fact as bearing on the question of identification, seeing that +the number of persons having the third finger of the left hand missing +must be quite small. After a thorough examination on the spot, the bones +were carefully collected and conveyed to the mortuary, where they now +lie awaiting further inquiries. + +"The divisional surgeon, Dr. Brandon, in an interview with our +representative, made the following statements: + +"'The bones found are those of the left arm of a middle-aged or elderly +man about five feet eight inches in height. All the bones of the arm are +present, including the scapula, or shoulder-blade, and the clavicle, or +collar-bone, but the three bones of the third finger are missing.' + +"'Is this a deformity or has the finger been cut off?' our correspondent +asked. + +"'The finger has been amputated,' was the reply. 'If it had been absent +from birth, the corresponding hand bone, or metacarpal, would have been +wanting or deformed, whereas it is present and quite normal.' + +"'How long have the bones been in the water?' was the next question. + +"'More than a year, I should say. They are quite clean; there is not a +vestige of the soft structures left.' + +"'Have you any theory as to how the arm came to be deposited where it +was found?' + +"'I should rather not answer that question,' was the guarded response. + +"'One more question,' our correspondent urged. 'The ground landlord, Mr. +John Bellingham; is not he the gentleman who disappeared so mysteriously +some time ago?' + +"'So I understand,' Dr. Brandon replied. + +"'Can you tell me if Mr. Bellingham had lost the third finger of his +left hand?' + +"'I cannot say,' said Dr. Brandon; and he added with a smile, 'you had +better ask the police.' + +"That is how the matter stands at present. But we understand that the +police are making active inquiries for any missing man who has lost the +third finger of his left hand, and if any of our readers know of such a +person, they are earnestly requested to communicate at once, either with +us or with the authorities. + +"Also we believe that a systematic search is to be made for further +remains." + +I laid the newspaper down and fell into a train of reflection. It was +certainly a most mysterious affair. The thought that had evidently come +to the reporter's mind stole naturally into mine. Could these remains be +those of John Bellingham? It was obviously possible, though I could not +but see that the fact of the bones having been found on his land, while +it undoubtedly furnished the suggestion, did not in any way add to its +probability. The connection was accidental and in no wise relevant. + +Then, too, there was the missing finger. No reference to any such injury +or deformity had been made in the original report of the disappearance, +though it could hardly have been overlooked. But it was useless to +speculate without facts. I should be seeing Thorndyke in the course of +the next few days, and, undoubtedly, if the discovery had any bearing +upon the disappearance of John Bellingham, I should hear of it. With +which reflection I rose from the table, and, adopting the advice +contained in the spurious Johnsonian quotation proceeded to "take a walk +in Fleet Street" before settling down for the evening. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SIDELIGHTS + + +The association of coal with potatoes is one upon which I have +frequently speculated, without arriving at any more satisfactory +explanation than that both products are of the earth, earthy. Of the +connection itself Barnard's practice furnished several instances besides +Mrs. Jablett's establishment in Fleur-de-Lys Court, one of which was a +dark and mysterious cavern a foot below the level of the street, that +burrowed under an ancient house on the west side of Fetter Lane--a +crinkly, timber house of the three-decker type that leaned back +drunkenly from the road as if about to sit down in its own back yard. + +Passing this repository of the associated products about ten o'clock in +the morning, I perceived in the shadow of the cavern no less a person +than Miss Oman. She saw me at the same moment, and beckoned peremptorily +with a hand that held a large Spanish onion. I approached with a +deferential smile. + +"What a magnificent onion, Miss Oman! and how generous of you to offer +it to me--" + +"I wasn't offering it to you. But there! Isn't it just like a man--" + +"Isn't what just like a man?" I interrupted. "If you mean the onion--" + +"I don't!" she snapped; "and I wish you wouldn't talk such a parcel of +nonsense. A grown man and a member of a serious profession, too! You +ought to know better." + +"I suppose I ought," I said reflectively. And she continued: + +"I called in at the surgery just now." + +"To see me?" + +"What else should I come for? Do you suppose that I called to consult +the bottle-boy?" + +"Certainly not, Miss Oman. So you find the lady doctor no use, after +all?" + +Miss Oman gnashed her teeth at me (and very fine teeth they were, too). + +"I called," she said majestically, "on behalf of Miss Bellingham." + +My facetiousness evaporated instantly. "I hope Miss Bellingham is not +ill," I said with a sudden anxiety that elicited a sardonic smile from +Miss Oman. + +"No," was the reply, "she is not ill, but she has cut her hand rather +badly. It's her right hand, too, and she can't afford to lose the use of +it, not being a great, hulking, lazy, lolloping man. So you had better +go and put some stuff on it." + +With this advice, Miss Oman whisked to the right-about and vanished into +the depths of the cavern like the Witch of Wokey, while I hurried on to +the surgery to provide myself with the necessary instruments and +materials, and thence proceeded to Nevill's Court. + +Miss Oman's juvenile maid-servant, who opened the door to me, stated the +existing conditions with epigrammatic conciseness: + +"Mr. Bellingham is hout, sir; but Miss Bellingham is hin." + +Having thus delivered herself she retreated towards the kitchen and I +ascended the stairs, at the head of which I found Miss Bellingham +awaiting me with her right hand encased in what looked like a white +boxing-glove. + +"I am glad you have come," she said. "Phyllis--Miss Oman, you know--has +kindly bound up my hand, but I should like you to see that it is all +right." + +We went into the sitting-room, where I laid out my paraphernalia on the +table while I inquired into the particulars of the accident. + +"It is most unfortunate that it should have happened just now," she +said, as I wrestled with one of those remarkable feminine knots that, +while they seem to defy the utmost efforts of human ingenuity to untie, +yet have a singular habit of untying themselves at inopportune moments. + +"Why just now, in particular?" I asked. + +"Because I have some specially important work to do. A very learned lady +who is writing a historical book has commissioned me to collect all the +literature relating to the Tell el Amarna letters--the cuneiform +tablets, you know, of Amenhotep the Fourth." + +"Well," I said soothingly, "I expect your hand will soon be well." + +"Yes, but that won't do. The work has to be done immediately. I have to +send in the completed notes not later than this day week, and it will be +quite impossible. I am dreadfully disappointed." + +By this time I had unwound the voluminous wrappings and exposed the +injury--a deep gash in the palm that must have narrowly missed a +good-sized artery. Obviously the hand would be useless for fully a week. + +"I suppose," she said, "you couldn't patch it up so that I could write +with it?" + +I shook my head. + +"No, Miss Bellingham. I shall have to put it on a splint. We can't run +any risks with a deep wound like this." + +"Then I shall have to give up the commission, and I don't know how my +client will get the work done in the time. You see, I am pretty well up +in the literature of Ancient Egypt; in fact, I was to receive special +payment on that account. And it would have been such an interesting +task, too. However, it can't be helped." + +I proceeded methodically with the application of the dressings, and +meanwhile reflected. It was evident that she was deeply disappointed. +Loss of work meant loss of money, and it needed but a glance at her +rusty black dress to see that there was little margin for that. +Possibly, too, there was some special need to be met. Her manner seemed +almost to imply that there was. And at this point I had a brilliant +idea. + +"I'm not sure that it can't be helped," said I. + +She looked at me inquiringly, and I continued: "I am going to make a +proposition, and I shall ask you to consider it with an open mind." + +"That sounds rather portentous," said she; "but I promise. What is it?" + +"It is this: When I was a student I acquired the useful art of writing +shorthand. I am not a lightning reporter, you understand, but I can take +matter down from dictation at quite respectable speed." + +"Yes." + +"Well, I have several hours free every day--usually, the whole of the +afternoon up to six or half-past--and it occurs to me that if you were +to go to the Museum in the mornings you could get out your books, look +up passages (you could do that without using your right hand), and put +in book-marks. Then I could come along in the afternoon and you could +read out the selected passages to me, and I could take them down in +shorthand. We should get through as much in a couple of hours as you +could in a day using longhand." + +"Oh, but how kind of you, Doctor Berkeley!" she exclaimed. "How very +kind! Of course, I couldn't think of taking up all your leisure in that +way; but I do appreciate your kindness very much." + +I was rather chapfallen at this very definite refusal, but persisted +feebly: + +"I wish you would. It may seem rather cheek for a comparative stranger +like me to make such a proposal to a lady; but if you'd been a man--in +these special circumstances--I should have made it all the same, and you +would have accepted as a matter of course." + +"I doubt that. At any rate, I am not a man. I sometimes wish I were." + +"Oh, I am sure you are much better as you are!" I exclaimed, with such +earnestness that we both laughed. And at this moment Mr. Bellingham +entered the room carrying several large and evidently brand-new books in +a strap. + +"Well, I'm sure!" he exclaimed genially; "here are pretty goings on. +Doctor and patient giggling like a pair of schoolgirls! What's the +joke?" + +He thumped his parcel of books down on the table and listened smilingly +while my unconscious witticism was expounded. + +"The Doctor's quite right," he said. "You'll do as you are, chick; but +the Lord knows what sort of man you would make. You take his advice and +let well alone." + +Finding him in this genial frame of mind, I ventured to explain my +proposition to him and to enlist his support. He considered it with +attentive approval, and when I had finished turned to his daughter. + +"What is your objection, chick?" he asked. + +"It would give Doctor Berkeley such a fearful lot of work," she +answered. + +"It would give him a fearful lot of pleasure," I said. "It would, +really." + +"Then why not?" said Mr. Bellingham. "We don't mind being under an +obligation to the Doctor, do we?" + +"Oh, it wasn't that!" she exclaimed hastily. + +"Then take him at his word. He means it. It is a kind action and he'll +like doing it, I'm sure. That's all right, Doctor; she accepts, don't +you, chick?" + +"Yes, if you say so, I do; and most thankfully." + +She accompanied the acceptance with a gracious smile that was in itself +a large payment on account, and when we had made the necessary +arrangements, I hurried away in a state of the most perfect satisfaction +to finish my morning's work and order an early lunch. + +When I called for her a couple of hours later I found her waiting in the +garden with the shabby handbag, of which I relieved her, and we set +forth together, watched jealously by Miss Oman, who had accompanied her +to the gate. + +As I walked up the court with this wonderful maid by my side I could +hardly believe in my good fortune. By her presence and my own resulting +happiness the mean surroundings became glorified and the commonest +objects transfigured into things of beauty. What a delightful +thoroughfare, for instance, was Fetter Lane, with its quaint charm and +mediaeval grace! I snuffed the cabbage-laden atmosphere and seemed to +breathe the scent of the asphodel. Holborn was even as the Elysian +Fields; the omnibus that bore us westward was a chariot of glory; and +the people who swarmed verminously on the pavements bore the semblance +of the children of light. + +Love is a foolish thing judged by workaday standards, and the thoughts +and actions of lovers foolish beyond measure. But the workaday standard +is the wrong one, after all; for the utilitarian mind does but busy +itself with the trivial and transitory interests of life, behind which +looms the great and everlasting reality of the love of man and woman. +There is more significance in a nightingale's song in the hush of a +summer night than in all the wisdom of Solomon (who, by the way, was not +without his little experiences of the tender passion). + +The janitor in the little glass box by the entrance to the library +inspected us and passed us on, with a silent benediction, to the lobby, +whence (when I had handed my stick to a bald-headed demigod and received +a talismanic disc in exchange) we entered the enormous rotunda of the +reading-room. + +I have often thought that, if some lethal vapour of highly preservative +properties--such as formaldehyde, for instance--could be shed into the +atmosphere of this apartment, the entire and complete collection of +books and bookworms would be well worth preserving, for the +enlightenment of posterity, as a sort of anthropological appendix to the +main collection of the Museum. For, surely, nowhere else in the world +are so many strange and abnormal human beings gathered together in one +place. And a curious question that must have occurred to many observers +is: Whence do these singular creatures come, and whither do they go when +the very distinct-faced clock (adjusted to literary eye-sight) proclaims +closing time? The tragic-faced gentleman, for instance, with the +corkscrew ringlets that bob up and down like spiral springs as he walks? +Or the short, elderly gentleman in the black cassock and bowler hat, who +shatters your nerves by turning suddenly and revealing himself as a +middle-aged woman? Whither do they go? One never sees them elsewhere. Do +they steal away at closing time into the depths of the Museum and hide +themselves until morning in sarcophagi or mummy cases? Or do they creep +through spaces in the book-shelves and spend the night behind the +volumes in a congenial atmosphere of leather and antique paper? Who can +say? What I do know is that when Ruth Bellingham entered the +reading-room she appeared in comparison with these like a creature of +another order; even as the head of Antinous, which formerly stood (it +has since been moved) amidst the portrait-busts of the Roman Emperors, +seemed like the head of a god set in a portrait gallery of illustrious +baboons. + +"What have we got to do?" I asked when we had found a vacant seat. "Do +you want to look up the catalogue?" + +"No, I have the tickets in my bag. The books are waiting in the 'kept +books' department." + +I placed my hat on the leather-covered shelf, dropped her gloves into +it--how delightfully intimate and companionable it seemed!--altered the +numbers on the tickets, and then we proceeded together to the "kept +books" desk to collect the volumes that contained the material for our +day's work. + +It was a blissful afternoon. Two and a half hours of happiness unalloyed +did I spend at that shiny, leather-clad desk, guiding my nimble pen +across the pages of the note-book. It introduced me to a new world--a +world in which love and learning, sweet intimacy and crusted +archaeology, were mingled into the oddest, most whimsical, and most +delicious confection that the mind of man can conceive. Hitherto, these +recondite histories had been far beyond my ken. Of the wonderful +heretic, Amenhotep the Fourth, I had barely heard--at the most he had +been a mere name; the Hittites a mythical race of undetermined habitat; +while cuneiform tablets had presented themselves to my mind merely as an +uncouth kind of fossil biscuit suited to the digestion of a pre-historic +ostrich. + +Now all this was changed. As we sat with our chairs creaking together +and she whispered the story of those stirring times into my receptive +ear--talking is strictly forbidden in the reading-room--the disjointed +fragments arranged themselves into a romance of supreme fascination. +Egyptian, Babylonian, Aramaean, Hittite, Memphis, Babylon, Hamath, +Megiddo--I swallowed them all thankfully, wrote them down and asked for +more. Only once did I disgrace myself. An elderly clergyman of ascetic +and acidulous aspect had passed us with a glance of evident disapproval, +clearly setting us down as intruding philanderers; and when I +contrasted the parson's probable conception of the whispered +communications that were being poured into my ear so tenderly and +confidentially with the dry reality, I chuckled aloud. But my fair +task-mistress only paused, with her finger on the page, smilingly to +rebuke me, and then went on with the dictation. She was certainly a +Tartar for work. + +It was a proud moment for me when, in response to my interrogative +"Yes?" my companion said "That is all" and closed the book. We had +extracted the pith and marrow of six considerable volumes in two hours +and a half. + +"You have been better than your word," she said. "It would have taken me +two full days of really hard work to make the notes that you have +written down since we commenced. I don't know how to thank you." + +"There's no need to. I've enjoyed myself and polished up my shorthand. +What is the next thing? We shall want some books for to-morrow, shan't +we?" + +"Yes. I have made out a list, so if you will come with me to the +catalogue desk I will look out the numbers and ask you to write the +tickets." + +The selection of a fresh batch of authorities occupied us for another +quarter of an hour, and then, having handed in the volumes that we had +squeezed dry, we took our way out of the reading-room. + +"Which way shall we go?" she asked as we passed out of the gate, where +stood a massive policeman, like the guardian angel at the gate of +Paradise (only, thank Heaven! he bore no flaming sword forbidding +reentry). + +"We are going," I replied, "to Museum Street, where is a milkshop in +which one can get an excellent cup of tea." + +She looked as if she would have demurred, but eventually followed +obediently, and we were soon seated side by side at a little +marble-topped table, retracing the ground that we had covered in the +afternoon's work and discussing various points of interest over a joint +teapot. + +"Have you been doing this sort of work long?" I asked as she handed me +my second cup of tea. + +"Professionally," she answered, "only about two years; since we broke up +our home, in fact. But long before that I used to come to the Museum +with my Uncle John--the one who disappeared, you know, in that +dreadfully mysterious way--and help him to look up references. We were +quite good friends, he and I." + +"I suppose he was a very learned man?" I suggested. + +"Yes, in a certain way; in the way of the better-class collector he was +very learned indeed. He knew the contents of every museum in the world, +in so far as they were connected with Egyptian antiquities, and had +studied them specimen by specimen. Consequently, as Egyptology is +largely a museum science, he was a learned Egyptologist. But his real +interest was in things rather than events. Of course, he knew a great +deal--a very great deal--about Egyptian history, but still he was, +before all, a collector." + +"And what will happen to his collection if he is really dead?" + +"The greater part of it goes to the British Museum by his will, and the +remainder he has left to his solicitor, Mr. Jellicoe." + +"To Mr. Jellicoe! Why, what will Mr. Jellicoe do with Egyptian +antiquities?" + +"Oh, he is an Egyptologist, too, and quite an enthusiast. He has a +really fine collection of scarabs and other small objects such as it is +possible to keep in a private house. I have always thought that it was +his enthusiasm for everything Egyptian that brought him and my uncle +together on terms of such intimacy; though I believe he is an excellent +lawyer, and he is certainly a very discreet, cautious man." + +"Is he? I shouldn't have thought so, judging by your uncle's will." + +"Oh, but that was not Mr. Jellicoe's fault. He assures us that he +entreated my uncle to let him draw up a fresh document with more +reasonable provisions. But he says Uncle John was immovable; and he +really _was_ a rather obstinate man. Mr. Jellicoe repudiates any +responsibility in the matter. He washes his hands of the whole affair, +and says that it is the will of a lunatic. And so it is. I was glancing +through it only a night or two ago, and really I cannot conceive how a +sane man could have written such nonsense." + +"You have a copy, then?" I asked eagerly, remembering Thorndyke's +parting instructions. + +"Yes. Would you like to see it? I know my father has told you about it, +and it is worth reading as a curiosity of perverseness." + +"I should very much like to show it to my friend, Doctor Thorndyke," I +replied. "He said that he would be interested to read it and learn the +exact provisions; and it might be well to let him, and hear what he has +to say about it." + +"I see no objection," she rejoined; "but you know what my father is: +his horror, I mean, of what he calls 'cadging for advice gratis.'" + +"Oh, but he need have no scruples on that score. Doctor Thorndyke wants +to see the will because the case interests him. He is an enthusiast, you +know, and he put the request as a personal favour to himself." + +"That is very nice and delicate of him, and I will explain the position +to my father. If he is willing for Doctor Thorndyke to see the copy, I +will send or bring it over this evening. Have we finished?" + +I regretfully admitted that we had, and, when I had paid the modest +reckoning, we sallied forth, turning back with one accord into Great +Russell Street to avoid the noise and bustle of the larger thoroughfare. + +"What sort of man was your uncle?" I asked presently, as we walked along +the quiet, dignified street. And then I added hastily: "I hope you don't +think me inquisitive, but, to my mind, he presents himself as a kind of +mysterious abstraction; the unknown quantity of a legal problem." + +"My Uncle John," she answered reflectively, "was a very peculiar man, +rather obstinate, very self-willed, what people call 'masterful,' and +decidedly wrong-headed and unreasonable." + +"That is certainly the impression that the terms of his will convey," I +said. + +"Yes; and not the will only. There was the absurd allowance that he made +my father. That was a ridiculous arrangement, and very unfair, too. He +ought to have divided up the property as my grandfather intended. And +yet he was by no means ungenerous, only he would have his own way, and +his own way was very commonly the wrong way. + +"I remember," she continued, after a short pause, "a very odd instance +of his wrong-headedness and obstinacy. It was a small matter, but very +typical of him. He had in his collection a beautiful little ring of the +eighteenth dynasty. It was said to have belonged to Queen Ti, the mother +of our friend Amenhotep the Fourth; but I don't think that could have +been so, because the device on it was the Eye of Osiris, and Ti, as you +know, was an Aten-worshipper. However, it was a very charming ring, and +Uncle John, who had a queer sort of devotion to the mystical Eye of +Osiris, commissioned a very clever goldsmith to make two exact copies of +it, one for himself and one for me. The goldsmith naturally wanted to +take the measurements of our fingers, but this Uncle John would not hear +of; the rings were to be exact copies, and an exact copy must be the +same size as the original. You can imagine the result; my ring was so +loose that I couldn't keep it on my finger, and Uncle John's was so +tight that, though he did manage to get it on, he was never able to get +it off again. And it was only the circumstance that his left hand was +decidedly smaller than his right that made it possible for him to wear +it at all." + +"So you never wore your copy?" + +"No. I wanted to have it altered to make it fit, but he objected +strongly; so I put it away, and have it in a box still." + +"He must have been an extraordinarily pig-headed old fellow," I +remarked. + +"Yes; he was very tenacious. He annoyed my father a good deal, too, by +making unnecessary alterations in the house in Queen Square when he +fitted up his museum. We have a certain sentiment with regard to that +house. Our people have lived in it ever since it was built, when the +square was first laid out in the reign of Queen Anne, after whom the +square was named. It is a dear old house. Would you like to see it? We +are quite near it now." + +I assented eagerly. If it had been a coal-shed or a fried-fish shop I +would still have visited it with pleasure, for the sake of prolonging +our walk; but I was also really interested in this old house as a part +of the background of the mystery of the vanished John Bellingham. + +We crossed into Cosmo Place, with its quaint row of the, now rare, +cannon-shaped iron posts, and passing through stood for a few moments +looking into the peaceful, stately old square. A party of boys disported +themselves noisily on the range of stone posts that form a bodyguard +round the ancient lamp-surmounted pump, but otherwise the place was +wrapped in dignified repose suited to its age and station. And very +pleasant it looked on this summer afternoon, with the sunlight gilding +the foliage of its wide-spreading plane trees and lighting up the +warm-toned brick of the house-fronts. We walked slowly down the shady +west side, near the middle of which my companion halted. + +"This is the house," she said. "It looks gloomy and forsaken now; but it +must have been a delightful house in the days when my ancestors could +look out of the windows through the open end of the square across the +fields and meadows to the heights of Hampstead and Highgate." + +She stood at the edge of the pavement looking up with a curious +wistfulness at the old house; a very pathetic figure, I thought, with +her handsome face and proud carriage, her threadbare dress and shabby +gloves, standing at the threshold of the home that had been her family's +for generations, that should now have been hers, and that was shortly to +pass away into the hands of strangers. + +I, too, looked up at it with a strange interest, impressed by something +gloomy and forbidding in its aspect. The windows were shuttered from +basement to attic, and no sign of life was visible. Silent, neglected, +desolate, it breathed an air of tragedy. It seemed to mourn in sackcloth +and ashes for its lost master. The massive door within the splendid +carven portico was crusted with grime, and seemed to have passed out of +use as completely as the ancient lamp-irons or the rusted extinguishers +wherein the footmen were wont to quench their torches when some +Bellingham dame was borne up the steps in her gilded chair, in the days +of good Queen Anne. + +It was in a somewhat sobered frame of mind that we presently turned away +and started homeward by way of Great Ormond Street. My companion was +deeply thoughtful, relapsing for a while into that sombreness of manner +that had so impressed me when I first met her. Nor was I without a +certain sympathetic pensiveness; as if, from the great, silent house, +the spirit of the vanished man had issued forth to bear us company. + +But still it was a delightful walk, and I was sorry when at last we +arrived at the entrance to Nevill's Court, and Miss Bellingham halted +and held out her hand. + +"Good-bye," she said; "and many, many thanks for your invaluable help. +Shall I take the bag?" + +"If you want it. But I must take out the note-books." + +"Why must you take them?" she asked. + +"Why, haven't I got to copy the notes out into longhand?" + +An expression of utter consternation spread over her face; in fact, she +was so completely taken aback that she forgot to release my hand. + +"Heavens!" she exclaimed. "How idiotic of me! But it is impossible, +Doctor Berkeley! It will take you hours!" + +"It is perfectly possible, and it is going to be done; otherwise the +notes would be useless. Do you want the bag?" + +"No, of course not. But I am positively appalled. Hadn't you better give +up the idea?" + +"And is this the end of our collaboration?" I exclaimed tragically, +giving her hand a final squeeze (whereby she became suddenly aware of +its position, and withdrew it rather hastily). "Would you throw away a +whole afternoon's work? I won't, certainly; so, good-bye until +to-morrow. I shall turn up in the reading-room as early as I can. You +had better take the tickets. Oh, and you won't forget about the copy of +the will for Doctor Thorndyke, will you?" + +"No; if my father agrees, you shall have it this evening." + +She took the tickets from me, and, thanking me yet again, retired into +the court. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +JOHN BELLINGHAM'S WILL + + +The task upon which I had embarked so lightheartedly, when considered in +cold blood, did certainly appear, as Miss Bellingham had said, rather +appalling. The result of two and a half hours' pretty steady work at an +average speed of nearly a hundred words a minute, would take some time +to transcribe into longhand; and if the notes were to be delivered +punctually on the morrow, the sooner I got to work the better. + +Recognising this truth, I lost no time, but, within five minutes of my +arrival at the surgery, was seated at the writing-table with my copy +before me busily converting the sprawling, inexpressive characters into +good, legible round-hand. + +The occupation was by no means unpleasant, apart from the fact that it +was a labour of love; for the sentences, as I picked them up, were +fragrant with reminiscences of the gracious whisper in which they had +first come to me. And then the matter itself was full of interest. I was +gaining a fresh outlook on life, was crossing the threshold of a new +world (which was _her_ world); and so the occasional interruptions from +patients, while they gave me intervals of enforced rest, were far from +welcome. + +The evening wore on without any sign from Nevill's Court, and I began to +fear that Mr. Bellingham's scruples had proved insurmountable. Not, I am +afraid, that I was so much concerned for the copy of the will as for +the possibility of a visit, no matter howsoever brief, from my fair +employer; and when, on the stroke of half-past seven, the surgery door +flew open with startling abruptness, my fears were allayed and my hopes +shattered simultaneously. For it was Miss Oman who stalked in, holding +out a blue foolscap envelope with a warlike air as if it were an +ultimatum. + +"I've brought you this from Mr. Bellingham," she said. "There's a note +inside." + +"May I read the note, Miss Oman?" I asked. + +"Bless the man!" she exclaimed. "What else would you do with it? Isn't +that what I brought it for?" + +I supposed it was; and, thanking her for her gracious permission, I +glanced through the note--a few lines authorising me to show the copy of +the will to Dr. Thorndyke. When I looked up from the paper I found her +eyes fixed on me with an expression critical and rather disapproving. + +"You seem to be making yourself mighty agreeable in a certain quarter," +she remarked. + +"I make myself universally agreeable. It is my nature to." + +"Ha!" she snorted. + +"Don't you find me rather agreeable?" I asked. + +"Oily," said Miss Oman. And then, with a sour smile at the open +note-books, she remarked: + +"You've got some work to do now; quite a change for you." + +"A delightful change, Miss Oman. 'For Satan findeth'--but no doubt you +are acquainted with the philosophical works of Doctor Watts?" + +"If you are referring to 'idle hands,'" she replied, "I'll give you a +bit of advice, Don't you keep that hand idle any longer than is really +necessary. I have my suspicions about that splint--oh, you know what I +mean," and before I had time to reply, she had taken advantage of the +entrance of a couple of patients to whisk out of the surgery with the +abruptness that had distinguished her arrival. + +The evening consultations were considered to be over by half-past eight; +at which time Adolphus was wont, with exemplary punctuality, to close +the outer door of the surgery. To-night he was not less prompt than +usual; and having performed this, his last daily office, and turned down +the surgery gas, he reported the fact and took his departure. + +As his retreating footsteps died away and the slamming of the outer door +announced his final disappearance, I sat up and stretched myself. The +envelope containing the copy of the will lay on the table, and I +considered it thoughtfully. It ought to be conveyed to Thorndyke with as +little delay as possible, and, as it certainly could not be trusted out +of my hands, it ought to be conveyed by me. + +I looked at the note-books. Nearly two hours' work had made a +considerable impression on the matter that I had to transcribe, but +still, a great deal of the task yet remained to be done. However, I +reflected, I could put in a couple of hours more before going to bed and +there would be an hour or two to spare in the morning. Finally I locked +the note-books, open as they were, in the writing-table drawer, and +slipping the envelope into my pocket, set out for the Temple. + +The soft chime of the Treasury clock was telling out, in confidential +tones, the third quarter as I wrapped with my stick on the forbidding +"oak" of my friends' chambers. There was no response, nor had I +perceived any gleam of light from the windows as I approached, and I was +considering the advisability of trying the laboratory on the next floor, +when footsteps on the stone stairs and familiar voices gladdened my ear. + +"Hallo, Berkeley!" said Thorndyke, "do we find you waiting like a Peri +at the gates of Paradise? Polton is upstairs, you know, tinkering at one +of his inventions. If you ever find the nest empty, you had better go up +and bang at the laboratory door. He's always there in the evenings." + +"I haven't been waiting long," said I, "and I was just thinking of +rousing him up when you came." + +"That was right," said Thorndyke, turning up the gas. "And what news do +you bring? Do I see a blue envelope sticking out of your pocket?" + +"You do." + +"Is it a copy of the will?" he asked. + +I answered "yes," and added that I had full permission to show it to +him. + +"What did I tell you?" exclaimed Jervis. "Didn't I say that he would get +the copy for us if it existed?" + +"We admit the excellence of your prognosis," said Thorndyke, "but there +is no need to be boastful. Have you read through the document, +Berkeley?" + +"No, I haven't taken it out of the envelope." + +"Then it will be equally new to us all, and we shall see if it tallies +with your description." + +He placed three easy chairs at a convenient distance from the light, and +Jervis, watching him with a smile, remarked: + +"Now Thorndyke is going to enjoy himself. To him, a perfectly +unintelligible will is a thing of beauty and a joy for ever; especially +if associated with some kind of recondite knavery." + +"I don't know," said I, "that this will is particularly unintelligible. +The mischief seems to be that it is rather too intelligible. However, +here it is," and I handed the envelope to Thorndyke. + +"I suppose that we can depend on this copy," said the latter, as he drew +out the document and glanced at it. "Oh, yes," he added, "I see it is +copied by Godfrey Bellingham, compared with the original and certified +correct. In that case I will get you to read it out slowly, Jervis, and +I will make a rough copy to keep for reference. Let us make ourselves +comfortable and light our pipes before we begin." + +He provided himself with a writing-pad, and, when we had seated +ourselves and got our pipes well alight, Jervis opened the document, and +with a premonitory "hem!" commenced the reading. + +"In the name of God Amen. This is the last will and testament of me John +Bellingham of number 141 Queen Square in the parish of St. George +Bloomsbury London in the county of Middlesex Gentleman made this twenty +first day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight +hundred and ninety-two. + +"1. I give and bequeath unto Arthur Jellicoe of number 184 New Square +Lincoln's Inn London in the county of Middlesex Attorney-at-law the +whole of my collection of seals and scarabs and those my cabinets marked +B, C, and D together with the contents thereof and the sum of two +thousand pounds sterling free of legacy duty. + +"Unto the Trustees of the British Museum the residue of my collection +of antiquities. + +"Unto my cousin George Hurst of The Poplars Eltham in the county of Kent +the sum of five thousand pounds free of legacy duty and unto my brother +Godfrey Bellingham or if he should die before the occurrence of my death +unto his daughter Ruth Bellingham the residue of my estate and effects +real and personal subject to the conditions set forth hereinafter +namely: + +"2. That my body shall be deposited with those of my ancestors in the +churchyard appertaining to the church and parish of St. George the +Martyr or if that shall not be possible, in some other churchyard, +cemetery, burial ground, church, chapel or other authorised place for +the reception of the bodies of the dead situate within or appertaining +to the parishes of St. Andrew above the Bars and St. George the Martyr +or St. George Bloomsbury and St. Giles in the Fields. But if the +conditions in this clause be not carried out then + +"3. I give and devise the said residue of my estate and effects unto my +cousin George Hurst aforesaid and I hereby revoke all wills and codicils +made by me at any time heretofore and I appoint Arthur Jellicoe +aforesaid to be the executor of this my will jointly with the principal +beneficiary and residuary legatee that is to say with the aforesaid +Godfrey Bellingham if the conditions set forth hereinbefore in clause 2 +shall be duly carried out but with the aforesaid George Hurst if the +said conditions in the said clause 2 be not carried out. + +"JOHN BELLINGHAM. + +"Signed by the said testator John Bellingham in the presence of us +present at the same time who at his request and in his presence and in +the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses. + +"Frederick Wilton, 16 Medford Road, London, N., clerk. + +"James Barker, 32 Wadbury Crescent, London, S.W., clerk." + +"Well," said Jervis, laying down the document as Thorndyke detached the +last sheet from his writing-pad, "I have met with a good many idiotic +wills, but this one can give them all points. I don't see how it is ever +going to be administered. One of the two executors is a mere +abstraction--a sort of algebraical problem with no answer." + +"I think that difficulty could be overcome," said Thorndyke. + +"I don't see how," retorted Jervis. "If the body is deposited in a +certain place, A is the executor; if it is somewhere else, B is the +executor. But, as you cannot produce the body, and no one has the least +idea where it is, it is impossible to prove either that it is or that it +is not in any specified place." + +"You are magnifying the difficulty, Jervis," said Thorndyke. "The body +may, of course, be anywhere in the entire world, but the place where it +is lying is either inside or outside the general boundary of these two +parishes. If it has been deposited within the boundary of those two +parishes, the fact must be ascertainable by examining the burial +certificates issued since the date when the missing man was last seen +alive and by consulting the registers of those specified places of +burial. I think that if no record can be found of any such interment +within the boundary of those two parishes, that fact will be taken by +the Court as proof that no such interment has taken place, and that +therefore the body must have been deposited elsewhere. Such a decision +would constitute George Hurst the co-executor and residuary legatee." + +"That is cheerful for your friends, Berkeley," Jervis remarked, "for we +may take it as pretty certain that the body has not been deposited in +any of the places named." + +"Yes," I agreed gloomily, "I'm afraid there is very little doubt of +that. But what an ass the fellow must have been to make such a to-do +about his beastly carcass? What the deuce could it have mattered to him +where it was dumped, when he had done with it?" + +Thorndyke chuckled softly. "Thus the irreverent youth of to-day," said +he. "But yours is hardly a fair comment, Berkeley. Our training makes us +materialists, and puts us a little out of sympathy with those in whom +primitive beliefs and emotions survive. A worthy priest who came to look +at our dissecting-room expressed surprise to me that students, thus +constantly in the presence of relics of mortality, should be able to +think of anything but the resurrection and the life hereafter. He was a +bad psychologist. There is nothing so dead as a dissecting-room +'subject'; and the contemplation of the human body in the process of +being quietly taken to pieces--being resolved into its structural units +like a worn-out clock or an old engine in the Mr. Rapper's yard--is +certainly not conducive to a vivid realisation of the doctrine of the +resurrection." + +"No; but this absurd anxiety to be buried in some particular place has +nothing to do with religious belief; it is mere silly sentiment." + +"It is sentiment, I admit," said Thorndyke, "but I wouldn't call it +silly. The feeling is so widespread in time and space that we must look +on it with respect as something inherent in human nature. Think--as +doubtless John Bellingham did--of the ancient Egyptians, whose chief +aspiration was that of everlasting repose for the dead. See the trouble +they took to achieve it. Think of the Great Pyramid, or that of +Amenemhat the Fourth with its labyrinth of false passages and its sealed +and hidden sepulchral chamber. Think of Jacob, borne after death all +those hundreds of weary miles in order that he might sleep with his +fathers, and then remember Shakespeare and his solemn adjuration to +posterity to let him rest undisturbed in his grave. No, Berkeley, it is +not a silly sentiment. I am as indifferent as you as to what becomes of +my body 'when I have done with it,' to use your irreverent phrase; but I +recognise the solicitude that some other men display on the subject as a +natural feeling that has to be taken seriously." + +"But even so," I said, "if this man had a hankering for a freehold +residence in some particular bone-yard, he might have gone about the +business in a more reasonable way." + +"There I am entirely with you," Thorndyke replied. "It is the absurd way +in which this provision is worded that not only creates all the trouble +but also makes the whole document so curiously significant in view of +the testator's disappearance." + +"How significant?" Jervis demanded eagerly. + +"Let us consider the provisions of the will point by point," said +Thorndyke; "and first note that the testator commanded the services of a +very capable lawyer." + +"But Mr. Jellicoe disapproved of the will," said I; "in fact, he +protested strongly against the form of it." + +"We will bear that in mind, too," Thorndyke replied. "And now with +reference to what we may call the contentious clauses: the first thing +that strikes us is their preposterous injustice. Godfrey's inheritance +is made conditional on a particular disposal of the testator's body. But +this is a matter not necessarily under Godfrey's control. The testator +might have been lost at sea, or killed in a fire or explosion, or have +died abroad and been buried where his grave could not be identified. +There are numerous probable contingencies besides the improbable one +that has happened, that might prevent the body from being recovered. + +"But even if the body had been recovered, there is another difficulty. +The places of burial in the parishes named have all been closed for many +years. It would be impossible to reopen any of them without a special +faculty, and I doubt whether such a faculty would be granted. Possibly +cremation might meet the difficulty, but even that is doubtful; and, in +any case, the matter would not be in the control of Godfrey Bellingham. +Yet, if the required interment should prove impossible, he is to be +deprived of his legacy." + +"It is a monstrous and absurd injustice," I exclaimed. + +"It is," Thorndyke agreed; "but this is nothing to the absurdity that +comes to light when we consider clauses two and three in detail. Observe +that the testator presumably wished to be buried in a certain place; +also he wished that his brother should benefit under the will. Let us +take the first point and see how he has set about securing the +accomplishment of what he desired. Now, if we read clauses two and three +carefully, we shall see that he has rendered it virtually impossible +that his wishes can be carried out. He desires to be buried in a certain +place and makes Godfrey responsible for his being so buried. But he +gives Godfrey no power or authority to carry out the provision, and +places insuperable obstacles in his way. For until Godfrey is an +executor, he has no power or authority to carry out the provisions: and +until the provisions are carried out, he does not become an executor." + +"It is a preposterous muddle," exclaimed Jervis. + +"Yes, but that is not the worst of it," Thorndyke continued. "The moment +John Bellingham dies, his dead body has come into existence; and it is +'deposited' for the time being, wherever he happens to have died. But +unless he should happen to have died in one of the places of burial +mentioned--which is in the highest degree unlikely--his body will be, +for the time being, 'deposited' in some place other than those +specified. In that case clause two is--for the time being--not complied +with, and consequently George Hurst becomes, automatically, the +co-executor. + +"But will George Hurst carry out the provisions of clause two? Probably +not. Why should he? The will contains no instructions to that effect. It +throws the whole duty on Godfrey. On the other hand, if he should carry +out clause two, what happens? He ceases to be an executor and he loses a +legacy of some seventy thousand pounds. We may be pretty certain that he +will do nothing of the kind. So that, on considering the two clauses, +we see that the wishes of the testator could only be carried out in the +unlikely event of his dying in one of the burial-places mentioned, or +his body being conveyed immediately after death to a public mortuary in +one of the said parishes. In any other event, it is virtually certain +that he will be buried in some place other than that which he desired, +and that his brother will be left absolutely without provision or +recognition." + +"John Bellingham could never have intended that," I said. + +"Clearly not," agreed Thorndyke; "the provisions of the will furnish +internal evidence that he did not. You note that he bequeathed five +thousand pounds to George Hurst, in the event of clause two being +carried out; but he has made no bequest to his brother in the event of +its not being carried out. Obviously, he had not entertained the +possibility of this contingency at all. He assumed, as a matter of +course, that the conditions of clause two would be fulfilled, and +regarded the conditions themselves as a mere formality." + +"But," Jervis objected, "Jellicoe must have seen the danger of a +miscarriage and pointed it out to his client." + +"Exactly," said Thorndyke. "There is the mystery. We understand that he +objected strenuously, and that John Bellingham was obdurate. Now it is +perfectly understandable that a man should adhere obstinately to the +most stupid and perverse disposition of his property; but that a man +should persist in retaining a particular form of words after it has been +proved to him that the use of such form will almost certainly result in +the defeat of his own wishes; that, I say, is a mystery that calls for +very careful consideration." + +"If Jellicoe had been an interested party," said Jervis, "one would have +suspected him of lying low. But the form of clause two doesn't affect +him at all." + +"No," said Thorndyke; "the person who stands to profit by the muddle is +George Hurst. But we understand that he was unacquainted with the terms +of the will, and there is certainly nothing to suggest that he is in any +way responsible for it." + +"The practical question is," said I, "what is going to happen? and what +can be done for the Bellinghams?" + +"The probability is," Thorndyke replied, "that the next move will be +made by Hurst. He is the party immediately interested. He will probably +apply to the Court for permission to presume death and administer the +will." + +"And what will the Court do?" + +Thorndyke smiled drily. "Now you are asking a very pretty conundrum. The +decisions of Courts depend on idiosyncrasies of temperament that no one +can foresee. But one may say that a Court does not lightly grant +permission to presume death. There will be a rigorous inquiry--and a +decidedly unpleasant one, I suspect--and the evidence will be reviewed +by the judge with a strong predisposition to regard the testator as +being still alive. On the other hand, the known facts point very +distinctly to the probability that he is dead; and, if the will were +less complicated and all the interested parties were unanimous in +supporting the application, I don't see why it might not be granted. +But it will clearly be to the interest of Godfrey to oppose the +application, unless he can show that the conditions of clause two have +been complied with--which it is virtually certain that he can not; and +he may be able to bring forward reasons for believing John to be still +alive. But even if he is unable to do this, inasmuch as it is pretty +clear that he was intended to be the chief beneficiary, his opposition +is likely to have considerable weight with the Court." + +"Oh, is it?" I exclaimed eagerly. "Then that accounts for a very +peculiar proceeding on the part of Hurst. I have stupidly forgotten to +tell you about it. He has been trying to come to a private agreement +with Godfrey Bellingham." + +"Indeed!" said Thorndyke. "What sort of agreement?" + +"His proposal was this: that Godfrey should support him and Jellicoe in +an application to the Court for permission to presume death and to +administer the will, and that, if it was successful, Hurst should pay +him four hundred pounds a year for life: the arrangement to hold good in +all eventualities." + +"By which he means?" + +"That if the body should be discovered at any future time, so that the +conditions of clause two could be carried out, Hurst should still retain +the property and continue to pay Godfrey the four hundred a year for +life." + +"Hey ho!" exclaimed Thorndyke; "that is a queer proposal; a very queer +proposal indeed." + +"Not to say fishy," added Jervis. "I don't fancy the Court would look +with approval on that little arrangement." + +"The law does not look with much favour on any little arrangements that +aim at getting behind the provisions of a will," Thorndyke replied; +"though there would be nothing to complain of in this proposal if it +were not for the reference to 'all eventualities.' If a will is +hopelessly impracticable, it is not unreasonable or improper for the +various beneficiaries to make such private arrangements among themselves +as may seem necessary to avoid useless litigation and delay in +administering the will. If, for instance, Hurst had proposed to pay four +hundred a year to Godfrey so long as the body remained undiscovered on +condition that, in the event of its discovery, Godfrey should pay him a +like sum for life, there would have been nothing to comment upon. It +would have been an ordinary sporting chance. But the reference to 'all +eventualities' is an entirely different matter. Of course, it may be +mere greediness, but all the same, it suggests some very curious +reflections." + +"Yes, it does," said Jervis. "I wonder if he has any reason to expect +that the body will be found? Of course it doesn't follow that he has. He +may be merely taking the opportunity offered by the other man's poverty +to make sure of the bulk of the property whatever happens. But it is +uncommonly sharp practice, to say the least." + +"Do I understand that Godfrey declined the proposal?" Thorndyke asked. + +"Yes, he did, very emphatically; and I fancy that the two gentlemen +proceeded to exchange opinions on the circumstances of the disappearance +with more frankness than delicacy." + +"Ah," said Thorndyke, "that is a pity. If the case comes into Court, +there is bound to be a good deal of unpleasant discussion and still more +unpleasant comment in the newspapers. But if the parties themselves +begin to express suspicions of one another there is no telling where the +matter will end." + +"No, by Jove!" said Jervis. "If they begin flinging accusations of +murder about, the fat will be in the fire with a vengeance. That way +lies the Old Bailey." + +"We must try to prevent them from making an unnecessary scandal," said +Thorndyke. "It may be that an exposure will be unavoidable, and that +must be ascertained in advance. But to return to your question, +Berkeley, as to what is to be done. Hurst will probably make some move +pretty soon. Do you know if Jellicoe will act with him?" + +"No, he won't. He declines to take any steps without Godfrey's +assent--at least, that is what he says at present. His attitude is one +of correct neutrality." + +"That is satisfactory, so far," said Thorndyke, "though he may alter his +tone when the case comes into Court. From what you said just now I +gathered that Jellicoe would prefer to have the will administered and be +quit of the whole business; which is natural enough, especially as he +benefits under the will to the extent of two thousand pounds and a +valuable collection. Consequently, we may fairly assume that, even if he +maintains an apparent neutrality, his influence will be exerted in +favour of Hurst rather than of Bellingham; from which it follows that +Bellingham ought certainly to be properly advised, and, when the case +goes into Court, properly represented." + +"He can't afford either the one or the other," said I. "He's as poor as +an insolvent church mouse and as proud as the devil. He wouldn't accept +professional aid that he couldn't pay for." + +"H'm," grunted Thorndyke, "that's awkward. But we can't allow the case +to go 'by default,' so to speak--to fail for the mere lack of technical +assistance. Besides, it is one of the most interesting cases that I have +ever met with, and I am not going to see it bungled. He couldn't object +to a little general advice in a friendly, informal way--_amicus curiae_, +as old Brodribb is so fond of saying; and there is nothing to prevent us +from pushing forward the preliminary inquiries." + +"Of what nature would they be?" + +"Well, to begin with, we have to satisfy ourselves that the conditions +of clause two have not been complied with: that John Bellingham has not +been buried within the parish boundaries mentioned. Of course he has +not, but we must not take anything for granted. Then we have to satisfy +ourselves that he is not still alive and accessible. It is perfectly +possible that he is, after all, and it is our business to trace him, if +he is still in the land of the living. Jervis and I can carry out these +investigations without saying anything to Bellingham; my learned brother +will look through the register of burials--not forgetting the +cremations--in the metropolitan area, and I will take the other matter +in hand." + +"You really think that John Bellingham may still be alive?" said I. + +"Since his body has not been found, it is obviously a possibility. I +think it in the highest degree improbable, but the improbable has to be +investigated before it can be excluded." + +"It sounds like a rather hopeless quest," I remarked. "How do you +propose to begin?" + +"I think of beginning at the British Museum. The people there may be +able to throw some light on his movements. I know that there are some +important excavations in progress at Heliopolis--in fact, the Director +of the Egyptian Department is out there at the present moment; and +Doctor Norbury, who is taking his place temporarily, is an old friend of +John Bellingham's. I shall call on him and try to discover if there is +anything that might have induced Bellingham suddenly to go abroad--to +Heliopolis, for instance. Also, he may be able to tell me what it was +that took the missing man to Paris on that last, rather mysterious +journey. That might turn out to be an important clue. And meanwhile, +Berkeley, you must endeavour tactfully to reconcile your friend to the +idea of letting us give an eye to the case. Make it clear to him that I +am doing this entirely for the enlargement of my own knowledge." + +"But won't you have to be instructed by a solicitor?" I asked. + +"Yes, of course, nominally; but only as a matter of etiquette. We shall +do all the actual work. Why do you ask?" + +"I was thinking of the solicitor's costs, and I was going to mention +that I have a little money of my own--" + +"Then keep it, my dear fellow. You'll want it when you go into practice. +There will be no difficulty about the solicitor; I shall ask one of my +friends to act nominally as a personal favour to me--Marchmont would +take the case for us, Jervis, I am sure." + +"Yes," said Jervis. "Or old Brodribb, if we put it to him _amicus +curiae_." + +"It is excessively kind of both of you to take this benevolent interest +in the case of my friends," I said; "and it is to be hoped that they +won't be foolishly proud and stiff-necked about it. It's rather the way +with poor gentlefolk." + +"I'll tell you what!" exclaimed Jervis. "I have a most brilliant idea. +You shall give us a little supper at your rooms and invite the +Bellinghams to meet us. Then you and I will attack the old gentleman, +and Thorndyke shall exercise his persuasive powers on the lady. These +chronic and incurable old bachelors, you know, are quite irresistible." + +"You observe that my respected junior condemns me to lifelong celibacy," +Thorndyke remarked. "But," he added, "his suggestion is quite a good +one. Of course, we mustn't put any sort of pressure on Bellingham to +employ us--for that is what it amounts to, even if we accept no +payment--but a friendly talk over the supper-table would enable us to +put the matter delicately and yet convincingly." + +"Yes," said I, "I see that, and I like the idea immensely. But it won't +be possible for several days, because I've got a job that takes up all +my spare time--and that I ought to be at work on now," I added, with a +sudden qualm at the way in which I had forgotten the passage of time in +the interest of Thorndyke's analysis. + +My two friends looked at me inquiringly, and I felt it necessary to +explain about the injured hand and the Tell el Amarna tablets; which I +accordingly did, rather shyly and with a nervous eye upon Jervis. The +slow grin, however, for which I was watching, never came; on the +contrary, he not only heard me through quite gravely, but when I had +finished said with some warmth, and using my old hospital pet name: + +"I'll say one thing for you, Polly; you're a good chum, and you always +were. I hope your Nevill's Court friends appreciate the fact." + +"They are far more appreciative than the occasion warrants," I answered. +"But to return to this supper question: how will this day week suit +you?" + +"It will suit me," Thorndyke answered, with a glance at his junior. + +"And me too," said the latter; "so, if it will do for the Bellinghams, +we will consider it settled; but if they can't come you must fix another +night." + +"Very well," I said, rising and knocking out my pipe, "I will issue the +invitation to-morrow. And now I must be off to have another slog at +those notes." + +As I walked homewards I speculated cheerfully on the prospect of +entertaining my friends under my own (or rather Barnard's) roof, if they +could be lured out of their eremitical retirement. The idea had, in +fact, occurred to me already, but I had been deterred by the +peculiarities of Barnard's housekeeper. For Mrs. Gummer was one of those +housewives who make up for an archaic simplicity of production by +preparations on the most portentous and alarming scale. But this time I +would not be deterred. If only the guests could be enticed into my +humble lair, it would be easy to furnish the raw materials of the feast +from outside; and the consideration of ways and means occupied me +pleasantly until I found myself once more at my writing-table, +confronted by my voluminous notes on the incident of the North Syrian +War. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A MUSEUM IDYLL + + +Whether it was that practice revived a forgotten skill on my part, or +that Miss Bellingham had over-estimated the amount of work to be done, I +am unable to say. But whichever may have been the explanation, the fact +is that the fourth afternoon saw our task so nearly completed that I was +fain to plead that a small remainder might be left over to form an +excuse for yet one more visit to the reading-room. + +Short, however, as had been the period of our collaboration, it had been +long enough to produce a great change in our relations to one another. +For there is no friendship so intimate and satisfying as that engendered +by community of work, and none--between man and woman, at any rate--so +frank and wholesome. + +Every day I had arrived to find a pile of books with the places duly +marked and the blue covered quarto note-books in readiness. Every day we +had worked steadily at the allotted task, had then handed in the books +and gone forth together to enjoy a most companionable tea in the +milk-shop; thereafter to walk home by way of Queen Square, talking over +the day's work and discussing the state of the world in the far-off days +when Ahkhenaten was king and the Tell el Amarna tablets were a-writing. + +It had been a pleasant time, so pleasant, that as I handed in the books +for the last time, I sighed to think that it was over; that not only +was the task finished, but that the recovery of my fair patient's hand, +from which I had that morning removed the splint, had put an end to the +need of my help. + +"What shall we do?" I asked, as we came out into the central hall; "it +is too early for tea. Shall we go and look at some of the galleries?" + +"Why not?" she answered. "We might look over some of the things +connected with what we have been doing. For instance, there is a relief +of Ahkhenaten upstairs in the Third Egyptian Room; we might go and look +at that." + +I fell in eagerly with the suggestion, placing myself under her +experienced guidance, and we started by way of the Roman Gallery, past +the long row of extremely commonplace and modern-looking Roman Emperors. + +"I don't know," she said, pausing for a moment opposite a bust labelled +"Trajan" (but obviously a portrait of Phil May), "how I am ever even to +thank you for all that you have done? to say nothing of repayment." + +"There is no need to do either," I replied. "I have enjoyed working with +you, so I have had my reward. But still," I added, "if you want to do me +a great kindness, you have it in your power." + +"How?" + +"In connection with my friend Doctor Thorndyke. I told you he was an +enthusiast. Now he is, for some reason, most keenly interested in +everything relating to your uncle, and I happen to know that, if any +legal proceedings should take place, he would very much like to keep a +friendly eye on the case." + +"And what do you want me to do?" + +"I want you, if an opportunity should occur for him to give your father +advice or help of any kind, to use your influence with your father in +favour of, rather than in opposition to, his accepting it--always +assuming that you have no real feeling against his doing so." + +Miss Bellingham looked at me thoughtfully for a few moments, and then +laughed softly. + +"So the great kindness that I am to do you is to let you do me a further +kindness through your friend!" + +"No," I protested; "that is where you are quite mistaken. It isn't +benevolence on Doctor Thorndyke's part; it is professional enthusiasm." + +She smiled sceptically. + +"You don't believe in it," I said; "but consider other cases. Why does a +surgeon get out of bed on a winter's night to do an emergency operation +at a hospital? He doesn't get paid for it. Do you think it is altruism?" + +"Yes, of course. Isn't it?" + +"Certainly not. He does it because it is his job, because it is his +business to fight with disease--and win." + +"I don't see much difference," she said. "It is work done for love +instead of for payment. However, I will do what you ask if the +opportunity arises; but I shan't suppose that I am repaying your +kindness to me." + +"I don't mind, so long as you do it," I said, and we walked on for some +time in silence. + +"Isn't it odd," she said presently, "how our talk always seems to come +back to my uncle? Oh, and that reminds me that the things he gave to the +Museum are in the same room as the Ahkhenaten relief. Would you like to +see them?" + +"Of course I should." + +"Then we will go and look at them first." She paused, and then, rather +shyly and with a rising colour, she continued: "And I think I should +like to introduce you to a very dear friend of mine--with your +permission, of course." + +This last addition she made hastily, seeing, I suppose, that I looked +rather glum at the suggestion. Inwardly I consigned her friend to the +devil, especially if of the masculine gender; outwardly I expressed my +felicity at making the acquaintance of any person whom she should honour +with her friendship. Whereat, to my discomfiture, she laughed +enigmatically; a very soft laugh, low-pitched and musical, like the +cooing of a glorified pigeon. + +I strolled on by her side, speculating a little anxiously on the coming +introduction. Was I being conducted to the lair of one of the savants +attached to the establishment? and would he add a superfluous third to +our little party of two, so complete and companionable, _solus cum +sola_, in this populated wilderness? Above all, would he turn out to be +a comely young man, and bring my aerial castles tumbling about my ears? +The shy look and the blush with which she had suggested the introduction +were ominous indications, upon which I mused gloomily as we ascended the +stairs and passed through the wide doorway. I glanced apprehensively at +my companion, and met a quiet, inscrutable smile; and at that moment she +halted outside a wall-case and faced me. + +"This is my friend," she said. "Let me present you to Artemidorus, late +of the Fayyum. Oh, don't smile!" she pleaded. "I am quite serious. Have +you never heard of pious Catholics who cherish a devotion to some +long-departed saint? That is my feeling towards Artemidorus, and if you +only knew what comfort he has shed into the heart of a lonely woman; +what a quiet, unobtrusive friend he has been to me in my solitary, +friendless days, always ready with a kindly greeting on his gentle, +thoughtful face, you would like him for that alone. And I want you to +like him and to share our silent friendship. Am I very silly, very +sentimental?" + +A wave of relief had swept over me, and the mercury of my emotional +thermometer, which had shrunk almost into the bulb, leaped up to summer +heat. How charming it was of her and how sweetly intimate, to wish to +share this mystical friendship with me! And what a pretty conceit it +was, too, and how like this strange, inscrutable maiden, to come here +and hold silent converse with this long-departed Greek. And the pathos +of it all touched me deeply amidst the joy of this newborn intimacy. + +"Are you scornful?" she asked, with a shade of disappointment, as I made +no reply. + +"No, indeed I am not," I answered earnestly. "I want to make you aware +of my sympathy and my appreciation without offending you by seeming to +exaggerate, and I don't know how to express it." + +"Oh, never mind about the expression, so long as you feel it. I thought +you would understand," and she gave me a smile that made me tingle to my +finger-tips. + +We stood awhile gazing in silence at the mummy--for such, indeed, was +her friend Artemidorus. But not an ordinary mummy. Egyptian in form, it +was entirely Greek in feeling; and brightly coloured as it was, in +accordance with the racial love of colour, the tasteful refinement with +which the decoration of the case was treated made those around look +garish and barbaric. But the most striking feature was a charming panel +portrait which occupied the place of the usual mask. This painting was a +revelation to me. Except that it was executed in tempera instead of oil, +it differed in no respect from modern work. There was nothing archaic or +even ancient about it. With its freedom of handling and its correct +rendering of light and shade, it might have been painted yesterday; +indeed, enclosed in an ordinary gilt frame, it might have passed without +remark in an exhibition of modern portraits. + +Miss Bellingham observed my admiration and smiled approvingly. + +"It is a charming little portrait, isn't it?" she said; "and such a +sweet face, too; so thoughtful and human with just a shade of +melancholy. But the whole thing is full of charm. I fell in love with it +the first time I saw it. And it is so Greek!" + +"Yes, it is, in spite of the Egyptian gods and symbols." + +"Rather because of them, I think," said she. "There we have the typical +Greek attitude, the genial, cultivated eclecticism that appreciated the +fitness of even the most alien forms of art. There is Anubis standing +beside the bier; there are Isis and Nephthys, and there below, Horus and +Tahuti. But we can't suppose that Artemidorus worshipped or believed in +those gods. They are there because they are splendid decoration and +perfectly appropriate in character. The real feeling of those who loved +the dead man breaks out in the inscription." She pointed to a band below +the pectoral, where, in gilt capital letters, was written the two words, +"[Greek: ARTEMIDORE EUPsUChI]." + +"Yes," I said, "it is very dignified and very human." + +"And so sincere and full of real emotion," she added. "I find it +unspeakably touching. 'O Artemidorus, farewell!' There is the real note +of human grief, the sorrow of eternal parting. How much finer it is than +the vulgar boastfulness of the Semitic epitaphs, or our own miserable, +insincere make-believe of the 'Not lost but gone before' type. He was +gone from them for ever; they would look on his face and hear his voice +no more; they realised that this was their last farewell. Oh, there is a +world of love and sorrow in those two simple words!" + +For some time neither of us spoke. The glamour of this touching memorial +of a long-buried grief had stolen over me, and I was content to stand +silent by my beloved companion and revive, with a certain pensive +pleasure, the ghosts of human emotions over which so many centuries had +rolled. Presently she turned to me with a frank smile. "You have been +weighed in the balance of friendship," she said, "and not found wanting. +You have the gift of sympathy, even with a woman's sentimental fancies." + +I suspected that a good many men would have developed this precious +quality under the circumstances, but I refrained from saying so. There +is no use in crying down one's own wares. I was glad enough to have +earned her good opinion so easily, and when she at length turned away +from the case and passed through into the adjoining room, it was a very +complacent young man who bore her company. + +"Here is Ahkhenaten--or Khu-en-aten, as the authorities here render the +hieroglyphics." She indicated a fragment of a coloured relief labelled: +"Portion of a painted stone tablet with a portrait figure of Amen-hetep +IV," and we stopped to look at the frail, effeminate figure of the great +king, with his large cranium, his queer, pointed chin and the Aten rays +stretching out their weird hands as if caressing him. + +"We mustn't stay here if you want to see my uncle's gift, because this +room closes at four to-day." With this admonition she moved on to the +other end of the room, where she halted before a large floor-case +containing a mummy and a large number of other objects. A black label +with white lettering set forth the various contents with a brief +explanation as follows: + +"Mummy of Sebek-hotep, a scribe of the twenty-second dynasty, together +with the objects found in the tomb. These include the four Canopic jars, +in which the internal organs were deposited, the Ushabti figures, tomb +provisions and various articles that had belonged to the deceased; his +favourite chair, his head-rest, his ink-palette, inscribed with his name +and the name of the king, Osorkon I, in whose reign he lived, and other +smaller articles. Presented by John Bellingham, Esq." + +"They have put all the objects together in one case," Miss Bellingham +explained, "to show the contents of an ordinary tomb of the better +class. You see that the dead man was provided with all his ordinary +comforts: provisions, furniture, the ink-palette that he had been +accustomed to use in writing on papyri, and a staff of servants to wait +on him." + +"Where are the servants?" I asked. + +"The little Ushabti figures," she answered; "they were the attendants of +the dead, you know, his servants in the under-world. It was a quaint +idea, wasn't it? But it was all very complete and consistent, and quite +reasonable, too, if once one accepts the belief in the persistence of +the individual apart from the body." + +"Yes," I agreed, "and that is the only fair way to judge a religious +system, by taking the main beliefs for granted. But what a business it +must have been, bringing all these things from Egypt to London." + +"It was worth the trouble, though, for it is a fine and instructive +collection. And the work is all very good of its kind. You notice that +the Ushabti figures and the heads that form the stoppers of the Canopic +jars are quite finely modelled. The mummy itself, too, is rather +handsome, though that coat of bitumen on the back doesn't improve it. +But Sebek-hotep must have been a fine-looking man." + +"The mask on the case is a portrait, I suppose?" + +"Yes; in fact, it is rather more. To some extent it is the actual face +of the man himself. This mummy is enclosed in what is called a +cartonnage, that is a case moulded on the figure. The cartonnage, was +formed of a number of layers of linen or papyrus united by glue or +cement, and when the case had been fitted to the mummy it was moulded to +the body, so that the general form of the features and limbs was often +apparent. After the cement was dry the case was covered with a thin +layer of stucco and the face modelled more completely, and then the +decorations and inscriptions were painted on. So that, you see, in a +cartonnage, the body was sealed up like a nut in its shell, unlike the +more ancient forms in which the mummy was merely rolled up and enclosed +in a wooden coffin." + +At this moment there smote upon our ears a politely protesting voice +announcing in sing-song tones that it was closing time; and +simultaneously a desire for tea suggested the hospitable milk-shop. With +leisurely dignity that ignored the official who shepherded us along the +galleries, we made our way to the entrance, still immersed in +conversation on matters sepulchral. + +It was rather earlier than our usual hour for leaving the Museum and, +moreover, it was our last day--for the present. Wherefore we lingered +over our tea to an extent that caused the milk-shop lady to view us with +some disfavour, and when at length we started homeward, we took so many +short cuts that six o'clock found us no nearer our destination than +Lincoln's Inn Fields; whither we had journeyed by a slightly indirect +route that traversed (among other places) Russell Square, Red Lion +Square, with the quaint passage of the same name, Bedford Row, Jockey's +Fields, Hand Court, and Great Turnstile. + +It was in the latter thoroughfare that our attention was attracted by a +flaming poster outside a newsvendor's bearing the startling inscription: + +"MORE MEMENTOES OF MURDERED MAN." + +Miss Bellingham glanced at the poster and shuddered. + +"Horrible! Isn't it?" she said. "Have you read about them?" + +"I haven't been noticing the papers the last few, days," I replied. + +"No, of course you haven't. You've been slaving at those wretched notes. +We don't very often see the papers, at least we don't take them in, but +Miss Oman has kept us supplied during the last day or two. She is a +perfect little ghoul; she delights in horrors of every kind, and the +more horrible the better." + +"But," I asked, "what is it that they have found?" + +"Oh, they are the remains of some poor creature who seems to have been +murdered and cut in pieces. It is dreadful. It made me shudder to read +of it, for I couldn't help thinking of poor Uncle John, and, as for my +father, he was really quite upset." + +"Are these the bones that were found in a watercress-bed at Sidcup?" + +"Yes. But they have found several more. The police have been most +energetic. They seem to have been making a systematic search, and the +result has been that they have discovered several portions of the body, +scattered about in very widely separated places--Sidcup, Lee, St. Mary +Cray; and yesterday it was reported that an arm had been found in one of +the ponds called 'the Cuckoo Pits,' close to our old home." + +"What! in Essex?" I exclaimed. + +"Yes, in Epping Forest, quite near Woodford. Isn't it dreadful to think +of it? They were probably hidden when we were living there. I think it +was that that horrified my father so much. When he read it he was so +upset that he gathered up the whole bundle of newspapers and tossed them +out of the window; and they blew over the wall, and poor Miss Oman had +to rush out and pursue them up the court." + +"Do you think he suspects that these remains may be those of your +uncle?" + +"I think so, though he has said nothing to that effect, and, of course, +I have not made any such suggestion to him. We always preserve the +fiction between ourselves of believing that Uncle John is still alive." + +"But you don't think he is, do you?" + +"No, I am afraid I don't; and I feel pretty sure that my father doesn't +think so either, but he doesn't like to admit it to me." + +"Do you happen to remember what bones have been found?" + +"No, I don't. I know that an arm was found in the Cuckoo Pits, and I +think a thigh-bone was dredged up out of a pond near St. Mary Cray. But +Miss Oman will be able to tell you all about it, if you are interested. +She will be delighted to meet a kindred spirit," Miss Bellingham added, +with a smile. + +"I don't know that I want to claim spiritual kinship with a ghoul," said +I; "especially such a very sharp-tempered ghoul." + +"Oh, don't disparage her, Doctor Berkeley!" Miss Bellingham pleaded. +"She isn't really bad-tempered; only a little prickly on the surface. I +oughtn't to have called her a ghoul; she is just the sweetest, most +affectionate, most unselfish little angelic human hedgehog that you +could find if you travelled the wide world through. Do you know that she +has been working her fingers to the bone making an old dress of mine +presentable because she is so anxious that I shall look nice at your +little supper-party." + +"You are sure to do that, in any case," I said; "but I withdraw my +remark as to her temper unreservedly. And I really didn't mean it, you +know; I have always liked the little lady." + +"That's right; and now won't you come in and have a few minutes' chat +with my father? We are quite early, in spite of the short cuts." + +I assented readily, and the more so inasmuch as I wanted a few words +with Miss Oman on the subject of catering and did not want to discuss it +before my friends. Accordingly I went in and gossiped with Mr. +Bellingham, chiefly about the work that we had done at the Museum, until +it was time for me to return to the surgery. + +Having taken my leave, I walked down the stairs with reflective slowness +and as much creaking of my boots as I could manage; with the result, +hopefully anticipated, that as I approached the door of Miss Oman's room +it opened and the lady's head protruded. + +"I'd change my cobbler if I were you," she said. + +I thought of the "angelic human hedgehog," and nearly sniggered in her +face. + +"I am sure you would, Miss Oman, instantly; though, mind you, the poor +fellow can't help his looks." + +"You are a very flippant young man," she said severely. Whereat I +grinned, and she regarded me silently with a baleful glare. Suddenly I +remembered my mission and became serious and sober. + +"Miss Oman," I said, "I very much want to take your advice on a matter +of some importance--to me, at least." (That ought to fetch her, I +thought.) The "advice fly"--strangely neglected by Izaak Walton--is +guaranteed to kill in any weather. And it did fetch her. She rose in a +flash and gorged it, cock's feathers, worsted body and all. + +"What is it about?" she asked eagerly. "But don't stand out there where +everybody can hear but me. Come in and sit down." + +Now, I didn't want to discuss the matter here, and, besides, there was +not time. I therefore assumed an air of mystery. + +"I can't, Miss Oman. I'm due at the surgery now. But if you should be +passing and should have a few minutes to spare, I should be greatly +obliged if you would look in. I really don't quite know how to act." + +"No, I expect not. Men very seldom do. But you're better than most, for +you know when you are in difficulties and have the sense to consult a +woman. But what is it about? Perhaps I might be thinking it over." + +"Well, you know," I began evasively, "it's a simple matter, but I can't +very well--no, by Jove!" I added, looking at my watch, "I must run, or I +shall keep the multitude waiting." And with this I bustled away, leaving +her literally dancing with curiosity. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE SPHINX OF LINCOLN'S INN + + +At the age of twenty-six one cannot claim to have attained to the +position of a person of experience. Nevertheless, the knowledge of human +nature accumulated in that brief period sufficed to make me feel pretty +confident that, at some time during the evening, I should receive a +visit from Miss Oman. And circumstances justified my confidence; for the +clock yet stood at two minutes to seven when a premonitory tap at the +surgery door heralded her arrival. + +"I happened to be passing," she explained, and I forbore to smile at the +coincidence, "so I thought I might as well drop in and hear what you +wanted to ask me about." + +She seated herself in the patients' chair and, laying a bundle of +newspapers on the table, glared at me expectantly. + +"Thank you, Miss Oman," I said. "It is very good of you to look in on +me. I am ashamed to give you all this trouble about such a trifling +matter." + +She rapped her knuckles impatiently on the table. + +"Never mind about the trouble," she exclaimed tartly. +"What--is--it--that--you--want--to--_ask_--me about?" + +I stated my difficulties in respect of the supper-party, and, as I +proceeded, an expression of disgust and disappointment spread over her +countenance. "I don't see why you need have been so mysterious about +it," she said glumly. + +"I didn't mean to be mysterious; I was only anxious not to make a mess +of the affair. It's all very fine to assume a lofty scorn of the +pleasures of the table, but there is great virtue in a really good feed, +especially when low-living and high-thinking have been the order of the +day." + +"Coarsely put," said Miss Oman, "but perfectly true." + +"Very well. Now, if I leave the management to Mrs. Gummer, she will +probably provide a tepid Irish stew with flakes of congealed fat on it, +and a plastic suet-pudding or something of that kind, and turn the house +upside-down in getting it ready. So I thought of having a cold spread +and getting the things in from outside. But I don't want it to look as +if I had been making enormous preparations." + +"They won't think the things came down from heaven," said Miss Oman. + +"No, I suppose they won't. But you know what I mean. Now, where do you +advise me to go for the raw materials of conviviality?" + +Miss Oman reflected. "You'd better let me do your shopping and manage +the whole business," was her final verdict. + +This was precisely what I had wanted, and I accepted thankfully, +regardless of the feelings of Mrs. Gummer. I handed her two pounds, and, +after some protests at my extravagance, she bestowed them in her purse; +a process that occupied time, since that receptacle, besides and +time-stained bills, already bulged with a lading of draper's samples, +ends of tape, a card of linen buttons, another of hooks and eyes, a lump +of beeswax, a rat-eaten stump of lead-pencil, and other trifles that I +have forgotten. As she closed the purse at the imminent risk of +wrenching off its fastenings she looked at me severely and pursed up her +lips. + +"You're a very plausible young man," she remarked. + +"What makes you say that?" I asked. + +"Philandering about museums," she continued, "with handsome young ladies +on the pretence of work. Work, indeed! Oh, I heard her telling her +father about it. She thinks you were perfectly enthralled by the mummies +and dried cats and chunks of stone and all the other trash. She doesn't +know what humbugs men are." + +"Really, Miss Oman--" I began. + +"Oh, don't talk to me!" she snapped. "I can see it all. You can't impose +on _me_. I can see you staring into those glass cases, egging her on to +talk and listening open-mouthed and bulging-eyed and sitting at her +feet--now, didn't you?" + +"I don't know about sitting at her feet," I said, "though it might +easily have come to that with those infernal slippery floors; but I had +a very jolly time, and I mean to go again if I can. Miss Bellingham is +the cleverest and most accomplished woman I have ever spoken to." + +This was a poser for Miss Oman, whose admiration and loyalty, I knew, +were only equalled by my own. She would have liked to contradict me, but +the thing was impossible. To cover her defeat she snatched up the bundle +of newspapers and began to open them out. + +"What sort of stuff is 'hibernation'?" she demanded suddenly. + +"Hibernation!" I exclaimed. + +"Yes. They found a patch of it on a bone that was discovered in a pond +at St. Mary Cray, and a similar patch on one that was found at some +place in Essex. Now, I want to know what 'hibernation' is." + +"You must mean 'eburnation,'" I said, after a moment's reflection. + +"The newspapers say 'hibernation,' and I suppose they know what they are +talking about. If you don't know what it is, don't be ashamed to say +so." + +"Well, then, I don't." + +"In that case you'd better read the papers and find out," she said, a +little illogically. And then: "Are you fond of murders? I am, awfully." + +"What a shocking little ghoul you must be!" I exclaimed. + +She stuck out her chin at me. "I'll trouble you," she said, "to be a +little more respectful in your language. Do you realise that I am old +enough to be your mother?" + +"Impossible!" I ejaculated. + +"Fact," said Miss Oman. + +"Well, anyhow," said I, "age is not the only qualification. And, +besides, you are too late for the billet. The vacancy's filled." + +Miss Oman slapped the papers down on the table and rose abruptly. + +"You had better read the papers and see if you can learn a little +sense," she said severely as she turned to go. "Oh, and don't forget the +finger!" she added eagerly. "That is really thrilling." + +"The finger?" I repeated. + +"Yes. They found a hand with one finger missing. The police think it is +a highly important clue. I don't know quite what they mean; but you read +the account and tell me what you think." + +With this parting injunction she bustled out through the surgery, and I +followed to bid her a ceremonious adieu on the doorstep. I watched her +little figure tripping with quick, bird-like steps down Fetter Lane, and +was about to turn back into the surgery when my attention was attracted +by the evolutions of an elderly gentleman on the opposite side of the +street. He was a somewhat peculiar-looking man, tall, gaunt, and bony, +and the way in which he carried his head suggested to the medical mind a +pronounced degree of near sight and a pair of "deep" spectacle glasses. +Suddenly he espied me and crossed the road with his chin thrust forward +and a pair of keen blue eyes directed at me through the centres of his +spectacles. + +"I wonder if you can and will help me," said he, with a courteous +salute. "I wish to call on an acquaintance, and I have forgotten his +address. It is in some court, but the name of that court has escaped me +for the moment. My friend's name is Bellingham. I suppose you don't +chance to know it? Doctors know a great many people, as a rule." + +"Do you mean Mr. Godfrey Bellingham?" + +"Ah! Then you do know him. I have not consulted the oracle in vain. He +is a patient of yours, no doubt?" + +"A patient and a personal friend. His address is Forty-nine Nevill's +Court." + +"Thank you, thank you. Oh, and as you are a friend, perhaps you can +inform me as to the customs of the household. I am not expected, and I +do not wish to make an untimely visit. What are Mr. Bellingham's habits +as to his evening meal? Would this be a convenient time to call?" + +"I generally make my evening visits a little later than this--say about +half-past eight; they have finished their meal by then." + +"Ah! half-past eight, then? Then I suppose I had better take a walk +until that time. I don't want to disturb them." + +"Would you care to come in and smoke a cigar until it is time to make +your call? If you would, I could walk over with you and show you the +house." + +"That is very kind of you," said my new acquaintance, with an +inquisitive glance at me through his spectacles. "I think I should like +to sit down. It's a dull affair, mooning about the streets, and there +isn't time to go back to my chambers--in Lincoln's Inn." + +"I wonder," said I, as I ushered him into the room lately vacated by +Miss Oman, "if you happen to be Mr. Jellicoe?" + +He turned his spectacles full on me with a keen, suspicious glance. +"What makes you think I am Mr. Jellicoe?" he asked. + +"Oh, only that you live in Lincoln's Inn." + +"Ha! I see. I live in Lincoln's Inn; Mr. Jellicoe lives in Lincoln's +Inn; therefore I am Mr. Jellicoe. Ha! ha! Bad logic, but a correct +conclusion. Yes, I am Mr. Jellicoe. What do you know about me?" + +"Mighty little, excepting that you were the late John Bellingham's man +of business." + +"The '_late_ John Bellingham,' hey! How do you know he is the late John +Bellingham?" + +"As a matter of fact, I don't; only I rather understood that that was +your own belief." + +"You understood! Now, from whom did you 'understand' that? From Godfrey +Bellingham? H'm! And how did he know what I believe? I never told him. +It is a very unsafe thing, my dear sir, to expound another man's +beliefs." + +"Then you think that John Bellingham is alive?" + +"Do I? Who said so? I did not, you know." + +"But he must be either dead or alive." + +"There," said Mr. Jellicoe, "I am entirely with you. You have stated an +undeniable truth." + +"It is not a very illuminating one, however," I replied, laughing. + +"Undeniable truths often are not," he retorted. "They are apt to be +extremely general. In fact, I would affirm that the certainty of the +truth of a given proposition is directly proportional to its +generality." + +"I suppose that is so," said I. + +"Undoubtedly. Take an instance from your own profession. Given a million +normal human beings under twenty, and you can say with certainty that a +majority of them will die before reaching a certain age, that they will +die in certain circumstances and of certain diseases. Then take a single +unit from that million, and what can you predict concerning him? +Nothing. He may die to-morrow; he may live to a couple of hundred. He +may die of a cold in the head or a cut finger, or from falling off the +cross of St. Paul's. In a particular case you can predict nothing." + +"That is perfectly true," said I. And then, realising that I had been +led away from the topic of John Bellingham, I ventured to return to it. + +"That was a very mysterious affair--the disappearance of John +Bellingham, I mean." + +"Why mysterious?" asked Mr. Jellicoe. "Men disappear from time to time, +and when they reappear, the explanations that they give (when they give +any) seem to be more or less adequate." + +"But the circumstances were surely rather mysterious." + +"What circumstances?" asked Mr. Jellicoe. + +"I mean the way in which he vanished from Mr. Hurst's house." + +"In what way did he vanish from it?" + +"Well, of course, I don't know." + +"Precisely. Neither do I. Therefore I can't say whether that way was a +mysterious one or not." + +"It is not even certain that he did leave it," I remarked, rather +recklessly. + +"Exactly," said Mr. Jellicoe. "And if he did not, he is there still. And +if he is there still, he has not disappeared--in the sense understood. +And if he has not disappeared, there is no mystery." + +I laughed heartily, but Mr. Jellicoe preserved a wooden solemnity and +continued to examine me through his spectacles (which I, in my turn, +inspected and estimated at about minus five dioptres). There was +something highly diverting about this grim lawyer, with his dry +contentiousness and almost farcical caution. His ostentatious reserve +encouraged me to ply him with fresh questions, the more indiscreet the +better. + +"I suppose," said I, "that, under these circumstances, you would hardly +favour Mr. Hurst's proposal to apply for permission to presume death?" + +"Under what circumstances?" he inquired. + +"I was referring to the doubt you have expressed as to whether John +Bellingham is, after all, really dead." + +"My dear sir," said he, "I fail to see your point. If it were certain +that the man was alive, it would be impossible to presume that he was +dead; and if it were certain that he was dead, presumption of death +would still be impossible. You do not presume a certainty. The +uncertainty is of the essence of the transaction." + +"But," I persisted, "if you really believe that he may be alive, I +should hardly have thought that you would take the responsibility of +presuming his death and dispersing his property." + +"I don't," said Mr. Jellicoe. "I take no responsibility. I act in +accordance with the decision of the Court and have no choice in the +matter." + +"But the Court may decide that he is dead and he may nevertheless be +alive." + +"Not at all. If the Court decides that he is presumably dead, then he is +presumably dead. As a mere irrelevant, physical circumstance he may, it +is true, be alive. But legally speaking, and for testamentary purposes, +he is dead. You fail to perceive the distinction, no doubt?" + +"I am afraid I do," I admitted. + +"Yes; members of your profession usually do. That is what makes them +such bad witnesses in a court of law. The scientific outlook is +radically different from the legal. The man of science relies on his own +knowledge and observation and judgment, and disregards testimony. A man +comes to you and tells you he is blind in one eye. Do you accept his +statement? Not in the least. You proceed to test his eyesight with some +infernal apparatus of coloured glasses, and you find that he can see +perfectly well with both eyes. Then you decide that he is not blind in +one eye; that is to say, you reject his testimony in favour of facts of +your own ascertaining." + +"But surely that is the rational method of coming to a conclusion?" + +"In science, no doubt. Not in law. A court of law must decide according +to the evidence which is before it; and that evidence is of the nature +of sworn testimony. If a witness is prepared to swear that black is +white, and no evidence to the contrary is offered, the evidence before +the Court is that black is white, and the Court must decide accordingly. +The judge and the jury may think otherwise--they may even have private +knowledge to the contrary--but they have to decide according to the +evidence." + +"Do you mean to say that a judge would be justified in giving a decision +which he knew privately to be contrary to the facts? Or that he might +sentence a man whom he knew to be innocent?" + +"Certainly. It has been done. There is a case of a judge who sentenced a +man to death and allowed the execution to take place, notwithstanding +that he--the judge--had actually seen the murder committed by another +man. But that was carrying correctness of procedure to the verge of +pedantry." + +"It was, with a vengeance," I agreed. "But to return to the case of John +Bellingham. Supposing that after the Court has decided that he is dead +he should turn up alive? What then?" + +"Ah! It would then be his turn to make an application, and the Court, +having fresh evidence laid before it, would probably decide that he was +alive." + +"And meantime his property would have been dispersed?" + +"Probably. But you will observe that the presumption of death would have +arisen out of his own proceedings. If a man acts in such a way as to +create a belief that he is dead, he must put up with the consequences." + +"Yes, that is reasonable enough," said I. And then, after a pause, I +asked: "Is there any immediate likelihood of proceedings of the kind +being commenced?" + +"I understood from what you said just now that Mr. Hurst was +contemplating some action of the kind. No doubt you had your information +from a reliable quarter." This answer Mr. Jellicoe delivered without +moving a muscle, regarding me with the fixity of a spectacled +figure-head. + +I smiled feebly. The operation of pumping Mr. Jellicoe was rather like +the sport of boxing with a porcupine, being chiefly remarkable as a +demonstration of the power of passive resistance. I determined, however, +to make one more effort, rather, I think, for the pleasure of witnessing +his defensive manoeuvres than with the expectation of getting anything +out of him. I accordingly "opened out" on the subject of the "remains." + +"Have you been following these remarkable discoveries of human bones +that have been appearing in the papers?" I asked. + +He looked at me stonily for some moments, and then replied: + +"Human bones are rather more within your province than mine, but, now +that you mention it, I think I recall having read of some such +discoveries. They were disconnected bones, I believe?" + +"Yes; evidently parts of a dismembered body." + +"So I should suppose. No, I have not followed the accounts. As we get on +in life our interests tend to settle into grooves, and my groove is +chiefly connected with conveyancing. These discoveries would be of more +interest to a criminal lawyer." + +"I thought that you might, perhaps, have connected them with the +disappearance of your client." + +"Why should I? What could be the nature of the connection?" + +"Well," I said, "these are the bones of a man--" + +"Yes; and my client was a man with bones. That is a connection, +certainly, though not a very specific or distinctive one. But perhaps +you had something more particular in your mind." + +"I had," I replied. "The fact that some of the bones were actually found +on land belonging to your client seemed to me rather significant." + +"Did it, indeed?" said Mr. Jellicoe. He reflected for a few moments, +gazing steadily at me the while, and then continued: "In that I am +unable to follow you. It would have seemed to me that the finding of +human remains upon a certain piece of land might conceivably throw a +_prima facie_ suspicion upon the owner or occupant of that land as being +the person who deposited them. But the case that you suggest is the one +case in which this would be impossible. A man cannot deposit his own +dismembered remains." + +"No, of course not. I was not suggesting that he deposited them +himself, but merely that the fact of their being deposited on his land, +in a way, connected these remains with him." + +"Again," said Mr. Jellicoe, "I fail to follow you, unless you are +suggesting that it is customary for murderers who mutilate bodies to be +punctilious in depositing the dismembered remains upon land belonging to +their victims. In which case I am sceptical as to your facts. I am not +aware of the existence of any such custom. Moreover, it appears that +only a portion of the body was deposited on Mr. Bellingham's land, the +remaining portions having been scattered broadcast over a wide area. How +does that agree with your suggestion?" + +"It doesn't, of course," I admitted. "But there is another fact that I +think you will admit to be more significant. The first remains that were +discovered were found at Sidcup. Now, Sidcup is close to Eltham; and +Eltham is the place where Mr. Bellingham was last seen alive." + +"And what is the significance of this? Why do you connect the remains +with one locality rather than the various other localities in which +other portions of the body have been found?" + +"Well," I replied, rather gravelled by this very pertinent question, +"the appearances seem to suggest that the person who deposited these +remains started from the neighbourhood of Eltham, where the missing man +was last seen." + +Mr. Jellicoe shook his head. "You appear," said he, "to be confusing the +order of deposition with the order of discovery. What evidence is there +that the remains found at Sidcup were deposited before those found +elsewhere?" + +"I don't know that there is any," I admitted. + +"Then," said he, "I don't see how you support your suggestion that the +person started from the neighbourhood of Eltham." + +On consideration, I had to admit that I had nothing to offer in support +of my theory; and having thus shot my last arrow in this very unequal +contest, I thought it time to change the subject. + +"I called in at the British Museum the other day," said I, "and had a +look at Mr. Bellingham's last gift to the nation. The things are very +well shown in that central case." + +"Yes. I was very pleased with the position they have given to the +exhibit, and so would my poor old friend have been. I wished, as I +looked at the case, that he could have seen it. But perhaps he may, +after all." + +"I am sure I hope he will," said I, with more sincerity, perhaps, than +the lawyer gave me credit for. For the return of John Bellingham would +most effectually have cut the Gordian knot of my friend Godfrey's +difficulties. "You are a good deal interested in Egyptology yourself, +aren't you?" I added. + +"Greatly interested," replied Mr. Jellicoe, with more animation than I +had thought possible in his wooden face. "It is a fascinating subject, +the study of this venerable civilisation, extending back to the +childhood of the human race, preserved for ever for our instruction in +its own unchanging monuments like a fly in a block of amber. Everything +connected with Egypt is full of an impressive solemnity. A feeling of +permanence, of stability, defying time and change, pervades it. The +place, the people, and the monuments alike breathe of eternity." + +I was mightily surprised at this rhetorical outburst on the part of this +dry and taciturn lawyer. But I liked him the better for the touch of +enthusiasm that made him human, and determined to keep him astride of +his hobby. + +"Yet," said I, "the people must have changed in the course of +centuries." + +"Yes, that is so. The people who fought against Cambyses were not the +race that marched into Egypt five thousand years before--the dynastic +people whose portraits we see on the early monuments. In those fifty +centuries the blood of Hyksos and Syrians and Ethiopians and Hittites, +and who can say how many more races, must have mingled with that of the +old Egyptians. But still the national life went on without a break; the +old culture leavened the new peoples, and the immigrant strangers ended +by becoming Egyptians. It is a wonderful phenomenon. Looking back on it +from our own time, it seems more like a geological period than the +life-history of a single nation. Are you at all interested in the +subject?" + +"Yes, decidedly, though I am completely ignorant of it. The fact is that +my interest is of quite recent growth. It is only of late that I have +been sensible of the glamour of things Egyptian." + +"Since you made Miss Bellingham's acquaintance, perhaps?" suggested Mr. +Jellicoe, himself as unchanging in aspect as an Egyptian effigy. + +I suppose I must have reddened--I certainly resented the remark--for he +continued in the same even tone: "I made the suggestion because I know +that she takes an intelligent interest in the subject and is, in fact, +quite well informed on it." + +"Yes; she seems to know a great deal about the antiquities of Egypt, and +I may as well admit that your surmise was correct. It was she who showed +me her uncle's collection." + +"So I had supposed," said Mr. Jellicoe. "And a very instructive +collection it is, in a popular sense; very suitable for exhibition in a +public museum, though there is nothing in it of unusual interest to the +expert. The tomb furniture is excellent of its kind and the cartonnage +case of the mummy is well made and rather finely decorated." + +"Yes, I thought it quite handsome. But can you explain to me why, after +taking all that trouble to decorate it, they should have disfigured it +with those great smears of bitumen?" + +"Ah!" said Mr. Jellicoe, "that is quite an interesting question. It is +not unusual to find mummy-cases smeared with bitumen; there is a mummy +of a priestess in the next gallery which is completely coated with +bitumen excepting the gilded face. Now, this bitumen was put on for a +purpose--for the purpose of obliterating the inscriptions and thus +concealing the identity of the deceased from the robbers and desecrators +of tombs. And there is the oddity of this mummy of Sebek-hotep. +Evidently there was an intention of obliterating the inscriptions. The +whole of the back is covered thickly with bitumen, and so are the feet. +Then the workers seem to have changed their minds and left the +inscriptions and decoration untouched. Why they intended to cover it, +and why, having commenced, they left it partially covered only, is a +mystery. The mummy was found in its original tomb and quite +undisturbed, so far as tomb-robbers are concerned. Poor Bellingham was +greatly puzzled as to what the explanation could be." + +"Speaking of bitumen," said I, "reminds me of a question that has +occurred to me. You know that this substance has been used a good deal +by modern painters and that it has a very dangerous peculiarity; I mean +its tendency to liquefy, without any very obvious reason, long after it +has dried." + +"Yes, I know. Isn't there some story about a picture of Reynolds' in +which bitumen had been used? A portrait of a lady, I think. The bitumen +softened, and one of the lady's eyes slipped down on to her cheek; and +they had to hang the portrait upside down and keep it warm until the eye +slipped back into its place. But what was your question?" + +"I was wondering whether the bitumen used by the Egyptian artists has +ever been known to soften after this great lapse of time." + +"Yes, I think it has. I have heard of instances in which the bitumen +coatings of mummy cases have softened under certain circumstances and +become quite 'tacky.' But, bless my soul! here am I gossiping with you +and wasting your time, and it is nearly a quarter to nine!" + +My guest rose hastily, and I, with many apologies for having detained +him, proceeded to fulfil my promise to guide him to his destination. As +we sallied forth together the glamour of Egypt faded by degrees, and +when he shook my hand stiffly at the gate of the Bellinghams' house, all +his vivacity and enthusiasm had vanished, leaving the taciturn lawyer, +dry, uncommunicative, and not a little suspicious. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE NEW ALLIANCE + + +The "Great Lexicographer"--tutelary deity of my adopted habitat--has +handed down to shuddering posterity a definition of the act of eating +which might have been framed by a dyspeptic ghoul. "Eat: to devour with +the mouth." It is a shocking view to take of so genial a function: +cynical, indelicate, and finally unforgivable by reason of its very +accuracy. For, after all, that is what eating amounts to, if one must +needs express it with such crude brutality. But if "the ingestion of +alimentary substances"--to ring a modern change upon the older +formula--is in itself a process material even unto carnality, it is +undeniable that it forms a highly agreeable accompaniment to more +psychic manifestations. + +And so, as the lamplight, re-enforced by accessory candles, falls on the +little table in the first-floor room looking on Fetter Lane--only now +the curtains are drawn--the conversation is not the less friendly and +bright for a running accompaniment executed with knives and forks, for +clink of goblet and jovial gurgle of wine-flask. On the contrary, to one +of us, at least--to wit, Godfrey Bellingham--the occasion is one of +uncommon festivity, and his boyish enjoyment of the simple feast makes +pathetic suggestions of hard times, faced uncomplainingly, but keenly +felt nevertheless. + +The talk flitted from topic to topic, mainly concerning itself with +matters artistic, and never for one moment approaching the critical +subject of John Bellingham's will. From the stepped pyramid of Sakkara +with its encaustic tiles to mediaeval church floors; from Elizabethan +woodwork to Mycaenaean pottery, and thence to the industrial arts of the +Stone Age and the civilisation of the Aztecs. I began to suspect that my +two legal friends were so carried away by the interest of the +conversation that they had forgotten the secret purpose of the meeting, +for the dessert had been placed on the table (by Mrs. Gummer with the +manner of a bereaved dependant dispensing funeral bakemeats), and still +no reference had been made to the "case." But it seemed that Thorndyke +was but playing a waiting game; was only allowing the intimacy to ripen +while he watched for the opportunity. And that opportunity came, even as +Mrs. Gummer vanished spectrally with a tray of plates and glasses. + +"So you had a visitor last night, Doctor," said Mr. Bellingham. "I mean +my friend Jellicoe. He told us he had seen you, and mighty curious he +was about you. I have never known Jellicoe to be so inquisitive before. +What did you think of him?" + +"A quaint old cock. I found him highly amusing. We entertained one +another for quite a long time with cross questions and crooked answers; +I affecting eager curiosity, he replying with a defensive attitude of +universal ignorance. It was a most diverting encounter." + +"He needn't have been so close," Miss Bellingham remarked, "seeing that +all the world will be regaled with our affairs before long." + +"They are proposing to take the case into Court, then?" said Thorndyke. + +"Yes," said Mr. Bellingham. "Jellicoe came to tell me that my cousin, +Hurst, has instructed his solicitors to make the application and to +invite me to join him. Actually he came to deliver an ultimatum from +Hurst--But, I mustn't disturb the harmony of this festive gathering with +litigious discords." + +"Now, why mustn't you?" asked Thorndyke. "Why is a subject in which we +are all keenly interested to be _tabu_? You don't mind telling us about +it, do you?" + +"No, of course not. But what do you think of a man who buttonholes a +doctor at a dinner-party to retail a list of his ailments?" + +"It depends on what his ailments are," replied Thorndyke. "If he is a +chronic dyspeptic and wishes to expound the virtues of Doctor Snaffler's +Purple Pills for Pimply People, he is merely a bore. But if he chances +to suffer from some rare and choice disease, such as Trypanosomiasis or +Acromegaly, the doctor will be delighted to listen." + +"Then are we to understand," Miss Bellingham asked, "that we are rare +and choice products, in a legal sense?" + +"Undoubtedly," replied Thorndyke. "The case of John Bellingham is, in +many respects, unique. It will be followed with the deepest interest by +the profession at large, and especially by medical jurists." + +"How gratifying that should be to us!" said Miss Bellingham. "We may +even attain undying fame in textbooks and treatises; and yet we are not +so very much puffed up with our importance." + +"No," said her father; "we could do without the fame quite well, and +so, I think, could Hurst. Did Berkeley tell you of the proposal that he +made?" + +"Yes," said Thorndyke; "and I gather from what you say that he has +repeated it." + +"Yes. He sent Jellicoe to give me another chance, and I was tempted to +take it; but my daughter was strongly against any compromise, and +probably she is right. At any rate, she is more concerned than I am." + +"What view did Mr. Jellicoe take?" Thorndyke asked. + +"Oh, he was very cautious and reserved, but he didn't disguise his +feeling that I should be wise to take a certainty in lieu of a very +problematical fortune. He would certainly like me to agree, for he +naturally wishes to get the affair settled and pocket his legacy." + +"And have you definitely refused?" + +"Yes; quite definitely. So Hurst will apply for permission to presume +death and prove the will, and Jellicoe will support him; he says he has +no choice." + +"And you?" + +"I suppose I shall oppose the application, though I don't quite know on +what grounds." + +"Before you take any definite steps," said Thorndyke, "you ought to give +the matter very careful consideration. I take it that you have very +little doubt that your brother is dead. And if he is dead, any benefit +that you may receive under the will must be conditional on the previous +assumption or proof of death. But perhaps you have taken advice?" + +"No, I have not. As our friend the Doctor has probably told you, my +means--or rather, the lack of them--do not admit of my getting +professional advice. Hence my delicacy about discussing the case with +you." + +"Then do you propose to conduct your case in person?" + +"Yes; if it is necessary for me to appear in Court, as I suppose it will +be, if I oppose the application." + +Thorndyke reflected for a few moments, and then said gravely: + +"You had much better not appear in person to conduct your case, Mr. +Bellingham, for several reasons. To begin with, Mr. Hurst is sure to be +represented by a capable counsel, and you will find yourself quite +unable to meet the sudden exigencies of a contest in Court. You will be +out-manoeuvred. Then there is the judge to be considered." + +"But surely one can rely on the judge dealing fairly with a man who is +unable to afford a solicitor and counsel?" + +"Undoubtedly, as a rule, a judge will give an unrepresented litigant +every assistance and consideration. English judges in general are +high-minded men with a deep sense of their great responsibilities. But +you cannot afford to take any chances. You must consider the exceptions. +A judge has been a counsel, and he may carry to the bench some of the +professional prejudices of the bar. Indeed, if you consider the absurd +licence permitted to counsel in their treatment of witnesses, and the +hostile attitude adopted by some judges towards medical and other +scientific men who have to give their evidence, you will see that the +judicial mind is not always quite as judicial as one would wish, +especially when the privileges and immunities of the profession are +concerned. Now, your appearance in person to conduct your case must, +unavoidably, cause some inconvenience to the Court. Your ignorance of +procedure and legal details must occasion some delay; and if the judge +should happen to be an irritable man he might resent the inconvenience +and delay. I don't say that that would affect his decision--I don't +think it would--but I am sure that it would be wise to avoid giving +offence to the judge. And, above all, it is most desirable to be able to +detect and reply to any manoeuvres on the part of the opposing counsel, +which you certainly would not be able to do." + +"This is excellent advice, Doctor Thorndyke," said Bellingham, with a +grim smile; "but I am afraid I shall have to take my chance." + +"Not necessarily," said Thorndyke. "I am going to make a little +proposal, which I will ask you to consider without prejudice as a mutual +accommodation. You see, your case is one of exceptional interest--it +will become a textbook case, as Miss Bellingham has prophesied; and, +since it lies within my specialty, it will be necessary for me, in any +case, to follow it in the closest detail. Now, it would be much more +satisfactory to me to study it from within than from without, to say +nothing of the credit which would accrue to me if I should be able to +conduct it to a successful issue. I am therefore going to ask you to put +your case in my hands and let me see what can be done with it. I know +this is an unusual course for a professional man to take, but I think it +is not improper under the circumstances." + +Mr. Bellingham pondered in silence for a few moments, and then, after a +glance at his daughter, began rather hesitatingly: "It is exceedingly +generous of you, Doctor Thorndyke--" + +"Pardon me," interrupted Thorndyke, "it is not. My motives, as I have +explained, are purely egoistic." + +Mr. Bellingham laughed uneasily and again glanced at his daughter, who, +however, pursued her occupation of peeling a pear with calm deliberation +and without lifting her eyes. Getting no help from her, he asked: "Do +you think that there is any possibility whatever of a successful issue?" + +"Yes, a remote possibility--very remote, I fear, as things look at +present; but if I thought the case absolutely hopeless I should advise +you to stand aside and let events take their course." + +"Supposing the case to come to a favourable termination, would you allow +me to settle your fees in the ordinary way?" + +"If the choice lay with me," replied Thorndyke, "I should say 'yes' with +pleasure. But it does not. The attitude of the profession is very +definitely unfavourable to 'speculative' practice. You may remember the +well-known firm of Dodson and Fogg, who gained thereby much profit, but +little credit. But why discuss contingencies of this kind? If I bring +your case to a successful issue I shall have done very well for myself. +We shall have benefited one another mutually. Come now, Miss Bellingham, +I appeal to you. We have eaten salt together, to say nothing of pigeon +pie and other cates. Won't you back me up, and at the same time do a +kindness to Doctor Berkeley?" + +"Why, is Doctor Berkeley interested in our decision?" + +"Certainly he is, as you will appreciate when I tell you that he +actually tried to bribe me secretly out of his own pocket." + +"Did you?" she asked, looking at me with an expression that rather +alarmed me. + +"Well, not exactly," I replied, mighty hot and uncomfortable, and +wishing Thorndyke at the devil with his confidences. "I merely mentioned +that the--the--solicitor's costs, you know, and that sort of thing--but +you needn't jump on me, Miss Bellingham; Doctor Thorndyke did all that +was necessary in that way." + +She continued to look at me thoughtfully as I stammered out my excuses, +and then said: "I wasn't going to. I was only thinking that poverty has +its compensations. You are all so very good to us; and, for my part, I +should accept Doctor Thorndyke's generous offer most gratefully, and +thank him for making it so easy for us." + +"Very well, my dear," said Mr. Bellingham; "we will enjoy the sweets of +poverty, as you say--we have sampled the other kind of thing pretty +freely--and do ourselves the pleasure of accepting a great kindness, +most delicately offered." + +"Thank you," said Thorndyke. "You have justified my faith in you, Miss +Bellingham, and in the power of Doctor Berkeley's salt. I understand +that you place your affairs in my hands?" + +"Entirely and thankfully," replied Mr. Bellingham. "Whatever you think +best to be done we agree to beforehand." + +"Then," said I, "let us drink success to the Cause. Port, if you please, +Miss Bellingham; the vintage is not recorded, but it is quite wholesome, +and a suitable medium for the sodium chloride of friendship." I filled +her glass, and, when the bottle had made its circuit, we stood up and +solemnly pledged the new alliance. + +"There is just one thing that I would say before we dismiss the subject +for the present," said Thorndyke. "It is a good thing to keep one's own +counsel. When you get formal notice from Mr. Hurst's solicitors that +proceedings are being commenced, you may refer them to Mr. Marchmont of +Gray's Inn, who will nominally act for you. He will actually have +nothing to do, but we must preserve the fiction that I am instructed by +a solicitor. Meanwhile, and until the case goes into Court, I think it +very necessary that neither Mr. Jellicoe nor anyone else should know +that I am to be connected with it. We must keep the other side in the +dark, if we can." + +"We will be as secret as the grave," said Mr. Bellingham; "and, as a +matter of fact, it will be quite easy, since it happens, by a curious +coincidence, that I am already acquainted with Mr. Marchmont. He acted +for Stephen Blackmore, you remember, in that case that you unravelled so +wonderfully. I knew the Blackmores." + +"Did you?" said Thorndyke. "What a small world it is! And what a +remarkable affair that was! The intricacies and cross-issues made it +quite absorbingly interesting; and it is noteworthy for me in another +respect, for it was one of the first cases in which I was associated +with Doctor Jervis." + +"Yes, and a mighty useful associate I was," remarked Jervis, "though I +did pick up one or two facts by accident. And, by the way, the Blackmore +case had certain points in common with your case, Mr. Bellingham. There +was a disappearance and a disputed will, and the man who vanished was a +scholar and an antiquarian." + +"Cases in our specialty are apt to have certain general resemblances," +said Thorndyke; and as he spoke he directed a keen glance at his junior, +the significance of which I partly understood when he abruptly changed +the subject. + +"The newspaper reports of your brother's disappearance, Mr. Bellingham, +were remarkably full of detail. There were even plans of your house and +that of Mr. Hurst. Do you know who supplied the information?" + +"No, I don't," replied Mr. Bellingham. "I know that I didn't. Some +newspaper men came to me for information, but I sent them packing. So, I +understand, did Hurst; and as for Jellicoe, you might as well +cross-examine an oyster." + +"Well," said Thorndyke, "the Press-men have queer methods of getting +'copy'; but still, someone must have given them that description of your +brother and those plans. It would be interesting to know who it was. +However, we don't know; and now let us dismiss these legal topics, with +suitable apologies for having introduced them." + +"And perhaps," said I, "we may as well adjourn to what we will call the +drawing-room--it is really Barnard's den--and leave the housekeeper to +wrestle with the debris." + +We migrated to the cheerfully shabby little apartment, and, when Mrs. +Gummer had served coffee, with gloomy resignation (as who should say: +"If you will drink this sort of stuff I suppose you must, but don't +blame _me_ for the consequences"), I settled Mr. Bellingham in Barnard's +favourite lop-sided easy chair--the depressed seat of which suggested +its customary use by an elephant of sedentary habits--and opened the +diminutive piano. + +"I wonder if Miss Bellingham would give us a little music?" I said. + +"I wonder if she could?" was the smiling response. "Do you know," she +continued, "I have not touched a piano for nearly two years? It will be +quite an interesting experiment--to me; but if it fails, you will be the +sufferers. So you must choose." + +"My verdict," said Mr. Bellingham, "is _fiat experimentum_, though I +won't complete the quotation, as that would seem to disparage Doctor +Barnard's piano. But before you begin, Ruth, there is one rather +disagreeable matter that I want to dispose of, so that I may not disturb +the harmony with it later." + +He paused, and we all looked at him expectantly. + +"I suppose, Doctor Thorndyke," he said, "you read the newspapers?" + +"I don't," replied Thorndyke. "But I ascertain, for purely business +purposes, what they contain." + +"Then," said Mr. Bellingham, "you have probably met with some accounts +of the finding of certain human remains, apparently portions of a +mutilated body?" + +"Yes, I have seen those reports and filed them for future reference." + +"Exactly. Well, now, it can hardly be necessary for me to tell you that +those remains--the mutilated remains of some poor murdered creature, as +there can be no doubt they are--have seemed to have a very dreadful +significance for me. You will understand what I mean; and I want to ask +you if--if they have made a similar suggestion to you." + +Thorndyke paused before replying, with his eyes bent thoughtfully on +the floor, and we all looked at him anxiously. + +"It is very natural," he said at length, "that you should associate +these remains with the mystery of your brother's disappearance. I should +like to say that you are wrong in doing so, but if I did I should be +uncandid. There are certain facts that do, undoubtedly, seem to suggest +a connection, and, up to the present, there are no definite facts of a +contrary significance." + +Mr. Bellingham sighed deeply and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. + +"It is a horrible affair!" he said huskily; "horrible! Would you mind, +Doctor Thorndyke, telling us just how the matter stands in your +opinion--what the probabilities are, for and against?" + +Again Thorndyke reflected awhile, and it seemed to me that he was not +very willing to discuss the subject. However, the question had been +asked pointedly, and eventually he answered: + +"At the present stage of the investigation it is not very easy to state +the balance of probabilities. The matter is still quite speculative. The +bones which have been found hitherto (for we are dealing with a +skeleton, not with a body) have been exclusively those which are useless +for personal identification; which is, in itself, a rather curious and +striking fact. The general character and dimensions of the bones seem to +suggest a middle-aged man of about your brother's height, and the date +of deposition appears to be in agreement with the date of his +disappearance." + +"Is it known, then, when they were deposited?" Mr. Bellingham asked. + +"In the case of those found at Sidcup it seems possible to deduce an +approximate date. The watercress-bed was cleaned out about two years +ago, so they could not have been lying there longer than that; and their +condition suggests that they could not have been there much less than +two years, as there is apparently not a vestige of the soft structures +left. Of course, I am speaking from the newspaper reports only; I have +no direct knowledge of the matter." + +"Have they found any considerable part of the body yet? I haven't been +reading the papers myself. My little friend, Miss Oman, brought a great +bundle of 'em for me to read, but I couldn't stand it; I pitched the +whole boiling of 'em out of the window." + +I thought I detected a slight twinkle in Thorndyke's eye, but he +answered quite gravely: + +"I think I can give you the particulars from memory, though I won't +guarantee the dates. The original discovery was made, apparently quite +accidentally, at Sidcup on the fifteenth of July. It consisted of a +complete left arm, minus the third finger and including the bones of the +shoulder--the shoulder-blade and collar-bone. This discovery seems to +have set the local population, especially the juvenile part of it, +searching all the ponds and streams of the neighbourhood--" + +"Cannibals!" interjected Mr. Bellingham. + +"With the result that there was dredged up out of a pond near St. Mary +Cray, in Kent, a right thigh-bone. There is a slight clue to identity in +respect of this bone, since the head of it has a small patch of what is +called 'eburnation'--that is a sort of porcelain-like polish that occurs +on the parts of bones that form a joint when the natural covering of +cartilage is destroyed by disease. It is produced by the unprotected +surface of one bone grinding against the similarly unprotected surface +of another." + +"And how," Mr. Bellingham asked, "would that help the identification?" + +"It would indicate," replied Thorndyke, "that the deceased had probably +suffered from rheumatoid arthritis--what is commonly known as rheumatic +gout--and he would probably have limped slightly and complained of some +pain in the right hip." + +"I am afraid that doesn't help us much," said Mr. Bellingham; "for, you +see, John had a pretty pronounced limp from another cause, an old injury +to his left ankle; and as to complaining of pain--well, he was a hardy +old fellow and not much given to making complaints of any kind. But +don't let me interrupt you." + +"The next discovery," continued Thorndyke, "was made near Lee, by the +police this time. They seem to have developed sudden activity in the +matter, and in searching the neighbourhood of West Kent they dragged out +of a pond near Lee the bones of a right foot. Now, if it had been the +left instead of the right we might have had a clue, as I understand that +your brother had fractured his left ankle, and there might have been +some traces of the injury on the foot itself." + +"Yes," said Mr. Bellingham, "I suppose there might. The injury was +described as a Pott's fracture." + +"Exactly. Well, now, after this discovery at Lee it seems that the +police set on foot a systematic search of all the ponds and small pieces +of water around London, and on the twenty-third, they found in the +Cuckoo Pits in Epping Forest, not far from Woodford, the bones of a +right arm (including those of the shoulder, as before), which seem to be +part of the same body." + +"Yes," said Mr. Bellingham, "I heard of that. Quite close to my old +house. Horrible! horrible! It gave me the shudders to think of it--to +think that poor old John may have been waylaid and murdered when he was +actually coming to see me. He may even have got into the grounds by the +back gate, if it was left unfastened, and been followed in there and +murdered. You remember that a scarab from his watch-chain was found +there? But is it clear that this arm was the fellow of the arm that was +found at Sidcup?" + +"It seems to agree in character and dimensions," said Thorndyke, "and +the agreement is strongly supported by a discovery that was made two +days later." + +"What is that?" Mr. Bellingham demanded. + +"It is the lower half of a trunk which the police dredged out of a +rather deep pond on the skirts of the forest at Loughton--Staple's Pond, +it is called. The bones found were the pelvis--that is, the two +hipbones--and six vertebrae, or joints of the backbone. Having +discovered these, the police dammed the stream and pumped the pond dry, +but no other bones were found; which is rather odd, as there should have +been a pair of ribs belonging to the upper vertebra--the twelfth dorsal +vertebra. It suggests some curious questions as to the method of +dismemberment; but I mustn't go into unpleasant details. The point is +that the cavity of the right hip-joint showed a patch of eburnation +corresponding to that on the head of the right thigh-bone that was found +at St. Mary Cray. So there can be very little doubt that these bones are +all part of the same body." + +"I see," grunted Mr. Bellingham; and he added, after a moment's +thought: "Now, the question is, Are these bones the remains of my +brother John? What do you say, Doctor Thorndyke?" + +"I say that the question cannot be answered on the facts at present +known to us. It can only be said that they may be, and that some of the +circumstances suggest that they are. But we can only wait for further +discoveries. At any moment the police may light upon some portion of the +skeleton which will settle the question definitely one way or the +other." + +"I suppose," said Mr. Bellingham, "I can't be of any service to you in +the matter of identification?" + +"Indeed you can," said Thorndyke, "and I was going to ask you to assist +me. What I want you to do is this: Write down a full description of your +brother, including every detail known to you, together with an account +of every illness or injury from which you know him to have suffered; and +also the names and, if possible, the addresses of any doctors, surgeons, +or dentists who may have attended him at any time. The dentists are +particularly important, as their information would be invaluable if the +skull belonging to these bones should be discovered." + +Mr. Bellingham shuddered. + +"It's a shocking idea," he said; "but, of course, you are quite right. +You must have the facts if you are to form an opinion. I will write out +what you want and send it to you without delay. And now, for God's sake, +let us throw off this nightmare, for a little while, at least! What is +there, Ruth, among Doctor Barnard's music that you can manage?" + +Barnard's collection in general inclined to the severely classical, but +we disinterred from the heap a few lighter works of an old-fashioned +kind, including a volume of Mendelssohn's _Lieder ohne Worte_, and with +one of these Miss Bellingham made trial of her skill, playing it with +excellent taste and quite adequate execution. That, at least, was her +father's verdict; for, as to me, I found it the perfection of happiness +merely to sit and look at her--a state of mind that would have been in +no wise disturbed even by _Silvery Waves_ or _The Maiden's Prayer_. + +Thus with simple, homely music, and conversation always cheerful and +sometimes brilliant, slipped away one of the pleasantest evenings of my +life, and slipped away all too soon. St. Dunstan's clock was the fly in +the ointment, for it boomed out intrusively the hour of eleven just as +my guests were beginning thoroughly to appreciate one another; and +thereby carried the sun (with a minor paternal satellite) out of the +firmament of my heaven. For I had, in my professional capacity, given +strict injunctions that Mr. Bellingham should on no account sit up late; +and now, in my social capacity, I had smilingly to hear "the doctor's +orders" quoted. It was a scurvy return for all my care. + +When Mr. and Miss Bellingham departed, Thorndyke and Jervis would have +gone too; but noting my bereaved condition, and being withal +compassionate and tender of heart, they were persuaded to stay awhile +and bear me company in a consolatory pipe. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE EVIDENCE REVIEWED + + +"So the game has opened," observed Thorndyke, as he struck a match. "The +play has begun with a cautious lead off by the other side. Very +cautious, and not very confident." + +"Why do you say 'not very confident'?" I asked. + +"Well, it is evident that Hurst--and, I fancy, Jellicoe too--is anxious +to buy off Bellingham's opposition, and at a pretty long price, under +the circumstances. And when we consider how very little Bellingham has +to offer against the presumption of his brother's death, it looks as if +Hurst hadn't much to say on his side." + +"No," said Jervis, "he can't hold many trumps or he wouldn't be willing +to pay four hundred a year for his opponent's chance; and that is just +as well, for it seems to me that our own hand is a pretty poor one." + +"We must look through our hand and see what we do hold," said Thorndyke. +"Our trump card at present--a rather small one, I am afraid--is the +obvious intention of the testator that the bulk of the property should +go to his brother." + +"I suppose you will begin your inquiries now," said I. + +"We began them some time ago--the day after you brought us the will, in +fact. Jervis has been through the registers and has ascertained that no +interment under the name of John Bellingham has taken place since the +disappearance; which was just what we expected. He has also discovered +that some other person has been making similar inquiries; which, again, +is what we expected." + +"And your own investigations?" + +"Have given negative results for the most part. I found Doctor Norbury, +at the British Museum, very friendly and helpful; so friendly, in fact, +that I am thinking whether I may not be able to enlist his help in +certain private researches of my own, with reference to the changes +effected by time in the physical properties of certain substances." + +"Oh; you haven't told me about that," said Jervis. + +"No: I haven't really commenced to plan my experiments yet, and they +will probably lead to nothing when I do. It occurred to me that, +possibly, in the course of time, certain molecular changes might take +place in substances such as wood, bone, pottery, stucco, and other +common materials, and that these changes might alter their power of +conducting or transmitting molecular vibrations. Now, if this should +turn out to be the case, it would be a fact of considerable importance, +medico-legal and otherwise; for it would be possible to determine +approximately the age of any object of known composition by testing its +reactions to electricity, heat, light and other molecular vibrations. I +thought of seeking Doctor Norbury's assistance because he can furnish me +with materials for experiment of such great age that the reactions, if +any, should be extremely easy to demonstrate. But to return to our case. +I learned from him that John Bellingham had certain friends in +Paris--collectors and museum officials--whom he was in the habit of +visiting for the purpose of study and exchange of specimens. I have +made inquiries of all of these, and none of them had seen him during his +last visit. In fact, I have not yet discovered anyone who had seen +Bellingham in Paris on this occasion. So his visit there remains a +mystery for the present." + +"It doesn't seem to be of much importance, since he undoubtedly came +back," I remarked; but to this Thorndyke demurred. + +"It is impossible to estimate the importance of the unknown," said he. + +"Well, how does the matter stand," asked Jervis, "on the evidence that +we have? John Bellingham disappeared on a certain date. Is there +anything to show what was the manner of his disappearance?" + +"The facts in our possession," said Thorndyke, "which are mainly those +set forth in the newspaper report, suggest several alternative +possibilities; and in view of the coming inquiry--for they will, no +doubt, have to be gone into in Court, to some extent--it may be worth +while to consider them. There are five conceivable hypotheses"--here +Thorndyke checked them on his fingers as he proceeded--"First, he may +still be alive. Second, he may have died and been buried without +identification. Third, he may have been murdered by some unknown person. +Fourth, he may have been murdered by Hurst and his body concealed. +Fifth, he may have been murdered by his brother. Let us examine these +possibilities seriatim. + +"First, he may still be alive. If he is, he must either have disappeared +voluntarily, have lost his memory suddenly and not been identified, or +have been imprisoned--on a false charge or otherwise. Let us take the +first case--that of voluntary disappearance. Obviously, its +improbability is extreme." + +"Jellicoe doesn't think so," said I. "He thinks it quite on the cards +that John Bellingham is alive. He says that it is not a very unusual +thing for a man to disappear for a time." + +"Then why is he applying for a presumption of death?" + +"Just what I asked him. He says that it is the correct thing to do; that +the entire responsibility rests on the Court." + +"That is all nonsense," said Thorndyke. "Jellicoe is the trustee for his +absent client, and, if he thinks that client is alive, it is his duty to +keep the estate intact; and he knows that perfectly well. We may take it +that Jellicoe is of the same opinion as I am: that John Bellingham is +dead." + +"Still," I urged, "men do disappear from time to time, and turn up again +after years of absence." + +"Yes, but for a definite reason. Either they are irresponsible vagabonds +who take this way of shuffling off their responsibilities, or they are +men who have been caught in a net of distasteful circumstances. For +instance, a civil servant or a solicitor or a tradesman finds himself +bound for life to a locality and an occupation of intolerable monotony. +Perhaps he has an ill-tempered wife, who, after the amiable fashion of a +certain type of woman, thinking that her husband is pinned down without +a chance of escape, gives a free rein to her temper. The man puts up +with it for years, but at last it becomes unbearable. Then he suddenly +disappears; and small blame to him. But this was not Bellingham's case. +He was a wealthy bachelor with an engrossing interest in life, free to +go whither he would and to do whatsoever he wished. Why should he +disappear? The thing is incredible. + +"As to his having lost his memory and remained unidentified, that, also, +is incredible in the case of a man who had visiting-cards and letters in +his pocket, whose linen was marked, and who was being inquired for +everywhere by the police. As to his being in prison, we may dismiss that +possibility, inasmuch as a prisoner, both before and after conviction, +would have full opportunity of communicating with his friends. + +"The second possibility, that he may have died suddenly and been buried +without identification, is highly improbable; but, as it is conceivable +that the body might have been robbed and the means of identification +thus lost, it remains as a possibility that has to be considered, remote +as it is. + +"The third hypothesis, that he may have been murdered by some unknown +person, is, under the circumstances, not wildly improbable; but, as the +police were on the look out and a detailed description of the missing +man's person was published in the papers, it would involve the complete +concealment of the body. But this would exclude the most probable form +of the crime--the casual robbery with violence. It is therefore +possible, but highly improbable. + +"The fourth hypothesis is that Bellingham was murdered by Hurst. Now the +one fact which militates against this view is that Hurst apparently had +no motive for committing the murder. We are assured by Jellicoe that no +one but himself knew the contents of the will, and if this is so--but, +mind, we have no evidence that it is so--Hurst would have no reason to +suppose that he had anything material to gain by his cousin's death. +Otherwise the hypothesis presents no inherent improbabilities. The man +was last seen alive at Hurst's house. He was seen to enter it and he was +never seen to leave it--we are still taking the facts as stated in the +newspapers, remember--and it now appears that he stands to benefit +enormously by that man's death." + +"But," I objected, "you are forgetting that, directly the man was +missed, Hurst and the servants together searched the entire house." + +"Yes. What did they search for?" + +"Why, for Mr. Bellingham, of course." + +"Exactly; for Mr. Bellingham. That is, for a living man. Now how do you +search a house for a living man? You look in all the rooms. When you +look in a room, if he is there, you see him; if you do not see him, you +assume that he is not there. You don't look under the sofa or behind the +piano, you don't pull out large drawers or open cupboards. You just look +into the rooms. That is what these people seem to have done. And they +did not see Mr. Bellingham. But Mr. Bellingham's corpse might have been +stowed away out of sight in any one of the rooms that they looked into." + +"That is a grim thought," said Jervis; "But it is perfectly true. There +is no evidence that the man was not lying dead in the house at the very +time of the search." + +"But even so," said I, "there was the body to be disposed of somehow. +Now how could he possibly have got rid of the body without being +observed?" + +"Ah!" said Thorndyke, "now we are touching on a point of crucial +importance. If anyone should ever write a treatise on the art of +murder--not an exhibition of literary fireworks like De Quincey's, but a +genuine working treatise--he might leave all other technical details to +take care of themselves if he could describe some really practicable +plan for disposing of the body. That is, and always has been, the great +stumbling-block to the murderer: to get rid of the body. The human +body," he continued, thoughtfully regarding his pipe, just as, in the +days of my pupilage, he was wont to regard the black-board chalk, "is a +very remarkable object. It presents a combination of properties that +makes it singularly difficult to conceal permanently. It is bulky and of +an awkward shape, it is heavy, it is completely incombustible, it is +chemically unstable, and its decomposition yields great volumes of +highly odorous gases, and it nevertheless contains identifiable +structures of the highest degree of permanence. It is extremely +difficult to preserve unchanged, and it is still more difficult +completely to destroy. The essential permanence of the human body is +well shown in the classical case of Eugene Aram; but a still more +striking instance is that of Seqenen-Ra the Third, one of the last kings +of the seventeenth Egyptian dynasty. Here, after a lapse of some four +thousand years, it has been possible to determine, not only the cause of +death and the manner of its occurrence, but the way in which the king +fell, the nature of the weapon with which the fatal wound was inflicted, +and even the position of the assailant. And the permanence of the body +under other conditions is admirably shown in the case of Doctor Parkman, +of Boston, U.S.A., in which identification was actually effected by +means of remains collected from the ashes of a furnace." + +"Then we may take it," said Jervis, "that the world has not yet seen +the last of John Bellingham." + +"I think we may regard that as almost a certainty," replied Thorndyke. +"The only question--and a very important one--is as to when the +reappearance may take place. It may be to-morrow or it may be centuries +hence, when all the issues involved have been forgotten." + +"Assuming," said I, "for the sake of argument, that Hurst did murder him +and that the body was concealed in the study at the time the search was +made. How could it have been disposed of? If you had been in Hurst's +place, how would you have gone to work?" + +Thorndyke smiled at the bluntness of my question. + +"You are asking me for an incriminating statement," said he, "delivered +in the presence of a witness too. But, as a matter of fact, there is no +use in speculating _a priori_; we should have to reconstruct a purely +imaginary situation, the circumstances of which are unknown to us, and +we should almost certainly reconstruct it wrong. What we may fairly +assume is that no reasonable person, no matter how immoral, would find +himself in the position that you suggest. Murder is usually a crime of +impulse, and the murderer a person of feeble self-control. Such persons +are most unlikely to make elaborate and ingenious arrangements for the +disposal of the bodies of their victims. Even the cold-blooded +perpetrators of the most carefully planned murders appear, as I have +said, to break down at this point. The almost insuperable difficulty of +getting rid of a human body is not appreciated until the murderer +suddenly finds himself face to face with it. + +"In the case that you are suggesting, the choice would seem to lie +between burial on the premises or dismemberment and dispersal of the +fragments; and either method would be pretty certain to lead to +discovery." + +"As illustrated by the remains of which you were speaking to Mr. +Bellingham," Jervis remarked. + +"Exactly," Thorndyke answered, "though we could hardly imagine a +reasonably intelligent criminal adopting a watercress-bed as a +hiding-place." + +"No. That was certainly an error of judgment. By the way, I thought it +best to say nothing while you were talking to Bellingham, but I noticed +that, in discussing the possibility of those being the bones of his +brother, you made no comment on the absence of the third finger of the +left hand. I am sure you didn't overlook it, but isn't it a point of +some importance?" + +"As to identification? Under the present circumstances, I think not. If +there were a man missing who had lost that finger it would, of course, +be an important fact. But I have not heard of any such man. Or, again, +if there were any evidence that the finger had been removed before +death, it would be highly important. But there is no such evidence. It +may have been cut off after death, and there is where the real +significance of its absence lies." + +"I don't quite see what you mean," said Jervis. + +"I mean that, if there is no report of any missing man who had lost that +particular finger, the probability is that the finger was removed after +death. And then arises the interesting question of motive. Why should it +have been removed? It could hardly have become detached accidentally. +What do you suggest?" + +"Well," said Jervis, "it might have been a peculiar finger; a finger, +for instance, with some characteristic deformity, such as an ankylosed +joint, which would be easy to identify." + +"Yes; but that explanation introduces the same difficulty. No person +with a deformed or ankylosed finger has been reported as missing." + +Jervis puckered up his brows and looked at me. + +"I'm hanged if I see any other explanation," he said. "Do you, +Berkeley?" + +I shook my head. + +"Don't forget which finger it is that is missing," said Thorndyke. "The +third finger on the left hand." + +"Oh, I see!" said Jervis. "The ring-finger. You mean it may have been +removed for the sake of a ring that wouldn't come off." + +"Yes. It would not be the first instance of the kind. Fingers have been +severed from dead hands--and even from living ones--for the sake of +rings that were too tight to be drawn off. And the fact that it is the +left hand supports this suggestion; for a ring that was inconveniently +tight would be worn by preference on the left hand, as that is usually +slightly smaller than the right. What is the matter, Berkeley?" + +A sudden light had burst upon me, and I suppose my countenance betrayed +the fact. + +"I am a confounded fool!" I exclaimed. + +"Oh, don't say that," said Jervis. "Give your friends a chance." + +"I ought to have seen this long ago and told you about it. John +Bellingham did wear a ring, and it was so tight that, when once he had +got it on, he could never get it off again." + +"Do you happen to know on which hand he wore it?" Thorndyke asked. + +"Yes. It was the left hand; because Miss Bellingham, who told me about +it, said that he would never have been able to get the ring on at all +but for the fact that his left hand was slightly smaller than his +right." + +"There it is, then," said Thorndyke. "With this new fact in our +possession, the absence of this finger furnishes the starting-point of +some very curious speculations." + +"As, for instance?" said Jervis. + +"Ah, under the circumstances, I must leave you to pursue those +speculations independently. I am now acting for Mr. Bellingham." + +Jervis grinned and was silent for a while, refilling his pipe +thoughtfully; but when he had got it alight he resumed. + +"To return to the question of the disappearance; you don't consider it +highly improbable that Bellingham might have been murdered by Hurst?" + +"Oh, don't imagine that I am making an accusation. I am considering the +various probabilities merely in the abstract. The same reasoning applies +to the Bellinghams. As to whether any of them did commit the murder, +that is a question of personal character. I certainly do not suspect the +Bellinghams after having seen them, and with regard to Hurst, I know +nothing, or at least very little, to his disadvantage." + +"Do you know anything?" asked Jervis. + +"Well," Thorndyke said, with some hesitation, "it seems a thought unkind +to rake up the little details of a man's past, and yet it has to be +done. I have, of course, made the usual routine inquiries concerning +the parties to this affair, and this is what they have brought to +light: + +"Hurst, as you know, is a stockbroker--a man of good position and +reputation; but, about ten years ago, he seems to have committed an +indiscretion, to put it mildly, which nearly got him into rather serious +difficulties. He appears to have speculated rather heavily and +considerably beyond his means, for when a sudden spasm of the market +upset his calculations, it turned out that he had been employing his +clients' capital and securities. For a time it looked as if there was +going to be serious trouble; then, quite unexpectedly, he managed to +raise the necessary amount in some way and settle all claims. Whence he +got the money has never been discovered to this day, which is a curious +circumstance, seeing that the deficiency was rather over five thousand +pounds; but the important fact is that he did get it and that he paid up +all that he owed. So that he was only a potential defaulter, so to +speak; and, discreditable as the affair undoubtedly was, it does not +seem to have any direct bearing on this present case." + +"No," Jervis agreed, "though it makes one consider his position with +more attention than one would otherwise." + +"Undoubtedly," said Thorndyke. "A reckless gambler is a man whose +conduct cannot be relied on. He is subject to sudden vicissitudes of +fortune which may force him into other kinds of wrongdoing. Many an +embezzlement has been preceded by an unlucky plunge on the turf." + +"Assuming the responsibility for this disappearance to lie between Hurst +and--and the Bellinghams," said I, with an uncomfortable gulp as I +mentioned the name of my friends, "to which side does the balance of +probability incline?" + +"To the side of Hurst, I should say, without doubt," replied Thorndyke. +"The case stands thus--on the facts presented to us: Hurst appears to +have had no motive for killing the deceased (as we will call him); but +the man was seen to enter his house, was never seen to leave it, and was +never again seen alive. Bellingham, on the other hand, had a motive, as +he believed himself to be the principal beneficiary under the will. But +the deceased was not seen at his house, and there is no evidence that he +went to the house or to the neighbourhood of the house, excepting the +scarab that was found there. But the evidence of the scarab is vitiated +by the fact that Hurst was present when it was picked up, and that it +was found on a spot over which Hurst had passed only a few minutes +previously. Until Hurst is cleared, it seems to me that the presence of +the scarab proves nothing against the Bellinghams." + +"Then your opinions on the case," said I, "are based entirely on the +facts that have been made public." + +"Yes, mainly. I do not necessarily accept those facts just as they are +presented, and I may have certain views of my own on the case. But if I +have, I do not feel in a position to discuss them. For the present, +discussion has to be limited to the facts and inferences offered by the +parties concerned." + +"There!" exclaimed Jervis, rising to knock out his pipe, "that is where +Thorndyke has you. He lets you think you're in the very thick of the +'know' until one fine morning you wake up and discover that you have +only been a gaping outsider; and then you are mightily astonished--and +so are the other side, too, for that matter. But we must really be off +now, mustn't we, reverend senior?" + +"I suppose we must," replied Thorndyke; and, as he drew on his gloves, +he asked: "Have you heard from Barnard lately?" + +"Oh, yes," I answered. "I wrote to him at Smyrna to say that the +practice was flourishing and that I was quite happy and contented, and +that he might stay away as long as he liked. He writes by return that he +will prolong his holiday if an opportunity offers, but will let me know +later." + +"Gad," said Jervis, "it was a stroke of luck for Barnard that Bellingham +happened to have such a magnificent daughter--there! don't mind me, old +man. You go in and win--she's worth it, isn't she, Thorndyke?" + +"Miss Bellingham is a very charming young lady," replied Thorndyke. "I +am most favourably impressed by both the father and the daughter, and I +only trust that we may be able to be of some service to them." With this +sedate little speech Thorndyke shook my hand, and I watched my two +friends go on their way until their fading shapes were swallowed up in +the darkness of Fetter Lane. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY + + +It was some two or three mornings after my little supper-party that, as +I stood in the consulting-room brushing my hat preparatory to starting +on my morning round, Adolphus appeared at the door to announce two +gentlemen waiting in the surgery. I told him to bring them in, and a +moment later Thorndyke entered, accompanied by Jervis. I noted that they +looked uncommonly large in the little apartment, especially Thorndyke, +but I had no time to consider this phenomenon, for the latter, when he +had shaken my hand, proceeded at once to explain the object of their +visit. + +"We have come to ask a favour, Berkeley," he said; "to ask you to do us +a very great service in the interests of your friends, the Bellinghams." + +"You know I shall be delighted," I said warmly. "What is it?" + +"I will explain. You know--or perhaps you don't--that the police have +collected all the bones that have been discovered and deposited them in +the mortuary at Woodford, where they are to be viewed by the coroner's +jury. Now, it has become imperative that I should have more definite and +reliable information about them than I can get from the newspapers. The +natural thing would be for me to go down and examine them myself, but +there are circumstances that make it very desirable that my connection +with the case should not leak out. Consequently, I can't go myself, +and, for the same reason, I can't send Jervis. On the other hand, as it +is now stated pretty openly that the police consider the bones to be +almost certainly those of John Bellingham, it would seem perfectly +natural that you, as Godfrey Bellingham's doctor, should go down to view +them on his behalf." + +"I should like to go," I said. "I would give anything to go; but how is +it to be managed? It would mean a whole day off and leaving the practice +to take care of itself." + +"I think that could be arranged," said Thorndyke; "and the matter is +really important for two reasons. One is that the inquest opens +to-morrow, and someone certainly ought to be there to watch the +proceedings on Godfrey's behalf; and the other is that our client has +received notice from Hurst's solicitors that the application would be +heard in the Probate Court in a few days." + +"Isn't that rather sudden?" I asked. + +"It certainly suggests that there has been a good deal more activity +than we were given to understand. But you see the importance of the +affair. The inquest will be a sort of dress rehearsal for the Probate +Court, and it is quite essential that we should have a chance of +estimating the management." + +"Yes, I see that. But how are we to manage about the practice?" + +"We shall find you a substitute." + +"Through a medical agent?" + +"Yes," said Jervis. "Turcival will find us a man; in fact, he has done +it. I saw him this morning; he has a man who is waiting up in town to +negotiate for the purchase of a practice and who would do the job for a +couple of guineas. Quite a reliable man. Only say the word, and I will +run off to Adam Street and engage him definitely." + +"Very well. You engage the locum tenens, and I will be prepared to start +for Woodford as soon as he turns up." + +"Excellent!" said Thorndyke. "That is a great weight off my mind. And if +you could manage to drop in this evening and smoke a pipe with us we +could talk over the plan of campaign and let you know what items of +information we are particularly in want of." + +I promised to turn up at King's Bench Walk as soon after half-past eight +as possible, and my two friends then took their departure, leaving me to +set out in high spirits on my scanty round of visits. + +It is surprising what different aspects things present from different +points of view; how relative are our estimates of the conditions and +circumstances of life. To the urban workman--the journeyman baker or +tailor, for instance, labouring year in year out in a single building--a +holiday ramble on Hampstead Heath is a veritable voyage of discovery; +whereas to the sailor the shifting panorama of the whole wide world is +but the commonplace of the day's work. + +So I reflected as I took my place in the train at Liverpool Street on +the following day. There had been a time when a trip by rail to the +borders of Epping Forest would have been far from a thrilling +experience; now, after vegetating in the little world of Fetter Lane, it +was quite an adventure. + +The enforced inactivity of a railway journey is favourable to thought, +and I had much to think about. The last few weeks had witnessed +momentous changes in my outlook. New interests had arisen, new +friendships had grown up; and, above all, there had stolen into my life +that supreme influence that, for good or for evil, according to my +fortune, was to colour and pervade it even to its close. Those few days +of companionable labour in the reading-room, with the homely +hospitalities of the milk-shop and the pleasant walks homeward through +the friendly London streets, had called into existence a new world--a +world in which the gracious personality of Ruth Bellingham was the one +dominating reality. And thus, as I leaned back in a corner of the +railway carriage with an unlighted pipe in my hand, the events of the +immediate past, together with those more problematical ones of the +impending future, occupied me rather to the exclusion of the business of +the moment, which was to review the remains collected in the Woodford +mortuary, until, as the train approached Stratford, the odours of the +soap and bone-manure factories poured in at the open window and (by a +natural association of ideas) brought me back to the object of my quest. + +As to the exact purpose of this expedition, I was not very clear; but I +knew that I was acting as Thorndyke's proxy and thrilled with pride at +the thought. But what particular light my investigations were to throw +upon the intricate Bellingham case I had no very definite idea. With a +view to fixing the course of procedure in my mind, I took Thorndyke's +written instructions from my pocket and read them over carefully. They +were very full and explicit, making ample allowance for my lack of +experience in medico-legal matters:-- + + 1. Do not appear to make minute investigations or in any way + excite remark. + + 2. Ascertain if all the bones belonging to each region are + present, and if not, which are missing. + + 3. Measure the extreme length of the principal bones and compare + those of opposite sides. + + 4. Examine the bones with reference to the age, sex, and muscular + development of the deceased. + + 5. Note the presence or absence of signs of constitutional + disease, local disease of bone or adjacent structures, old or + recent injuries, and any other departures from the normal or + usual. + + 6. Observe the presence or absence of adipocere and its position, + if present. + + 7. Note any remains of tendons, ligaments, or other soft + structures. + + 8. Examine the Sidcup hand with reference to the question as to + whether the finger was separated before or after death. + + 9. Estimate the probable period of submersion and note any changes + (as, e.g., mineral or organic staining) due to the character of + the water or mud. + + 10. Ascertain the circumstances (immediate and remote) that led to + the discovery of the bones and the names of the persons + concerned in those circumstances. + + 11. Commit all information to writing as soon as possible, and make + plans and diagrams on the spot, if circumstances permit. + + 12. Preserve an impassive exterior; listen attentively but without + eagerness; ask as few questions as possible; pursue any inquiry + that your observations on the spot may suggest. + +These were my instructions, and, considering that I was going merely to +inspect a few dry bones, they appeared rather formidable; in fact, the +more I read them over the greater became my misgivings as to my +qualifications for the task. + +As I approached the mortuary it became evident that some, at least, of +Thorndyke's admonitions were by no means unnecessary. The place was in +charge of a police-sergeant, who watched my approach suspiciously; and +some half-dozen men, obviously newspaper reporters, hovered about the +entrance like a pack of jackals. I presented the coroner's order which +Mr. Marchmont had obtained, and which the sergeant read with his back +against the wall, to prevent the newspaper men from looking over his +shoulder. + +My credentials being found satisfactory, the door was unlocked and I +entered, accompanied by three enterprising reporters, whom, however, the +sergeant summarily ejected and locked out, returning to usher me into +the presence and to observe my proceedings with intelligent but highly +embarrassing interest. + +The bones were laid out on a large table and covered with a sheet, which +the sergeant slowly turned back, watching my face intently as he did so +to note the impression that the spectacle made upon me. I imagine that +he must have been somewhat disappointed by my impassive demeanour, for +the remains suggested to me nothing more than a rather shabby set of +"student's osteology." The whole collection had been set out (by the +police-surgeon, as the sergeant informed me) in their proper anatomical +order; notwithstanding which I counted them over carefully to make sure +that none were missing, checking them by the list with which Thorndyke +had furnished me. + +"I see you have found the left thigh-bone," I remarked, observing that +this did not appear in the list. + +"Yes," said the sergeant; "that turned up yesterday evening in a big +pond called Baldwin's Pond in the Sand-pit plain, near Little Monk +Wood." + +"Is that near here?" I asked. + +"In the forest up Loughton way," was the reply. + +I made a note of the fact (on which the sergeant looked as if he was +sorry he had mentioned it), and then turned my attention to a general +consideration of the bones before examining them in detail. Their +appearance would have been improved and examination facilitated by a +thorough scrubbing, for they were just as they had been taken from their +respective resting-places, and it was difficult to decide whether their +reddish-yellow colour was an actual stain or due to a deposit on the +surface. In any case, as it affected them all alike, I thought it an +interesting feature and made a note of it. They bore numerous traces of +their sojourn in the various ponds from which they had been recovered, +but these gave me little help in determining the length of time during +which they had been submerged. They were, of course, encrusted with mud, +and little wisps of pond-weed stuck to them in places; but these facts +furnished only the vaguest measure of time. + +Some of the traces were, indeed, more informing. To several of the +bones, for instance, there adhered the dried egg-clusters of the common +pond-snail, and in one of the hollows of the right shoulder-blade (the +"infra-spinous fossa") was a group of the mud-built tubes of the red +river-worm. These remains gave proof of a considerable period of +submersion, and since they could not have been deposited on the bones +until all the flesh had disappeared, they furnished evidence that some +time--a month or two, at any rate--had elapsed since this had happened. +Incidentally, too, their distribution showed the position in which the +bones had lain, and though this appeared to be of no importance in the +existing circumstances, I made careful notes of the situation of each +adherent body, illustrating their position by rough sketches. + +The sergeant watched my proceedings with an indulgent smile. + +"You're making a regular inventory, sir," he remarked, "as if you were +going to put 'em up for auction. I shouldn't think those snails' eggs +would be much help in identification. And all that has been done +already," he added as I produced my measuring-tape. + +"No doubt," I replied; "but my business is to make independent +observations, to check the others, if necessary." And I proceeded to +measure each of the principal bones separately and to compare those of +the opposite sides. The agreement in dimensions and general +characteristics of the pairs of bones left little doubt that all were +parts of one skeleton, a conclusion that was confirmed by the eburnated +patch on the head of the right thigh-bone and the corresponding patch in +the socket of the right hip-bone. When I had finished my measurements I +went over the entire series of bones in detail, examining each with the +closest attention for any of those signs which Thorndyke had indicated, +and eliciting nothing but a monotonously reiterated negative. They were +distressingly and disappointingly normal. + +"Well, sir, and what do you make of 'em?" the sergeant asked cheerfully +as I shut up my note-book and straightened my back. "Whose bones are +they? Are they Mr. Bellingham's, think ye?" + +"I should be very sorry to say whose bones they are," I replied. "One +bone is very much like another, you know." + +"I suppose it is," he agreed; "but I thought that, with all that +measuring and all those notes, you might have arrived at something +definite." Evidently he was disappointed in me; and I was somewhat +disappointed in myself when I contrasted Thorndyke's elaborate +instructions with the meagre result of my investigations. For what did +my discoveries amount to? And how much was the inquiry advanced by the +few entries in my note-book? + +The bones were apparently those of a man of fair though not remarkable +muscular development; over thirty years of age, but how much older I was +unable to say. His height I judged roughly to be five feet eight inches, +but my measurements would furnish data for a more exact estimate by +Thorndyke. Beyond this the bones were quite uncharacteristic. There were +no signs of disease either local or general, no indications of injuries +either old or recent, no departures of any kind from the normal or +usual; and the dismemberment had been effected with such care that there +was not a single scratch on any of the separated surfaces. Of adipocere +(the peculiar waxy or soapy substance that is commonly found in bodies +that have slowly decayed in damp situations) there was not a trace; and +the only remnant of the soft structures was a faint indication, like a +spot of dried glue, of the tendon on the tip of the right elbow. + +The sergeant was in the act of replacing the sheet, with the air of a +showman who has just given an exhibition, when there came a sharp +rapping on the mortuary door. The officer finished spreading the sheet +with official precision, and having ushered me out into the lobby, +turned the key and admitted three persons, holding the door open after +they had entered for me to go out. But the appearance of the new-comers +inclined me to linger. One of them was a local constable, evidently in +official charge; a second was a labouring man, very muddy and wet, who +carried a small sack; while in the third I thought I scented a +professional brother. + +The sergeant continued to hold the door open. + +"Nothing more I can do for you, sir?" he asked genially. + +"Is that the divisional surgeon?" I inquired. + +"Yes. I am the divisional surgeon," the new-comer answered. "Did you +want anything of me?" + +"This," said the sergeant, "is a medical gentleman who has got +permission from the coroner to inspect the remains. He is acting for the +family of the deceased--I mean, for the family of Mr. Bellingham," he +added in answer to an inquiring glance from the surgeon. + +"I see," said the latter. "Well, they have found the rest of the trunk, +including, I understand, the ribs that were missing from the other part. +Isn't that so, Davis?" + +"Yes, sir," replied the constable. "Inspector Badger says all the ribs +is here, and all the bones of the neck as well." + +"The inspector seems to be an anatomist," I remarked. + +The sergeant grinned. "He's a very knowing gentleman, is Mr. Badger. He +came down here this morning quite early and spent a long time looking +over the bones and checking them by some notes in his pocket-book. I +fancy he's got something on, but he was precious close about it." + +Here the sergeant shut up rather suddenly--perhaps contrasting his own +conduct with that of his superior. + +"Let us have these new bones out on the table," said the police-surgeon. +"Take that sheet off, and don't shoot them out as if they were coals. +Hand them out carefully." + +The labourer fished out the wet and muddy bones one by one from the +sack, and as he laid them on the table the surgeon arranged them in +their proper relative positions. + +"This has been a neatly executed job," he remarked; "none of your clumsy +hacking with a chopper or a saw. The bones have been cleanly separated +at the joints. The fellow who did this must have had some anatomical +knowledge, unless he was a butcher, which, by the way, is not +impossible. He has used his knife uncommonly skilfully, and you notice +that each arm was taken off with the scapula attached, just as a butcher +takes off a shoulder of mutton. Are there any more bones in that bag?" + +"No, sir," replied the labourer, wiping his hands with an air of +finality on the posterior aspect of his trousers; "that's the lot." + +The surgeon looked thoughtfully at the bones as he gave a final touch +to their arrangement, and remarked: + +"The inspector is right. All the bones of the neck are there. Very odd. +Don't you think so?" + +"You mean--" + +"I mean that this very eccentric murderer seems to have given himself +such an extraordinary amount of trouble for no reason that one can see. +There are these neck vertebrae, for instance. He must have carefully +separated the skull from the atlas instead of just cutting through the +neck. Then there is the way he divided the trunk; the twelfth ribs have +just come in with this lot, but the twelfth dorsal vertebra to which +they belong was attached to the lower half. Imagine the trouble he must +have taken to do that, and without cutting or hacking the bones about, +either. It is extraordinary. This is rather interesting, by the way. +Handle it carefully." + +He picked up the breast-bone daintily--for it was covered with wet +mud--and handed it to me with the remark: "That is the most definite +piece of evidence we have." + +"You mean," I said, "that the union of the two parts into a single mass +fixes this as the skeleton of an elderly man?" + +"Yes, that is the obvious suggestion, which is confirmed by the deposit +of bone in the rib-cartilages. You can tell the inspector, Davis, that I +have checked this lot of bones and that they are all here." + +"Would you mind writing it down, sir?" said the constable. "Inspector +Badger said I was to have everything in writing." + +The surgeon took out his pocket-book, and, while he was selecting a +suitable piece of paper, he asked: "Did you form any opinion as to the +height of the deceased?" + +"Yes, I thought he would be about five feet eight" (here I caught the +sergeant's eyes fixed on me with a knowing leer). + +"I made it five eight and a half," said the police-surgeon; "but we +shall know better when we have seen the lower leg-bones. Where was this +lot found, Davis?" + +"In the pond just off the road in Lord's Bushes, sir, and the inspector +has gone off now to--" + +"Never mind where he's gone," interrupted the sergeant. "You just answer +questions and attend to your business." + +The sergeant's reproof conveyed a hint to me on which I was not slow to +act. Friendly as my professional colleague was, it was clear that the +police were disposed to treat me as an interloper who was to be kept out +of the "know" as far as possible. Accordingly I thanked my colleague and +the sergeant for their courtesy, and bidding them adieu until we should +meet at the inquest, took my departure and walked away quickly until I +found an inconspicuous position from which I could keep the door of the +mortuary in view. A few moments later I saw Constable Davis emerge and +stride away up the road. + +I watched his rapidly diminishing figure until he had gone as far as I +considered desirable, and then I set forth in his wake. The road led +straight away from the village, and in less than half a mile entered the +outskirts of the forest. Here I quickened my pace to close up somewhat, +and it was well that I did so, for suddenly he diverged from the road +into a green lane, where for a while I lost sight of him. Still +hurrying forward, I again caught sight of him just as he turned off into +a narrow path that entered a beech wood with a thickish undergrowth of +holly, along which I followed him for several minutes, gradually +decreasing the distance between us, until suddenly there fell on my ear +a rhythmical, metallic sound like the clank of a pump. Soon after I +caught the sound of men's voices, and then the constable struck off the +path into the wood. + +I now advanced more cautiously, endeavouring to locate the search party +by the sound of the pump, and when I had done this I made a little +detour so that I might approach from the opposite direction to that from +which the constable had appeared. + +Still guided by the noise of the pump, I at length came out into a small +opening among the trees and halted to survey the scene. The centre of +the opening was occupied by a small pond, not more than a dozen yards +across, by the side of which stood a builder's handcart. The little +two-wheeled vehicle had evidently been used to convey the appliances +which were deposited on the ground near it, and which consisted of a +large tub--now filled with water--a shovel, a rake, a sieve, and a +portable pump, the latter being fitted with a long delivery hose. There +were three men besides the constable, one of whom was working the handle +of the pump, while another was glancing at a paper that the constable +had just delivered to him. He looked up sharply as I appeared, and +viewed me with unconcealed disfavour. + +"Hallo, sir!" said he. "You can't come here." + +Now, seeing that I actually was here, this was clearly a mistake, and I +ventured to point out the fallacy. + +"Well, I can't allow you to stay here. Our business is of a private +nature." + +"I know exactly what your business is, Inspector Badger." + +"Oh, do you?" said he, surveying me with a foxy smile. "And I expect I +know what yours is, too. But we can't have any of you newspaper gentry +spying on us just at present, so you just be off." + +I thought it best to undeceive him at once, and accordingly, having +explained who I was, I showed him the coroner's permit, which he read +with manifest annoyance. + +"This is all very well, sir," said he as he handed me back the paper, +"but it doesn't authorise you to come spying on the proceedings of the +police. Any remains that we discover will be deposited in the mortuary, +where you can inspect them to your heart's content; but you can't stay +here and watch us." + +I had no defined object in keeping a watch on the inspector's +proceedings; but the sergeant's indiscreet hint had aroused my +curiosity, which was further excited by Mr. Badger's evident desire to +get rid of me. Moreover, while we had been talking, the pump had stopped +(the muddy floor of the pond being now pretty fully exposed), and the +inspector's assistant was handling the shovel impatiently. + +"Now, I put it to you, Inspector," said I, persuasively, "is it politic +of you to allow it to be said that you refused an authorised +representative of the family facilities for verifying any statements +that you may make hereafter?" + +"What do you mean?" he asked. + +"I mean that if you should happen to find some bone which could be +identified as part of the body of Mr. Bellingham, that fact would be of +more importance to his family than to anyone else. You know that there +is a very valuable estate and a rather difficult will." + +"I didn't know it, and I don't see the bearing of it now" (neither did +I, for that matter); "but if you make such a point of being present at +the search, I can't very well refuse. Only you mustn't get in our way, +that's all." + +On hearing this conclusion, his assistant, who looked like a +plain-clothes officer, took up his shovel and stepped into the mud that +formed the bottom of the pond, stooping as he went and peering among the +masses of weed that had been left stranded by the withdrawal of the +water. The inspector watched him anxiously, cautioning him from time to +time to "look out where he was treading"; the labourer left the pump and +craned forward from the margin of the mud, and the constable and I +looked on from our respective points of vantage. For some time the +search was fruitless. Once the searcher stooped and picked up what +turned out to be a fragment of decayed wood; then the remains of a +long-deceased jay were discovered, examined, and rejected. Suddenly the +man bent down by the side of a small pool that had been left in one of +the deeper hollows, stared intently into the mud, and stood up. + +"There's something here that looks like a bone, sir," he sang out. + +"Don't grub about, then," said the inspector. "Drive your shovel right +into the mud where you saw it and bring it to the sieve." + +The man followed out these instructions, and as he came shorewards with +a great pile of the slimy mud on his shovel we all converged on the +sieve, which the inspector took up and held over the tub, directing the +constable and labourer to "lend a hand," meaning thereby that they were +to crowd round the tub and exclude me as completely as possible. This, +in fact, they did very effectively with his assistance, for, when the +shovelful of mud had been deposited on the sieve, the four men leaned +over it and so nearly hid it from view that it was only by craning over, +first on one side and then on the other, that I was able to catch an +occasional glimpse of it and to observe it gradually melting away as the +sieve, immersed in the water, was shaken to and fro. + +Presently the inspector raised the sieve from the water and stooped over +it more closely to examine its contents. Apparently the examination +yielded no very conclusive results, for it was accompanied by a series +of rather dubious grunts. + +At length the officer stood up, and turning to me with a genial but foxy +smile, held out the sieve for my inspection. + +"Like to see what we have found, Doctor?" said he. + +I thanked him and stooped over the sieve. It contained the sort of +litter of twigs, skeleton leaves, weed, pond-snails, dead shells, and +fresh-water mussels that one would expect to strain out from the mud of +an ancient pond; but in addition to these there were three small bones +which at the first glance gave me quite a start until I saw what they +were. + +The inspector looked at me inquiringly. "H'm?" said he. + +"Yes," I replied. "Very interesting." + +"Those will be human bones, I fancy; h'm?" + +"I should say so, undoubtedly," I answered. + +"Now," said the inspector, "could you say, off-hand, which finger those +bones belong to?" + +I smothered a grin (for I had been expecting this question), and +answered: + +"I can say off-hand that they don't belong to any finger. They are the +bones of the left great toe." + +The inspector's jaw dropped. "The deuce they are!" he muttered. "H'm. I +thought they looked a bit stout." + +"I expect," said I, "that if you go through the mud close to where this +came from you'll find the rest of the foot." + +The plain-clothes man proceeded at once to act on my suggestion, taking +the sieve with him to save time. And sure enough, after filling it twice +with the mud from the bottom of the pool, the entire skeleton of the +foot was brought to light. + +"Now you're happy, I suppose," said the inspector when I had checked the +bones and found them all present. + +"I should be more happy," I replied, "if I knew what you were searching +for in this pond. You weren't looking for the foot, were you?" + +"I was looking for anything that I might find," he answered. "I shall go +on searching until we have the whole body. I shall go through all the +streams and ponds around here, except Connaught Water. That I shall +leave to the last, as it will be a case of dredging from a boat and +isn't so likely as the smaller ponds. Perhaps the head will be there; +it's deeper than any of the others." + +It now occurred to me that as I had learned all that I was likely to +learn, which was little enough, I might as well leave the inspector to +pursue his researches unembarrassed by my presence. Accordingly I +thanked him for his assistance and departed by the way I had come. + +But as I retraced my steps along the shady path I speculated profoundly +on the officer's proceedings. My examination of the mutilated hand had +yielded the conclusion that the finger had been removed either after +death or shortly before, but more probably after. Someone else had +evidently arrived at the same conclusion, and had communicated his +opinion to Inspector Badger; for it was clear that that gentleman was in +full cry after the missing finger. But why was he searching for it here +when the hand had been found at Sidcup? And what did he expect to learn +from it when he found it? There is nothing particularly characteristic +about a finger, or, at least, the bones of one; and the object of the +present researches was to determine the identity of the person of whom +these bones were the remains. There was something mysterious about the +affair, something suggesting that Inspector Badger was in possession of +private information of some kind. But what information could he have? +And whence could he have obtained it? These were questions to which I +could find no answer, and I was still fruitlessly revolving them when I +arrived at the modest inn where the inquest was to be held, and where I +proposed to fortify myself with a correspondingly modest lunch as a +preparation for my attendance at that inquiry. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE CROWNER'S QUEST + + +The proceedings of that fine old institution, the coroner's court, are +apt to have their dignity impaired by the somewhat unjudicial +surroundings amidst which they are conducted. The present inquiry was to +be held in a long room attached to the inn, ordinarily devoted, as its +various appurtenances testified, to gatherings of a more convivial +character. + +Hither I betook myself after a protracted lunch and a meditative pipe, +and, being the first to arrive--the jury having already been sworn and +conducted to the mortuary to view the remains--whiled away the time by +considering the habits of the customary occupants of the room by the +light of the objects contained in it. A wooden target with one or two +darts sticking in it hung on the end wall and invited the Robin Hoods of +the village to try their skill; a system of incised marks on the oaken +table made sinister suggestions of shove-halfpenny; and a large open +box, filled with white wigs, gaudily coloured robes and wooden spears, +swords and regalia, crudely coated with gilded paper, obviously +appertained to the puerile ceremonials of the Order of Druids. + +I had exhausted the interest of these relics and had transferred my +attentions to the picture gallery when the other spectators and the +witnesses began to arrive. Hastily I seated myself in the only +comfortable chair besides the one placed at the head of the table, +presumably for the coroner; and I had hardly done so when the latter +entered accompanied by the jury. Immediately after them came the +sergeant, Inspector Badger, one or two plain-clothes men, and finally +the divisional surgeon. + +The coroner took his seat at the head of the table and opened his book, +and the jury seated themselves on a couple of benches on one side of the +long table. I looked with some interest at the twelve "good men and +true." They were a representative group of British tradesmen, quiet, +attentive, and rather solemn; but my attention was particularly +attracted by a small man with a very large head and a shock of +upstanding hair whom I had diagnosed, after a glance at his intelligent +but truculent countenance and the shiny knees of his trousers, as the +village cobbler. He sat between the broad-shouldered foreman, who looked +like a blacksmith, and a dogged, red-faced man whose general aspect of +prosperous greasiness suggested the calling of a butcher. + +"The inquiry, gentlemen," the coroner commenced, "upon which we are now +entering concerns itself with two questions. The first is that of +identity: Who was this person whose body we have just viewed? The second +is, How, when, and by what means did he come by his death? We will take +the identity first and begin with the circumstances under which the body +was discovered." + +Here the cobbler stood up and raised an excessively dirty hand. + +"I rise, Mr. Chairman," said he, "to a point of order." The other +jurymen looked at him curiously and some of them, I regret to say, +grinned. "You have referred, sir," he continued, "to the body which we +have just viewed. I wish to point out that we have not viewed a body: we +have viewed a collection of bones." + +"We will refer to them as the remains, if you prefer it," said the +coroner. + +"I do prefer it," was the reply, and the objector sat down. + +"Very well," rejoined the coroner, and he proceeded to call the +witnesses, of whom the first was the labourer who had discovered the +bones in the watercress-bed. + +"Do you happen to know how long it was since the beds had been cleaned +out previously?" the coroner asked, when the witness had told the story +of the discovery. + +"They was cleaned out by Mr. Tapper's orders just before he gave them +up. That will be a little better than two years ago. In May it were. I +helped to clean 'em. I worked on this very same place and there wasn't +no bones there then." + +The coroner glanced at the jury. "Any questions, gentlemen?" he asked. + +The cobbler directed an intimidating scowl at the witness and demanded: + +"Were you searching for bones when you came on these remains?" + +"Me!" exclaimed the witness. "What should I be searching for bones for?" + +"Don't prevaricate," said the cobbler sternly; "answer the question: Yes +or no." + +"No; of course I wasn't." + +The juryman shook his enormous head dubiously as though implying that +he would let it pass this time but it mustn't happen again; and the +examination of the witnesses continued, without eliciting anything that +was new to me or giving rise to any incident, until the sergeant had +described the finding of the right arm in the Cuckoo Pits. + +"Was this an accidental discovery?" the coroner asked. + +"No. We had instructions from Scotland Yard to search any likely ponds +in this neighbourhood." + +The coroner discreetly forbore to press this matter any farther, but my +friend the cobbler was evidently on the qui vive, and I anticipated a +brisk cross-examination for Mr. Badger when his turn came. The inspector +was apparently of the same opinion, for I saw him cast a glance of the +deepest malevolence at the too inquiring disciple of St. Crispin. In +fact, his turn came next, and the cobbler's hair stood up with unholy +joy. + +The finding of the lower half of the trunk in Staple's Pond at Loughton +was the inspector's own achievement, but he was not boastful about it. +The discovery, he remarked, followed naturally on the previous one in +the Cuckoo Pits. + +"Had you any private information that led you to search this particular +neighbourhood?" the cobbler asked. + +"We had no private information whatever," replied Badger. + +"Now I put it to you," pursued the juryman, shaking a forensic, and very +dirty, forefinger at the inspector; "here are certain remains found at +Sidcup; here are certain other remains found at St. Mary Cray, and +certain others at Lee. All those places are in Kent. Now isn't it very +remarkable that you should come straight down to Epping Forest, which is +in Essex, and search for those bones and find 'em?" + +"We were making a systematic search of all likely places," replied +Badger. + +"Exactly," said the cobbler, with a ferocious grin, "that's just my +point. I say, isn't it very funny that, after finding remains in Kent +some twenty miles from here with the River Thames between, you should +come here to look for the bones and go straight to Staple's Pond, where +they happen to be--and find 'em?" + +"It would have been more funny," Badger replied sourly, "if we'd gone +straight to a place where they happened _not_ to be--and found them." + +A gratified snigger arose from the other eleven good men and true, and +the cobbler grinned savagely; but before he could think of a suitable +rejoinder the coroner interposed. + +"The question is not very material," he said, "and we mustn't embarrass +the police by unnecessary inquiries." + +"It's my belief," said the cobbler, "that he knew they were there all +the time." + +"The witness has stated that he had no private information," said the +coroner; and he proceeded to take the rest of the inspector's evidence, +watched closely by the critical juror. + +The account of the finding of the remains having been given in full, the +police-surgeon was called and sworn; the jurymen straightened their +backs with an air of expectancy, and I turned over a page of my +note-book. + +"You have examined the bones at present lying in the mortuary and +forming the subject of this inquiry?" the coroner asked. + +"I have." + +"Will you kindly tell us what you have observed?" + +"I find that the bones are human bones, and are, in my opinion, all +parts of the same person. They form a skeleton which is complete with +the exception of the skull, the third finger of the left hand, the +knee-caps, and the leg-bones--I mean the bones between the knees and the +ankles." + +"Is there anything to account for the absence of the missing finger?" + +"No. There is no deformity and no sign of its having been amputated +during life. In my opinion it was removed after death." + +"Can you give us any description of the deceased?" + +"I should say that these are the bones of an elderly man, probably over +sixty years of age, about five feet eight and a half inches in height, +of rather stout build, fairly muscular, and well preserved. There are no +signs of disease excepting some old-standing rheumatic gout of the right +hip-joint." + +"Can you form any opinion as to the cause of death?" + +"No. There are no marks of violence or signs of injury. But it will be +impossible to form any opinion as to the cause of death until we have +seen the skull." + +"Did you note anything else of importance?" + +"Yes. I was struck by the appearance of anatomical knowledge and skill +on the part of the person who dismembered the body. The knowledge of +anatomy is proved by the fact that the corpse has been divided into +definite anatomical regions. For instance, the bones of the neck are +complete and include the top joint of the backbone known as the atlas; +whereas a person without anatomical knowledge would probably take off +the head by cutting through the neck. Then the arms have been separated +with the scapula (or shoulder-blade) and clavicle (or collar-bone) +attached, just as an arm would be removed for dissection. + +"The skill is shown by the neat way in which the dismemberment has been +carried out. The parts have not been rudely hacked asunder, but have +been separated at the joints so skilfully that I have not discovered a +single scratch or mark of the knife on any of the bones." + +"Can you suggest any class of person who would be likely to possess the +knowledge and skill to which you refer?" + +"It would, of course, be possessed by a surgeon or medical student, and +possibly by a butcher." + +"You think that the person who dismembered this body may have been a +surgeon or a medical student?" + +"Yes; or a butcher. Someone accustomed to the dismemberment of bodies +and skilful with the knife." + +Here the cobbler suddenly rose to his feet. + +"I rise, Mr. Chairman," said he, "to protest against the statement that +has just been made." + +"What statement?" demanded the coroner. + +"Against the aspersion," continued the cobbler, with an oratorical +flourish, "that has been cast upon a honourable calling." + +"I don't understand you," said the coroner. + +"Doctor Summers has insinuated that this murder was committed by a +butcher. Now a member of that honourable calling is sitting on this +jury--" + +"You let me alone," growled the butcher. + +"I will not let you alone," persisted the cobbler. "I desire--" + +"Oh, shut up, Pope!" This was from the foreman, who, at the same moment, +reached out an enormous hairy hand with which he grabbed the cobbler's +coat-tails and brought him into a sitting posture with a thump that +shook the room. + +But Mr. Pope, though seated, was not silenced. "I desire," said he, "to +have my protest put on record." + +"I can't do that," said the coroner, "and I can't allow you to interrupt +the witnesses." + +"I am acting," said Mr. Pope, "in the interests of my friend here and +the members of a honourable----" + +But here the butcher turned on him savagely, and, in a hoarse +stage-whisper, exclaimed: + +"Look here, Pope; you've got too much of what the cat licks--" + +"Gentlemen! gentlemen!" the coroner protested, sternly; "I cannot permit +this unseemly conduct. You are forgetting the solemnity of the occasion +and your own responsible positions. I must insist on more decent and +decorous behaviour." + +There was profound silence, in the midst of which the butcher concluded +in the same hoarse whisper: + +"--licks 'er paws with." + +The coroner cast a withering glance at him, and turning to the witness, +resumed the examination. + +"Can you tell us, Doctor, how long a time has elapsed since the death of +the deceased?" + +"I should say not less than eighteen months, but probably more. How much +more it is impossible from inspection alone to say. The bones are +perfectly clean--that is, clean of all soft structures--and will remain +substantially in their present condition for many years." + +"The evidence of the man who found the remains in the watercress-bed +suggests that they could not have been there more than two years. Do the +appearances, in your opinion, agree with that view?" + +"Yes; perfectly." + +"There is one more point, Doctor; a very important one. Do you find +anything in any of the bones, or all of them together, which would +enable you to identify them as the bones of any particular individual?" + +"No," replied Dr. Summers; "I found no peculiarity that could furnish +the means of personal identification." + +"The description of a missing individual has been given to us," said the +coroner; "a man, fifty-nine years of age, five feet eight inches in +height, healthy, well preserved, rather broad in build, and having an +old Pott's fracture of the left ankle. Do the remains that you have +examined agree with that description?" + +"Yes, in so far as agreement is possible. There is no disagreement." + +"The remains might be those of that individual?" + +"They might; but there is no positive evidence that they are. The +description would apply to a large proportion of elderly men, except as +to the fracture." + +"You found no signs of such a fracture?" + +"No. Pott's fracture affects the bone called the fibula. That is one of +the bones that has not yet been found, so there is no evidence on that +point. The left foot was quite normal, but then it would be in any case, +unless the fracture had resulted in great deformity." + +"You estimated the height of the deceased as half an inch greater than +that of the missing person. Does that constitute a disagreement?" + +"No; my estimate is only approximate. As the arms are complete and the +legs are not, I have based my calculations on the width across the two +arms. But measurement of the thigh-bones gives the same result. The +length of the thigh-bones is one foot seven inches and five-eighths." + +"So the deceased might not have been taller than five feet eight?" + +"That is so: from five feet eight to five feet nine." + +"Thank you. I think that is all we want to ask you, Doctor; unless the +jury wish to put any questions." + +He glanced uneasily at that august body, and instantly the irrepressible +Pope rose to the occasion. + +"About that finger that is missing," said the cobbler. "You say that it +was cut off after death." + +"That is my opinion." + +"Now, can you tell us why it was cut off?" + +"No, I cannot." + +"Oh, come now, Doctor Summers, you must have formed some opinion on the +subject." + +Here the coroner interposed. "The Doctor is only concerned with evidence +arising out of the actual examination of the remains. Any personal +opinions or conjectures that he may have formed are not evidence, and he +must not be asked about them." + +"But, sir," objected Pope, "we want to know why that finger was cut off. +It couldn't have been took off for no reason. May I ask, sir, if the +person who is missing had anything peculiar about that finger?" + +"Nothing is stated to that effect in the written description," replied +the coroner. + +"Perhaps," suggested Pope, "Inspector Badger can tell us." + +"I think," said the coroner, "we had better not ask the police too many +questions. They will tell us anything that they wish to be made public." + +"Oh, very well," snapped the cobbler. "If it's a matter of hushing it up +I've got no more to say; only I don't see how we are to arrive at a +verdict if we don't have the facts put before us." + +All the witnesses having now been examined, the coroner proceeded to sum +up and address the jury. + +"You have heard the evidence, gentlemen, of the various witnesses, and +you will have perceived that it does not enable us to answer either of +the questions that form the subject of this inquiry. We now know that +the deceased was an elderly man, about sixty years of age, and about +five feet eight or nine in height; and that his death took place from +eighteen months to two years ago. That is all we know. From the +treatment to which the body has been subjected we may form certain +conjectures as to the circumstances of his death. But we have no actual +knowledge. We do not know who the deceased was or how he came by his +death. Consequently, it will be necessary to adjourn this inquiry until +fresh facts are available, and as soon as that is the case, you will +receive due notice that your attendance is required." + +The silence of the Court gave place to the confused noise of moving +chairs and a general outbreak of eager talk, amidst which I rose and +made my way out into the street. At the door I encountered Dr. Summers, +whose dog-cart was waiting close by. + +"Are you going back to town now?" he asked. + +"Yes," I answered; "as soon as I can catch a train." + +"If you jump into my cart I'll run you down in time for the five-one. +You'll miss it if you walk." + +I accepted his offer thankfully, and a minute later was spinning briskly +down the road to the station. + +"Queer little devil, that man, Pope," Dr. Summers remarked. "Quite a +character; socialist, labourite, agitator, general crank; anything for a +row." + +"Yes," I answered, "that was what his appearance suggested. It must be +trying for the coroner to get a truculent rascal like that on a jury." + +Summers laughed. "I don't know. He supplies the comic relief. And then, +you know, those fellows have their uses. Some of his questions were +pretty pertinent." + +"So Badger seemed to think." + +"Yes, by Jove," chuckled Summers, "Badger didn't like him a bit; and I +suspect the worthy inspector was sailing pretty close to the wind in his +answers." + +"You think he really has some private information?" + +"Depends upon what you mean by 'information.' The police are not a +speculative body. They wouldn't be taking all this trouble unless they +had a pretty straight tip from somebody. How are Mr. and Miss +Bellingham? I used to know them slightly when they lived here." + +I was considering a discreet answer to this question when we swept into +the station yard. At the same moment the train drew up at the platform, +and, with a hurried hand-shake and hastily spoken thanks, I sprang from +the dog-cart and darted into the station. + +During the rather slow journey homewards I read over my notes and +endeavoured to extract from the facts they set forth some significance +other than that which lay on the surface, but without much success. Then +I fell to speculating on what Thorndyke would think of the evidence at +the inquest and whether he would be satisfied with the information that +I had collected. These speculations lasted me, with occasional +digressions, until I arrived at the Temple and ran up the stairs rather +eagerly to my friend's chambers. + +But here a disappointment awaited me. The nest was empty with the +exception of Polton, who appeared at the laboratory door in his white +apron, with a pair of flat-nosed pliers in his hand. + +"The Doctor has had to go down to Bristol to consult over an urgent +case," he explained, "and Doctor Jervis has gone with him. They'll be +away a day or two, I expect, but the Doctor left this note for you." + +He took a letter from a shelf, where it had been stood conspicuously on +edge, and handed it to me. It was a short note from Thorndyke +apologising for his sudden departure and asking me to give Polton my +notes with any comments that I had to make. + +"You will be interested to learn," he added, "that the application will +be heard in the Probate Court the day after to-morrow. I shall not be +present, of course, nor will Jervis, so I should like you to attend and +keep your eyes open for anything that may happen during the hearing and +that may not appear in the notes that Marchmont's clerk will be +instructed to take. I have retained Dr. Payne to stand by and help you +with the practice, so that you can attend the Court with a clear +conscience." + +This was highly flattering and quite atoned for the small +disappointment; with deep gratification at the trust that Thorndyke had +reposed in me, I pocketed the letter, handed my notes to Polton, wished +him "Good evening," and betook myself to Fetter Lane. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WHICH CARRIES THE READER INTO THE PROBATE COURT + + +The Probate Court wore an air of studious repose when I entered with +Miss Bellingham and her father. Apparently the great and inquisitive +public had not become aware of the proceedings that were about to take +place, or had not realised their connection with the sensational +"Mutilation Case"; but barristers and Press-men, better informed, had +gathered in some strength, and the hum of their conversation filled the +air like the droning of the voluntary that ushers in a cathedral +service. + +As we entered, a pleasant-faced, elderly gentleman rose and came forward +to meet us, shaking Mr. Bellingham's hand cordially and saluting Miss +Bellingham with a courtly bow. + +"This is Mr. Marchmont, Doctor," said the former, introducing me; and +the solicitor, having thanked me for the trouble I had taken in +attending at the inquest, led us to a bench, at the farther end of which +was seated a gentleman whom I recognised as Mr. Hurst. + +Mr. Bellingham recognised him at the same moment and glared at him +wrathfully. + +"I see that scoundrel is here!" he exclaimed in a distinctly audible +voice, "pretending that he doesn't see me, because he is ashamed to look +me in the face, but--" + +"Hush! hush! my dear sir," exclaimed the horrified solicitor; "we +mustn't talk like that, especially in this place. Let me beg you--let me +entreat you to control your feelings, to make no indiscreet remarks; in +fact, to make no remarks at all," he added, with the evident conviction +that any remarks that Mr. Bellingham might make would be certain to be +indiscreet. + +"Forgive me, Marchmont," Mr. Bellingham replied contritely. "I will +control myself; I will really be quite discreet. I won't even look at +him again--because, if I do, I shall probably go over and pull his +nose." + +This particular form of discretion did not appear to be quite to Mr. +Marchmont's liking, for he took the precaution of insisting that Miss +Bellingham and I should sit on the farther side of his client, and thus +effectually separate him from his enemy. + +"Who's the long-nosed fellow talking to Jellicoe?" Mr. Bellingham asked. + +"That is Mr. Loram, K.C., Mr. Hurst's counsel; and the convivial-looking +gentleman next to him is our counsel, Mr. Heath, a most able man +and"--here Mr. Marchmont whispered behind his hand--"fully instructed by +Doctor Thorndyke." + +At this juncture the judge entered and took his seat; the usher +proceeded with great rapidity to swear in the jury, and the Court +gradually settled down into that state of academic quiet which it +maintained throughout the proceedings, excepting when the noisy +swing-doors were set oscillating by some bustling clerk or reporter. + +The judge was a somewhat singular-looking old gentleman, very short as +to his face and very long as to his mouth; which peculiarities, together +with a pair of large and bulging eyes (which he usually kept closed), +suggested a certain resemblance to a frog. And he had a curious +frog-like trick of flattening his eyelids--as if in the act of +swallowing a large beetle--which was the only outward and visible sign +of emotion that he ever displayed. + +As soon as the swearing-in of the jury was completed Mr. Loram rose to +introduce the case; whereupon his lordship leaned back in his chair and +closed his eyes, as if bracing himself for a painful operation. + +"The present proceedings," Mr. Loram explained, "are occasioned by the +unaccountable disappearance of Mr. John Bellingham, of 141 Queen Square, +Bloomsbury, which occurred about two years ago, or, to be more precise, +on the twenty-third of November, nineteen hundred and two. Since that +date nothing has been heard of Mr. Bellingham, and, as there are certain +substantial reasons for believing him to be dead, the principal +beneficiary under his will, Mr. George Hurst, is now applying to the +Court for permission to presume the death of the testator and prove the +will. As the time which has elapsed since the testator was last seen +alive is only two years, the application is based upon the circumstances +of the disappearance, which were, in many respects, very singular, the +most remarkable feature of that disappearance being, perhaps, its +suddenness and completeness." + +Here the judge remarked in a still, small voice that "It would, perhaps, +have been even more remarkable if the testator had disappeared gradually +and incompletely." + +"No doubt, my Lord," agreed Mr. Loram; "but the point is that the +testator, whose habits had always been regular and orderly, disappeared +on the date mentioned without having made any of the usual provisions +for the conduct of his affairs, and has not since then been seen or +heard of." + +With this preamble Mr. Loram proceeded to give a narrative of the events +connected with the disappearance of John Bellingham, which was +substantially identical with that which I had read in the newspapers; +and having laid the actual facts before the jury, he went on to discuss +their probable import. + +"Now, what conclusion," he asked, "will this strange, this most +mysterious train of events suggest to an intelligent person who shall +consider it impartially? Here is a man who steps forth from the house of +his cousin or his brother, as the case may be, and forthwith, in the +twinkling of an eye, vanishes from human ken. What is the explanation? +Did he steal forth and, without notice or hint of his intention, take +train to some seaport, thence to embark for some distant land, leaving +his affairs to take care of themselves and his friends to speculate +vainly as to his whereabouts? Is he now in hiding abroad, or even at +home, indifferent alike to the safety of his own considerable property +and the peace of mind of his friends? Or is it that death has come upon +him unawares by sickness, by accident, or, more probably, by the hand of +some unknown criminal? Let us consider the probabilities. + +"Can he have disappeared by his own deliberate act? Why not? it may be +asked. Men undoubtedly do disappear from time to time, to be discovered +by chance or to reappear voluntarily after intervals of years and find +their names almost forgotten and their places filled by new-comers. Yes; +but there is always some reason for a disappearance of this kind, even +though it be a bad one. Family discords that make life a weariness; +pecuniary difficulties that make life a succession of anxieties; +distaste for particular circumstances and surroundings from which there +seems no escape; inherent restlessness and vagabond tendencies, and so +on. + +"Do any of these explanations apply to the present case? No, they do +not. Family discords--at least those capable of producing chronic +misery--appertain exclusively to the married state. But the testator was +a bachelor with no encumbrances whatever. Pecuniary anxieties can be +equally excluded. The testator was in easy, in fact, in affluent +circumstances. His mode of life was apparently agreeable and full of +interest and activity, and he had full liberty to change it if he +wished. He had been accustomed to travel, and could do so again without +absconding. He had reached an age when radical changes do not seem +desirable. He was a man of fixed and regular habits, and his regularity +was of his own choice and not due to compulsion or necessity. When last +seen by his friends, as I shall prove, he was proceeding to a definite +destination with the expressed intention of returning for purposes of +his own appointing. He did return and then vanished, leaving those +purposes unachieved. + +"If we conclude that he has voluntarily disappeared and is at present in +hiding, we adopt an opinion that is entirely at variance with all these +weighty facts. If, on the other hand, we conclude that he has died +suddenly, or has been killed by an accident or otherwise, we are +adopting a view that involves no inherent improbabilities and that is +entirely congruous with the known facts; facts that will be proved by +the testimony of the witnesses whom I shall call. The supposition that +the testator is dead is not only more probable than that he is alive; I +submit that it is the only reasonable explanation of the circumstances +of his disappearance. + +"But this is not all. The presumption of death which arises so +inevitably out of the mysterious and abrupt manner in which the testator +disappeared has recently received most conclusive and dreadful +confirmation. On the fifteenth of July last there were discovered at +Sidcup the remains of a human arm--a left arm, gentlemen, from the hand +of which the third, or ring, finger was missing. The doctor who has +examined that arm will tell you that that finger was cut off either +after death or immediately before; and his evidence will prove +conclusively that that arm must have been deposited in the place where +it was found just about the time when the testator disappeared. Since +that first discovery, other portions of the same mutilated body have +come to light; and it is a strange and significant fact that they have +all been found in the immediate neighbourhood of Eltham or Woodford. You +will remember, gentlemen, that it was either at Eltham or Woodford that +the testator was last seen alive. + +"And now observe the completeness of the coincidence. These human +remains, as you will be told presently by the experienced and learned +medical gentleman who has examined them most exhaustively, are those of +a man of about sixty years of age, about five feet eight inches in +height, fairly muscular and well preserved, apparently healthy, and +rather stoutly built. Another witness will tell you that the missing +man was about sixty years of age, about five feet eight inches in +height, fairly muscular and well preserved, apparently healthy, and +rather stoutly built. And--another most significant and striking +fact--the testator was accustomed to wear upon the third finger of his +left hand--the very finger that is missing from the remains that were +found--a most peculiar ring, which fitted so tightly that he was unable +to get it off after once putting it on; a ring, gentlemen, of so +peculiar a pattern that had it been found on the body must have +instantly established the identity of the remains. In a word, gentlemen, +the remains which have been found are those of a man exactly like the +testator; they differ from him in no respect whatever; they display a +mutilation which suggests an attempt to conceal an identifying +peculiarity which he undoubtedly presented; and they were deposited in +their various hiding-places about the time of the testator's +disappearance. Accordingly, when you have heard these facts proved by +the sworn testimony of competent witnesses, together with the facts +relating to the disappearance, I shall ask you for a verdict in +accordance with that evidence." + +Mr. Loram sat down, and adjusting a pair of pince-nez, rapidly glanced +over his brief while the usher was administering the oath to the first +witness. + +This was Mr. Jellicoe, who stepped into the box and directed a stony +gaze at the (apparently) unconscious judge. The usual preliminaries +having been gone through, Mr. Loram proceeded to examine him. + +"You were the testator's solicitor and confidential agent, I believe?" + +"I was--and am." + +"How long have you known him?" + +"Twenty-seven years." + +"Judging from your experience of him, should you say that he was a +person likely to disappear voluntarily and suddenly to cease to +communicate with his friends?" + +"No." + +"Kindly give your reasons for that opinion." + +"Such conduct on the part of the testator would be entirely opposed to +his habits and character as they are known to me. He was exceedingly +regular and business-like in his dealings with me. When travelling +abroad he always kept me informed as to his whereabouts, or, if he was +likely to be beyond reach of communications, he always advised me +beforehand. One of my duties was to collect a pension which he drew from +the Foreign Office, and on no occasion, previous to his disappearance, +has he ever failed to furnish me punctually with the necessary +documents." + +"Had he, so far as you know, any reasons for wishing to disappear?" + +"No." + +"When and where did you last see him alive?" + +"At six o'clock in the evening, on the fourteenth of October, nineteen +hundred and two, at 141 Queen Square, Bloomsbury." + +"Kindly tell us what happened on that occasion." + +"The testator had called for me at my office at a quarter past three, +and asked me to come with him to his house to meet Doctor Norbury. I +accompanied him to 141 Queen Square, and shortly after we arrived Doctor +Norbury came to look at some antiquities that the testator proposed to +give to the British Museum. The gift consisted of a mummy with the four +Canopic jars and other tomb-furniture, which the testator stipulated +should be exhibited together in a single case and in the state in which +they were then presented. Of these objects, the mummy only was ready for +inspection. The tomb-furniture had not yet arrived in England, but was +expected within a week. Doctor Norbury accepted the gift on behalf of +the Museum, but could not take possession of the objects until he had +communicated with the Director and obtained his formal authority. The +testator accordingly gave me certain instructions concerning the +delivery of the gift, as he was leaving England that evening." + +"Are those instructions relevant to the subject of this inquiry?" + +"I think they are. The testator was going to Paris, and perhaps from +thence to Vienna. He instructed me to receive and unpack the +tomb-furniture on its arrival, and to store it, with the mummy, in a +particular room, where it was to remain for three weeks. If he returned +within that time he was to hand it over in person to the Museum +authorities; if he had not returned within that time, he desired me to +notify the Museum authorities that they were at liberty to take +possession of and remove the collection at their convenience. From these +instructions I gathered that the testator was uncertain as to the length +of his absence from England and the extent of his journey." + +"Did he state precisely where he was going?" + +"No. He said that he was going to Paris and perhaps to Vienna, but he +gave no particulars and I asked for none." + +"Do you, in fact, know where he went?" + +"No. He left the house at six o'clock wearing a long, heavy overcoat +and carrying a suit-case and an umbrella. I wished him 'Good-bye' at the +door and watched him walk away as if going towards Southampton Row. I +have no idea where he went, and I never saw him again." + +"Had he no other luggage than the suit-case?" + +"I do not know, but I believe not. He was accustomed to travel with the +bare necessaries, and to buy anything further that he wanted _en +route_." + +"Did he say nothing to the servants as to the probable date of his +return?" + +"There were no servants excepting the caretaker. The house was not used +for residential purposes. The testator slept and took his meals at his +club, though he kept his clothes at the house." + +"Did you receive any communication from him after he left?" + +"No. I never heard from him again in any way. I waited for three weeks +as he had instructed me, and then notified the Museum authorities that +the collection was ready for removal. Five days later Doctor Norbury +came and took formal possession of it, and it was transferred to the +Museum forthwith." + +"When did you next hear of the testator?" + +"On the twenty-third of November following at a quarter past seven in +the evening. Mr. George Hurst came to my rooms, which are over my +office, and informed me that the testator had called at his house during +his absence and had been shown into the study to wait for him. That on +his--Mr. Hurst's--arrival it was found that the testator had disappeared +without acquainting the servants with his intended departure, and +without being seen by anyone to leave the house. Mr. Hurst thought this +so remarkable that he had hastened up to town to inform me. I also +thought it a remarkable circumstance, especially as I had received no +communication from the testator, and we both decided that it was +advisable to inform the testator's brother, Godfrey, of what had +happened. + +"Accordingly Mr. Hurst and I proceeded as quickly as possible to +Liverpool Street and took the first train available to Woodford, where +Mr. Godfrey Bellingham then resided. We arrived at his house at five +minutes to nine, and were informed by the servant that he was not at +home, but that his daughter was in the library, which was a detached +building situated in the grounds. The servant lighted a lantern and +conducted us through the grounds to the library, where we found Mr. +Godfrey Bellingham and Miss Bellingham. Mr. Godfrey had only just come +in and had entered by the back gate, which had a bell that rang in the +library. Mr. Hurst informed Mr. Godfrey of what had occurred, and then +we all left the library to walk up to the house. A few paces from the +library I noticed by the light of the lantern, which Mr. Godfrey was +carrying, a small object lying on the lawn. I pointed it out to him and +he picked it up, and then we all recognised it as a scarab that the +testator was accustomed to wear on his watch-chain. It was fitted with a +gold wire passed through the suspension hole and a gold ring. Both the +wire and the ring were in position, but the ring was broken. We went to +the house and questioned the servants as to visitors; but none of them +had seen the testator, and they all agreed that no visitor whatsoever +had come to the house during the afternoon, or evening. Mr. Godfrey and +Miss Bellingham both declared that they had neither seen nor heard +anything of the testator, and were both unaware that he had returned to +England. As the circumstances were somewhat disquieting, I communicated, +on the following morning, with the police and requested them to make +inquiries; which they did, with the result that a suit-case, bearing the +initials 'J.B.', was found to be lying unclaimed in the cloak-room at +Charing Cross Station. I was able to identify the suit-case as that +which I had seen the testator carry away from Queen Square. I was also +able to identify some of the contents. I interviewed the cloak-room +attendant, who informed me that the suit-case had been deposited on the +twenty-third at about 4.15 P.M. He had no recollection of the person who +deposited it. It remained unclaimed in the possession of the railway +company for three months, and was then surrendered to me." + +"Were there any marks or labels on it showing the route by which it had +travelled?" + +"There were no labels on it and no marks other than the initials 'J.B.'" + +"Do you happen to know the testator's age?" + +"Yes. He was fifty-nine on the eleventh of October, nineteen hundred and +two." + +"Can you tell us what his height was?" + +"Yes. He was exactly five feet eight inches." + +"What sort of health had he?" + +"So far as I know his health was good. I am not aware that he suffered +from any disease. I am only judging by his appearance, which was that of +a healthy man." + +"Should you describe him as well preserved or otherwise?" + +"I should describe him as a well-preserved man for his age." + +"How should you describe his figure?" + +"I should describe him as rather broad and stout in build, and fairly +muscular, though not exceptionally so." + +Mr. Loram made a rapid note of these answers, and then said: + +"You have told us, Mr. Jellicoe, that you have known the testator +intimately for twenty-seven years. Now, did you ever notice whether he +was accustomed to wear any rings upon his fingers?" + +"He wore upon the third finger of his left hand a copy of an antique +ring which bore the device of the Eye of Osiris. That was the only ring +he ever wore as far as I know." + +"Did he wear it constantly?" + +"Yes, necessarily; because it was too small for him, and having once +squeezed it on he was never able to get it off again." + +This was the sum of Mr. Jellicoe's evidence, and at its conclusion the +witness glanced inquiringly at Mr. Bellingham's counsel. But Mr. Heath +remained seated, attentively considering the notes that he had just +made, and finding that there was to be no cross-examination, Mr. +Jellicoe stepped down from the box. I leaned back on my bench, and, +turning my head, observed Miss Bellingham deep in thought. + +"What do you think of it?" I asked. + +"It seems very complete and conclusive," she replied. And then, with a +sigh, she murmured: "Poor old Uncle John! How horrid it sounds to talk +of him in this cold-blooded, business-like way, as 'the testator,' as if +he were nothing but a sort of algebraical sign." + +"There isn't much room for sentiment, I suppose, in the proceedings of +the Probate Court," I replied. To which she assented, and then asked: +"Who is this lady?" + +"This lady" was a fashionably dressed young woman who had just bounced +into the witness-box and was now being sworn. The preliminaries being +finished, she answered Miss Bellingham's question and Mr. Loram's by +stating that her name was Augustina Gwendoline Dobbs, and that she was +housemaid to Mr. George Hurst, of "The Poplars," Eltham. + +"Mr. Hurst lives alone, I believe?" said Mr. Loram. + +"I don't know what you mean by that," Miss Dobbs began; but the +barrister explained: + +"I mean that I believe he is unmarried?" + +"Well, and what about it?" the witness demanded tartly. + +"I am asking you a question." + +"I know that," said the witness viciously; "and I say that you've no +business to make any such insinuations to a respectable young lady when +there's a cook-housekeeper and a kitchenmaid living in the house, and +him old enough to be my father----" + +Here his lordship flattened his eyelids with startling effect, and Mr. +Loram interrupted: "I make no insinuations. I merely ask, Is your +employer, Mr. Hurst, an unmarried man, or is he not?" + +"I never asked him," said the witness sulkily. + +"Please answer my question--yes or no?" + +"How can I answer your question? He may be unmarried or he may not. How +do I know? I'm not a private detective." + +Mr. Loram directed a stupefied gaze at the witness, and in the ensuing +silence a plaintive voice came from the bench: + +"Is the point material?" + +"Certainly, my lord," replied Mr. Loram. + +"Then, as I see that you are calling Mr. Hurst, perhaps you had better +put the question to him. He will probably know." + +Mr. Loram bowed, and as the judge subsided into his normal state of coma +he turned to the triumphant witness. + +"Do you remember anything remarkable occurring on the twenty-third of +November the year before last?" + +"Yes. Mr. John Bellingham called at our house." + +"How did you know he was Mr. John Bellingham?" + +"I didn't; but he said he was, and I supposed he knew." + +"At what time did he arrive?" + +"At twenty minutes past five in the evening." + +"What happened then?" + +"I told him that Mr. Hurst had not come home yet, and he said he would +wait for him in the study and write some letters; so I showed him into +the study and shut the door." + +"What happened next?" + +"Nothing. Then Mr. Hurst came home at his usual time--a quarter to +six--and let himself in with his key. He went straight through into the +study, where I supposed Mr. Bellingham still was, so I took no notice, +but laid the table for two. At six o'clock Mr. Hurst came into the +dining-room--he has tea in the City and dines at six--and when he saw +the table laid for two he asked the reason. I said I thought Mr. +Bellingham was staying to dinner. + +"'Mr. Bellingham!' says he. 'I didn't know he was here. Why didn't you +tell me?' he says. 'I thought he was with you, sir,' I said. 'I showed +him into the study,' I said. 'Well, he wasn't there when I came in,' he +said, 'and he isn't there now,' he said. 'Perhaps he has gone to wait in +the drawing-room,' he said. So we went and looked in the drawing-room, +but he wasn't there. Then Mr. Hurst said he thought Mr. Bellingham must +have got tired of waiting and gone away; but I told him I was quite sure +he hadn't, because I had been watching all the time. Then he asked me if +Mr. Bellingham was alone or whether his daughter was with him, and I +said that it wasn't that Mr. Bellingham at all, but Mr. John Bellingham, +and then he was more surprised than ever. I said we had better search +the house to make sure whether he was there or not, and Mr. Hurst said +he would come with me; so we went all over the house and looked in all +the rooms, but there was not a sign of Mr. Bellingham in any of them. +Then Mr. Hurst got very nervous and upset, and when he had just snatched +a little dinner he ran off to catch the six-thirty train up to town." + +"You say that Mr. Bellingham could not have left the house because you +were watching all the time. Where were you while you were watching?" + +"I was in the kitchen. I could see the front gate from the kitchen +window." + +"You say that you laid the table for two. Where did you lay it?" + +"In the dining-room, of course." + +"Could you see the front gate from the dining-room?" + +"No, but I could see the study door. The study is opposite the +dining-room." + +"Do you have to come upstairs to get from the kitchen to the +dining-room?" + +"Yes, of course you do!" + +"Then might not Mr. Bellingham have left the house while you were coming +up the stairs?" + +"No, he couldn't have done." + +"Why not?" + +"Because it would have been impossible." + +"But why would it have been impossible?" + +"Because he couldn't have done it." + +"I suggest that Mr. Bellingham left the house quietly while you were on +the stairs?" + +"No, he didn't." + +"How do you know he did not?" + +"I am quite sure he didn't." + +"What makes you feel sure he did not?" + +"I am quite certain he didn't." + +"But how can you be certain?" + +"Because I should have seen him if he had." + +"But I mean when you were on the stairs." + +"He was in the study when I was on the stairs." + +"How do you know he was in the study?" + +"Because I showed him in there and he hadn't come out." + +Mr. Loram paused and took a deep breath, and his lordship flattened his +eyelids. + +"Is there a side gate to the premises?" the barrister resumed wearily. + +"Yes. It opens into a narrow lane at the side of the house." + +"And there is a French window in the study, is there not?" + +"Yes; it opens on to the small grass plot opposite the side gate." + +"Were the window and the gate locked, or would it have been possible for +Mr. Bellingham to let himself out into the lane?" + +"The window and the gate both have catches on the inside. He could have +got out that way, but, of course, he didn't." + +"Why not?" + +"Well, no gentleman would go creeping out by the back way like a thief." + +"Did you look to see if the French window was shut and fastened after +you missed Mr. Bellingham?" + +"I looked at it when we shut the house up for the night. It was then +shut and fastened on the inside." + +"And the side gate?" + +"That was shut and latched. You have to slam the gate to make the latch +fasten, so no one could have gone out of that gate without being heard." + +Here the examination-in-chief ended, and Mr. Loram sat down with an +audible sigh of relief. Miss Dobbs was about to step down from the +witness-box when Mr. Heath rose to cross-examine. + +"Did you see Mr. Bellingham in a good light?" he asked. + +"Pretty good. It was dark outside, but the hall-lamp was alight." + +"Kindly look at this"--here a small object was passed across to the +witness. "It is a trinket that Mr. Bellingham is stated to have carried +suspended from his watch-guard. Can you remember if he was wearing it in +that manner when he came to the house?" + +"No, he was not." + +"You are sure of that?" + +"Quite sure." + +"Thank you. And now I want to ask you about the search that you have +mentioned. You say that you went all over the house. Did you go into the +study?" + +"No--at least, not until Mr. Hurst had gone to London." + +"When you did go in, was the window fastened?" + +"Yes." + +"Could it have been fastened from the outside?" + +"No; there is no handle outside." + +"What furniture is there in the study?" + +"There is a writing-table, a revolving-chair, two easy chairs, two large +bookcases, and a wardrobe that Mr. Hurst keeps his overcoats and hats +in." + +"Does the wardrobe lock?" + +"Yes." + +"Was it locked when you went in?" + +"I'm sure I don't know. I don't go about trying the cupboards and +drawers." + +"What furniture is there in the drawing-room?" + +"A cabinet, six or seven chairs, a Chesterfield sofa, a piano, a +silver-table, and one or two occasional tables." + +"Is the piano a grand or an upright." + +"It is an upright grand." + +"In what position is it placed?" + +"It stands across a corner near the window." + +"Is there sufficient room behind it for a man to conceal himself?" + +Miss Dobbs was amused and did not dissemble. "Oh, yes," she sniggered, +"there's plenty of room for a man to hide behind it." + +"When you searched the drawing-room, did you look behind the piano?" + +"No, I didn't!" Miss Dobbs replied scornfully. + +"Did you look under the sofa?" + +"Certainly not!" + +"What did you do, then?" + +"We opened the door and looked into the room. We were not looking for a +cat or a monkey; we were looking for a middle-aged gentleman." + +"And am I to take it that your search over the rest of the house was +conducted in a similar manner?" + +"Certainly. We looked into the rooms, but we did not search under the +beds or in the cupboards." + +"Are all the rooms in the house in use as living or sleeping rooms?" + +"No; there is one room on the second floor that is used as a store and +lumber room, and one on the first floor that Mr. Hurst uses to store +trunks and things that he is not using." + +"Did you look in those rooms when you searched the house?" + +"No." + +"Have you looked in them since?" + +"I have been in the lumber-room since, but not in the other. It is +always kept locked." + +At this point an ominous flattening became apparent in his lordship's +eyelids, but these symptoms passed off when Mr. Heath sat down and +indicated that he had no further questions to ask. + +Miss Dobbs once more prepared to step down from the witness-box, when +Mr. Loram shot up like a jack-in-the-box. + +"You have made certain statements," said he, "concerning the scarab +which Mr. Bellingham was accustomed to wear suspended from his +watch-guard. You say that he was not wearing it when he came to Mr. +Hurst's house on the twenty-third of November, nineteen hundred and two. +Are you quite sure of that?" + +"Quite sure." + +"I must ask you to be very careful in your statement on this point. The +question is a highly important one. Do you swear that the scarab was not +hanging from his watch-guard?" + +"Yes, I do." + +"Did you notice the watch-guard particularly?" + +"No, not particularly." + +"Then what makes you so sure that the scarab was not attached to it?" + +"It couldn't have been." + +"Why could it not?" + +"Because if it had been there I should have seen it." + +"What kind of a watch-guard was Mr. Bellingham wearing?" + +"Oh, an ordinary sort of watch-guard." + +"I mean, was it a chain or a ribbon or a strap?" + +"A chain, I think--or perhaps a ribbon--or it might have been a strap." + +His lordship flattened his eyelids, but made no further sign, and Mr. +Loram continued: + +"Did you or did you not notice what kind of watch-guard Mr. Bellingham +was wearing?" + +"I did not. Why should I? It was no business of mine." + +"But yet you are sure about the scarab?" + +"Yes, quite sure." + +"You noticed that, then?" + +"No, I didn't. How could I when it wasn't there?" + +Mr. Loram paused and looked helplessly at the witness; a suppressed +titter arose from the body of the Court, and a faint voice from the +bench inquired: + +"Are you _quite_ incapable of giving a straightforward answer?" + +Miss Dobbs' only reply was to burst into tears; whereupon Mr. Loram +abruptly sat down and abandoned his re-examination. + +The witness-box vacated by Miss Dobbs was occupied successively by Dr. +Norbury, Mr. Hurst, and the cloak-room attendant, none of whom +contributed any new facts, but merely corroborated the statements made +by Mr. Jellicoe and the housemaid. Then came the labourer who discovered +the bones at Sidcup, and who repeated the evidence that he had given at +the inquest, showing that the remains could not have been lying in the +watercress-bed more than two years. Finally Dr. Summers was called, and, +after he had given a brief description of the bones that he had +examined, was asked by Mr. Loram: + +"You have heard the description that Mr. Jellicoe has given of the +testator?" + +"I have." + +"Does that description apply to the person whose remains you examined?" + +"In a general way, it does." + +"I must ask you for a direct answer--yes or no. Does it apply?" + +"Yes. But I ought to say that my estimate of the height of the deceased +is only approximate." + +"Quite so. Judging from your examination of those remains and from Mr. +Jellicoe's description, might those remains be the remains of the +testator, John Bellingham?" + +"Yes, they might." + +On receiving this admission Mr. Loram sat down, and Mr. Heath +immediately rose to cross-examine. + +"When you examined these remains, Doctor Summers, did you discover any +personal peculiarities which would enable you to identify them as the +remains of any one individual rather than any other individual of +similar size, age, and proportions?" + +"No. I found nothing that would identify the remains as those of any +particular individual." + +As Mr. Heath asked no further questions, the witness received his +dismissal, and Mr. Loram informed the Court that that was his case. The +judge bowed somnolently, and then Mr. Heath rose to address the Court on +behalf of the respondent. It was not a long speech, nor was it enriched +by any displays of florid rhetoric; it concerned itself exclusively with +a rebutment of the arguments of the counsel for the petitioner. + +Having briefly pointed out that the period of absence was too short to +give rise of itself to the presumption of death, Mr. Heath continued: + +"The claim therefore rests upon evidence of a positive character. My +learned friend asserts that the testator is presumably dead, and it is +for him to prove what he has affirmed. Now, has he done this? I submit +that he has not. He has argued with great force and ingenuity that the +testator, being a bachelor, a solitary man without wife or child, +dependent or master, public or private office or duty, or any bond, +responsibility, or any other condition limiting his freedom of action, +had no reason or inducement for absconding. This is my learned friend's +argument, and he has conducted it with so much skill and ingenuity that +he has not only succeeded in proving his case; he has proved a great +deal too much. For if it is true, as my learned friend so justly argues, +that a man thus unfettered by obligations of any kind has no reason for +disappearing, is it not even more true that he has no reason for _not_ +disappearing? My friend has urged that the testator was at liberty to go +where he pleased, when he pleased, and how he pleased; and that +therefore there was no need for him to abscond. I reply, if he was at +liberty to go away, whither, when, and how he pleased, why do we express +surprise that he has made use of his liberty? My learned friend points +out that the testator notified to nobody his intention of going away and +has acquainted no one with his whereabouts; but, I ask, whom should he +have notified? He was responsible to nobody; there was no one dependent +upon him; his presence or absence was the concern of nobody but himself. +If circumstances suddenly arising made it desirable that he should go +abroad, why should he not go? I say there was no reason whatever. + +"My learned friend has said that the testator went away leaving his +affairs to take care of themselves. Now, gentlemen, I ask you if this +can fairly be said of a man whose affairs are, as they have been for +years, in the hands of a highly capable, completely trustworthy agent +who is better acquainted with them than the testator himself? Clearly it +cannot. + +"To conclude this part of the argument: I submit that the circumstances +of the so-called disappearance of the testator present nothing out of +the ordinary. The testator is a man of ample means, without any +responsibilities to fetter his movements and has been in the constant +habit of travelling, often into remote and distant regions. The mere +fact that he has been absent somewhat longer than usual affords no +ground whatever for the drastic proceeding of presuming his death and +taking possession of his property. + +"With reference to the human remains which have been mentioned in +connection with the case I need say but little. The attempt to connect +them with the testator has failed completely. You yourselves have heard +Doctor Summers state on oath that they cannot be identified as the +remains of any particular person. That would seem to dispose of them +effectually. I must remark upon a very singular point that has been +raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner, which is this: + +"My learned friend points out that these remains were discovered near +Eltham and near Woodford and that the testator was last seen alive at +one of these two places. This he considers for some reason to be a +highly significant fact. But I cannot agree with him. If the testator +had been last seen alive at Woodford and the remains had been found at +Woodford, or if he had disappeared from Eltham and the remains had been +found at Eltham, that would have had some significance. But he can only +have been last seen at one of the places, whereas the remains have been +found at both places. Here again my learned friend seems to have proved +too much." + +"But I need not occupy your time further. I repeat that, in order to +justify us in presuming the death of the testator, clear and positive +evidence would be necessary. That no such evidence has been brought +forward. Accordingly, seeing that the testator may return at any time +and is entitled to find his property intact, I shall ask you for a +verdict that will secure to him this measure of ordinary justice." + +At the conclusion of Mr. Heath's speech the judge, as if awakening from +a refreshing nap, opened his eyes; and uncommonly shrewd, intelligent +eyes they were, when the expressive eyelids were duly tucked up out of +the way. He commenced by reading over a part of the will and certain +notes--which he appeared to have made in some miraculous fashion with +his eyes shut--and then proceeded to review the evidence and the +counsels' arguments for the instruction of the jury. + +"Before considering the evidence which you have heard, gentlemen," he +said, "it will be well for me to say a few words to you on the general +legal aspects of the case which is occupying our attention." + +"If a person goes abroad or disappears from his home and his ordinary +places of resort and is absent for a long period of time, the +presumption of death arises at the expiration of seven years from the +date on which he was last heard of. That is to say, that the total +disappearance of an individual for seven years constitutes presumptive +evidence that the said individual is dead; and the presumption can be +set aside only by the production of evidence that he was alive at some +time within that period of seven years. But if, on the other hand, it +is sought to presume the death of a person who has been absent for a +shorter period than seven years, it is necessary to produce such +evidence as shall make it highly probable that the said person is dead. +Of course, presumption implies supposition as opposed to actual +demonstration; but, nevertheless, the evidence in such a case must be of +a kind that tends to create a very strong belief that death has +occurred; and I need hardly say that the shorter the period of absence, +the more convincing must be the evidence. + +"In the present case, the testator, John Bellingham, has been absent +somewhat under two years. This is a relatively short period, and in +itself gives rise to no presumption of death. Nevertheless, death has +been presumed in a case where the period of absence was even shorter and +the insurance recovered; but here the evidence supporting the belief in +the occurrence of death was exceedingly weighty. + +"The testator in this case was a shipmaster, and his disappearance was +accompanied by the disappearance of the ship and the entire ship's +company in the course of a voyage from London to Marseilles. The loss of +the ship and her crew was the only reasonable explanation of the +disappearance, and, short of actual demonstration, the facts offered +convincing evidence of the death of all persons on board. I mention this +case as an illustration. You are not dealing with speculative +probabilities. You are contemplating a very momentous proceeding, and +you must be very sure of your ground. Consider what it is that you are +asked to do. + +"The petitioner asks permission to presume the death of the testator in +order that the testator's property may be distributed among the +beneficiaries under the will. The granting of such permission involves +us in the gravest responsibility. An ill-considered decision might be +productive of a serious injustice to the testator, an injustice that +could never be remedied. Hence it is incumbent upon you to weigh the +evidence with the greatest care, to come to no decision without the +profoundest consideration of all the facts. + +"The evidence that you have heard divides itself into two parts--that +relating to the circumstances of the testator's disappearance, and that +relating to certain human remains. In connection with the latter I can +only express my surprise and regret that the application was not +postponed until the completion of the coroner's inquest, and leave you +to consider the evidence. You will bear in mind that Doctor Summers has +stated explicitly that the remains cannot be identified as those of any +particular individual, but that the testator and the unknown deceased +had so many points of resemblance that they might possibly be one and +the same person. + +"With reference to the circumstances of the disappearance, you have +heard the evidence of Mr. Jellicoe to the effect that the testator has +on no previous occasion gone abroad without informing him as to his +proposed destination. But in considering what weight you are to give to +this statement you will bear in mind that when the testator set out for +Paris after his interview with Doctor Norbury he left Mr. Jellicoe +without any information as to his specific destination, his address in +Paris, or the precise date when he should return, and that Mr. Jellicoe +was unable to tell us where the testator went or what was his business. +Mr. Jellicoe was, in fact, for a time without any means of tracing the +testator or ascertaining his whereabouts. + +"The evidence of the housemaid, Dobbs, and of Mr. Hurst is rather +confusing. It appears that the testator came to the house, was shown +into a certain room, and when looked for later was not to be found. A +search of the premises showed that he was not in the house, whence it +seems to follow that he must have left it; but since no one was informed +of his intention to leave, and he had expressed the intention of staying +to see Mr. Hurst, his conduct in thus going away surreptitiously must +appear somewhat eccentric. The point that you have to consider, +therefore, is whether a person who is capable of thus departing in a +surreptitious and eccentric manner from a house, without giving notice +to the servants, is capable also of departing in a surreptitious and +eccentric manner from his usual places of resort without giving notice +to his friends or thereafter informing them of his whereabouts. + +"The questions, then, gentlemen, that you have to ask yourselves before +deciding on your verdict are two: first, Are the circumstances of the +testator's disappearance and his continued absence incongruous with his +habits and personal peculiarities as they are known to you? and second, +Are there any facts which indicate in a positive manner that the +testator is dead? Ask yourselves these questions, gentlemen, and the +answers to them, furnished by the evidence that you have heard, will +guide you to your decision." + +Having delivered himself of the above instructions, the judge applied +himself to the perusal of the will with professional gusto, in which +occupation he was presently disturbed by the announcement of the foreman +of the jury that a verdict had been agreed upon. + +The judge sat up and glanced at the jury-box, and when the foreman +proceeded to state that "We find no sufficient reason for presuming the +testator, John Bellingham, to be dead," he nodded approvingly. Evidently +that was his opinion, too, as he was careful to explain when he conveyed +to Mr. Loram the refusal of the Court to grant the permission applied +for. + +The decision was a great relief to me, and also, I think, to Miss +Bellingham; but most of all to her father, who, with instinctive good +manners, since he could not suppress a smile of triumph, rose hastily +and stumped out of the Court, so that the discomfited Hurst should not +see him. His daughter and I followed, and as we left the Court she +remarked, with a smile: + +"So our pauperism is not, after all, made absolute. There is still a +chance for us in the Chapter of Accidents--and perhaps even for poor old +Uncle John." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE + + +The morning after the hearing saw me setting forth on my round in more +than usually good spirits. The round itself was but a short one, for my +list contained only a couple of "chronics," and this, perhaps, +contributed to my cheerful outlook on life. But there were other +reasons. The decision of the Court had come as an unexpected reprieve +and the ruin of my friends' prospects was at least postponed. Then, I +had learned that Thorndyke was back from Bristol and wished me to look +in on him; and, finally, Miss Bellingham had agreed to spend this very +afternoon with me, browsing round the galleries at the British Museum. + +I had disposed of my two patients by a quarter to eleven, and three +minutes later was striding down Mitre Court, all agog to hear what +Thorndyke had to say with reference to my notes on the inquest. The +"oak" was open when I arrived at his chambers, and a modest flourish on +the little brass knocker of the inner door was answered by my quondam +teacher himself. + +"How good of you, Berkeley," he said, shaking hands genially, "to look +me up so early. I am all alone, just looking through the report of the +evidence in yesterday's proceedings." + +He placed an easy chair for me, and, gathering up a bundle of +type-written papers, laid them aside on the table. + +"Were you surprised at the decision?" I asked. + +"No," he answered. "Two years is a short period of absence; but still, +it might easily have gone the other way. I am greatly relieved. The +respite gives us time to carry out our investigations without undue +hurry." + +"Did you find my notes of any use?" I asked. + +"Heath did. Polton handed them to him, and they were invaluable to him +for his cross-examination. I haven't seen them yet; in fact, I have only +just got them back from him. Let us go through them together now." + +He opened a drawer, and taking from it my note-book, seated himself, and +began to read through my notes with grave attention, while I stood and +looked shyly over his shoulder. On the page that contained my sketches +of the Sidcup arm, showing the distribution of the snails' eggs on the +bones, he lingered with a faint smile that made me turn hot and red. + +"Those sketches look rather footy," I said; "but I had to put something +in my note-book." + +"You didn't attach any importance, then, to the facts that they +illustrated?" + +"No. The egg-patches were there, so I noted the fact. That's all." + +"I congratulate you, Berkeley. There is not one man in twenty who would +have the sense to make a careful note of what he considers an +unimportant or irrelevant fact; and the investigator who notes only +those things that appear significant is perfectly useless. He gives +himself no material for reconsideration. But you don't mean that these +egg-patches and worm-tubes appeared to you to have no significance at +all?" + +"Oh, of course, they show the position in which the bones were lying." + +"Exactly. The arm was lying, fully extended, with the dorsal side +uppermost. There is nothing remarkable in that. But we also learn from +these egg-patches that the hand had been separated from the arm before +it was thrown into the pond; and there is something very remarkable in +that." + +I leaned over his shoulder and gazed at my sketches, amazed at the +rapidity with which he had reconstructed the limb from my rough drawings +of the individual bones. + +"I don't quite see how you arrived at it, though," I said. + +"Well, look at your drawings. The egg-patches are on the dorsal surface +of the scapula, the humerus, and the bones of the fore-arm. But here you +have shown six of the bones of the hand: two metacarpals, the os magnum, +and three phalanges; and they all have egg-patches on the _palmar_ +surface. Therefore the hand was lying palm upwards." + +"But the hand may have been pronated." + +"If you mean pronated in relation to the arm, that is impossible, for +the position of the egg-patches shows clearly that the bones of the arm +were lying in the position of supination. Thus the dorsal surface of the +arm and the palmar surface of the hand respectively were uppermost, +which is an anatomical impossibility so long as the hand is attached to +the arm." + +"But might not the hand have become detached after lying in the pond +some time?" + +"No. It could not have been detached until the ligaments had decayed, +and if it had been separated after the decay of the soft parts, the +bones would have been thrown into disorder. But the egg-patches are all +on the palmar surface, showing that the bones were still in their normal +relative positions. No, Berkeley, that hand was thrown into the pond +separately from the arm." + +"But why should it have been?" I asked. + +"Ah, there is a very pretty little problem for you to consider. And, +meantime, let me tell you that your expedition has been a brilliant +success. You are an excellent observer. Your only fault is that when you +have noted certain facts you don't seem fully to appreciate their +significance--which is merely a matter of inexperience. As to the facts +that you have collected, several of them are of prime importance." + +"I am glad you are satisfied," said I, "though I don't see that I have +discovered much excepting those snails' eggs; and they don't seem to +have advanced matters very much." + +"A definite fact, Berkeley, is a definite asset. Perhaps we may +presently find a little space in our Chinese puzzle which this fact of +the detached hand will just drop into. But, tell me, did you find +nothing unexpected or suggestive about those bones--as to their number +and condition, for instance?" + +"Well, I thought it a little queer that the scapula and clavicle should +be there. I should have expected him to cut the arm off at the +shoulder-joint." + +"Yes," said Thorndyke; "so should I; and so it has been done in every +case of dismemberment that I am acquainted with. To an ordinary person, +the arm seems to join on to the trunk at the shoulder-joint, and that is +where he would naturally sever it. What explanation do you suggest of +this unusual mode of severing the arm?" + +"Do you think the fellow could have been a butcher?" I asked, +remembering Dr. Summers' remark. "This is the way a shoulder of mutton +is taken off." + +"No," replied Thorndyke. "A butcher includes the scapula in a shoulder +of mutton for a specific purpose, namely, to take off a given quantity +of meat. And also, as a sheep has no clavicle, it is the easiest way to +detach the limb. But I imagine a butcher would find himself in +difficulties if he attempted to take off a man's arm in that way. The +clavicle would be a new and perplexing feature. Then, too, a butcher +does not deal very delicately with his subject; if he has to divide a +joint, he just cuts through it and does not trouble himself to avoid +marking the bones. But you note here that there is not a single scratch +or score on any one of the bones, not even where the finger was removed. +Now, if you have ever prepared bones for a museum, as I have, you will +remember the extreme care that is necessary in disarticulating joints to +avoid disfiguring the articular ends of the bones with cuts and +scratches." + +"Then you think that the person who dismembered this body must have had +some anatomical knowledge and skill?" + +"That is what has been suggested. The suggestion is not mine." + +"Then I infer that you don't agree?" + +Thorndyke smiled. "I am sorry to be so cryptic, Berkeley, but you +understand that I can't make statements. Still, I am trying to lead you +to make certain inferences from the facts that are in your possession." + +"If I make the right inference, will you tell me?" I asked. + +"It won't be necessary," he answered, with the same quiet smile. "When +you have fitted a puzzle together you don't need to be told that you +have done it." + +It was most infernally tantalising. I pondered on the problem with a +scowl of such intense cogitation that Thorndyke laughed outright. + +"It seems to me," I said, at length, "that the identity of the remains +is the primary question and that is a question of fact. It doesn't seem +any use to speculate about it." + +"Exactly. Either these bones are the remains of John Bellingham or they +are not. There will be no doubt on the subject when all the bones are +assembled--if ever they are. And the settlement of that question will +probably throw light on the further question: Who deposited them in the +places in which they were found? But to return to your observations: did +you gather nothing from the other bones? From the complete state of the +neck vertebrae, for instance?" + +"Well, it did strike me as rather odd that the fellow should have gone +to the trouble of separating the atlas from the skull. He must have been +pretty handy with the scalpel to have done it as cleanly as he seems to +have done; but I don't see why he should have gone about the business in +the most inconvenient way." + +"You notice the uniformity of method. He has separated the head from the +spine, instead of cutting through the spine lower down, as most persons +would have done: he removed the arms with the entire shoulder-girdle, +instead of simply cutting them off at the shoulder-joints. Even in the +thighs the same peculiarity appears; for in neither case was the +knee-cap found with the thigh-bone, although it seems to have been +searched for. Now the obvious way to divide the leg is to cut through +the patellar ligament, leaving the knee-cap attached to the thigh. But +in this case, the knee-cap appears to have been left attached to the +shank. Can you explain why this person should have adopted this unusual +and rather inconvenient method? Can you suggest a motive for this +procedure, or can you think of any circumstances which might lead a +person to adopt this method by preference?" + +"It seems as if he wished, for some reason, to divide the body into +definite anatomical regions." + +Thorndyke chuckled. "You are not offering that suggestion as an +explanation, are you? Because it would require more explaining than the +original problem. And it is not even true. Anatomically speaking, the +knee-cap appertains to the thigh rather than to the shank. It is a +sesamoid bone belonging to the thigh muscles; yet in this case it has +been left attached, apparently, to the shank. No, Berkeley, that cat +won't jump. Our unknown operator was not preparing a skeleton as a +museum specimen; he was dividing a body up into convenient-sized +portions for the purpose of conveying them to various ponds. Now what +circumstances might have led him to divide it in this peculiar manner?" + +"I am afraid I have no suggestion to offer. Have you?" + +Thorndyke suddenly lapsed into ambiguity. "I think," he said, "it is +possible to conceive such circumstances, and so, probably, will you if +you think it over." + +"Did you gather anything of importance from the evidence at the +inquest?" I asked. + +"It is difficult to say," he replied. "The whole of my conclusions in +this case are based on what is virtually circumstantial evidence. I have +not one single fact of which I can say that it admits only of a single +interpretation. Still, it must be remembered that even the most +inconclusive facts, if sufficiently multiplied, yield a highly +conclusive total. And my little pile of evidence is growing, particle by +particle; but we mustn't sit here gossiping at this hour of the day; I +have to consult with Marchmont and you say that you have an early +afternoon engagement. We can walk together as far as Fleet Street." + +A minute or two later we went our respective ways, Thorndyke towards +Lombard Street and I to Fetter Lane, not unmindful of those coming +events that were casting so agreeable a shadow before them. + +There was only one message awaiting me, and when Adolphus had delivered +it (amidst mephitic fumes that rose from the basement, premonitory of +fried plaice), I pocketed my stethoscope and betook myself to Gunpowder +Alley, the aristocratic abode of my patient, joyfully threading the now +familiar passages of Gough Square and Wine Office Court, and meditating +pleasantly on the curious literary flavour that pervades these +little-known regions. For the shade of the author of _Rasselas_ still +seems to haunt the scenes of his Titanic labours and his ponderous but +homely and temperate rejoicings. Every court and alley whispers of books +and of the making of books; forms of type, trundled noisily on trollies +by ink-smeared boys, salute the wayfarer at odd corners; piles of +strawboard, rolls or bales of paper, drums of printing-ink or +roller-composition stand on the pavement outside dark entries; basement +windows give glimpses into Hadean caverns tenanted by legions of +printer's devils; and the very air is charged with the hum of press and +with odours of glue and paste and oil. The entire neighbourhood is given +up to the printer and binder; and even my patient turned out to be a +guillotine-knife grinder--a ferocious and revolutionary calling +strangely at variance with his harmless appearance and meek bearing. + +I was in good time at my tryst, despite the hindrances of fried plaice +and invalid guillotinists; but, early as I was, Miss Bellingham was +already waiting in the garden--she had been filling a bowl with +flowers--ready to sally forth. + +"It is quite like old times," she said, as we turned into Fetter Lane, +"to be going to the Museum together. It brings back the Tell el Amarna +tablets and all your kindness and unselfish labour. I suppose we shall +walk there to-day?" + +"Certainly," I replied; "I am not going to share your society with the +common mortals who ride in omnibuses. That would be sheer, sinful waste. +Besides, it is more companionable to walk." + +"Yes, it is; and the bustle of the streets makes one more appreciative +of the quiet of the Museum. What are we going to look at when we get +there?" + +"You must decide that," I replied. "You know the collection much better +than I do." + +"Well, now," she mused, "I wonder what you would like to see; or, in +other words, what I should like you to see. The old English pottery is +rather fascinating, especially the Fulham ware. I rather think I shall +take you to see that." + +She reflected awhile, and then, just as we reached the gate of Staple +Inn, she stopped and looked thoughtfully down the Gray's Inn Road. + +"You have taken a great interest in our 'case,' as Doctor Thorndyke +calls it. Would you like to see the churchyard where Uncle John wished +to be buried? It is a little out of our way, but we are not in a hurry, +are we?" + +I, certainly, was not. Any deviation that might prolong our walk was +welcome, and, as to the place--why, all places were alike to me if only +she were by my side. Besides, the churchyard was really of some +interest, since it was undoubtedly the "exciting cause" of the obnoxious +paragraph two of the disputed will. I accordingly expressed a desire to +make its acquaintance, and we crossed to the entrance to Gray's Inn +Road. + +"Do you ever try," she asked, as we turned down the dingy thoroughfare, +"to picture to yourself familiar places as they looked a couple of +hundred years ago?" + +"Yes," I answered, "and very difficult I find it. One has to manufacture +the materials for reconstruction, and then the present aspect of the +place will keep obtruding itself. But some places are easier to +reconstitute than others." + +"That is what I find," said she. "Now Holborn, for example, is quite +easy to reconstruct, though I daresay the imaginary form isn't a bit +like the original. But there are fragments left, like Staple Inn and the +front of Gray's Inn; and then one has seen prints of the old Middle Row +and some of the taverns, so that one has some material with which to +help out one's imagination. But this road that we are walking in always +baffles me. It looks so old and yet is, for the most part, so new that I +find it impossible to make a satisfactory picture of its appearance, +say, when Sir Roger de Coverley might have strolled in Gray's Inn Walks, +or farther back, when Francis Bacon had chambers in the Inn." + +"I imagine," said I, "that part of the difficulty is in the mixed +character of the neighbourhood. Here, on the one side, is old Gray's +Inn, not much changed since Bacon's time--his chambers are still to be +seen, I think, over the gateway; and there, on the Clerkenwell side, is +a dense and rather squalid neighbourhood which has grown up over a +region partly rural and wholly fugitive in character. Places like +Bagnigge Wells and Hockley in the Hole would not have had many buildings +that were likely to survive; and in the absence of surviving specimens +the imagination hasn't much to work from." + +"I daresay you are right," said she. "Certainly, the purlieus of old +Clerkenwell present a very confused picture to me; whereas, in the case +of an old street like, say, Great Ormond Street, one has only to sweep +away the modern buildings and replace them with glorious old houses like +the few that remain, dig up the roadway and pavements and lay down +cobble-stones, plant a few wooden posts, hang up one or two oil-lamps, +and the transformation is complete. And a very delightful transformation +it is." + +"Very delightful; which, by the way, is a melancholy thought. For we +ought to be doing better work than our forefathers; whereas what we +actually do is to pull down the old buildings, clap the doorways, +porticoes, panelling, and mantels in our museums, and then run up +something inexpensive and useful and deadly uninteresting in their +place." + +My companion looked at me and laughed softly. "For a naturally cheerful, +and even gay young man," said she, "you are most amazingly pessimistic. +The mantle of Jeremiah--if he ever wore one--seems to have fallen on +you, but without in the least impairing your good spirits excepting in +regard to matters architectural." + +"I have much to be thankful for," said I. "Am I not taken to the Museum +by a fair lady? And does she not stay me with mummy cases and comfort me +with crockery?" + +"Pottery," she corrected; and then, as we met a party of grave-looking +women emerging from a side-street, she said: "I suppose those are lady +medical students." + +"Yes, on their way to the Royal Free Hospital. Note the gravity of their +demeanour and contrast it with the levity of the male student." + +"I was doing so," she answered, "and wondering why professional women +are usually so much more serious than men." + +"Perhaps," I suggested, "it is a matter of selection. A peculiar type of +woman is attracted to the professions, whereas every man has to earn his +living as a matter of course." + +"Yes, I daresay that is the explanation. This is our turning." + +We passed into Heathcote Street, at the end of which was an open gate +giving entrance to one of those disused and metamorphosed burial-grounds +that are to be met with in the older districts of London; in which the +dispossessed dead are jostled into corners to make room for the living. +Many of the headstones were still standing, and others, displaced to +make room for asphalted walks and seats, were ranged around by the +walls, exhibiting inscriptions made meaningless by their removal. It was +a pleasant enough place on this summer afternoon, contrasted with the +dingy street whence we had come, though its grass was faded and yellow +and the twitter of the birds in the trees mingled with the hideous +Board-school drawl of the children who played around the seats and the +few remaining tombs. + +"So this is the last resting-place of the illustrious house of +Bellingham," said I. + +"Yes; and we are not the only distinguished people who repose in this +place. The daughter of no less a person than Richard Cromwell is buried +here; the tomb is still standing--but perhaps you have been here before, +and know it." + +"I don't think I have ever been here before; and yet there is something +about the place that seems familiar." I looked around, cudgelling my +brains for the key to the dimly reminiscent sensations that the place +evoked; until, suddenly, I caught sight of a group of buildings away to +the west, enclosed within a wall heightened by a wooden trellis. + +"Yes, of course!" I exclaimed. "I remember the place now. I have never +been in this part before, but in that enclosure beyond which opens at +the end of Henrietta Street, there used to be and may be still, for all +I know, a school of anatomy, at which I attended in my first year; in +fact, I did my first dissection there." + +"There was a certain gruesome appropriateness in the position of the +school," remarked Miss Bellingham. "It would have been really convenient +in the days of the resurrection men. Your material would have been +delivered at your very door. Was it a large school?" + +"The attendance varied according to the time of the year. Sometimes I +worked there quite alone. I used to let myself in with a key and hoist +my subject out of a sort of sepulchral tank by means of a chain tackle. +It was a ghoulish business. You have no idea how awful the body used to +look, to my unaccustomed eyes, as it rose slowly out of the tank. It was +like the resurrection scenes that you see on some old tombstones, where +the deceased is shown rising out of his coffin while the skeleton, +Death, falls vanquished with his dart shattered and his crown toppling +off. + +"I remember, too, that the demonstrator used to wear a blue apron, which +created a sort of impression of a cannibal butcher's shop. But I am +afraid I am shocking you." + +"No, you are not. Every profession has its unpresentable aspects, which +ought not to be seen by out-siders. Think of a sculptor's studio and of +the sculptor himself when he is modelling a large figure or group in the +clay. He might be a bricklayer or a road-sweeper if you judge by his +appearance. This is the tomb I was telling you about." + +We halted before the plain coffer of stone, weathered and wasted by age, +but yet kept in decent repair by some pious hands, and read the +inscription, setting forth with modest pride, that here reposed Anna, +sixth daughter of Richard Cromwell, "The Protector." It was a simple +monument and commonplace enough, with the crude severity of the ascetic +age to which it belonged. But still, it carried the mind back to those +stirring times when the leafy shades of Gray's Inn Lane must have +resounded with the clank of weapons and the tramp of armed men; when +this bald recreation-ground was a rustic churchyard, standing amidst +green fields and hedgerows, and countrymen leading their pack-horses +into London through the Lane would stop to look in over the wooden gate. + +Miss Bellingham looked at me critically as I stood thus reflecting, and +presently remarked, "I think you and I have a good many mental habits in +common." + +I looked up inquiringly, and she continued: "I notice that an old +tombstone seems to set you meditating. So it does me. When I look at an +ancient monument, and especially an old headstone, I find myself almost +unconsciously retracing the years to the date that is written on the +stone. Why do you think that is? Why should a monument be so stimulating +to the imagination? And why should a common headstone be more so than +any other?" + +"I suppose it is," I answered reflectively, "that a churchyard monument +is a peculiarly personal thing and appertains in a peculiar way to a +particular time. And the circumstance that it has stood untouched by the +passing years while everything around has changed, helps the imagination +to span the interval. And the common headstone, the memorial of some +dead and gone farmer or labourer who lived and died in the village hard +by, is still more intimate and suggestive. The rustic, childish +sculpture of the village mason and the artless doggerel of the village +schoolmaster, bring back the time and place and the conditions of life +much more vividly than the more scholarly inscriptions and the more +artistic enrichments of monuments of greater pretensions. But where are +your own family tombstones?" + +"They are over in that farther corner. There is an intelligent, but +inopportune, person apparently copying the epitaphs. I wish he would go +away. I want to show them to you." + +I now noticed, for the first time, an individual engaged, note-book in +hand, in making a careful survey of a group of old headstones. Evidently +he was making a copy of the inscriptions, for not only was he poring +attentively over the writing on the face of the stone, but now and again +he helped out his vision by running his fingers over the worn lettering. + +"That is my grandfather's tombstone that he is copying now," said Miss +Bellingham; and even as she spoke, the man turned and directed a +searching glance at us with a pair of keen, spectacled eyes. + +Simultaneously we uttered an exclamation of surprise; for the +investigator was Mr. Jellicoe. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"O! ARTEMIDORUS, FAREWELL!" + + +Whether or not Mr. Jellicoe was surprised to see us, it is impossible to +say. His countenance (which served the ordinary purposes of a face, +inasmuch as it contained the principal organs of special sense, with the +inlets to the alimentary and respiratory tracts) was, as an apparatus +for the expression of the emotions, a total failure. To a thought-reader +it would have been about as helpful as the face carved upon the handle +of an umbrella; a comparison suggested, perhaps, by a certain +resemblance to such an object. He advanced, holding his open note-book +and pencil, and having saluted us with a stiff bow and an old-fashioned +flourish of his hat, shook hands rheumatically and waited for us to +speak. + +"This is an unexpected pleasure, Mr. Jellicoe," said Miss Bellingham. + +"It is very good of you to say so," he replied. + +"And quite a coincidence--that we should all happen to come here on the +same day." + +"A coincidence, certainly," he admitted; "and if we had all happened not +to come--which must have occurred frequently--that also would have been +a coincidence." + +"I suppose it would," said she, "but I hope we are not interrupting +you." + +"Thank you, no. I had just finished when I had the pleasure of +perceiving you." + +"You were making some notes in reference to the case, I imagine," said +I. It was an impertinent question, put with malice aforethought for the +mere pleasure of hearing him evade it. + +"The case?" he repeated. "You are referring, perhaps, to Stevens versus +the Parish Council?" + +"I think Doctor Berkeley was referring to the case of my uncle's will," +Miss Bellingham said quite gravely, though with a suspicious dimpling +about the corners of her mouth. + +"Indeed," said Mr. Jellicoe. "There is a case, is there; a suit?" + +"I mean the proceedings instituted by Mr. Hurst." + +"Oh, but that was merely an application to the Court, and is, moreover, +finished and done with. At least, so I understand. I speak, of course, +subject to correction; I am not acting for Mr. Hurst, you will be +pleased to remember. As a matter of fact," he continued, after a brief +pause, "I was just refreshing my memory as to the wording of the +inscriptions on these stones, especially that of your grandfather, +Francis Bellingham. It has occurred to me that if it should appear by +the finding of the coroner's jury that your uncle is deceased, it would +be proper and decorous that some memorial should be placed here. But, as +the burial-ground is closed, there might be some difficulty about +erecting a new monument, whereas there would probably be none in adding +an inscription to one already existing. Hence these investigations. For +if the inscription on your grandfather's stone had set forth that 'here +rests the body of Francis Bellingham,' it would have been manifestly +improper to add 'also that of John Bellingham, son of the above.' +Fortunately the inscription was more discreetly drafted, merely +recording the fact that this monument is 'sacred to the memory of the +said Francis,' and not committing itself as to the whereabouts of the +remains. But perhaps I am interrupting you?" + +"No, not at all," replied Miss Bellingham (which was grossly untrue; he +was interrupting _me_ most intolerably); "we were going to the British +Museum and just looked in here on our way." + +"Ha," said Mr. Jellicoe, "now, I happen to be going to the Museum too, +to see Doctor Norbury. I suppose that is another coincidence?" + +"Certainly it is," Miss Bellingham replied; and then she asked: "Shall +we walk there together?" and the old curmudgeon actually said +"yes"--confound him! + +We returned to the Gray's Inn Road, where, as there was now room for us +to walk abreast, I proceeded to indemnify myself for the lawyer's +unwelcome company by leading the conversation back to the subject of the +missing man. + +"Was there anything, Mr. Jellicoe, in Mr. John Bellingham's state of +health that would make it probable that he might die suddenly?" + +The lawyer looked at me suspiciously for a few moments and then +remarked: + +"You seem to be greatly interested in John Bellingham and his affairs." + +"I am. My friends are deeply concerned in them, and the case itself is +of more than common interest from a professional point of view." + +"And what is the bearing of this particular question?" + +"Surely it is obvious," said I. "If a missing man is known to have +suffered from some affection, such as heart disease, aneurism, or +arterial degeneration, likely to produce sudden death, that fact will +surely be highly material to the question as to whether he is probably +dead or alive." + +"No doubt you are right," said Mr. Jellicoe. "I have little knowledge of +medical affairs, but doubtless you are right. As to the question itself, +I am Mr. Bellingham's lawyer, not his doctor. His health is a matter +that lies outside my jurisdiction. But you heard my evidence in Court, +to the effect that the testator appeared, to my untutored observation, +to be a healthy man. I can say no more now." + +"If the question is of any importance," said Miss Bellingham, "I wonder +they did not call his doctor and settle it definitely. My own impression +is that he was--or is--rather a strong and sound man. He certainly +recovered very quickly and completely after his accident." + +"What accident was that?" I asked. + +"Oh, hasn't my father told you? It occurred while he was staying with +us. He slipped from a high kerb and broke one of the bones of the left +ankle--somebody's fracture--" + +"Pott's?" + +"Yes, that was the name--Pott's fracture; and he broke both his +knee-caps as well. Sir Morgan Bennet had to perform an operation, or he +would have been a cripple for life. As it was, he was about again in a +few weeks, apparently none the worse excepting for a slight weakness of +the left ankle." + +"Could he walk upstairs?" I asked. + +"Oh, yes; and play golf and ride a bicycle." + +"You are sure he broke both knee-caps?" + +"Quite sure. I remember that it was mentioned as an uncommon injury, and +that Sir Morgan seemed quite pleased with him for doing it." + +"That sounds rather libellous; but I expect he was pleased with the +result of the operation. He might well be." + +Here there was a brief lull in the conversation, and, even as I was +trying to think of a poser for Mr. Jellicoe, that gentleman took the +opportunity to change the subject. + +"Are you going to the Egyptian Rooms?" he asked. + +"No," replied Miss Bellingham; "we are going to look at the pottery." + +"Ancient or modern?" + +"The old Fulham ware is what chiefly interests us at present; that of +the seventeenth century. I don't know whether you would call that +ancient or modern." + +"Neither do I," said Mr. Jellicoe. "Antiquity and modernity are terms +that have no fixed connotation. They are purely relative and their +application in a particular instance has to be determined by a sort of +sliding scale. To a furniture collector, a Tudor chair or a Jacobean +chest is ancient; to an architect, their period is modern, whereas an +eleventh-century church is ancient; but to an Egyptologist, accustomed +to remains of a vast antiquity, both are products of modern periods +separated by an insignificant interval. And, I suppose," he added, +reflectively, "that to a geologist, the traces of the very earliest dawn +of human history appertain only to the recent period. Conceptions of +time, like all other conceptions, are relative." + +"You appear to be a disciple of Herbert Spencer," I remarked. + +"I am a disciple of Arthur Jellicoe, sir," he retorted. And I believed +him. + +By the time we had reached the Museum he had become almost genial; and, +if less amusing in this frame, he was so much more instructive and +entertaining that I refrained from baiting him, and permitted him to +discuss his favourite topic unhindered, especially since my companion +listened with lively interest. Nor, when we entered the great hall, did +he relinquish possession of us, and we followed submissively, as he led +the way past the winged bulls of Nineveh and the great seated statues, +until we found ourselves, almost without the exercise of our volition, +in the upper room amidst the glaring mummy cases that had witnessed the +birth of my friendship with Ruth Bellingham. + +"Before I leave you," said Mr. Jellicoe, "I should like to show you that +mummy that we were discussing the other evening; the one, you remember, +that my friend, John Bellingham, presented to the Museum a little time +before his disappearance. The point that I mentioned is only a trivial +one, but it may become of interest hereafter if any plausible +explanation should be forthcoming." He led us along the room until we +arrived at the case containing John Bellingham's gift, where he halted +and gazed in at the mummy with the affectionate reflectiveness of the +connoisseur. + +"The bitumen coating was what we were discussing, Miss Bellingham," +said he. "You have seen it, of course." + +"Yes," she answered. "It is a dreadful disfigurement, isn't it?" + +"Aesthetically it is to be deplored, but it adds a certain speculative +interest to the specimen. You notice that the black coating leaves the +principal decoration and the whole of the inscription untouched, which +is precisely the part that one would expect to find covered up; whereas +the feet and the back, which probably bore no writing, are quite thickly +encrusted. If you stoop down, you can see that the bitumen was daubed +freely into the lacings of the back, where it served no purpose, so that +even the strings are embedded." He stooped, as he spoke, and peered up +inquisitively at the back of the mummy, where it was visible between the +supports. + +"Has Doctor Norbury any explanation to offer?" asked Miss Bellingham. + +"None whatever," replied Mr. Jellicoe. "He finds it as great a mystery +as I do. But he thinks that we may get some suggestion from the Director +when he comes back. He is a very great authority, as you know, and a +practical excavator of great experience too. But I mustn't stay here +talking of these things, and keeping you from your pottery. Perhaps I +have stayed too long already. If I have I ask your pardon, and I will +now wish you a very good afternoon." With a sudden return to his +customary wooden impassivity, he shook hands with us, bowed stiffly, and +took himself off towards the curator's office. + +"What a strange man that is," said Miss Bellingham, as Mr. Jellicoe +disappeared through the doorway at the end of the room, "or perhaps I +should say, a strange being, for I can hardly think of him as a man. I +have never met any other human creature at all like him." + +"He is certainly a queer old fogey," I agreed. + +"Yes, but there is something more than that. He is so emotionless, so +remote and aloof from all mundane concerns. He moves among ordinary men +and women, but as a mere presence, an unmoved spectator of their +actions, quite dispassionate and impersonal." + +"Yes, he is astonishingly self-contained; in fact, he seems, as you say, +to go to and fro among men, enveloped in a sort of infernal atmosphere +of his own, like Marley's ghost. But he is lively and human enough as +soon as the subject of Egyptian antiquities is broached." + +"Lively, but not human. He is always, to me, quite unhuman. Even when he +is most interested, and even enthusiastic, he is a mere personification +of knowledge. Nature ought to have furnished him with an ibis' head like +Tahuti; then he would have looked his part." + +"He would have made a rare sensation in Lincoln's Inn if she had," said +I; and we both laughed heartily at the imaginary picture of Tahuti +Jellicoe, slender-beaked and top-hatted, going about his business in +Lincoln's Inn and the Law Courts. + +Insensibly, as we talked, we had drawn near to the mummy of Artemidorus, +and now my companion halted before the case with her thoughtful grey +eyes bent dreamily on the face that looked out at us. I watched her with +reverent admiration. How charming she looked as she stood with her +sweet, grave face turned so earnestly to the object of her mystical +affection! How dainty and full of womanly dignity and grace! And then, +suddenly, it was borne in upon me that a great change had come over her +since the day of our first meeting. She had grown younger, more girlish, +and more gentle. At first she had seemed much older than I; a sad-faced +woman, weary, solemn, enigmatic, almost gloomy, with a bitter, ironic +humour and a bearing distant and cold. Now she was only maidenly and +sweet; tinged, it is true, with a certain seriousness, but frank and +gracious and wholly lovable. + +Could the change be due to our growing friendship? As I asked myself the +question, my heart leaped with a new-born hope. I yearned to tell her +all that she was to me--all that I hoped we might be to one another in +the years to come. + +At length I ventured to break in upon her reverie. + +"What are you thinking about so earnestly, fair lady?" + +She turned quickly with a bright smile and sparkling eyes that looked +frankly into mine. "I was wondering," said she, "if he was jealous of my +new friend. But what a baby I am to talk such nonsense!" + +She laughed softly and happily with just an adorable hint of shyness. + +"Why should he be jealous?" I asked. + +"Well, you see, before--we were friends, he had me all to himself. I +have never had a man-friend before--except my father--and no really +intimate friend at all. And I was very lonely in those days, after our +troubles had befallen. I am naturally solitary, but still, I am only a +girl; I am not a philosopher. So when I felt very lonely, I used to come +here and look at Artemidorus and make believe that he knew all the +sadness of my life and sympathised with me. It was very silly, I know, +but yet, somehow it was a real comfort to me." + +"It was not silly of you at all. He must have been a good man, a gentle, +sweet-faced man who had won the love of those who knew him, as this +beautiful memorial tells us; and it was wise and good of you to sweeten +the bitterness of your life with the fragrance of this human love that +blossoms in the dust after the lapse of centuries. No, you were not +silly, and Artemidorus is not jealous of your new friend." + +"Are you sure?" She still smiled as she asked the question, but her +glance was soft--almost tender--and there was a note of whimsical +anxiety in her voice. + +"Quite sure. I give you my confident assurance." + +She laughed gaily. "Then," said she, "I am satisfied, for I am sure you +know. But here is a mighty telepathist who can read the thoughts even of +a mummy. A most formidable companion. But tell me how you know." + +"I know, because it is he who gave you to me to be my friend. Don't you +remember?" + +"Yes, I remember," she answered, softly. "It was when you were so +sympathetic with my foolish whim that I felt we were really friends." + +"And I, when you confided your pretty fancy to me, thanked you for the +gift of your friendship, and treasured it, and do still treasure it, +above everything on earth." + +She looked at me quickly with a sort of nervousness in her manner, and +cast down her eyes. Then, after a few moments' almost embarrassed +silence, as if to bring our talk back to a less emotional plane, she +said: + +"Do you notice the curious way in which this memorial divides itself up +into two distinct parts?" + +"How do you mean?" I asked, a little disconcerted by the sudden descent. + +"I mean that there is a part of it that is purely decorative and a part +that is expressive or emotional. You notice that the general design and +scheme of decoration, although really Greek in feeling, follows rigidly +the Egyptian conventions. But the portrait is entirely in the Greek +manner, and when they came to that pathetic farewell, it had to be +spoken in their own tongue, written in their own familiar characters." + +"Yes. I have noticed that and admired the taste with which they have +kept the inscription so inconspicuous as not to clash with the +decoration. An obtrusive inscription in Greek characters would have +spoiled the consistency of the whole scheme." + +"Yes, it would." She assented absently as if she were thinking of +something else, and once more gazed thoughtfully at the mummy. I watched +her with deep content: noted the lovely contour of her cheek, the soft +masses of hair that strayed away so gracefully from her brow, and +thought her the most wonderful creature that had ever trod the earth. +Suddenly she looked at me reflectively. + +"I wonder," she said, "what made me tell you about Artemidorus. It was a +rather silly, childish sort of make-believe, and I wouldn't have told +anyone else for the world; not even my father. How did I know that you +would sympathise and understand?" + +She asked the question in all simplicity with her serious, grey eyes +looking inquiringly into mine. And the answer came to me in a flash, +with the beating of my own heart. + +"I will tell you how you knew, Ruth," I whispered passionately. "It was +because I loved you more than anyone in the world has ever loved you, +and you felt my love in your heart and called it sympathy." + +I stopped short, for she had blushed scarlet and then turned deathly +pale. And now she looked at me wildly, almost with terror. + +"Have I shocked you, Ruth, dearest?" I exclaimed penitently, "have I +spoken too soon? If I have, forgive me. But I had to tell you. I have +been eating my heart out for love of you for I don't know how long. I +think I have loved you from the first day we met. Perhaps I shouldn't +have spoken yet, but, Ruth, dear, if you only knew what a sweet girl you +are, you wouldn't blame me." + +"I don't blame you," she said, almost in a whisper; "I blame myself. I +have been a bad friend to you, who have been so loyal and loving to me. +I ought not to have let this happen. For it can't be, Paul; I can't say +what you want me to say. We can never be anything more to one another +than friends." + +A cold hand seemed to grasp my heart--a horrible fear that I had lost +all that I cared for--all that made life desirable. + +"Why can't we?" I asked. "Do you mean that--that the gods have been +gracious to some other man?" + +"No, no," she answered, hastily--almost indignantly, "of course I don't +mean that." + +"Then it is only that you don't love me yet. Of course you don't. Why +should you? But you will, dear, some day. And I will wait patiently +until that day comes and not trouble you with entreaties. I will wait +for you as Jacob waited for Rachel; and as the long years seemed to him +but as a few days because of the love he bore her, so it shall be with +me, if only you will not send me away quite without hope." + +She was looking down, white-faced, with a hardening of the lips as if +she were in bodily pain. "You don't understand," she whispered. "It +can't be--it can never be. There is something that makes it impossible, +now and always. I can't tell you more than that." + +"But, Ruth, dearest," I pleaded despairingly, "may it not become +possible some day? Can it not be made possible? I can wait, but I can't +give you up. Is there no chance whatever that this obstacle may be +removed?" + +"Very little, I fear. Hardly any. No, Paul; it is hopeless, and I can't +bear to talk about it. Let me go now. Let us say good-bye here and see +one another no more for a while. Perhaps we may be friends again some +day--when you have forgiven me." + +"Forgiven you, dearest!" I exclaimed. "There is nothing to forgive. And +we are friends, Ruth. Whatever happens, you are the dearest friend I +have on earth, or can ever have." + +"Thank you, Paul," she said faintly. "You are very good to me. But let +me go, please. I must go. I must be alone." + +She held out a trembling hand, and, as I took it, I was shocked to see +how terribly agitated and ill she looked. + +"May I not come with you, dear?" I pleaded. + +"No, no!" she exclaimed breathlessly; "I must go away by myself. I want +to be alone. Good-bye!" + +"Before I let you go, Ruth--if you must go--I must have a solemn promise +from you." + +Her sad grey eyes met mine and her lips quivered with an unspoken +question. + +"You must promise me," I went on, "that if ever this barrier that parts +us should be removed, you will let me know instantly. Remember that I +love you always, and that I am waiting for you always on this side of +the grave." + +She caught her breath in a little quick sob, and pressed my hand. + +"Yes," she whispered: "I promise. Good-bye." She pressed my hand again +and was gone; and, as I gazed at the empty doorway through which she had +passed, I caught a glimpse of her reflection in a glass case on the +landing, where she had paused for a moment to wipe her eyes. I felt it, +in a manner, indelicate to have seen her, and turned away my head +quickly; and yet I was conscious of a certain selfish satisfaction in +the sweet sympathy that her grief bespoke. + +But now that she was gone a horrible sense of desolation descended on +me. Only now, by the consciousness of irreparable loss, did I begin to +realise the meaning of this passion of love that had stolen unawares +into my life. How it had glorified the present and spread a glamour of +delight over the dimly considered future: how all pleasures and desires, +all hopes and ambitions, had converged upon it as a focus; how it had +stood out as the one great reality behind which the other circumstances +of life were as a background, shimmering, half seen, immaterial, and +unreal. And now it was gone--lost, as it seemed, beyond hope; and that +which was left to me was but the empty frame from which the picture had +vanished. + +I have no idea how long I stood rooted to the spot where she had left +me, wrapped in a dull consciousness of pain, immersed in a half-numb +reverie. Recent events flitted, dream-like, through my mind; our happy +labours in the reading-room; our first visit to the Museum; and this +present day that had opened so brightly and with such joyous promise. +One by one these phantoms of a vanished happiness came and went. +Occasional visitors sauntered into the room--but the galleries were +mostly empty that day--gazed inquisitively at my motionless figure, and +went their way. And still the dull, intolerable ache in my breast went +on, the only vivid consciousness that was left to me. + +Presently I raised my eyes and met those of the portrait. The sweet, +pensive face of the old Greek settler looked out at me wistfully as +though he would offer comfort; as though he would tell me that he, too, +had known sorrow when he lived his life in the sunny Fayyum. And a +subtle consolation, like the faint scent of old rose leaves, seemed to +exhale from that friendly face that had looked on the birth of my +happiness and had seen it wither and fade. I turned away, at last, with +a silent farewell; and when I looked back, he seemed to speed me on my +way with gentle valediction. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE ACCUSING FINGER + + +Of my wanderings after I left the Museum on that black and dismal _dies +irae_, I have but a dim recollection. But I must have travelled a quite +considerable distance, since it wanted an hour or two to the time for +returning to the surgery, and I spent the interval walking swiftly +through streets and squares, unmindful of the happenings around, intent +only on my present misfortune, and driven by a natural impulse to seek +relief in bodily exertion. For mental distress sets up, as it were, a +sort of induced current of physical unrest; a beneficent arrangement, by +which a dangerous excess of emotional excitement may be transformed into +motor energy, and so safely got rid of. The motor apparatus acts as a +safety-valve to the psychical; and if the engine races for a while, with +the onset of bodily fatigue the emotional pressure-gauge returns to a +normal reading. + +And so it was with me. At first I was conscious of nothing but a sense +of utter bereavement, of the shipwreck of all my hopes. But, by degrees, +as I threaded my way among the moving crowds, I came to a better and +more worthy frame of mind. After all, I had lost nothing that I had ever +had. Ruth was still all that she had ever been to me--perhaps even more; +and if that had been a rich endowment yesterday, why not to-day also? +And how unfair it would be to her if I should mope and grieve over a +disappointment that was no fault of hers and for which there was no +remedy! Thus I reasoned with myself, and to such purpose that, by the +time I reached Fetter Lane, my dejection had come to quite manageable +proportions and I had formed the resolution to get back to the _status +quo ante bellum_ as soon as possible. + +About eight o'clock, as I was sitting alone in the consulting-room, +gloomily persuading myself that I was now quite resigned to the +inevitable, Adolphus brought me a registered packet, at the handwriting +on which my heart gave such a bound that I had much ado to sign the +receipt. As soon as Adolphus had retired (with undissembled contempt of +the shaky signature) I tore open the packet, and as I drew out a letter +a tiny box dropped on the table. + +The letter was all too short, and I devoured it over and over again with +the eagerness of a condemned man reading a reprieve:-- + +"My Dear Paul, + +"Forgive me for leaving you so abruptly this afternoon, and leaving you +so unhappy, too. I am more sane and reasonable now, and so send you +greeting and beg you not to grieve for that which can never be. It is +quite impossible, dear friend, and I entreat you, as you care for me, +never to speak of it again; never again to make me feel that I can give +so little when you have given so much. And do not try to see me for a +little while. I shall miss your visits, and so will my father, who is +very fond of you; but it is better that we should not meet, until we can +take up the old relations--if that can ever be. + +"I am sending you a little keepsake in case we should drift apart on +the eddies of life. It is the ring that I told you about--the one that +my uncle gave me. Perhaps you may be able to wear it as you have a small +hand, but in any case keep it in remembrance of our friendship. The +device on it is the Eye of Osiris, a mystic symbol for which I have a +sentimentally superstitious affection, as also had my poor uncle, who +actually bore it tattooed in scarlet on his breast. It signifies that +the great judge of the dead looks down on men to see that justice is +done and that truth prevails. So I commend you to the good Osiris; may +his eye be upon you, ever watchful over your welfare in the absence of + +"Your affectionate friend + +"RUTH." + +It was a sweet letter, I thought, even if it carried little comfort; +quiet and reticent like its writer, but with an undertone of sincere +affection. I laid it down at length, and, taking the ring from its box, +examined it fondly. Though but a copy, it had all the quaintness and +feeling of the antique original, and, above all, it was fragrant with +the spirit of the giver. Dainty and delicate, wrought of silver and +gold, with an inlay of copper, I would not have exchanged it for the +Koh-i-noor; and when I had slipped it on my finger its tiny eye of blue +enamel looked up at me so friendly and companionable that I felt the +glamour of the old-world superstition stealing over me, too. + +Not a single patient came in this evening, which was well for me (and +also for the patient), as I was able forthwith to write in reply a long +letter; but this I shall spare the long-suffering reader excepting its +concluding paragraph:-- + +"And now, dearest, I have said my say; once for all, I have said it, and +I will not open my mouth on the subject again (I am not actually opening +it now) 'until the times do alter.' And if the times do never alter--if +it shall come to pass, in due course, that we two shall sit side by +side, white-haired, and crinkly-nosed, and lean our poor old chins upon +our sticks and mumble and gibber amicably over the things that might +have been if the good Osiris had come up to the scratch--I will still be +content, because your friendship, Ruth, is better than another woman's +love. So you see, I have taken my gruel and come up to time smiling--if +you will pardon the pugilistic metaphor--and I promise you loyally to do +your bidding and never again to distress you. + +"Your faithful and loving friend, + +"PAUL." + +This letter I addressed and stamped, and then, with a wry grimace which +I palmed off on myself (but not on Adolphus) as a cheerful smile, I went +out and dropped it into the post-box; after which I further deluded +myself by murmuring _Nunc dimittis_ and assuring myself that the +incident was now absolutely closed. + +But, despite this comfortable assurance, I was, in the days that +followed, an exceedingly miserable young man. It is all very well to +write down troubles of this kind as trivial and sentimental. They are +nothing of the kind. When a man of an essentially serious nature has +found the one woman of all the world who fulfils his highest ideals of +womanhood, who is, in fact, a woman in ten thousand, to whom he has +given all that he has to give of love and worship, the sudden wreck of +all his hopes is no small calamity. And so I found it. Resign myself as +I would to the bitter reality, the ghost of the might-have-been haunted +me night and day, so that I spent my leisure wandering abstractedly +about the streets, always trying to banish thought and never for an +instant succeeding. A great unrest was upon me; and when I received a +letter from Dick Barnard announcing his arrival at Madeira, homeward +bound, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had no plans for the future, but I +longed to be rid of the, now irksome, routine of the practice--to be +free to come and go when and how I pleased. + +One evening, as I sat consuming with little appetite my solitary supper, +there fell on me a sudden sense of loneliness. The desire that I had +hitherto felt to be alone with my own miserable reflections gave place +to a yearning for human companionship. That, indeed, which I craved for +most was forbidden, and I must abide by my lady's wishes; but there were +my friends in the Temple. It was more than a week since I had seen them; +in fact, we had not met since the morning of that unhappiest day of my +life. They would be wondering what had become of me. I rose from the +table, and, having filled my pouch from a tin of tobacco, set forth for +King's Bench Walk. + +As I approached the entry of No. 5A in the gathering darkness I met +Thorndyke himself emerging, encumbered with two deck-chairs, a +reading-lantern, and a book. + +"Why, Berkeley!" he exclaimed, "is it indeed thou? We have been +wondering what had become of you." + +"It _is_ a long time since I looked you up," I admitted. + +He scrutinised me attentively by the light of the entry lamp, and then +remarked: "Fetter Lane doesn't seem to be agreeing with you very well, +my son. You are looking quite thin and peaky." + +"Well, I've nearly done with it. Barnard will be back in about ten days. +His ship is putting in at Madeira to coal and take in some cargo, and +then he is coming home. Where are you going with those chairs?" + +"I am going to sit down at the end of the Walk by the garden railings. +It's cooler there than indoors. If you will wait a moment I will fetch +another chair for Jervis, though he won't be back for a little while." +He ran up the stairs, and presently returned with a third chair, and we +carried our impedimenta down to the quiet corner at the bottom of the +Walk. + +"So your term of servitude is coming to an end," said he when we had +placed the chairs and hung the lantern on the railings. "Any other +news?" + +"No. Have you any?" + +"I am afraid I have not. All my inquiries have yielded negative results. +There is, of course, a considerable body of evidence, and it all seems +to point one way. But I am unwilling to make a decisive move without +something more definite. I am really waiting for confirmation or +otherwise of my ideas on the subject; for some new item of evidence." + +"I didn't know there was any evidence." + +"Didn't you?" said Thorndyke. "But you know as much as I know. You have +all the essential facts; but apparently you haven't collated them and +extracted their meaning. If you had, you would have found them +curiously significant." + +"I suppose I mustn't ask what their significance is?" + +"No, I think not. When I am conducting a case I mention my surmises to +nobody--not even to Jervis. Then I can say confidently that there has +been no leakage. Don't think I distrust you. Remember that my thoughts +are my client's property, and that the essence of strategy is to keep +the enemy in the dark." + +"Yes, I see that. Of course, I ought not to have asked." + +"You ought not to need to ask," Thorndyke replied, with a smile; "you +should put the facts together and reason from them yourself." + +While we had been talking I had noticed Thorndyke glance at me +inquisitively from time to time. Now, after an interval of silence, he +asked suddenly: + +"Is anything amiss, Berkeley? Are you worrying about your friends' +affairs?" + +"No, not particularly; though their prospects don't look very rosy." + +"Perhaps they are not quite so bad as they look," said he. "But I am +afraid something is troubling you. All your gay spirits seem to have +evaporated." He paused for a few moments, and then added: "I don't want +to intrude on your private affairs, but if I can help you by advice or +otherwise, remember that we are old friends and that you are my academic +offspring." + +Instinctively, with a man's natural reticence, I began to mumble a +half-articulate disclaimer; and then I stopped. After all, why should I +not confide in him? He was a good man and a wise man, full of human +sympathy, as I knew, though so cryptic and secretive in his +professional capacity. And I wanted a friend badly just now. + +"I am afraid," I began shyly, "it is not a matter that admits of much +help, and it's hardly the sort of thing that I ought to worry you by +talking about----" + +"If it is enough to make you unhappy, my dear fellow, it is enough to +merit serious consideration by your friend; so, if you don't mind +telling me----" + +"Of course I don't, sir!" I exclaimed. + +"Then fire away; and don't call me 'sir.' We are brother practitioners +now." + +Thus encouraged, I poured out the story of my little romance; bashfully +at first and with halting phrases, but, later, with more freedom and +confidence. He listened with grave attention, and once or twice put a +question when my narrative became a little disconnected. When I had +finished he laid his hand softly on my arm. + +"You have had rough luck, Berkeley. I don't wonder that you are +miserable. I am more sorry than I can tell you." + +"Thank you," I said. "It's exceedingly good of you to listen so +patiently, but it's a shame for me to pester you with my sentimental +troubles." + +"Now, Berkeley, you don't think that, and I hope you don't think that I +do. We should be bad biologists and worse physicians if we should +under-estimate the importance of that which is Nature's chiefest care. +The one salient biological truth is the paramount importance of sex; and +we are deaf and blind if we do not hear and see it in everything that +lives when we look abroad upon the world; when we listen to the spring +song of the birds, or when we consider the lilies of the field. And as +is man to the lower organisms, so is human love to their merely reflex +manifestations of sex. I will maintain, and you will agree with me, I +know, that the love of a serious and honourable man for a woman who is +worthy of him is the most momentous of all human affairs. It is the +foundation of social life, and its failure is a serious calamity, not +only to those whose lives may be thereby spoilt, but to society at +large." + +"It's a serious enough matter for the parties concerned," I agreed; "but +that is no reason why they should bore their friends." + +"But they don't. Friends should help one another and think it a +privilege." + +"Oh, I shouldn't mind coming to you for help, knowing you as I do. But +no one can help a poor devil in a case like this--and certainly not a +medical jurist." + +"Oh, come, Berkeley!" he protested, "don't rate us too low. The humblest +of creatures has its uses--'even the little pismire,' you know, as Isaak +Walton tells us. Why, I have got substantial help from a +stamp-collector. And then reflect upon the motor-scorcher and the +earthworm and the blow-fly. All these lowly creatures play their parts +in the scheme of Nature; and shall we cast out the medical jurist as +nothing worth?" + +I laughed dejectedly at my teacher's genial irony. + +"What I meant," said I, "was that there is nothing to be done but +wait--perhaps for ever. I don't know why she isn't able to marry me, and +I mustn't ask her. She can't be married already." + +"Certainly not. She told you explicitly that there was no man in the +case." + +"Exactly. And I can think of no other valid reason, excepting that she +doesn't care enough for me. That would be a perfectly sound reason, but +then it would only be a temporary one, not the insuperable obstacle that +she assumes to exist, especially as we really got on excellently +together. I hope it isn't some confounded perverse feminine scruple. I +don't see how it could be; but women are most frightfully tortuous and +wrong-headed at times." + +"I don't see," said Thorndyke, "why we should cast about for perversely +abnormal motives when there is a perfectly reasonable explanation +staring us in the face." + +"Is there?" I exclaimed. "I see none." + +"You are, not unnaturally, overlooking some of the circumstances that +affect Miss Bellingham; but I don't suppose she has failed to grasp +their meaning. Do you realise what her position really is? I mean with +regard to her uncle's disappearance?" + +"I don't think I quite understand you." + +"Well, there is no use in blinking the facts," said Thorndyke. "The +position is this: If John Bellingham ever went to his brother's house at +Woodford, it is nearly certain that he went there after his visit to +Hurst. Mind, I say '_if_ he went'; I don't say that I believe he did. +But it is stated that he appears to have gone there; and if he did go, +he was never seen alive afterwards. Now, he did not go in at the front +door. No one saw him enter the house. But there was a back gate, which +John Bellingham knew, and which had a bell which rang in the library. +And you will remember that, when Hurst and Jellicoe called, Mr. +Bellingham had only just come in. Previous to that time Miss Bellingham +had been alone in the library; that is to say, she was alone in the +library at the very time when John Bellingham is said to have made his +visit. That is the position, Berkeley. Nothing pointed has been said up +to the present. But, sooner or later, if John Bellingham is not found, +dead or alive, the question will be opened. Then it is certain that +Hurst, in self-defence, will make the most of any facts that may +transfer suspicion from him to someone else. And that someone else will +be Miss Bellingham." + +I sat for some moments literally paralysed with horror. Then my dismay +gave place to indignation. "But, damn it!" I exclaimed, starting up--"I +beg your pardon--but could anyone have the infernal audacity to +insinuate that that gentle, refined lady murdered her uncle?" + +"That is what will be hinted, if not plainly asserted; and she knows it. +And that being so, is it difficult to understand why she should refuse +to allow you to be publicly associated with her? To run the risk of +dragging your honourable name into the sordid transactions of the +police-court or the Old Bailey? To invest it, perhaps, with a dreadful +notoriety?" + +"Oh, don't! for God's sake! It is too horrible! Not that I would care +for myself. I would be proud to share her martyrdom of ignominy, if it +had to be; but it is the sacrilege, the blasphemy of even thinking of +her in such terms, that enrages me." + +"Yes," said Thorndyke; "I understand and sympathise with you. Indeed, I +share your righteous indignation at this dastardly affair. So you +mustn't think me brutal for putting the case so plainly." + +"I don't. You have only shown me the danger that I was fool enough not +to see. But you seem to imply that this hideous position has been +brought about deliberately." + +"Certainly I do! This is no chance affair. Either the appearances +indicate the real events--which I am sure they do not--or they have been +created of a set purpose to lead to false conclusions. But the +circumstances convince me that there has been a deliberate plot; and I +am waiting--in no spirit of Christian patience, I can tell you--to lay +my hand on the wretch who has done this." + +"What are you waiting for?" I asked. + +"I am waiting for the inevitable," he replied; "for the false move that +the most artful criminal invariably makes. At present he is lying low; +but presently he must make a move, and then I shall have him." + +"But he may go on lying low. What will you do then?" + +"Yes, that is the danger. We may have to deal with the perfect villain +who knows when to leave well alone. I have never met him, but he may +exist, nevertheless." + +"And then we should have to stand by and see our friends go under." + +"Perhaps," said Thorndyke; and we both subsided into gloomy and silent +reflection. + +The place was peaceful and quiet, as only a backwater of London can be. +Occasional hoots from far-away tugs and steamers told of the busy life +down below in the crowded Pool. A faint hum of traffic was borne in from +the streets outside the precincts, and the shrill voices of newspaper +boys came in unceasing chorus from the direction of Carmelite Street. +They were too far away to be physically disturbing, but the excited +yells, toned down as they were by distance, nevertheless stirred the +very marrow in my bones, so dreadfully suggestive were they of those +possibilities of the future at which Thorndyke had hinted. They seemed +like the sinister shadows of coming misfortunes. + +Perhaps they called up the same association of ideas in Thorndyke's +mind, for he remarked presently: "The newsvendor is abroad to-night like +a bird of ill-omen. Something unusual has happened: some public or +private calamity, most likely, and these yelling ghouls are out to feast +on the remains. The newspaper men have a good deal in common with the +carrion-birds that hover over a battle-field." + +Again we subsided into silence and reflection. Then, after an interval, +I asked: + +"Would it be possible for me to help in any way in this investigation of +yours?" + +"That is exactly what I have been asking myself," replied Thorndyke. "It +would be right and proper that you should, and I think you might." + +"How?" I asked eagerly. + +"I can't say off-hand; but Jervis will be going away for his holiday +almost at once--in fact, he will go off actual duty to-night. There is +very little doing; the long vacation is close upon us, and I can do +without him. But if you would care to come down here and take his place, +you would be very useful to me; and if there should be anything to be +done in the Bellinghams' case, I am sure you would make up in enthusiasm +for any deficiency in experience." + +"I couldn't really take Jervis's place," said I, "but if you would let +me help you in any way it would be a great kindness. I would rather +clean your boots than be out of it altogether." + +"Very well. Let us leave it that you come here as soon as Barnard has +done with you. You can have Jervis's room, which he doesn't often use +nowadays, and you will be more happy here than elsewhere, I know. I may +as well give you my latchkey now. I have a duplicate upstairs, and you +understand that my chambers are yours too from this moment." + +He handed me the latchkey and I thanked him warmly from my heart, for I +felt sure that the suggestion was made, not for any use that I should be +to him, but for my own peace of mind. I had hardly finished speaking +when a quick step on the paved walk caught my ear. + +"Here is Jervis," said Thorndyke. "We will let him know that there is a +locum tenens ready to step into his shoes when he wants to be off." He +flashed the lantern across the path, and a few moments later his junior +stepped up briskly with a bundle of newspapers tucked under his arm. + +It struck me that Jervis looked at me a little queerly when he +recognised me in the dim light; also that he was a trifle constrained in +his manner, as if my presence were an embarrassment. He listened to +Thorndyke's announcement of our newly made arrangement without much +enthusiasm and with none of his customary facetious comments. And again +I noticed a quick glance at me, half curious, half uneasy, and wholly +puzzling to me. + +"That's all right," he said when Thorndyke had explained the situation. +"I daresay you'll find Berkeley as useful as me, and, in any case, he'll +be better here than staying on with Barnard." He spoke with unwonted +gravity, and there was in his tone a solicitude for me that attracted my +notice and that of Thorndyke as well, for the latter looked at him +curiously, though he made no comment. After a short silence, however, he +asked: "And what news does my learned brother bring? There is a mighty +shouting among the outer barbarians, and I see a bundle of newspapers +under my learned friend's arm. Has anything in particular happened?" + +Jervis looked more uncomfortable than ever. "Well--yes," he replied +hesitatingly, "something has happened--there! It's no use beating about +the bush; Berkeley may as well learn it from me as from those yelling +devils outside." He took a couple of papers from his bundle and silently +handed one to me and the other to Thorndyke. + +Jervis's ominous manner, naturally enough, alarmed me not a little. I +opened the paper with a nameless dread. But whatever my vague fears, +they fell far short of the occasion; and when I saw those yells from +without crystallised into scare headlines and flaming capitals I turned +for a moment sick and dizzy with fear. + +The paragraph was only a short one, and I read it through in less than a +minute: + +"THE MISSING FINGER + +"DRAMATIC DISCOVERY AT WOODFORD. + +"The mystery that has surrounded the remains of a mutilated human body, +portions of which have been found in various places in Kent and Essex, +has received a partial and very sinister solution. The police have, all +along, suspected that these remains were those of a Mr. John Bellingham +who disappeared under circumstances of some suspicion about two years +ago. There is now no doubt upon the subject, for the finger which was +missing from the hand that was found at Sidcup has been discovered at +the bottom of a disused well _together with a ring_, which has been +identified as one habitually worn by Mr. John Bellingham. + +"The house in the garden of which the well is situated was the property +of the murdered man, and was occupied at the time of the disappearance +by his brother, Mr. Godfrey Bellingham. But the latter left it very soon +after, and it has been empty ever since. Just lately it has been put in +repair, and it was in this way that the well came to be emptied and +cleaned out. It seems that Detective-Inspector Badger, who was searching +the neighbourhood for further remains, heard of the emptying of the well +and went down in the bucket to examine the bottom, where he found the +three bones and the ring. + +"Thus the identity of the body is established beyond all doubt, and the +question that remains is, Who killed John Bellingham? It may be +remembered that a trinket, apparently broken from his watch-chain, was +found in the grounds of this house on the day that he disappeared, and +that he was never again seen alive. What may be the import of these +facts time will show." + +That was all; but it was enough. I dropped the paper to the ground and +glanced round furtively at Jervis, who sat gazing gloomily at the toes +of his boots. It was horrible; It was incredible! The blow was so +crushing that it left my faculties numb, and for a while I seemed +unable even to think intelligibly. + +I was aroused by Thorndyke's voice--calm, business-like, composed: + +"Time will show, indeed! But meanwhile we must go warily. And don't be +unduly alarmed, Berkeley. Go home, take a good dose of bromide with a +little stimulant, and turn in. I am afraid this has been rather a shock +to you." + +I rose from my chair like one in a dream and held out my hand to +Thorndyke; and even in the dim light and in my dazed condition I noticed +that his face bore a look that I had never seen before: the look of a +granite mask of Fate--grim, stern, inexorable. + +My two friends walked with me as far as the gateway at the top of Inner +Temple Lane, and as we reached the entry a stranger, coming quickly up +the Lane, overtook and passed us. In the glare of the lamp outside the +porter's lodge he looked at us quickly over his shoulder, and though he +passed on without halt or greeting, I recognised him with a certain dull +surprise which I did not understand then and do not understand now. It +was Mr. Jellicoe. + +I shook hands once more with my friends and strode out into Fleet +Street, but as soon as I was outside the gate I made direct for Nevill's +Court. What was in my mind I do not know; only that some instinct of +protection led me there, where my lady lay unconscious of the hideous +menace that hung over her. At the entrance to the court a tall, powerful +man was lounging against the wall, and he seemed to look at me curiously +as I passed; but I hardly noticed him and strode forward into the narrow +passage. By the shabby gateway of the house I halted and looked up at +such of the windows as I could see over the wall. They were all dark. +All the inmates, then, were in bed. Vaguely comforted by this, I walked +on to the New Street end of the court and looked out. Here, too, a +man--a tall, thick-set man--was loitering; and, as he looked +inquisitively into my face, I turned and reentered the court, slowly +retracing my steps. As I again reached the gate of the house I stopped +to look up once more at the windows, and turning, I found the man whom I +had last noticed close behind me. Then, in a flash of dreadful +comprehension, I understood. These two men were plain-clothes policemen. + +For a moment a blind fury possessed me. An insane impulse urged me to +give battle to this intruder; to avenge upon his person the insult of +his presence. Fortunately the impulse was but momentary, and I recovered +myself without making any demonstration. But the appearance of those two +policemen brought the peril into the immediate present, imparted to it a +horrible actuality. A chilly sweat of terror stood on my forehead, and +my ears were ringing when I walked with faltering steps out into Fetter +Lane. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +JOHN BELLINGHAM + + +The next few days were a very nightmare of horror and gloom. Of course, +I repudiated my acceptance of the decree of banishment that Ruth had +passed upon me. I was her friend, at least, and in time of peril my +place was at her side. Tacitly--though thankfully enough, poor +girl!--she had recognised the fact and made me once more free of the +house. + +For there was no disguising the situation. Newspaper boys yelled the +news up and down Fleet Street from morning to night; soul-shaking +posters grinned on gaping crowds; and the newspapers fairly wallowed in +the "Shocking details." It is true that no direct accusations were made; +but the original reports of the disappearance were reprinted with such +comments as made me gnash my teeth with fury. + +The wretchedness of those days will live in my memory until my dying +day. Never can I forget the dread that weighed me down, the horrible +suspense, the fear that clutched at my heart as I furtively scanned the +posters in the streets. Even the wretched detectives who prowled about +the entrances to Nevill's Court became grateful to my eyes, for, +embodying as they did the hideous menace that hung over my dear lady, +their presence at least told me that the blow had not yet fallen. +Indeed, we came, after a time, to exchange glances of mutual +recognition, and I thought that they seemed to be sorry for her and for +me, and had no great liking for their task. Of course, I spent most of +my leisure at the old house, though my heart ached more there than +elsewhere; and I tried, with but poor success, I fear, to maintain a +cheerful, confident manner, cracking my little jokes as of old, and even +essaying to skirmish with Miss Oman. But this last experiment was a dead +failure; and when she had suddenly broken down in a stream of brilliant +repartee to weep hysterically on my breast, I abandoned the attempt and +did not repeat it. + +A dreadful gloom had settled down upon the old house. Poor Miss Oman +crept silently but restlessly up and down the ancient stairs with dim +eyes and a tremulous chin, or moped in her room with a parliamentary +petition (demanding, if I remember rightly, the appointment of a female +judge to deal with divorce and matrimonial causes) which lay on her +table languidly awaiting signatures that never came. Mr. Bellingham, +whose mental condition at first alternated between furious anger and +absolute panic, was fast sinking into a state of nervous prostration +that I viewed with no little alarm. In fact, the only really +self-possessed person in the entire household was Ruth herself, and even +she could not conceal the ravages of sorrow and suspense and +overshadowing peril. Her manner was almost unchanged; or rather, I +should say, she had gone back to that which I had first known--quiet, +reserved, taciturn, with a certain bitter humour showing through her +unvarying amiability. When she and I were alone, indeed, her reserve +melted away and she was all sweetness and gentleness. But it wrung my +heart to look at her, to see how, day by day, she grew ever more thin +and haggard; to watch the growing pallor of her cheek; to look into her +solemn grey eyes, so sad and tragic and yet so brave and defiant of +fate. + +It was a terrible time; and through it all the dreadful questions +haunted me continually: When will the blow fall? What is it that the +police are waiting for? And when they do strike, what will Thorndyke +have to say? + +So things went on for four dreadful days. But on the fourth day, just as +the evening consultations were beginning and the surgery was filled with +waiting patients, Polton appeared with a note, which he insisted, to the +indignation of Adolphus, on delivering into my own hands. It was from +Thorndyke, and was to the following effect:---- + +"I learn from Dr. Norbury that he has recently heard from Herr +Lederbogen, of Berlin--a learned authority on Oriental antiquities--who +makes some reference to an English Egyptologist whom he met in Vienna +about a year ago. He cannot recall the Englishman's name, but there are +certain expressions in the letter which make Dr. Norbury suspect that he +is referring to John Bellingham. + +"I want you to bring Mr. and Miss Bellingham to my chambers this evening +at 8.30, to meet Dr. Norbury and talk over this letter; and in view of +the importance of the matter, I look to you not to fail me." + +A wave of hope and relief swept over me. It was still possible that this +Gordian knot might be cut; that the deliverance might come before it was +too late. I wrote a hasty note in reply to Thorndyke and another to +Ruth, making the appointment; and having given them both to the trusty +Polton, returned somewhat feverishly to my professional duties. To my +profound relief, the influx of patients ceased, and the practice sank +into its accustomed torpor; whereby I was able, without base and +mendacious subterfuge, to escape in good time to my tryst. + +It was near upon eight o'clock when I passed through the archway into +Nevill's Court. The warm afternoon light had died away, for the summer +was running out apace. The last red glow of the setting sun had faded +from the ancient roofs and chimney-stacks, and down in the narrow court +the shades of evening had begun to gather in nooks and corners. I was +due at eight, and, as it still wanted some minutes to the hour, I +sauntered slowly down the court, looking reflectively on the familiar +scene and the well-known friendly faces. + +The day's work was drawing to a close. The little shops were putting up +their shutters; lights were beginning to twinkle in parlour windows; a +solemn hymn arose in the old Moravian chapel, and its echoes stole out +through the dark entry that opens into the court under the archway. + +Here was Mr. Finneymore (a man of versatile gifts, with a leaning +towards paint and varnish) sitting, white-aproned and shirt-sleeved, on +a chair in his garden, smoking his pipe with a complacent eye on his +dahlias. There at an open window a young man, with a brush in his hand +and another behind his ear, stood up and stretched himself while an +older lady deftly rolled up a large map. The barber was turning out the +gas in his little saloon; the greengrocer was emerging with a cigarette +in his mouth and an aster in his button-hole, and a group of children +were escorting the lamplighter on his rounds. + +All these good, homely folk were Nevill's Courtiers of the genuine +breed; born in the court, as had been their fathers before them for +generations. And of such to a great extent was the population of the +place. Miss Oman herself claimed aboriginal descent and so did the +sweet-faced Moravian lady next door--a connection of the famous La +Trobes of the old Conventicle, whose history went back to the Gordon +Riots; and as to the gentleman who lived in the ancient +timber-and-plaster house at the bottom of the court, it was reported +that his ancestors had dwelt in that very house since the days of James +the First. + +On these facts I reflected as I sauntered down the court: on the strange +phenomenon of an old-world hamlet with its ancient population lingering +in the very heart of the noisy city; an island of peace set in an ocean +of unrest, an oasis in a desert of change and ferment. + +My meditations brought me to the shabby gate in the high wall, and as I +raised the latch and pushed it open, I saw Ruth standing at the door of +the house talking to Miss Oman. She was evidently waiting for me, for +she wore her sombre black cloak and hat and a black veil, and when she +saw me she came out, closing the door after her and holding out her +hand. + +"You are punctual," said she. "St. Dunstan's clock is striking now." + +"Yes," I answered. "But where is your father?" + +"He has gone to bed, poor old dear. He didn't feel well enough to come, +and I did not urge him. He is really very ill. This dreadful suspense +will kill him if it goes on much longer." + +"Let us hope it won't," I said, but with little conviction, I fear, in +my tone. It was harrowing to see her torn by anxiety for her father, and +I yearned to comfort her. But what was there to say? Mr. Bellingham was +breaking up visibly under the stress of the terrible menace that hung +over his daughter, and no words of mine could make the fact less +manifest. + +We walked silently up the court. The lady at the window greeted us with +a smiling salutation, Mr. Finneymore removed his pipe and raised his +cap, receiving a gracious bow from Ruth in return, and then we passed +through the covered way into Fetter Lane, where my companion paused and +looked about her. + +"What are you looking for?" I asked. + +"The detective," she answered quietly. "It would be a pity if the poor +man should miss me after waiting so long. However, I don't see him"; and +she turned away towards Fleet Street. It was an unpleasant surprise to +me that her sharp eyes had detected the secret spy upon her movements; +and the dry, sardonic tone of her remark pained me, too, recalling, as +it did, the frigid self-possession that had so repelled me in the early +days of our acquaintance. And yet I could not but admire the cool +unconcern with which she faced her horrible peril. + +"Tell me a little more about this conference," she said, as we walked +down Fetter Lane. "Your note was rather more concise than lucid; but I +suppose you wrote it in a hurry." + +"Yes, I did. And I can't give you any details now. All I know is that +Doctor Norbury has had a letter from a friend of his in Berlin, an +Egyptologist, as I understand, named Lederbogen, who refers to an +English acquaintance of his and Norbury's whom he saw in Vienna about a +year ago. He cannot remember the Englishman's name, but from some of the +circumstances Norbury seems to think that he is referring to your Uncle +John. Of course, if this should turn out to be really the case, it would +set everything straight; so Thorndyke was anxious that you and your +father should meet Norbury and talk it over." + +"I see," said Ruth. Her tone was thoughtful but by no means +enthusiastic. + +"You don't seem to attach much importance to the matter," I remarked. + +"No. It doesn't seem to fit the circumstances. What is the use of +suggesting that poor Uncle John is alive--and behaving like an imbecile, +which he certainly was not--when his dead body has actually been found?" + +"But," I suggested lamely, "there may be some mistake. It may not be his +body after all." + +"And the ring?" she asked, with a bitter smile. + +"That may be just a coincidence. It was a copy of a well-known form of +antique ring. Other people may have had copies made as well as your +uncle. Besides," I added, with more conviction, "we haven't seen the +ring. It may not be his at all." + +She shook her head. "My dear Paul," she said quietly, "it is useless to +delude ourselves. Every known fact points to the certainty that it is +his body. John Bellingham is dead: there can be no doubt of that. And to +everyone except his unknown murderer and one or two of my own loyal +friends, it must seem that his death lies at my door. I realised from +the beginning that the suspicion lay between George Hurst and me; and +the finding of the ring fixes it definitely on me. I am only surprised +that the police have made no move yet." + +The quiet conviction of her tone left me for a while speechless with +horror and despair. Then I recalled Thorndyke's calm, even confident +attitude, and I hastened to remind her of it. + +"There is one of your friends," I said, "who is still undismayed. +Thorndyke seems to anticipate no difficulties." + +"And yet," she replied, "he is ready to consider a forlorn hope like +this. However, we shall see." + +I could think of nothing more to say, and it was in gloomy silence that +we pursued our way down Inner Temple Lane and through the dark entries +and tunnel-like passages that brought us out, at length, by the +Treasury. + +"I don't see any light in Thorndyke's chambers," I said, as we crossed +King's Bench Walk; and I pointed out the row of windows all dark and +blank. + +"No: and yet the shutters are not closed. He must be out." + +"He can't be after making an appointment with you and your father. It is +most mysterious. Thorndyke is so very punctilious about his +engagements." + +The mystery was solved, when we reached the landing, by a slip of paper +fixed by a tack on the iron-bound "oak." + +"A note for P.B. is on the table," was the laconic message: on reading +which I inserted my key, swung the heavy door outward, and opened the +lighter inner door. The note was lying on the table and I brought it +out to the landing to read by the light of the staircase lamp. + +"Apologise to our friends," it ran, "for the slight change of programme. +Norbury is anxious that I should get my experiments over before the +Director returns, so as to save discussion. He has asked me to begin +to-night and says he will see Mr. and Miss Bellingham here, at the +Museum. Please bring them along at once. The hall porters are instructed +to admit you and bring you to us. I think some matters of importance may +transpire at the interview.--J.E.T." + + * * * * * + +"I hope you don't mind," I said apologetically, when I had read the note +to Ruth. + +"Of course I don't," she replied. "I am rather pleased. We have so many +associations with the dear old Museum, haven't we?" She looked at me for +a moment with a strange and touching wistfulness and then turned to +descend the stone stairs. + +At the Temple gate, I hailed a hansom and we were soon speeding westward +and north to the soft tinkle of the horse's bell. + +"What are these experiments that Doctor Thorndyke refers to?" she asked +presently. + +"I can only answer you rather vaguely," I replied. "Their object, I +believe, is to ascertain whether the penetrability of organic substances +by the X-rays becomes altered by age; whether, for instance, an ancient +block of wood is more or less transparent to the rays than a new block +of the same size." + +"And of what use would the knowledge be, if it were obtained?" + +"I can't say. Experiments are made to obtain knowledge without regard +to its utility. The use appears when the knowledge has been acquired. +But in this case, if it should be possible to determine the age of any +organic substance by its reaction to X-rays, the discovery might be of +some value in legal practice--as in demonstrating a new seal on an old +document, for instance. But I don't know whether Thorndyke has anything +definite in view; I only know that the preparations have been on a most +portentous scale." + +"How do you mean?" + +"In regard to size. When I went into the workshop yesterday morning, I +found Polton erecting a kind of portable gallows about nine feet high, +and he had just finished varnishing a pair of enormous wooden trays, +each over six feet long. It looked as if he and Thorndyke were +contemplating a few private executions with subsequent post-mortems on +the victims." + +"What a horrible suggestion!" + +"So Polton said, with his quaint, crinkly smile. But he was mighty close +about the use of the apparatus all the same. I wonder if we shall see +anything of the experiments, when we get there. This is Museum Street, +isn't it?" + +"Yes." As she spoke, she lifted the flap of one of the little windows in +the back of the cab and peered out. Then, closing it with a quiet, +ironic smile, she said: + +"It is all right; he hasn't missed us. It will be quite a nice little +change for him." + +The cab swung round into Great Russell Street, and, glancing out as it +turned, I saw another hansom following; but before I had time to inspect +its solitary passenger, we drew up at the Museum gates. The +gate-porter, who seemed to expect us, ushered us up the drive to the +great portico and into the Central Hall, where he handed us over to +another official. + +"Doctor Norbury is in one of the rooms adjoining the Fourth Egyptian +Room," the latter stated in answer to our inquiries: and, providing +himself with a wire-guarded lantern, he prepared to escort us thither. + +Up the great staircase, now wrapped in mysterious gloom, we passed in +silence with bitter-sweet memories of that day of days when we had first +trodden its steps together: through the Central Saloon, the Mediaeval +Room and the Asiatic Saloon, and so into the long range of the +Ethnographical Galleries. + +It was a weird journey. The swaying lantern shot its beams abroad into +the darkness of the great, dim galleries, casting instantaneous flashes +on the objects in the cases, so that they leaped into being and vanished +in the twinkling of an eye. Hideous idols with round, staring eyes +started forth from the darkness, glared at us for an instant and were +gone. Grotesque masks, suddenly revealed by the shimmering light, took +on the semblance of demon faces that seemed to mow and gibber at us as +we passed. As for the life-sized models--realistic enough by +daylight--their aspect was positively alarming; for the moving light and +shadow endowed them with life and movement, so that they seemed to watch +us furtively, to lie in wait and to hold themselves in readiness to +steal out and follow us. The illusion evidently affected Ruth as well as +me, for she drew nearer to me and whispered: + +"These figures are quite startling. Did you see that Polynesian? I +really felt as if he were going to spring out on us." + +"They are rather uncanny," I admitted, "but the danger is over now. We +are passing out of their sphere of influence." + +We came out on a landing as I spoke and then turned sharply to the left +along the North Gallery, from the centre of which we entered the Fourth +Egyptian Room. + +Almost immediately, a door in the opposite wall opened; a peculiar, +high-pitched humming sound became audible, and Jervis came out on tiptoe +with his hand raised. + +"Tread as lightly as you can," he said. "We are just making an +exposure." + +The attendant turned back with his lantern, and we followed Jervis into +the room from whence he had come. It was a large room, and little +lighter than the galleries, for the single glow-lamp that burned at the +end where we entered left the rest of the apartment in almost complete +obscurity. We seated ourselves at once on the chairs that had been +placed for us, and, when the mutual salutations had been exchanged, I +looked about me. There were three people in the room besides Jervis: +Thorndyke, who sat with his watch in his hand, a grey-headed gentleman +whom I took to be Dr. Norbury, and a smaller person at the dim farther +end--undistinguishable, but probably Polton. At our end of the room were +the two large trays that I had seen in the workshop, now mounted on +trestles and each fitted with a rubber drain-tube leading down to a +bucket. At the farther end of the room the sinister shape of the gallows +reared itself aloft in the gloom; only now I could see that it was not a +gallows at all. For affixed to the top cross-bar was a large, +bottomless glass basin, inside which was a glass bulb that glowed with a +strange green light; and in the heart of the bulb a bright spot of red. + +It was all clear enough so far. The peculiar sound that filled the air +was the hum of the interrupter; the bulb was, of course, a Crookes tube, +and the red spot inside it, the glowing red-hot disc of the +anti-cathode. Clearly an X-ray photograph was being made; but of what? I +strained my eyes, peering into the gloom at the foot of the gallows, but +though I could make out an elongated object lying on the floor directly +under the bulb, I could not resolve the dimly seen shape into anything +recognisable. Presently, however, Dr. Norbury supplied the clue. + +"I am rather surprised," said he, "that you chose so composite an object +as a mummy to begin on. I should have thought that a simpler object, +such as a coffin or a wooden figure, would have been more instructive." + +"In some ways it would," replied Thorndyke, "but the variety of +materials that the mummy gives us has its advantages. I hope your father +is not ill, Miss Bellingham." + +"He is not at all well," said Ruth, "and we agreed that it was better +for me to come alone. I knew Herr Lederbogen quite well. He stayed with +us for a time when he was in England." + +"I trust," said Dr. Norbury, "that I have not troubled you for nothing. +Herr Lederbogen speaks of 'our erratic English friend with the long name +that I can never remember,' and it seemed to me that he might be +referring to your uncle." + +"I should hardly have called my uncle erratic," said Ruth. + +"No, no. Certainly not," Dr. Norbury agreed hastily. "However, you shall +see the letter presently and judge for yourself. We mustn't introduce +irrelevant topics while the experiment is in progress, must we, Doctor?" + +"You had better wait until we have finished," said Thorndyke, "because I +am going to turn out the light. Switch off the current, Polton." + +The green light vanished from the bulb, the hum of the interrupter swept +down an octave or two and died away. Then Thorndyke and Dr. Norbury rose +from their chairs and went towards the mummy, which they lifted tenderly +while Polton drew from beneath it what presently turned out to be a huge +black-paper envelope. The single glow-lamp was switched off, leaving the +room in total darkness, until there burst out suddenly a bright +orange-red light immediately above one of the trays. + +We all gathered round to watch, as Polton--the high-priest of these +mysteries--drew from the black envelope a colossal sheet of bromide +paper, laid it carefully in the tray and proceeded to wet it with a +large brush which he had dipped in a pail of water. + +"I thought you always used plates for this kind of work," said Dr. +Norbury. + +"We do, by preference; but a six-foot plate would be impossible, so I +had a special paper made to the size." + +There is something singularly fascinating in the appearance of a +developing photograph; in the gradual, mysterious emergence of the +picture from the blank, white surface of plate or paper. But a +skiagraph, or X-ray photograph, has a fascination all its own. Unlike +an ordinary photograph, which yields a picture of things already seen, +it gives a presentment of objects hitherto invisible; and hence, when +Polton poured the developer on the already wet paper, we all craned over +the tray with the keenest curiosity. + +The developer was evidently a very slow one. For fully half a minute no +change could be seen in the uniform surface. Then, gradually, almost +insensibly, the marginal portion began to darken, leaving the outline of +the mummy in pale relief. The change, once started, proceeded apace. +Darker and darker grew the margin of the paper until from slaty grey it +had turned to black; and still the shape of the mummy, now in strong +relief, remained an elongated patch of bald white. But not for long. +Presently the white shape began to be tinged with grey, and, as the +colour deepened, there grew out of it a paler form that seemed to steal +out of the enshrouding grey like an apparition, spectral, awesome, +mysterious. The skeleton was coming into view. + +"It is rather uncanny," said Dr. Norbury. "I feel as if I were assisting +at some unholy rite. Just look at it now!" + +The grey shadow of the cartonnage, the wrappings and the flesh was +fading away into the black background and the white skeleton stood out +in sharp contrast. And it certainly was a rather weird spectacle. + +"You'll lose the bones if you develop much farther," said Dr. Norbury. + +"I must let the bones darken," Thorndyke replied, "in case there are any +metallic objects. I have three more papers in the envelope." + +The white shape of the skeleton now began to grey over and, as Dr. +Norbury had said, its distinctness became less and yet less. Thorndyke +leaned over the tray with his eyes fixed on a point in the middle of the +breast and we all watched him in silence. Suddenly he rose. "Now, +Polton," he said sharply; "get the hypo on as quickly as you can." + +Polton, who had been waiting with his hand on the stop-cock of the +drain-tube, rapidly ran off the developer into the bucket and flooded +the paper with the fixing solution. + +"Now we can look at it at our leisure," said Thorndyke. After waiting a +few seconds, he switched on one of the glow-lamps, and as the flood of +light fell on the photograph, he added: "You see we haven't quite lost +the skeleton." + +"No." Dr. Norbury put on a pair of spectacles and bent down over the +tray; and at this moment I felt Ruth's hand touch my arm, lightly, at +first, and then with a strong, nervous grasp; and I could feel that her +hand was trembling. I looked round at her anxiously and saw that she had +turned deathly pale. + +"Would you rather go out into the gallery?" I asked; for the room with +its tightly shut windows was close and hot. + +"No," she replied quietly, "I will stay here. I am quite well." But +still she kept hold of my arm. + +Thorndyke glanced at her keenly and then looked away as Dr. Norbury +turned to him to ask a question. + +"Why is it, think you, that some of the teeth show so much whiter than +others?" + +"I think the whiteness of the shadows is due to the presence of metal," +Thorndyke replied. + +"Do you mean that the teeth have metal fillings?" asked Dr. Norbury. + +"Yes." + +"Really! This is very interesting. The use of gold stoppings--and +artificial teeth, too--by the ancient Egyptians is well known, but we +have no examples in the Museum. This mummy ought to be unrolled. Do you +think all those teeth are filled with the same metal? They are not +equally white." + +"No," replied Thorndyke. "Those teeth that are perfectly white are +undoubtedly filled with gold, but that greyish one is probably filled +with tin." + +"Very interesting," said Dr. Norbury. "_Very_ interesting! And what do +you make of that faint mark across the chest, near the top of the +sternum?" + +It was Ruth who answered his question. + +"It is the Eye of Osiris!" she exclaimed, in a hushed voice. + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Dr. Norbury, "so it is. You are quite right. It is +the Utchat--the Eye of Horus--or Osiris, if you prefer to call it so. +That, I presume, will be a gilded device on some of the wrappings." + +"No: I should say it is a tattoo mark. It is too indefinite for a gilded +device. And I should say further that the tattooing is done in +vermilion, as carbon tattooing would cast no visible shadow." + +"I think you must be mistaken about that," said Dr. Norbury, "but we +shall see, if the Director allows us to unroll the mummy. By the way, +those little objects in front of the knees are metallic, I suppose?" + +"Yes, they are metallic. But they are not in front of the knees; they +are _in_ the knees. They are pieces of silver wire which have been used +to repair fractured knee-caps." + +"Are you sure of that?" exclaimed Dr. Norbury, peering at the little +white marks with ecstasy; "because, if you are, and if these objects are +what you say they are, the mummy of Sebek-hotep is an absolutely unique +specimen." + +"I am quite certain of it," said Thorndyke. + +"Then," said Dr. Norbury, "we have made a discovery, thanks to your +inquiring spirit. Poor John Bellingham! He little knew what a treasure +he was giving us! How I wish he could have known! How I wish he could +have been here with us to-night!" + +He paused once more to gaze in rapture at the photograph. And then +Thorndyke, in his quiet, impassive way, said: + +"John Bellingham is here, Doctor Norbury. This is John Bellingham." + +Dr. Norbury started back and stared at Thorndyke in speechless +amazement. + +"You don't mean," he exclaimed, after a long pause, "that this mummy is +the body of John Bellingham!" + +"I do, indeed. There is no doubt of it." + +"But it is impossible! The mummy was here in the gallery a full three +weeks before he disappeared." + +"Not so," said Thorndyke. "John Bellingham was last seen alive by you +and Mr. Jellicoe on the fourteenth of October, more than three weeks +before the mummy left Queen Square. After that date he was never seen +alive or dead by any person who knew him and could identify him." + +Dr. Norbury reflected awhile in silence. Then, in a faint voice, he +asked: "How do you suggest that John Bellingham's body came to be +inside that cartonnage?" + +"I think Mr. Jellicoe is the most likely person to be able to answer +that question," Thorndyke replied drily. + +There was another interval of silence, and then Dr. Norbury asked +suddenly: + +"But what do you suppose has become of Sebek-hotep? The real +Sebek-hotep, I mean?" + +"I take it," said Thorndyke, "that the remains of Sebek-hotep, or at +least a portion of them, are at present lying in the Woodford mortuary +awaiting an adjourned inquest." + +As Thorndyke made this statement a flash of belated intelligence, +mingled with self-contempt, fell on me. Now that the explanation was +given, how obvious it was! And yet I, a competent anatomist and +physiologist and actually a pupil of Thorndyke's, had mistaken those +ancient bones for the remains of a recent body! + +Dr. Norbury considered the last statement for some time in evident +perplexity. "It is all consistent enough, I must admit," said he, at +length, "and yet--are you quite sure there is no mistake? It seems so +incredible." + +"There is no mistake, I assure you," Thorndyke answered. "To convince +you, I will give you the facts in detail. First, as to the teeth. I have +seen John Bellingham's dentist and obtained particulars from his +case-book. There were in all five teeth that had been filled. The right +upper wisdom-tooth, the molar next to it, and the second lower molar on +the left side, had all extensive gold fillings. You can see them all +quite plainly in the skiagraph. The left lower lateral incisor had a +very small gold filling, which you can see as a nearly circular white +dot. In addition to these, a filling of tin amalgam had been inserted +while the deceased was abroad, in the second left upper bicuspid, the +rather grey spot that we have already noticed. These would, by +themselves, furnish ample means of identification. But in addition, +there is the tattooed device of the Eye of Osiris--" + +"Horus," murmured Dr. Norbury. + +"Horus, then--in the exact locality in which it was borne by the +deceased and tattooed, apparently, with the same pigment. There are, +further, the suture wires in the knee-caps; Sir Morgan Bennet, having +looked up the notes of the operation, informs me that he introduced +three suture wires into the left patella and two into the right; which +is what the skiagraph shows. Lastly, the deceased had an old Pott's +fracture on the left side. It is not very apparent now, but I saw it +quite distinctly just now when the shadows of the bones were whiter. I +think that you may take it that the identification is beyond all doubt +or question." + +"Yes," agreed Dr. Norbury, with gloomy resignation, "it sounds, as you +say, quite conclusive. Well, well, it is a most horrible affair. Poor +old John Bellingham! It looks uncommonly as if he had met with foul +play. Don't you think so?" + +"I do," replied Thorndyke. "There was a mark on the right side of the +skull that looked rather like a fracture. It was not very clear, being +at the side, but we must develop up the next negative to show it." + +Dr. Norbury drew his breath in sharply through his teeth. "This is a +gruesome business, Doctor," said he. "A terrible business. Awkward for +our people, too. By the way, what is our position in the matter? What +steps ought we to take?" + +"You should give notice to the coroner--I will manage the police--and +you should communicate with one of the executors of the will." + +"Mr. Jellicoe?" + +"No, not Mr. Jellicoe, under the peculiar circumstances. You had better +write to Mr. Godfrey Bellingham." + +"But I rather understood that Mr. Hurst was the co-executor," said Dr. +Norbury. + +"He is surely, as matters stand," said Jervis. + +"Not at all," replied Thorndyke. "He _was_ as matters _stood_; but he is +not now. You are forgetting the conditions of clause two. That clause +sets forth the conditions under which Godfrey Bellingham shall inherit +the bulk of the estate and become the co-executor; and those conditions +are: 'that the body of the testator shall be deposited in some +authorised place for the reception of the bodies of the dead, situate +within the boundaries of, or appertaining to some place of worship +within, the parish of St. George, Bloomsbury, and St. Giles in the +Fields or St. Andrew above the Bars and St. George the Martyr.' Now +Egyptian mummies are the bodies of the dead, and this Museum is an +authorised place for their reception; and this building is situate +within the boundaries of the parish of St. George, Bloomsbury. Therefore +the provisions of clause two have been duly carried out and therefore +Godfrey Bellingham is the principal beneficiary under the will, and the +co-executor, in accordance with the wishes of the testator. Is that +quite clear?" + +"Perfectly," said Dr. Norbury; "and a most astonishing coincidence--but, +my dear young lady, had you not better sit down? You are looking very +ill." + +He glanced anxiously at Ruth, who was pale to the lips and was now +leaning heavily on my arm. + +"I think, Berkeley," said Thorndyke, "you had better take Miss +Bellingham out into the gallery, where there is more air. This has been +a tremendous climax to all the trials that she has borne so bravely. Go +out with Berkeley," he added gently, laying his hand on her shoulder, +"and sit down while we develop the other negatives. You mustn't break +down now, you know, when the storm has passed and the sun is beginning +to shine." He held the door open, and as we passed out his face softened +into a smile of infinite kindness. "You won't mind my locking you out," +said he; "this is a photographic dark-room at present." + +The key grated in the lock and we turned away into the dim gallery. It +was not quite dark, for a beam of moonlight filtered in here and there +through the blinds that covered the sky-lights. We walked on slowly, her +arm linked in mine, and for a while neither of us spoke. The great rooms +were very silent and peaceful and solemn. The hush, the stillness, the +mystery of the half-seen forms in the cases around, were all in harmony +with the deeply-felt sense of a great deliverance that filled our +hearts. + +We had passed through into the next room before either of us broke the +silence. Insensibly our hands had crept together, and as they met and +clasped with mutual pressure, Ruth exclaimed: "How dreadful and tragic +it is! Poor, poor Uncle John! It seems as if he had come back from the +world of shadows to tell us of this awful thing. But, O God! what a +relief it is!" She caught her breath in one or two quick sobs and +pressed my hand passionately. + +"It is over, dearest," I said. "It is gone for ever. Nothing remains but +the memory of your sorrow and your noble courage and patience." + +"I can't realise it yet," she murmured. "It has been like a frightful, +interminable dream." + +"Let us put it away," said I, "and think only of the happy life that is +opening." + +She made no reply, and only a quick catch in her breath, now and again, +told of the long agony that she had endured with such heroic calm. + +We walked on slowly, scarcely disturbing the silence with our soft +foot-falls, through the wide doorway into the second room. The vague +shapes of the mummy-cases standing erect in the wall-cases, loomed out +dim and gigantic, silent watchers keeping their vigil with the memories +of untold centuries locked in their shadowy breasts. They were an +awesome company. Reverend survivors from a vanished world, they looked +out from the gloom of their abiding-place, but with no shade of menace +or of malice in their silent presence; rather with a solemn benison on +the fleeting creatures of to-day. + +Half-way along the room a ghostly figure, somewhat aloof from its +companions, showed a dim, pallid blotch where its face would have been. +With one accord we halted before it. + +"Do you know who it is, Ruth?" I asked. + +"Of course I do," she answered. "It is Artemidorus." + +We stood, hand in hand, facing the mummy, letting our memories fill in +the vague silhouette with its well-remembered details. Presently I drew +her nearer to me and whispered: + +"Ruth! do you remember when we last stood here?" + +"As if I could ever forget!" she answered passionately. "Oh, Paul! The +sorrow of it! The misery! How it wrung my heart to tell you! Were you +_very_ unhappy when I left you?" + +"Unhappy! I never knew, until then, what real, heart-breaking sorrow +was. It seemed as if the light had gone out of my life for ever. But +there was just one little spot of brightness left." + +"What was that?" + +"You made me a promise, dear--a solemn promise; and I felt--at least I +hoped--that the day would come, if I only waited patiently, when you +would be able to redeem it." + +She crept closer to me and yet closer, until her head nestled on my +shoulder and her soft cheek lay against mine. + +"Dear heart," I whispered, "is it now? Is the time fulfilled?" + +"Yes, dearest," she murmured softly. "It is now--and for ever." + +Reverently I folded her in my arms; gathered her to the heart that +worshipped her utterly. Henceforth no sorrows could hurt us, no +misfortunes vex; for we should walk hand in hand on our earthly +pilgrimage and find the way all too short. + +Time, whose sands run out with such unequal swiftness for the just and +the unjust, the happy and the wretched, lagged, no doubt, with the +toilers in the room that we had left. But for us its golden grains +trickled out apace and left the glass empty before we had begun to mark +their passage. The turning of a key and the opening of a door aroused us +from our dream of perfect happiness. Ruth raised her head to listen, and +our lips met for one brief moment. Then, with a silent greeting to the +friend who had looked on our grief and witnessed our final happiness, we +turned and retraced our steps quickly, filling the great, empty rooms +with chattering echoes. + +"We won't go back into the dark-room--which isn't dark now," said Ruth. + +"Why not?" I asked. + +"Because--when I came out I was very pale; and I'm--well, I don't think +I am very pale now. Besides, poor Uncle John is in there--and--I should +be ashamed to look at him with my selfish heart overflowing with +happiness." + +"You needn't be," said I. "It is the day of our lives and we have a +right to be happy. But you shan't go in, if you don't wish to," and I +accordingly steered her adroitly past the beam of light that streamed +from the open door. + +"We have developed four negatives," said Thorndyke, as he emerged with +the others, "and I am leaving them in the custody of Doctor Norbury, who +will sign each when they are dry, as they may have to be put in +evidence. What are you going to do?" + +I looked at Ruth to see what she wished. + +"If you won't think me ungrateful," said she, "I should rather be alone +with my father to-night. He is very weak, and--" + +"Yes, I understand," I said hastily. And I did. Mr. Bellingham was a man +of strong emotions and would probably be somewhat overcome by the sudden +change of fortune and the news of his brother's tragic death. + +"In that case," said Thorndyke, "I will bespeak your services. Will you +go on and wait for me at my chambers, when you have seen Miss Bellingham +home?" + +I agreed to this, and we set forth under the guidance of Dr. Norbury +(who carried an electric lamp) to return by the way we had come; two of +us, at least, in a vastly different frame of mind. The party broke up at +the entrance gates, and as Thorndyke wished my companion "Good night," +she held his hand and looked up in his face with swimming eyes. + +"I haven't thanked you, Doctor Thorndyke," she said, "and I don't feel +that I ever can. What you have done for me and my father is beyond all +thanks. You have saved his life and you have rescued me from the most +horrible ignominy. Good-bye! and God bless you!" + +The hansom that bowled along eastward--at most unnecessary speed--bore +two of the happiest human beings within the wide boundaries of the town. +I looked at my companion as the lights of the street shone into the cab, +and was astonished at the transformation. The pallor of her cheek had +given place to a rosy pink; the hardness, the tension, the haggard +self-repression that had aged her face, were all gone, and the girlish +sweetness that had so bewitched me in the early days of our love had +stolen back. Even the dimple was there when the sweeping lashes lifted +and her eyes met mine in a smile of infinite tenderness. Little was said +on that brief journey. It was happiness enough to sit, hand clasped in +hand, and know that our time of trial was past; that no cross of Fate +could ever part us now. + +The astonished cabman set us down, according to instructions, at the +entrance to Nevill's Court, and watched us with open mouth as we +vanished into the narrow passage. The court had settled down for the +night, and no one marked our return; no curious eye looked down on us +from the dark house-front as we said "Good-bye" just inside the gate. + +"You will come and see us to-morrow, dear, won't you?" she asked. + +"Do you think it possible that I could stay away, then?" + +"I hope not. But come as early as you can. My father will be positively +frantic to see you; because I shall have told him, you know. And, +remember, that it is you who have brought us this great deliverance. +Good night, Paul." + +"Good night, sweetheart." + +She put up her face frankly to be kissed and then ran up to the ancient +door; whence she waved me a last good-bye. The shabby gate in the wall +closed behind me and hid her from my sight; but the light of her love +went with me and turned the dull street into a path of glory. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A STRANGE SYMPOSIUM + + +It came upon me with something of a shock of surprise to find the scrap +of paper still tacked to the oak of Thorndyke's chambers. So much had +happened since I had last looked on it that it seemed to belong to +another epoch of my life. I removed it thoughtfully and picked out the +tack before entering, and then, closing the inner door, but leaving the +oak open, I lit the gas and fell to pacing the room. + +What a wonderful episode it had been! How the whole aspect of the world +had been changed in a moment by Thorndyke's revelation! At another time, +curiosity would have led me to endeavour to trace back the train of +reasoning by which the subtle brain of my teacher had attained this +astonishing conclusion. But now my own happiness held exclusive +possession of my thoughts. The image of Ruth filled the field of my +mental vision. I saw her again as I had seen her in the cab with her +sweet, pensive face and downcast eyes; I felt again the touch of her +soft cheek and the parting kiss by the gate, so frank and simple, so +intimate and final. + +I must have waited quite a long time, though the golden minutes sped +unreckoned, for when my two colleagues arrived they tendered needless +apologies. + +"And I suppose," said Thorndyke, "you have been wondering what I wanted +you for." + +I had not, as a matter of fact, given the matter a moment's +consideration. + +"We are going to call on Mr. Jellicoe," Thorndyke explained. "There is +something behind this affair, and until I have ascertained what it is, +the case is not complete from my point of view." + +"Wouldn't it have done as well to-morrow?" I asked. + +"It might; and then it might not. There is an old saying as to catching +a weasel asleep. Mr. Jellicoe is a somewhat wide-awake person, and I +think it best to introduce him to Inspector Badger at the earliest +possible moment." + +"The meeting of a weasel and a badger suggests a sporting interview," +remarked Jervis. "But you don't expect Jellicoe to give himself away, do +you?" + +"He can hardly do that, seeing that there is nothing to give away. But I +think he may make a statement. There were some exceptional +circumstances, I feel sure." + +"How long have you known that the body was in the Museum?" I asked. + +"About thirty or forty seconds longer than you have, I should say." + +"Do you mean," I exclaimed, "that you didn't know until the negative was +developed?" + +"My dear fellow," he replied, "do you suppose that, if I had had certain +knowledge where the body was, I should have allowed that noble girl to +go on dragging out a lingering agony of suspense that I could have cut +short in a moment? Or that I should have made these humbugging pretences +of scientific experiments if a more dignified course had been open to +me?" + +"As to the experiments," said Jervis, "Norbury could hardly have +refused if you had taken him into your confidence." + +"Indeed he could, and probably would. My 'confidence' would have +involved a charge of murder against a highly respectable gentleman who +was well known to him. He would probably have referred me to the police, +and then what could I have done? I had plenty of suspicions, but not a +single solid fact." + +Our discussion was here interrupted by hurried footsteps on the stairs +and a thundering rat-tat on our knocker. + +As Jervis opened the door, Inspector Badger burst into the room in a +highly excited state. + +"What is all this, Doctor Thorndyke?" he asked. "I see you've sworn an +information against Mr. Jellicoe, and I have a warrant to arrest him; +but before anything is done I think it right to tell you that we have +more evidence than is generally known pointing to quite a different +quarter." + +"Derived from Mr. Jellicoe's information," said Thorndyke. "But the fact +is that I have just examined and identified the body at the British +Museum, where it was deposited by Mr. Jellicoe. I don't say that he +murdered John Bellingham--though that is what the appearances +suggest--but I do say that he will have to account for his secret +disposal of the body." + +Inspector Badger was thunderstruck. Also he was visibly annoyed. The +salt which Mr. Jellicoe had so adroitly sprinkled on the constabulary +tail appeared to develop irritating properties, for when Thorndyke had +given him a brief outline of the facts he stuck his hands in his pockets +and exclaimed gloomily: + +"Well, I'm hanged! And to think of all the time and trouble I've spent +on those damned bones! I suppose they were just a plant?" + +"Don't let us disparage them," said Thorndyke. "They have played a +useful part. They represent the inevitable mistake that every criminal +makes sooner or later. The murderer will always do a little too much. If +he would only lie low and let well alone, the detective might whistle +for a clue. But it is time we were starting." + +"Are we all going?" asked the inspector, looking at me in particular +with no very gracious recognition. + +"We will all come with you," said Thorndyke; "but you will, naturally, +make the arrest in the way that seems best to you." + +"It's a regular procession," grumbled the inspector; but he made no more +definite objection, and we started forth on our quest. + +The distance from the Temple to Lincoln's Inn is not great. In five +minutes we were at the gateway in Chancery Lane, and a couple of minutes +later saw us gathered round the threshold of the stately old house in +New Square. + +"Seems to be a light in the first floor front," said Badger. "You'd +better move away before I ring the bell." + +But the precaution was unnecessary. As the inspector advanced to the +bell-pull a head was thrust out of the open window immediately above the +street door. + +"Who are you?" inquired the owner of the head in a voice which I +recognised as that of Mr. Jellicoe. + +"I am Inspector Badger, of the Criminal Investigation Department. I +wish to see Mr. Arthur Jellicoe." + +"Then look at me. I am Mr. Arthur Jellicoe." + +"I hold a warrant for your arrest, Mr. Jellicoe. You are charged with +the murder of Mr. John Bellingham, whose body has just been discovered +in the British Museum." + +"By whom?" + +"By Doctor Thorndyke." + +"Indeed," said Mr. Jellicoe. "Is he here?" + +"Yes." + +"Ha! And you wish to arrest me, I presume?" + +"Yes. That is what I am here for." + +"Well, I will agree to surrender myself subject to certain conditions." + +"I can't make any conditions, Mr. Jellicoe." + +"No. I will make them, and you will accept them. Otherwise you will not +arrest me." + +"It's no use for you to talk like that," said Badger. "If you don't let +me in I shall have to break in. And I may as well tell you," he added +mendaciously, "that the house is surrounded." + +"You may accept my assurance," Mr. Jellicoe replied calmly, "that you +will not arrest me if you do not accept my conditions." + +"Well, what are your conditions?" demanded Badger impatiently. + +"I desire to make a statement," said Mr. Jellicoe. + +"You can do that, but I must caution you that anything you say may be +used in evidence against you." + +"Naturally. But I wish to make the statement in the presence of Doctor +Thorndyke, and I desire to hear a statement from him of the method of +investigation by which he discovered the whereabouts of the body. That +is to say, if he is willing." + +"If you mean that we should mutually enlighten one another, I am very +willing indeed," said Thorndyke. + +"Very well. Then my conditions, Inspector, are that I shall hear Doctor +Thorndyke's statement and that I shall be permitted to make a statement +myself, and that until those statements are completed, with any +necessary interrogation and discussion, I shall remain at liberty and +shall suffer no molestation or interference of any kind. And I agree +that, on the conclusion of the said proceedings, I will submit without +resistance to any course that you may adopt." + +"I can't agree to that," said Badger. + +"Can't you?" said Mr. Jellicoe coldly; and, after a pause, he added: +"Don't be hasty. I have given you full warning." + +There was something in Mr. Jellicoe's passionless tone that disturbed +the inspector exceedingly, for he turned to Thorndyke and said in a low +tone: + +"I wonder what his game is? He can't get away, you know." + +"There are several possibilities," said Thorndyke. + +"M'yes," said Badger, stroking his chin perplexedly. + +"After all, is there any objection? His statement might save trouble, +and you'd be on the safe side. It would take you some time to break in." + +"Well," said Mr. Jellicoe, with his hand on the window, "do you +agree--yes or no?" + +"All right," said Badger sulkily. "I agree." + +"You promise not to molest me in any way until I have quite finished?" + +"I promise." + +Mr. Jellicoe's head disappeared and the window closed. After a short +interval we heard the jar of massive bolts and the clank of a chain, +and, as the heavy door swung open, Mr. Jellicoe stood revealed, calm and +impassive, with an old-fashioned office candlestick in his hand. + +"Who are the others?" he inquired, peering out sharply through his +spectacles. + +"O, they are nothing to do with me," replied Badger. + +"They are Doctor Berkeley and Doctor Jervis," said Thorndyke. + +"Ha!" said Mr. Jellicoe; "very kind and attentive of them to call. Pray +come in, gentlemen. I am sure you will be interested to hear our little +discussion." + +He held the door open with a certain stiff courtesy, and we all entered +the hall led by Inspector Badger. He closed the door softly and preceded +us up the stairs and into the apartment from the window of which he had +dictated the terms of surrender. It was a fine old room, spacious, +lofty, and dignified, with panelled walls and a carved mantelpiece, the +central escutcheon of which bore the initials "J.W.P." with the date +"1671." A large writing-table stood at the farther end, and behind it an +iron safe. + +"I have been expecting this visit," Mr. Jellicoe remarked tranquilly as +he placed four chairs opposite the table. + +"Since when?" asked Thorndyke. + +"Since last Monday evening, when I had the pleasure of seeing you +conversing with my friend Doctor Berkeley at the Inner Temple gate, and +then inferred that you were retained in the case. That was a +circumstance that had not been fully provided for. May I offer you +gentlemen a glass of sherry?" As he spoke he placed on the table a +decanter and a tray of glasses, and looked at us interrogatively with +his hand on the stopper. + +"Well, I don't mind if I do, Mr. Jellicoe," said Badger, on whom the +lawyer's glance had finally settled. Mr. Jellicoe filled a glass and +handed it to him with a stiff bow; then, with the decanter still in his +hand, he said persuasively: "Doctor Thorndyke, pray allow me to fill you +a glass?" + +"No, thank you," said Thorndyke, in a tone so decided that the inspector +looked round at him quickly. And as Badger caught his eye, the glass +which he was about to raise to his lips became suddenly arrested and was +slowly returned to the table untasted. + +"I don't want to hurry you, Mr. Jellicoe," said the inspector, "but it's +rather late, and I should like to get this business settled. What is it +that you wish to do?" + +"I desire," replied Mr. Jellicoe, "to make a detailed statement of the +events that have happened, and I wish to hear from Doctor Thorndyke +precisely how he arrived at his very remarkable conclusion. When this +has been done I shall be entirely at your service; and I suggest that it +would be more interesting if Doctor Thorndyke would give us his +statement before I furnish you with the actual facts." + +"I am entirely of your opinion," said Thorndyke. + +"Then in that case," said Mr. Jellicoe, "I suggest that you disregard +me, and address your remarks to your friends as if I were not present." + +Thorndyke acquiesced with a bow, and Mr. Jellicoe, having seated himself +in his elbow-chair behind the table, poured himself out a glass of +water, selected a cigarette from a neat silver case, lighted it +deliberately, and leaned back to listen at his ease. + +"My first acquaintance with this case," Thorndyke began without +preamble, "was made through the medium of the daily papers about two +years ago; and I may say that, although I had no interest in it beyond +the purely academic interest of a specialist in a case that lies in his +particular specialty, I considered it with deep attention. The newspaper +reports contained no particulars of the relations of the parties that +could furnish any hints as to motives on the part of any of them, but +merely a bare statement of the events. And this was a distinct +advantage, inasmuch as it left one to consider the facts of the case +without regard to motive--to balance the _prima facie_ probabilities +with an open mind. And it may surprise you to learn that those _prima +facie_ probabilities pointed from the very first to that solution which +has been put to the test of experiment this evening. Hence it will be +well for me to begin by giving the conclusions that I reached by +reasoning from the facts set forth in the newspapers before any of the +further facts came to my knowledge. + +"From the facts as stated in the newspaper reports it is obvious that +there were four possible explanations of the disappearance. + +"1. The man might be alive and in hiding. This was highly improbable, +for the reasons that were stated by Mr. Loram at the late hearing of the +application, and for a further reason that I shall mention presently. + +"2. He might have died by accident or disease, and his body failed to be +identified. This was even more improbable, seeing that he carried on his +person abundant means of identification, including visiting cards. + +"3. He might have been murdered by some stranger for the sake of his +portable property. This was highly improbable for the same reason: his +body could hardly have failed to be identified. + +"These three explanations are what we may call the outside explanations. +They touched none of the parties mentioned; they were all obviously +improbable on general grounds; and to all of them there was one +conclusive answer--the scarab which was found in Godfrey Bellingham's +garden. Hence I put them aside and gave my attention to the fourth +explanation. This was that the missing man had been made away with by +one of the parties mentioned in the report. But, since the reports +mentioned three parties, it was evident that there was a choice of three +hypotheses, namely: + +"(_a_) That John Bellingham had been made away with by Hurst; or (_b_) +by the Bellinghams; or (_c_) by Mr. Jellicoe. + +"Now, I have constantly impressed on my pupils that the indispensable +question that must be asked at the outset of such an inquiry as this is, +'When was the missing person last undoubtedly seen or known to be +alive?' That is the question that I asked myself after reading the +newspaper report; and the answer was, that he was last certainly seen +alive on the fourteenth of October, nineteen hundred and two, at 141 +Queen Square, Bloomsbury. Of the fact that he was alive at that time +and place there could be no doubt whatever; for he was seen at the same +moment by two persons, both of whom were intimately acquainted with him, +and one of whom, Doctor Norbury, was apparently a disinterested witness. +After that date he was never seen, alive or dead, by any person who knew +him and was able to identify him. It was stated that he had been seen on +the twenty-third of November following by the housemaid of Mr. Hurst; +but as this person was unacquainted with him, it was uncertain whether +the person whom she saw was or was not John Bellingham. + +"Hence the disappearance dated, not from the twenty-third of November, +as everyone seems to have assumed, but from the fourteenth of October; +and the question was not, 'What became of John Bellingham after he +entered Mr. Hurst's house?' but, 'What became of him after his interview +in Queen Square?' + +"But as soon as I had decided that that interview must form the real +starting-point of the inquiry, a most striking set of circumstances came +into view. It became obvious that if Mr. Jellicoe had had any reason for +wishing to make away with John Bellingham, he had such an opportunity as +seldom falls to the lot of an intending murderer. + +"Just consider the conditions. John Bellingham was known to be setting +out alone upon a journey beyond the sea. His exact destination was not +stated. He was to be absent for an undetermined period, but at least +three weeks. His disappearance would occasion no comment; his absence +would lead to no inquiries, at least for several weeks, during which the +murderer would have leisure quietly to dispose of the body and conceal +all traces of the crime. The conditions were, from a murderer's point of +view, ideal. + +"But that was not all. During that very period of John Bellingham's +absence Mr. Jellicoe was engaged to deliver to the British Museum what +was admittedly a dead human body; and that body was to be enclosed in a +sealed case. Could any more perfect or secure method of disposing of a +body be devised by the most ingenious murderer? The plan would have had +only one weak point: the mummy would be known to have left Queen Square +_after_ the disappearance of John Bellingham, and suspicion might in the +end have arisen. To this point I shall return presently; meanwhile we +will consider the second hypothesis--that the missing man was made away +with by Mr. Hurst. + +"Now, there seemed to be no doubt that some person, purporting to be +John Bellingham, did actually visit Mr. Hurst's house; and he must +either have left that house or remained in it. If he left, he did so +surreptitiously; if he remained, there could be no reasonable doubt that +he had been murdered and that his body had been concealed. Let us +consider the probabilities in each case. + +"Assuming--as everyone seems to have done--that the visitor was really +John Bellingham, we are dealing with a responsible, middle-aged +gentleman, and the idea that such a person would enter a house, announce +his intention of staying, and then steal away unobserved is very +difficult to accept. Moreover, he would appear to have come down to +Eltham by rail immediately on landing in England, leaving his luggage in +the cloak-room at Charing Cross. This pointed to a definiteness of +purpose quite inconsistent with his casual disappearance from the house. + +"On the other hand, the idea that he might have been murdered by Hurst +was not inconceivable. The thing was physically possible. If Bellingham +had really been in the study when Hurst came home, the murder could have +been committed--by appropriate means--and the body temporarily concealed +in the cupboard or elsewhere. But, although possible, it was not at all +probable. There was no real opportunity. The risk and the subsequent +difficulties would be very great; there was not a particle of positive +evidence that a murder had occurred; and the conduct of Hurst in +immediately leaving the house in possession of the servants is quite +inconsistent with the supposition that there was a body concealed in it. +So that, while it is almost impossible to believe that John Bellingham +left the house of his own accord, it is equally difficult to believe +that he did not leave it. + +"But there is a third possibility, which, strange to say, no one seems +to have suggested. Supposing that the visitor was not John Bellingham at +all, but someone who was personating him? That would dispose of the +difficulties completely. The strange disappearance ceases to be strange, +for a personator would necessarily make off before Mr. Hurst should +arrive and discover the imposture. But if we accept this supposition, we +raise two further questions: 'Who was the personator?' and 'What was the +object of the personation?' + +"Now, the personator was clearly not Hurst himself, for he would have +been recognised by his housemaid; he was therefore either Godfrey +Bellingham or Mr. Jellicoe or some other person; and as no other person +was mentioned in the newspaper reports I confined my speculations to +these two. + +"And, first, as to Godfrey Bellingham. It did not appear whether he was +or was not known to the housemaid, so I assumed--wrongly, as it turns +out--that he was not. Then he might have been the personator. But why +should he have personated his brother? He could not have already +committed the murder. There had not been time enough. He would have had +to leave Woodford before John Bellingham had set out from Charing Cross. +And even if he had committed the murder, he would have had no object in +raising this commotion. His cue would have been to remain quiet and know +nothing. The probabilities were all against the personator being Godfrey +Bellingham. + +"Then could it be Mr. Jellicoe? The answer to this question is contained +in the answer to the further question: What could have been the object +of the personation? + +"What motive could this unknown person have had in appearing, announcing +himself as John Bellingham, and forthwith vanishing? There could only +have been one motive: that, namely, of fixing the date of John +Bellingham's disappearance--of furnishing a definite moment at which he +was last seen alive. + +"But who was likely to have had such a motive? Let us see. + +"I said just now that if Mr. Jellicoe had murdered John Bellingham and +disposed of the body in the mummy-case, he would have been absolutely +safe for the time being. But there would be a weak spot in his armour. +For a month or more the disappearance of his client would occasion no +remark. But presently, when he failed to return, inquiries would be set +on foot; and then it would appear that no one had seen him since he left +Queen Square. Then it would be noted that the last person with whom he +was seen was Mr. Jellicoe. It might, further, be remembered that the +mummy had been delivered to the Museum some time _after_ the missing man +was last seen alive. And so suspicion might arise and be followed by +disastrous investigations. But supposing it should be made to appear +that John Bellingham had been seen alive more than a month after his +interview with Mr. Jellicoe and some weeks after the mummy had been +deposited in the Museum? Then Mr. Jellicoe would cease to be in any way +connected with the disappearance, and henceforth would be absolutely +safe. + +"Hence, after carefully considering this part of the newspaper report, I +came to the conclusion that the mysterious occurrence at Mr. Hurst's +house had only one reasonable explanation, namely, that the visitor was +not John Bellingham, but someone personating him; and that that someone +was Mr. Jellicoe. + +"It remains to consider the case of Godfrey Bellingham and his daughter, +though I cannot understand how any sane person can have seriously +suspected either" (here Inspector Badger smiled a sour smile). "The +evidence against them was negligible, for there was nothing to connect +them with the affair save the finding of the scarab on their premises; +and that event, which might have been highly suspicious under other +circumstances, was robbed of any significance by the fact that the +scarab was found on a spot which had been passed a few minutes +previously by the other suspected party, Hurst. The finding of the +scarab did, however, establish two important conclusions; namely, that +John Bellingham had probably met with foul play, and that of the four +persons present when it was found, one at least had had possession of +the body. As to which of the four was the one, the circumstances +furnished only a hint, which was this: If the scarab had been purposely +dropped, the most likely person to find it was the one who dropped it. +And the person who discovered it was Mr. Jellicoe. + +"Following up this hint, if we ask ourselves what motive Mr. Jellicoe +could have had for dropping it--assuming him to be the murderer--the +answer is obvious. It would not be his policy to fix the crime on any +particular person, but rather to set up a complication of conflicting +evidence which would occupy the attention of investigators and divert it +from himself. + +"Of course, if Hurst had been the murderer, he would have had a +sufficient motive for dropping the scarab, so that the case against Mr. +Jellicoe was not conclusive; but the fact that it was he who found it +was highly significant. + +"This completes the analysis of the evidence contained in the original +newspaper report describing the circumstances of the disappearance. The +conclusions that followed from it were, as you will have seen: + +"1. That the missing man was almost certainly dead, as proved by the +finding of the scarab after his disappearance. + +"2. That he had probably been murdered by one or more of four persons, +as proved by the finding of the scarab on the premises occupied by two +of them and accessible to the others. + +"3. That, of those four persons, one--Mr. Jellicoe--was the last person +who was known to have been in the company of the missing man; had had an +exceptional opportunity for committing the murder; and was known to have +delivered a dead body to the Museum subsequently to the disappearance. + +"4. That the supposition that Mr. Jellicoe had committed the murder +rendered all the other circumstances of the disappearance clearly +intelligible, whereas on any other supposition they were quite +inexplicable. + +"The evidence of the newspaper report, therefore, clearly pointed to the +probability that John Bellingham had been murdered by Mr. Jellicoe and +his body concealed in the mummy-case. + +"I do not wish to give you the impression that I, then and there, +believed that Mr. Jellicoe was the murderer. I did not. There was no +reason to suppose that the report contained all the essential facts, and +I merely considered it speculatively as a study in probabilities. But I +did decide that that was the only probable conclusion from the facts +that were given. + +"Nearly two years passed before I heard anything more of the case. Then +it was brought to my notice by my friend, Doctor Berkeley, and I became +acquainted with certain new facts, which I will consider in the order in +which they became known to me. + +"The first new light on the case came from the will. As soon as I had +read that document I felt convinced that there was something wrong. The +testator's evident intention was that his brother should inherit the +property, whereas the construction of the will was such as almost +certainly to defeat that intention. The devolution of the property +depended on the burial clause--clause two; but the burial arrangements +would ordinarily be decided by the executor, who happened to be Mr. +Jellicoe. Thus the will left the disposition of the property under the +control of Mr. Jellicoe, though his action could have been contested. + +"Now, this will, although drawn up by John Bellingham, was executed in +Mr. Jellicoe's office, as is proved by the fact that it was witnessed by +two of his clerks. He was the testator's lawyer, and it was his duty to +insist on the will being properly drawn. Evidently he did nothing of the +kind, and this fact strongly suggested some kind of collusion on his +part with Hurst, who stood to benefit by the miscarriage of the will. +And this was the odd feature in the case; for whereas the party +responsible for the defective provisions was Mr. Jellicoe, the party who +benefited was Hurst. + +"But the most startling peculiarity of the will was the way in which it +fitted the circumstances of the disappearance. It looked as if clause +two had been drawn up with those very circumstances in view. Since, +however, the will was ten years old, this was impossible. But if clause +two could not have been devised to fit the disappearance, could the +disappearance have been devised to fit clause two? That was by no means +impossible: under the circumstances it looked rather probable. And if it +had been so contrived, who was the agent in that contrivance? Hurst +stood to benefit, but there was no evidence that he even knew the +contents of the will. There remained only Mr. Jellicoe, who had +certainly connived at the misdrawing of the will for some purpose of his +own--some dishonest purpose. + +"The evidence of the will, then, pointed to Mr. Jellicoe as the agent +in the disappearance, and, after reading it, I definitely suspected him +of the crime. + +"Suspicion, however, is one thing and proof is another. I had not nearly +enough evidence to justify me in laying an information, and I could not +approach the Museum officials without making a definite accusation. The +great difficulty of the case was that I could discover no motive. I +could not see any way in which Mr. Jellicoe would benefit by the +disappearance. His own legacy was secure, whenever and however the +testator died. The murder and concealment apparently benefited Hurst +alone; and, in the absence of any plausible motive, the facts required +to be much more conclusive than they were." + +"Did you form absolutely no opinion as to motive?" asked Mr. Jellicoe. + +He put the question in a quiet, passionless tone, as if he were +discussing some _cause célèbre_ in which he had nothing more than a +professional interest. Indeed, the calm, impersonal interest that he +displayed in Thorndyke's analysis, his unmoved attention, punctuated by +little nods of approval at each telling point in the argument, were the +most surprising features of this astounding interview. + +"I did form an opinion," replied Thorndyke, "but it was merely +speculative, and I was never able to confirm it. I discovered that about +ten years ago Mr. Hurst had been in difficulties and that he had +suddenly raised a considerable sum of money, no one knew how or on what +security. I observed that this event coincided in time with the +execution of the will, and I surmised that there might be some +connection between them. But that was only a surmise; and, as the +proverb has it, 'He discovers who proves.' I could prove nothing, so +that I never discovered Mr. Jellicoe's motive, and I don't know it now." + +"Don't you, really?" said Mr. Jellicoe, in something approaching a tone +of animation. He laid down the end of his cigarette, and, as he selected +another from the silver case, he continued: "I think that is the most +interesting feature of your really remarkable analysis. It does you +great credit. The absence of motive would have appeared to most persons +a fatal objection to the theory of, what I may call, the prosecution. +Permit me to congratulate you on the consistency and tenacity with which +you have pursued the actual, visible facts." + +He bowed stiffly to Thorndyke (who returned his bow with equal +stiffness), lighted the fresh cigarette, and once more leaned back in +his chair with the calm, attentive manner of a man who is listening to a +lecture or a musical performance. + +"The evidence, then, being insufficient to act upon," Thorndyke resumed, +"there was nothing for it but to wait for some new facts. Now, the study +of a large series of carefully conducted murders brings into view an +almost invariable phenomenon. The cautious murderer, in his anxiety to +make himself secure, does too much; and it is this excess of precaution +that leads to detection. It happens constantly; indeed, I may say that +it always happens--in those murders that are detected; of those that are +not we say nothing--and I had strong hopes that it would happen in this +case. And it did. + +"At the very moment when my client's case seemed almost hopeless, some +human remains were discovered at Sidcup. I read the account of the +discovery in the evening paper, and, scanty as the report was, it +recorded enough facts to convince me that the inevitable mistake had +been made." + +"Did it, indeed?" said Mr. Jellicoe. "A mere, inexpert, hearsay report! +I should have supposed it to be quite valueless from a scientific point +of view." + +"So it was," said Thorndyke. "But it gave the date of the discovery and +the locality, and it also mentioned what bones had been found. Which +were all vital facts. Take the question of time. These remains, after +lying _perdu_ for two years, suddenly come to light just as the +parties--who have also been lying _perdu_--have begun to take action in +respect of the will; in fact, within a week or two of the hearing of the +application. It was certainly a remarkable coincidence. And when the +circumstances that occasioned the discovery were considered, the +coincidence became still more remarkable. For these remains were found +on land actually belonging to John Bellingham, and their discovery +resulted from certain operations (the clearing of the watercress-beds) +carried out on behalf of the absent landlord. But by whose orders were +those works undertaken? Clearly by the orders of the landlord's agent. +But the landlord's agent was known to be Mr. Jellicoe. Therefore these +remains were brought to light at this peculiarly opportune moment by the +action of Mr. Jellicoe. The coincidence, I say again, was very +remarkable. + +"But what instantly arrested my attention on reading the newspaper +report was the unusual manner in which the arm had been separated; for, +besides the bones of the arm proper, there were those of what anatomists +call the 'shoulder-girdle'--the shoulder-blade and collar-bone. This was +very remarkable. It seemed to suggest a knowledge of anatomy, and yet no +murderer, even if he possessed such knowledge, would make a display of +it on such an occasion. It seemed to me that there must be some other +explanation. Accordingly, when other remains had come to light and all +had been collected at Woodford, I asked my friend Berkeley to go down +there and inspect them. He did so, and this is what he found: + +"Both arms had been detached in the same peculiar manner; both were +complete, and all the bones were from the same body. The bones were +quite clean--of soft structures, I mean. There were no cuts, scratches, +or marks on them. There was not a trace of adipocere--the peculiar waxy +soap that forms in bodies that decay in water or in a damp situation. +The right hand had been detached at the time the arm was thrown into the +pond, and the left ring finger had been separated and had vanished. This +latter fact had attracted my attention from the first, but I will leave +its consideration for the moment and return to it later." + +"How did you discover that the hand had been detached?" Mr. Jellicoe +asked. + +"By the submersion marks," replied Thorndyke. "It was lying on the +bottom of the pond in a position which would have been impossible if it +had been attached to the arm." + +"You interest me exceedingly," said Mr. Jellicoe. "It appears that a +medico-legal expert finds 'books in the running brooks, sermons in +bones, and evidence in everything.' But don't let me interrupt you." + +"Doctor Berkeley's observations," Thorndyke resumed, "together with the +medical evidence at the inquest, led me to certain conclusions. + +"Let me first state the facts which were disclosed. + +"The remains which had been assembled formed a complete human skeleton +with the exception of the skull, one finger, and the legs from knee to +ankle, including both knee-caps. This was a very impressive fact; for +the bones that were missing included all those which could have been +identified as belonging or not belonging to John Bellingham; and the +bones that were present were the unidentifiable remainder. + +"It had a suspicious appearance of selection. + +"But the parts that were present were also curiously suggestive. In all +cases the mode of dismemberment was peculiar; for an ordinary person +would have divided the knee-joint leaving the knee-cap attached to the +thigh, whereas it had evidently been left attached to the shin-bone; and +the head would most probably have been removed by cutting through the +neck instead of being neatly detached from the spine. And all these +bones were also entirely free from marks or scratches such as would +naturally occur in an ordinary dismemberment, and all were quite free +from adipocere. And now as to the conclusions which I drew from these +facts. First, there was the peculiar grouping of the bones. What was the +meaning of that? Well, the idea of a punctilious anatomist was obviously +absurd, and I put it aside. But was there any other explanation? Yes, +there was. The bones had appeared in the natural groups that are held +together by ligaments; and they had separated at points where they were +attached principally by muscles. The knee-cap, for instance, which +really belongs to the thigh, is attached to it by muscle, but to the +shin-bone by a stout ligament. And so with the bones of the arm; they +are connected to one another by ligaments; but to the trunk only by +muscle, excepting at one end of the collar-bone. + +"But this was a very significant fact. Ligament decays much more slowly +than muscle, so that in a body of which the muscles had largely decayed +the bones might still be held together by ligament. The peculiar +grouping therefore suggested that the body had been partly reduced to a +skeleton before it was dismembered; that it had then been merely pulled +apart and not divided with a knife. + +"This suggestion was remarkably confirmed by the total absence of +knife-cuts or scratches. + +"Then there was the fact that all the bones were quite free from +adipocere. Now, if an arm or a thigh should be deposited in water and +left undisturbed to decay, it is certain that large masses of adipocere +would be formed. Probably more than half of the flesh would be converted +into this substance. The absence of adipocere therefore proved that the +bulk of the flesh had disappeared or been removed from the bones before +they were deposited in the pond. That, in fact, it was not a body, but a +skeleton, that had been deposited. + +"But what kind of skeleton? If it was the recent skeleton of a murdered +man, then the bones had been carefully stripped of flesh so as to leave +the ligaments intact. But this was highly improbable; for there could be +no object in preserving the ligaments. And the absence of scratches was +against this view. + +"Then they did not appear to be graveyard bones. The collection was too +complete. It is very rare to find a graveyard skeleton of which many of +the small bones are not missing. And such bones are usually more or +less weathered and friable. + +"They did not appear to be bones such as may be bought at an +osteological dealer's, for these usually have perforations to admit the +macerating fluid to the marrow cavities. Dealers' bones, too, are very +seldom all from the same body; and the small bones of the hand are +drilled with holes to enable them to be strung on catgut. + +"They were not dissecting-room bones, as there was no trace of red-lead +in the openings for the nutrient arteries. + +"What the appearances did suggest was that these were parts of a body +which had decayed in a very dry atmosphere (in which no adipocere would +be formed), and which had been pulled or broken apart. Also that the +ligaments which held the body--or rather skeleton--together were brittle +and friable, as suggested by the detached hand, which had probably +broken off accidentally. But the only kind of body that completely +answers this description is an Egyptian mummy. A mummy, it is true, has +been more or less preserved; but on exposure to the air of such a +climate as ours it perishes rapidly, the ligaments being the last of the +soft parts to disappear. + +"The hypothesis that these bones were parts of a mummy naturally +suggested Mr. Jellicoe. If he had murdered John Bellingham and concealed +his body in the mummy-case, he would have a spare mummy on his hands, +and that mummy would have been exposed to the air and to somewhat rough +handling. + +"A very interesting circumstance connected with these remains was that +the ring finger was missing. Now, fingers have on sundry occasions been +detached from dead hands for the sake of the rings on them. But in such +cases the object has been to secure a valuable ring uninjured. If this +hand was the hand of John Bellingham, there was no such object. The +purpose was to prevent identification; and that purpose would have been +more easily, and much more completely, achieved by sacrificing the ring, +by filing through it or breaking it off the finger. The appearances, +therefore, did not quite agree with the apparent purpose. + +"Then, could there be any other purpose with which they agreed better? +Yes, there could. + +"If it had happened that John Bellingham were known to have worn a ring +on that finger, and especially if that ring fitted tightly, the removal +of the finger would serve a very useful purpose. It would create an +impression that the finger had been removed on account of a ring, to +prevent identification; which impression would, in turn, produce a +suspicion that the hand was that of John Bellingham. And yet it would +not be evidence that could be used to establish identity. Now, if Mr. +Jellicoe were the murderer and had the body hidden elsewhere, vague +suspicion would be precisely what he would desire, and positive evidence +what he would wish to avoid. + +"It transpired later that John Bellingham did wear a ring on that finger +and that the ring fitted very tightly. Whence it followed that the +absence of the finger was an additional point tending to implicate Mr. +Jellicoe. + +"And now let us briefly review this mass of evidence. You will see that +it consists of a multitude of items, each either trivial or speculative. +Up to the time of the actual discovery I had not a single crucial fact, +nor any clue as to motive. But, slight as the individual points of +evidence were, they pointed with impressive unanimity to one person--Mr. +Jellicoe. Thus: + +"The person who had the opportunity to commit the murder and dispose of +the body was Mr. Jellicoe. + +"The deceased was last certainly seen alive with Mr. Jellicoe. + +"An unidentified human body was delivered to the Museum by Mr. Jellicoe. + +"The only person who could have a motive for personating the deceased +was Mr. Jellicoe. + +"The only known person who could possibly have done so was Mr. Jellicoe. + +"One of the two persons who could have had a motive for dropping the +scarab was Mr. Jellicoe. The person who found that scarab was Mr. +Jellicoe, although, owing to his defective eyesight and his spectacles, +he was the most unlikely person of those present to find it. + +"The person who was responsible for the execution of the defective will +was Mr. Jellicoe. + +"Then as to the remains. They were apparently not those of John +Bellingham, but parts of a particular kind of body. But the only person +who was known to have had such a body in his possession was Mr. +Jellicoe. + +"The only person who could have had any motive for substituting those +remains for the remains of the deceased was Mr. Jellicoe. + +"Finally, the person who caused the discovery of those remains at that +singularly opportune moment was Mr. Jellicoe. + +"This was the sum of the evidence that was in my possession up to the +time of the hearing, and, indeed, for some time after, and it was not +enough to act upon. But when the case had been heard in Court, it was +evident either that the proceedings would be abandoned--which was +unlikely--or that there would be new developments. + +"I watched the progress of events with profound interest. An attempt had +been made (by Mr. Jellicoe or some other person) to get the will +administered without producing the body of John Bellingham; and that +attempt had failed. The coroner's jury had refused to identify the +remains; the Probate Court had refused to presume the death of the +testator. As affairs stood, the will could not be administered. + +"What would be the next move? + +"It was virtually certain that it would consist in the production of +something which would identify the unrecognised remains as those of the +testator. + +"But what would that something be? + +"The answer to that question would contain the answer to another +question: Was my solution of the mystery the true solution? + +"If I was wrong, it was possible that some of the undoubtedly genuine +bones of John Bellingham might presently be discovered; for instance, +the skull, the knee-cap, or the left fibula, by any of which the remains +could be positively identified. + +"If I was right, only one thing could possibly happen. Mr. Jellicoe +would have to play the trump card that he had been holding back in case +the Court should refuse the application; a card that he was evidently +reluctant to play. + +"He would have to produce the bones of the mummy's finger, together +with John Bellingham's ring. No other course was possible. + +"But not only would the bones and the ring have to be found together. +They would have to be found in a place which was accessible to Mr. +Jellicoe, and so far under his control that he could determine the exact +time when the discovery should be made. + +"I waited patiently for the answer to my question. Was I right or was I +wrong? + +"And in due course, the answer came. + +"The bones and the ring were discovered in the well in the grounds of +Godfrey Bellingham's late house. That house was the property of John +Bellingham. Mr. Jellicoe was John Bellingham's agent. Hence it was +practically certain that the date on which the well was emptied was +settled by Mr. Jellicoe. + +"The Oracle had spoken. + +"The discovery proved conclusively that the bones were not those of John +Bellingham (for if they had been the ring would have been unnecessary +for identification). But if the bones were not John Bellingham's, the +ring was; from which followed the important corollary that whoever had +deposited those bones in the well had had possession of the body of John +Bellingham. And there could be no doubt that that person was Mr. +Jellicoe. + +"On receiving this final confirmation of my conclusions, I applied +forthwith to Doctor Norbury for permission to examine the mummy of +Sebek-hotep, with the result that you are already acquainted with." + +As Thorndyke concluded, Mr. Jellicoe regarded him thoughtfully for a +moment, and then said: "You have given us a most complete and lucid +exposition of your method of investigation, sir. I have enjoyed it +exceedingly, and should have profited by it hereafter--under other +circumstances. Are you sure you won't allow me to fill your glass?" He +touched the stopper of the decanter, and Inspector Badger ostentatiously +consulted his watch. + +"Time is running on, I fear," said Mr. Jellicoe. + +"It is, indeed," Badger assented emphatically. + +"Well, I need not detain you long," said the lawyer. "My statement is a +mere narration of events. But I desire to make it, and you, no doubt, +will be interested to hear it." + +He opened the silver case and selected a fresh cigarette, which, +however, he did not light. Inspector Badger produced a funereal +notebook, which he laid open on his knee; and the rest of us settled +ourselves in our chairs with no little curiosity to hear Mr. Jellicoe's +statement. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE END OF THE CASE + + +A profound silence had fallen on the room and its occupants. Mr. +Jellicoe sat with his eyes fixed on the table as if deep in thought, the +unlighted cigarette in one hand, the other grasping the tumbler of +water. Presently Inspector Badger coughed impatiently and he looked up. +"I beg your pardon, gentlemen," he said. "I am keeping you waiting." + +He took a sip from the tumbler, opened a matchbox and took out a match, +but apparently altering his mind, laid it down and commenced: + +"The unfortunate affair which has brought you here to-night, had its +origin ten years ago. At that time my friend Hurst became suddenly +involved in financial difficulties--am I speaking too fast for you, Mr. +Badger?" + +"No, not at all," replied Badger. "I am taking it down in shorthand." + +"Thank you," said Mr. Jellicoe. "He became involved in serious +difficulties and came to me for assistance. He wished to borrow five +thousand pounds to enable him to meet his engagements. I had a certain +amount of money at my disposal, but I did not consider Hurst's security +satisfactory; accordingly I felt compelled to refuse. But on the very +next day, John Bellingham called on me with the draft of his will which +he wished me to look over before it was executed. + +"It was an absurd will, and I nearly told him so; but then an idea +occurred to me in connection with Hurst. It was obvious to me, as soon +as I had glanced through the will, that, if the burial clause was left +as the testator had drafted it, Hurst had a very good chance of +inheriting the property; and, as I was named as the executor, I should +be able to give full effect to that clause. Accordingly, I asked for a +few days to consider the will, and I then called upon Hurst and made a +proposal to him; which was this: That I should advance him five thousand +pounds without security; that I should ask for no repayment, but that he +should assign to me any interest that he might have or acquire in the +estate of John Bellingham up to ten thousand pounds, or two-thirds of +any sum that he might inherit if over that amount. He asked if John had +yet made any will, and I replied, quite correctly, that he had not. He +inquired if I knew what testamentary arrangements John intended to make, +and again I answered, quite correctly, that I believed that John +proposed to devise the bulk of his property to his brother, Godfrey. + +"Thereupon, Hurst accepted my proposal; I made him the advance and he +executed the assignment. After a few days' delay, I passed the will as +satisfactory. The actual document was written from the draft by the +testator himself; and a fortnight after Hurst had executed the +assignment, John signed the will in my office. By the provisions of that +will I stood an excellent chance of becoming virtually the principal +beneficiary, unless Godfrey should contest Hurst's claim and the Court +should override the conditions of clause two. + +"You will now understand the motives which governed my subsequent +actions. You will also see, Doctor Thorndyke, how very near to the truth +your reasoning carried you; and you will understand, as I wish you to +do, that Mr. Hurst was no party to any of those proceedings which I am +about to describe. + +"Coming now to the interview in Queen Square in October, nineteen +hundred and two, you are aware of the general circumstances from my +evidence in Court, which was literally correct up to a certain point. +The interview took place in a room on the third floor, in which were +stored the cases which John had brought with him from Egypt. The mummy +was unpacked, as were some other objects that he was not offering to the +Museum, but several cases were still unopened. At the conclusion of the +interview I accompanied Doctor Norbury down to the street door, and we +stood on the doorstep conversing for perhaps a quarter of an hour. Then +Doctor Norbury went away and I returned upstairs. + +"Now the house in Queen Square is virtually a museum. The upper part is +separated from the lower by a massive door which opens from the hall and +gives access to the staircase, and which is fitted with a Chubb +night-latch. There are two latchkeys, of which John used to keep one and +I the other. You will find them both in the safe behind me. The +caretaker had no key and no access to the upper part of the house unless +admitted by one of us. + +"At the time when I came in, after Doctor Norbury had left, the +caretaker was in the cellar, where I could hear him breaking coke for +the hot-water furnace. I had left John on the third floor opening some +of the packing cases by the light of a lamp with a tool somewhat like a +plasterer's hammer; that is, a hammer with a small axe-blade at the +reverse of the head. As I stood talking to Doctor Norbury, I could hear +him knocking out the nails and wrenching up the lids; and when I entered +the doorway leading to the stairs, I could still hear him. Just as I +closed the staircase door behind me, I heard a rumbling noise from +above; then all was still. + +"I went up the stairs to the second floor, where, as the staircase was +all in darkness, I stopped to light the gas. As I turned to ascend the +next flight, I saw a hand projecting over the edge of the half-way +landing. I ran up the stairs, and there, on the landing, I saw John +lying huddled up in a heap at the foot of the top flight. There was a +wound at the side of his forehead from which a little blood was +trickling. The case-opener lay on the floor close by him and there was +blood on the axe-blade. When I looked up the stairs I saw a rag of torn +matting hanging over the top stair. + +"It was quite easy to see what had happened. He had walked quickly out +on the landing with the case-opener in his hand. His foot had caught in +the torn matting and he had pitched head foremost down the stairs, still +holding the case-opener. He had fallen so that his head had come down on +the upturned edge of the axe-blade; he had then rolled over and the +case-opener had dropped from his hand. + +"I lit a wax match and stooped down to look at him. His head was in a +very peculiar position, which made me suspect that his neck was broken. +There was extremely little bleeding from the wound; he was perfectly +motionless; I could detect no sign of breathing; and I felt no doubt +that he was dead. + +"It was an exceedingly regrettable affair, and it placed me, as I +perceived at once, in an extremely awkward position. My first impulse +was to send the caretaker for a doctor and a policeman; but a moment's +reflection convinced me that there were serious objections to this +course. + +"There was nothing to show that I had not, myself, knocked him down with +the case-opener. Of course, there was nothing to show that I had; but we +were alone in the house with the exception of the caretaker, who was +down in the basement out of ear-shot. + +"There would be an inquest. At the inquest, inquiries would be made as +to the will which was known to exist. But, as soon as the will was +produced, Hurst would become suspicious. He would probably make a +statement to the coroner and I should be charged with the murder. Or, +even if I were not charged, Hurst would suspect me and would probably +repudiate the assignment; and, under the circumstances, it would be +practically impossible for me to enforce it. He would refuse to pay and +I could not take my claim into Court. + +"I sat down on the stairs just above poor John's body and considered the +matter in detail. At the worst, I stood a fair chance of hanging; at the +best, I stood to lose close upon fifty thousand pounds. These were not +pleasant alternatives. + +"Supposing, on the other hand, I concealed the body and gave out that +John had gone to Paris. There was, of course, the risk of discovery, in +which case I should certainly be convicted of the murder. But if no +discovery occurred, I was not only safe from suspicion, but I secured +the fifty thousand pounds. In either case there was considerable risk, +but in one there was the certainty of loss, whereas in the other there +was a material advantage to justify the risk. The question was whether +it would be possible to conceal the body. If it were, then the +contingent profit was worth the slight additional risk. But a human body +is a very difficult thing to dispose of, especially to a person of so +little scientific culture as myself. + +"It is curious that I considered this question for a quite considerable +time before the obvious solution presented itself. I turned over at +least a dozen methods of disposing of the body, and rejected them all as +impracticable. Then, suddenly, I remembered the mummy upstairs. + +"At first it only occurred to me as a fantastic possibility that I could +conceal the body in the mummy-case. But as I turned over the idea, I +began to see that it was really practicable; and not only practicable +but easy; and not only easy but eminently safe. If once the mummy-case +was in the Museum, I was rid of it for ever. + +"The circumstances were, as you, sir, have justly observed, singularly +favourable. There would be no hue and cry, no hurry, no anxiety; but +ample time for all the necessary preparations. Then the mummy-case +itself was curiously suitable. Its length was ample, as I knew from +having measured it. It was a cartonnage of rather flexible material and +had an opening behind, secured with a lacing so that it could be opened +without injury. Nothing need be cut but the lacing, which could be +replaced. A little damage might be done in extracting the mummy and in +introducing the deceased; but such cracks as might occur would all be +at the back and would be of no importance. For here again Fortune +favoured me. The whole of the back of the mummy-case was coated with +bitumen, and it would be easy when once the deceased was safely inside +to apply a fresh coat, which would cover up not only the cracks but also +the new lacing. + +"After careful consideration, I decided to adopt the plan. I went +downstairs and sent the caretaker on an errand to the Law Courts. Then I +returned and carried the deceased up to one of the third-floor rooms, +where I removed his clothes and laid him out on a long packing-case in +the position in which he would lie in the mummy-case. I folded his +clothes neatly and packed them, with the exception of his boots, in a +suit-case that he had been taking to Paris and which contained nothing +but his night-clothes, toilet articles, and a change of linen. By the +time I had done this and thoroughly washed the oilcloth on the stairs +and landing, the caretaker had returned. I informed him that Mr. +Bellingham had started for Paris and then I went home. The upper part of +the house was, of course, secured by the Chubb lock, but I had also--_ex +abundantiâ cautelae_--locked the door of the room in which I had +deposited the deceased. + +"I had, of course, some knowledge of the methods of embalming, but +principally of those employed by the ancients. Hence, on the following +day, I went to the British Museum library and consulted the most recent +works on the subject; and exceedingly interesting they were, as showing +the remarkable improvements that modern knowledge had effected in this +ancient art. I need not trouble you with details that are familiar to +you. The process that I selected as the simplest for a beginner was +that of formalin injection, and I went straight from the Museum to +purchase the necessary materials. I did not, however, buy an embalming +syringe: the book stated that an ordinary anatomical injecting syringe +would answer the purpose, and I thought it a more discreet purchase. + +"I fear that I bungled the injection terribly, although I had carefully +studied the plates in a treatise on anatomy--Gray's, I think. However, +if my methods were clumsy, they were quite effectual. I carried out the +process on the evening of the third day; and when I locked up the house +that night, I had the satisfaction of knowing that poor John's remains +were secure from corruption and decay. + +"But this was not enough. The great weight of a fresh body as compared +with that of a mummy would be immediately noticed by those who had the +handling of the mummy-case. Moreover, the damp from the body would +quickly ruin the cartonnage and would cause a steamy film on the inside +of the glass case in which it would be exhibited. And this would +probably lead to an examination. Clearly, then, it was necessary that +the remains of the deceased should be thoroughly dried before they were +enclosed in the cartonnage. + +"Here my unfortunate deficiency in scientific knowledge was a great +drawback. I had no idea how this result would be achieved, and in the +end was compelled to consult a taxidermist, to whom I represented that I +wished to collect small animals and reptiles and rapidly dry them for +convenience of transport. By this person I was advised to immerse the +dead animals in a jar of methylated spirit for a week and then expose +them in a current of warm, dry air. + +"But the plan of immersing the remains of the deceased in a jar of +methylated spirit was obviously impracticable. However, I bethought me +that we had in our collection a porphyry sarcophagus, the cavity of +which had been shaped to receive a small mummy in its case. I tried the +deceased in the sarcophagus and found that he just fitted the cavity +loosely. I obtained a few gallons of methylated spirit which I poured +into the cavity, just covering the body, and then I put on the lid and +luted it down air-tight with putty. I trust I do not weary you with +these particulars?" + +"I'll ask you to cut it as short as you can, Mr. Jellicoe," said Badger. +"It has been a long yarn and time is running on." + +"For my part," said Thorndyke, "I find these details deeply interesting +and instructive. They fill in the outline that I had drawn by +inference." + +"Precisely," said Mr. Jellicoe; "then I will proceed. + +"I left the deceased soaking in the spirit for a fortnight and then took +him out, wiped him dry, and laid him on four cane-bottomed chairs just +over the hot-water pipes. I turned off the hot water in the other rooms +so as to concentrate the heat in these pipes, and I let a free current +of air pass through the room. The result interested me exceedingly. By +the end of the third day the hands and feet had become quite dry and +shrivelled and horny--so that the ring actually dropped off the shrunken +finger--the nose looked like a fold of parchment; and the skin of the +body was so dry and smooth that you could have engrossed a lease on it. +For the first day or two I turned the deceased at intervals so that he +should dry evenly, and then I proceeded to get the case ready. I +divided the lacing and extracted the mummy with great care--with great +care as to the case, I mean; for the mummy suffered some injury in the +extraction. It was very badly embalmed, and so brittle that it broke in +several places while I was getting it out; and when I unrolled it the +head separated and both the arms came off. + +"On the sixth day after the removal from the sarcophagus, I took the +bandages that I had removed from Sebek-hotep and very carefully wrapped +the deceased in them, sprinkling powdered myrrh and gum benzoin freely +on the body and between the folds of the wrappings to disguise the faint +odour of the spirit and the formalin that still lingered about the body. +When the wrappings had been applied, the deceased really had a most +workmanlike appearance; he would have looked quite well in a glass case +even without the cartonnage, and I felt almost regretful at having to +put him out of sight for ever. + +"It was a difficult business getting him into the case without +assistance, and I cracked the cartonnage badly in several places before +he was safely enclosed. But I got him in at last, and then, when I had +closed up the case with a new lacing, I applied a fresh layer of bitumen +which effectually covered up the cracks and the new cord. A dusty cloth +dabbed over the bitumen when it was dry disguised its newness, and the +cartonnage with its tenant was ready for delivery. I notified Doctor +Norbury of the fact, and five days later he came and removed it to the +Museum. + +"Now that the main difficulty was disposed of, I began to consider the +further difficulty to which you, sir, have alluded with such admirable +perspicuity. It was necessary that John Bellingham should make one more +appearance in public before sinking into final oblivion. + +"Accordingly, I devised the visit to Hurst's house, which was calculated +to serve two purposes. It created a satisfactory date for the +disappearance, eliminating me from any connection with it, and by +throwing some suspicion on Hurst it would make him more amenable--less +likely to dispute my claim when he learned the provisions of the will. + +"The affair was quite simple. I knew that Hurst had changed his servants +since I was last at his house, and I knew his habits. On that day I took +the suit-case to Charing Cross and deposited it in the cloak-room, +called at Hurst's office to make sure that he was there, and went from +thence direct to Cannon Street and caught the train to Eltham. On +arriving at the house, I took the precaution to remove my +spectacles--the only distinctive feature of my exterior--and was duly +shown into the study at my request. As soon as the housemaid had left +the room I quietly let myself out by the French window, which I closed +behind me but could not fasten, went out at the side gate and closed +that also behind me, holding the bolt of the latch back with my +pocket-knife so that I need not slam the gate to shut it. + +"The other events of that day, including the dropping of the scarab, I +need not describe, as they are known to you. But I may fitly make a few +remarks on the unfortunate tactical error into which I fell in respect +of the bones. That error arose, as you have doubtless perceived, from +the lawyer's incurable habit of underestimating the scientific expert. I +had no idea that mere bones were capable of furnishing so much +information to a man of science. + +"The way in which the affair came about was this: The damaged mummy of +Sebek-hotep, perishing gradually by exposure to the air, was not only an +eyesore to me: it was a definite danger. It was the only remaining link +between me and the disappearance. I resolved to be rid of it and cast +about for some means of destroying it. And then, in an evil moment, the +idea of utilising it occurred to me. + +"There was an undoubted danger that the Court might refuse to presume +death after so short an interval; and if the permission should be +postponed, the will might never be administered during my lifetime. +Hence, if these bones of Sebek-hotep could be made to simulate the +remains of the deceased testator, a definite good would be achieved. But +I knew that the entire skeleton could never be mistaken for his. The +deceased had broken his knee-caps and damaged his ankle, injuries which +I assumed would leave some permanent trace. But if a judicious selection +of the bones were deposited in a suitable place, together with some +object clearly identifiable as appertaining to the deceased, it seemed +to me that the difficulty would be met. I need not trouble you with +details. The course which I adopted is known to you with the attendant +circumstances, even to the accidental detachment of the right +hand--which broke off as I was packing the arm in my handbag. Erroneous +as that course was, it would have been successful but for the unforeseen +contingency of your being retained in the case. + +"Thus, for nearly two years, I remained in complete security. From time +to time I dropped in at the museum to see if the deceased was keeping +in good condition; and on those occasions I used to reflect with +satisfaction on the gratifying circumstance--accidental though it +was--that his wishes, as expressed (very imperfectly) in clause two, had +been fully complied with, and that without prejudice to my interests. + +"The awakening came on that evening when I saw you at the Temple gate +talking with Doctor Berkeley. I suspected immediately that something had +gone amiss and that it was too late to take any useful action. Since +then, I have waited here in hourly expectation of this visit. And now +the time has come. You have made the winning move and it remains only +for me to pay my debts like an honest gambler." + +He paused and quietly lit his cigarette. Inspector Badger yawned and put +away his note-book. + +"Have you done, Mr. Jellicoe?" the inspector asked. "I want to carry out +my contract to the letter, you know, though it's getting devilish late." + +Mr. Jellicoe took his cigarette from his mouth and drank a glass of +water. + +"I forgot to ask," he said, "whether you unrolled the mummy--if I may +apply the term to the imperfectly treated remains of my deceased +client." + +"I did not open the mummy-case," replied Thorndyke. + +"You did not!" exclaimed Mr. Jellicoe. "Then how did you verify your +suspicions?" + +"I took an X-ray photograph." + +"Ah! Indeed!" Mr. Jellicoe pondered for some moments. "Astonishing!" he +murmured; "and most ingenious. The resources of science at the present +day are truly wonderful." + +"Is there anything more that you want to say?" asked Badger; "because, +if you don't, time's up." + +"Anything more?" Mr. Jellicoe repeated slowly; "anything more? +No--I--think--think--the time--is--up. Yes--the--the time--" + +He broke off and sat with a strange look fixed on Thorndyke. + +His face had suddenly undergone a curious change. It looked shrunken and +cadaverous and his lips had assumed a peculiar cherry-red colour. + +"Is anything the matter, Mr. Jellicoe?" Badger asked uneasily. "Are you +not feeling well, sir?" + +Mr. Jellicoe did not appear to have heard the question, for he returned +no answer, but sat motionless, leaning back in his chair, with his hands +spread out on the table and his strangely intent gaze bent on Thorndyke. + +Suddenly his head dropped on his breast and his body seemed to collapse; +and as with one accord we sprang to our feet, he slid forward off his +chair and disappeared under the table. + +"Good Lord! The man's fainted!" exclaimed Badger. + +In a moment he was down on his hands and knees, trembling with +excitement, groping under the table. He dragged the unconscious lawyer +out into the light and knelt over him, staring into his face. + +"What's the matter with him, Doctor?" he asked, looking up at Thorndyke. +"Is it apoplexy? Or is it a heart attack, think you?" + +Thorndyke shook his head, though he stooped and put his fingers on the +unconscious man's wrist. "Prussic acid or potassium cyanide is what the +appearances suggest," he replied. + +"But can't you do anything?" demanded the inspector. + +Thorndyke dropped the arm, which fell limply to the floor. + +"You can't do much for a dead man," he said. + +"Dead! Then he has slipped through our fingers after all!" + +"He has anticipated the sentence. That is all." Thorndyke spoke in an +even, impassive tone which struck me as rather strange, considering the +suddenness of the tragedy, as did also the complete absence of surprise +in his manner. He seemed to treat the occurrence as a perfectly natural +one. + +Not so Inspector Badger; who rose to his feet and stood with his hands +thrust into his pockets scowling sullenly down at the dead lawyer. + +"I was an infernal fool to agree to his blasted conditions," he growled +savagely. + +"Nonsense," said Thorndyke. "If you had broken in, you would have found +a dead man. As it was you found a live man and obtained an important +statement. You acted quite properly." + +"How do you suppose he managed it?" asked Badger. + +Thorndyke held out his hand. "Let us look at his cigarette-case," said +he. + +Badger extracted the little silver case from the dead man's pocket and +opened it. There were five cigarettes in it, two of which were plain, +while the other three were gold-tipped. Thorndyke took out one of each +kind and gently pinched their ends. The gold-tipped one he returned; +the plain one he tore through, about a quarter of an inch from the end; +when two little white tabloids dropped out on the table. Badger eagerly +picked one up and was about to smell it when Thorndyke grasped his +wrist. "Be careful," said he; and when he had cautiously sniffed at the +tabloid--held at a safe distance from his nose--he added: "Yes, +potassium cyanide. I thought so when his lips turned that queer colour. +It was in that last cigarette; you can see that he has bitten off the +end." + +For some time we stood silently looking down at the still form stretched +on the floor. Presently Badger looked up. + +"As you pass the porter's lodge on your way out," said he, "you might +just drop in and tell him to send a constable to me." + +"Very well," said Thorndyke. "And by the way, Badger, you had better tip +that sherry back into the decanter and put it under lock and key, or +else pour it out of the window." + +"Gad, yes!" exclaimed the inspector. "I'm glad you mentioned it. We +might have had an inquest on a constable as well as a lawyer. Good +night, gentlemen, if you are off." + +We went out and left him with his prisoner--passive enough, indeed, +according to his ambiguously worded promise. As we passed through the +gateway Thorndyke gave the inspector's message, curtly and without +comment, to the gaping porter, and then we issued forth into Chancery +Lane. + +We were all silent and very grave, and I thought that Thorndyke seemed +somewhat moved. Perhaps Mr. Jellicoe's last intent look--which I suspect +he knew to be the look of a dying man--lingered in his memory as it did +in mine. Half-way down Chancery Lane he spoke for the first time; and +then it was only to ejaculate, "Poor devil!" + +Jervis took him up. "He was a consummate villain, Thorndyke." + +"Hardly that," was the reply. "I should rather say that he was +non-moral. He acted without malice and without scruple or remorse. His +conduct exhibited a passionless expediency which was rather dreadful +because utterly unhuman. But he was a strong man--a courageous, +self-contained man, and I had been better pleased if it could have been +ordained that some other hand than mine should let the axe fall." + +Thorndyke's compunction may appear strange and inconsistent, but yet his +feeling was also my own. Great as were the misery and suffering that +this inscrutable man had brought into the lives of those I loved, I +forgave him; and in his downfall forgot the callous relentlessness with +which he had pursued his evil purpose. For he it was who had brought +Ruth into my life; who had opened for me the Paradise of Love into which +I had just entered. And so my thoughts turned away from the still shape +that lay on the floor of the stately old room in Lincoln's Inn, away to +the sunny vista of the future, where I should walk hand in hand with +Ruth until my time, too, should come; until I, too, like the grim +lawyer, should hear the solemn evening bell bidding me put out into the +darkness of the silent sea. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10476 *** |