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 favor, and I am
awaiting 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 inward. 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 favor 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 sympathized with
him. Finally he blew a little cloud and commenced:

"The position appears to be this: Here is a man 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 die