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 more remarkable still. 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 mus