t 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 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 the knee
to the 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
shinbone; 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 almost entirely free from marks or scratches such
as woul