view which we had
journeyed from Chancery Lane to Wapping.

This was the body of a man dressed solely in ragged shirt and trousers.
But the remarkable feature of his appearance lay in the fact that every
scrap of hair from chin, lip, eyebrows and skull had been shaved off!

There was another facial disfigurement, peculiarly and horribly Eastern,
which my pen may not describe.

"Impossible to identify!" murmured Harley. "Yes, you were right,
Inspector; this is a victim of Oriental deviltry. Look here, too!"

He indicated three small wounds, one situated on the left shoulder and
the others on the forearm of the dead man.

"The divisional surgeon cannot account for them," replied Wessex. "They
are quite superficial, and he thinks they may be due to the fact that
the body got entangled with something in the river."

"They are due to the fact that the man had a birthmark on his shoulder
and something--probably a name or some device--tattooed on his arm,"
said Harley quietly. "Some few years ago, I met with a similar case in
the neighbourhood of Stambul. A woman," he added, significantly.

Detective-Inspector Wessex listened to my companion with respect, for
apart from his established reputation as a private inquiry-agent which
had made his name familiar in nearly every capital of the civilized
world, Paul Harley's work in Constantinople during the six months
preceding war with Turkey had merited higher reward than it had ever
received. Had his recommendations been adopted the course of history
must have been materially changed.

"You think it's a Chinatown case, then, Mr. Harley?"

"Possibly," was the guarded answer.

Paul Harley nodded to the constable in charge, and the ghastly figure
was promptly covered up again. My friend stood staring vacantly at
Wessex, and presently:

"The chief actor, I think, will prove to be not Chinese," he said,
turned, and walked out.

"If there's any development," remarked Wessex as the three of us entered
Harley's car, which stood at the door, "I will, of course, report
to you, Mr. Harley. But in the absence of any clue or mark of
identification, I fear the verdict will be, 'Body of a man unknown,'
etc., which has marked the finish of a good many in this cheerful
quarter of London."

"Quite so," said Harley, absently. "It presents extraordinary features,
though, and may not end as you suppose. However--where do you want me to
drop you, Wessex, at the Yard?"

"Oh no," answere