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 made two days later."

"What is that?" Mr. Bellingham demanded.

"It is the lower half of a trunk which the police dragged 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
hip-bones--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; also the names and, if possible, the add