o New
Inn.

What had we learned from our exploration? It was clear that Thorndyke
had picked up some facts that had appeared to him important. But
important in what respect? The only possible issue that could be raised
was the validity or otherwise of Jeffrey Blackmore's will; and since the
validity of that will was supported by positive evidence of the most
incontestable kind, it seemed that nothing that we had observed could
have any real bearing on the case at all.

But this, of course, could not be. Thorndyke was no dreamer nor was he
addicted to wild speculation. If the facts observed by us seemed to him
to be relevant to the case, I was prepared to assume that they were
relevant, although I could not see their connection with it. And, on
this assumption, I proceeded to examine them afresh.

Now, whatever Thorndyke might have observed on his own account, I had
brought away from the dead man's chambers only a single fact; and a very
extraordinary fact it was. The cuneiform inscription was upside down.
That was the sum of the evidence that I had collected; and the question
was, What did it prove? To Thorndyke it conveyed some deep significance.
What could that significance be?

The inverted position was not a mere temporary accident, as it might
have been if the frame had been stood on a shelf or support. It was hung
on the wall, and the plates screwed on the frame showed that its
position was permanent and that it had never hung in any other. That it
could have been hung up by Jeffrey himself was clearly inconceivable.
But allowing that it had been fixed in its present position by some
workman when the new tenant moved in, the fact remained that there it
had hung, presumably for months, and that Jeffrey Blackmore, with his
expert knowledge of the cuneiform character, had never noticed that it
was upside down; or, if he had noticed it, that he had never taken the
trouble to have it altered.

What could this mean? If he had noticed the error but had not troubled
to correct it, that would point to a very singular state of mind, an
inertness and indifference remarkable even in an opium-smoker. But
assuming such a state of mind, I could not see that it had any bearing
on the will, excepting that it was rather inconsistent with the tendency
to make fussy and needless alterations which the testator had actually
shown. On the other hand, if he had not noticed the inverted position of
the photograph he must have been n