It was a very fine scarab of the eighteenth dynasty fashioned of lapis lazuli and engraved with the cartouche of Amenhotep III.

It had been suspended by a gold ring fastened to a wire which passed through the suspension hole, and the ring, though broken, was still in position.
"This discovery, of course, only added to the mystery, which was still further increased when, on inquiry, a suit-case bearing the initials J.B.was found to be lying unclaimed in the cloak-room at Charing Cross.
Reference to the counterfoil of the ticket-book showed that it had been deposited about the time of arrival of the Continental express on the twenty-third of November, so that its owner must have gone straight on to Eltham.
"That is how the affair stands at present, and, should the missing man never reappear or should his body never be found, the question, as you see, which will be required to be settled is, 'What is the exact time and place, when and where, he was last known to be alive ?' As to the place, the importance of the issues involved in that question are obvious and we need not consider them.

But the question of time has another kind of significance.

Cases have occurred, as I pointed out in the lecture, in which proof of survivorship by less than a minute has secured succession to property.

Now, the missing man was last seen alive at Mr.Hurst's house at twenty minutes past five on the twenty-third of November.