The testator might have been lost at sea, or killed in a fire or explosion, or have died abroad and been buried where his grave could not be identified.
There are numerous probable contingencies besides the improbable one that has happened, that might prevent the body from being recovered.
"But even if the body had been recovered, there is another difficulty.
The places of burial in the parishes named have all been closed for many years.

It would be impossible to reopen any of them without a special faculty, and I doubt whether such a faculty would be granted.

Possibly cremation might meet the difficulty, but even that is doubtful; and, in any case, the matter would not be in the control of Godfrey Bellingham.
Yet, if the required interment should prove impossible, he is to be deprived of his legacy." "It is a monstrous and absurd injustice," I exclaimed.
"It is," Thorndyke agreed; "but this is nothing to the absurdity that comes to light when we consider clauses two and three in detail.

Observe that the testator presumably wished to be buried in a certain place; also he wished that his brother should benefit under the will.

Let us take the first point and see how he has set about securing the accomplishment of what he desired.