Or, to put it in another way: the wording of the will and the time, the manner and the circumstances of the testator's death, all seemed to be precisely adjusted to the fact that the approximate date of Mrs.Wilson's death was known some months before it occurred.
"Now you must admit that this compound group of coincidences, all conspiring to a single end--the enrichment of John Blackmore--has a very singular appearance.

Coincidences are common enough in real life; but we cannot accept too many at a time.

My feeling was that there were too many in this case and that I could not accept them without searching inquiry." Thorndyke paused, and Mr.Marchmont, who had listened with close attention, nodded, as he glanced at his silent partner.
"You have stated the case with remarkable clearness," he said; "and I am free to confess that some of the points that you have raised had escaped my notice." "My first idea," Thorndyke resumed, "was that John Blackmore, taking advantage of the mental enfeeblement produced by the opium habit, had dictated this will to Jeffrey, It was then that I sought permission to inspect Jeffrey's chambers; to learn what I could about him and to see for myself whether they presented the dirty and disorderly appearance characteristic of the regular opium-smoker's den.

But when, during a walk into the City, I thought over the case, it seemed to me that this explanation hardly met the facts.

Then I endeavoured to think of some other explanation; and looking over my notes I observed two points that seemed worth considering.