But irritability must not make us unjust, and we have to face the question how came the plates to be changed? The only honest answer is that we do not know, but that the evidence taken on its face value at this stage was against Hope, in spite of his long record of honesty. Mr. Barlow has put forward the plea that Hope was in an abnormal mental condition at such times, and was to that extent irresponsible. I fear I cannot accept this, for such substitution must be thought out beforehand, an image must be prepared, and the whole transaction is not an act of impulse but a deliberate plan. There has, however, been a most singular sequel to the case which causes an extraordinary complication, and when closely examined seems to me to turn Hope from the defendant into the accuser. The S.P.R. claims that after this experiment one of the two marked plates had been returned to them, but in so secret a fashion that it could not be explained who had brought it or how it had been obtained. This was apparently a point against Hope, the charge inferred, though not stated, being that he had left this plate about, after abstracting it from the carrier, and that some enemy had recognised it and brought it to clinch the case against him. So secret were the proceedings of the Society that though I am one of the oldest members of that body I was refused leave to see this mysterious plate. Eventually, however, some of our people did see it, and then an extraordinary state of things revealed itself. First of all the plate was undoubtedly one of the original set supplied by the Imperial Dry Plate Company. Secondly, it was a virgin unexposed plate, so that it is impossible that anyone at Hope’s end could have picked it out from any other plates, since the marks were invisible. Third, and most wonderful, it actually, on being developed, had an image upon it, which may or may not have been a psychic extra. This plate was sent on March 3rd, a week after the experiment and three days after Hope and Mrs. Buxton, who knew nothing yet of Price’s trap, had returned home to Crewe. It was in a double wrapper, with a request upon the inside cover that it be developed. The wrapper was formed of Psychic College literature, and it bore the Notting Hill postmark.