“Well,” said Hemming, when we had once more looked them over critically, “what do you say? I can see no trace of any foreign substance. Can you?” “No,” replied Thorndyke. “And there are some other things that I can’t see. For instance, the medical referee reported that the proposer had a good set of sound teeth. Where are they? I have not seen a single fragment of a tooth. Yet teeth are far more resistant to fire than bones, especially the enamel caps.” Hemming ran a searching glance over the mass of fragments and looked up with a perplexed frown. “I certainly can’t see any sign of teeth,” he admitted; “and it _is_ rather curious, as you say. Does the fact suggest any particular significance to you?” By way of reply, Thorndyke delicately picked up a flat fragment and silently held it out towards us. I looked at it and said nothing; for a very strange suspicion was beginning to creep into my mind. “A piece of a rib,” said Hemming. “Very odd that it should have broken across so cleanly. It might have been cut with a saw.” Thorndyke laid it down and picked up another, larger fragment, which I had already noticed. “Here is another example,” said he, handing it to our colleague. “Yes,” agreed Hemming. “It is really rather extraordinary. It looks exactly as if it had been sawn across.” “It does,” agreed Thorndyke. “What bone should you say it is?” “That is what I was just asking myself,” replied Hemming, looking at the fragment with a sort of half-vexed smile. “It seems ridiculous that a competent anatomist should be in any doubt with as large a portion as this, but really I can’t confidently give it a name. The shape seems to me to suggest a tibia, but of course it is much too small. Is it the upper end of the ulna?” “I should say no,” answered Thorndyke. Then he picked out another of the larger fragments, and handing it to Hemming, asked him to name it. Our friend began to look somewhat worried. “It is an extraordinary thing, you know,” said he, “but I can’t tell you what bone it is part of. It is clearly the shaft of a long bone, but I’m hanged if I can say which. It is too big for a metatarsal and too small for any of the main limb bones. It reminds one of a diminutive thigh bone.” “It does,” agreed Thorndyke; “very strongly.” While Hemming had been speaking he had picked out four more large fragments, and these he now laid in a row with the one that had seemed to resemble a tibia in shape. Placed thus together, the five fragments bore an obvious resemblance. “Now,” said he, “look at these. There are five of them. They are parts of limb bones, and the bones of which they are parts were evidently exactly alike, excepting that three were apparently from the left side and two from the right. Now, you know, Hemming, a man has only four limbs, and of those only two contain similar bones. Then two of them show distinct traces of what looks like a saw-cut.” Hemming gazed at the row of fragments with a frown of deep cogitation.