The Vanishing Man

Vanishing Man, The

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Title: The Vanishing Man
Author: R. Austin Freeman
Release Date: December 16, 2003 [eBook #10476]
Language: English
Character set encoding: US-ASCII
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THE VANISHING MAN
A Detective Romance

BY R. AUSTIN FREEMAN
1911

TO MY FRIEND
A.E.B.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I
THE VANISHING MAN II THE EAVESDROPPER III JOHN
THORNDYKE IV LEGAL COMPLICATIONS AND A JACKAL V
THE WATERCRESS-BED VI SIDELIGHTS VII JOHN
BELLINGHAM'S WILL VIII A MUSEUM IDYLL IX THE SPHINX
OF LINCOLN'S INN X THE NEW ALLIANCE XI THE EVIDENCE
REVIEWED XII A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY XIII THE
CROWNER'S QUEST XIV WHICH CARRIES THE READER INTO
THE PROBATE COURT XV CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE XVI
"O! ARTEMIDORUS, FAREWELL!" XVII THE ACCUSING
FINGER XVIII JOHN BELLINGHAM XIX A STRANGE
SYMPOSIUM XX THE END OF THE CASE
CHAPTER I
THE VANISHING MAN
The school of St. Margaret's Hospital was fortunate in its lecturer on
Medical Jurisprudence, or Forensic Medicine, as it is sometimes
described. At some schools the lecturer on this subject is appointed
apparently for the reason that he lacks the qualifications to lecture on
any other. But with us it was very different: John Thorndyke was not

only an enthusiast, a man of profound learning and great reputation, but
he was an exceptional teacher, lively and fascinating in style and of
endless resources. Every remarkable case that had ever been recorded
he appeared to have at his fingers' ends; every fact--chemical, physical,
biological, or even historical--that could in any way be twisted into a
medico-legal significance, was pressed into his service; and his own
varied and curious experiences seemed as inexhaustible as the widow's
cruse. One of his favourite devices for giving life and interest to a
rather dry subject was that of analysing and commenting upon
contemporary cases as reported in the papers (always, of course, with a
due regard to the legal and social proprieties); and it was in this way
that I first became introduced to the astonishing series of events that
was destined to exercise so great an influence on my own life.
The lecture which had just been concluded had dealt with the rather
unsatisfactory subject of survivorship. Most of the students had left the
theatre, and the remainder had gathered round the lecturer's table to
listen to the informal comments that Dr. Thorndyke was wont to deliver
on these occasions in an easy, conversational manner, leaning against
the edge of the table and apparently addressing his remarks to a stick of
blackboard chalk that he held in his fingers.
"The problem of survivorship," he was saying, in reply to a question
put by one of the students, "ordinarily occurs in cases where the bodies
of the parties are producible, or where, at any rate, the occurrence of
death and its approximate time are actually known. But an analogous
difficulty may arise in a case where the body of one of the parties is not
forthcoming, and the fact of death may have to be assumed on
collateral evidence.
"Here, of course, the vital question to be settled is, what is the latest
instant at which it is certain that this person was alive? And the
settlement of that question may turn on some circumstance of the most
trivial and insignificant kind. There is a case in this morning's paper
which illustrates this. A gentleman has disappeared rather mysteriously.
He was last seen by the servant of a relative at whose house he had
called. Now, if this gentleman should never reappear, dead or alive, the

question as to what was the latest moment at which he was certainly
alive will turn upon the further question: 'Was he or was he not wearing
a particular article of jewellery when he called at that relative's house?'"
He paused with a reflective eye bent upon the stump of chalk that he
still held; then, noting the expectant interest with which we were
regarding him, he resumed:
"The circumstances in this case are very curious; in fact, they are
highly mysterious; and if any legal issues should arise in respect of
them, they are likely to yield some very remarkable complications. The
gentleman who has disappeared, Mr. John Bellingham, is a man well
known in archaeological circles. He recently returned from Egypt,
bringing with him a very fine collection of antiquities--some of which,
by the way, he has presented to the