For St. Margaret's Hospital College, the forensic science program—sometimes called the medical law program—is very fortunate to have excellent lecturers, because in some schools, it is usually taught by It is a teacher who can't get along in other subjects.But here, the situation is quite different: Mr. John Avenlin Thorndike, who is the lecturer, is not only knowledgeable and helpful, but also a competent teacher: he speaks with high spirits and enthusiasm; The content is also rich and interesting. He has studied many famous cases that have been published in newspapers; all knowledge with forensic significance-whether it is chemistry, physics, biology, or even history-even if it only has Very subtle connections will be included in his research; as for his bizarre personal experiences, there are countless.When he devotes all his energies to the tedious subject of death like this, one of his best ways of lecturing is to analyze and comment on certain cases that appear in the press (of course, his narration is always Considering both legality and copyright)——It is also because of this that I plunged headlong into a series of shocking events, which caused my life to undergo tremendous changes.

A class that just ended discussed the issue of property rights of the survivors, and the content was a bit boring.Most of the students had left the classroom, and those who stayed gathered in front of the podium, surrounded by Dr. Thorndike who was leaning on the table, holding chalk in his hand, and writing the key points of the lecture on the blackboard, listening intently. Comments he made casually in a casual manner. "Questions about the survivor's property rights," he explained in response to a student's question, "usually arise in cases where the body of the person involved is found, or the time of death can be determined—probably. But Problems arise when the body of the person concerned has not been found and circumstantial evidence must be relied upon to determine the fact of his death."

"Of course, the key point at this time is how to determine when the person concerned died. To clarify this issue, many times it is necessary to rely on some very trivial and difficult to detect clues to support. For example A piece of news published in today's newspaper can just illustrate this problem: a gentleman mysteriously disappeared. Before that, the last person who saw him was a maid in a relative's house whom he had visited. Well, if this gentleman is no longer seen at this point--whether living or dead--then, besides ascertaining the last moments of his life, there is another problem to pay attention to, and that is: when he Did you wear jewelry when you visited that relative?"

He stopped and stared at the chalk in his hand, as if thinking about something.Suddenly, as if sensing our eager curiosity again, he continued: "It can be said that this case is very strange, even extremely complicated. If it is necessary to resort to the law, I am afraid it will be very difficult. The missing gentleman, Mr. John Burlingham, is a famous archaeologist A very famous person. Not long ago, he returned to China from Egypt and brought back a batch of extremely precious cultural relics, and donated some of them—including a very valuable mummy and a complete set of funerary objects—to the British Museum , is currently on display. After completing the donation procedures, he seems to be planning to go to Paris to discuss business. However, when he left for Paris, the batch of funerary objects had not yet arrived abroad, and the mummy had already been sent to The home of Mr. Burlingham. On October 14, Dr. Nobarry of the British Museum carefully inspected the mummy in front of Mr. Burlingham and his attorney. When the pieces arrived, he was going to hand them over to the British Museum; and that was the job done."

"It is said that he returned from Paris on the 23rd of November and then went straight to the house of his relatives in Charing Cross Road, Mr Herbert, who lived alone in Eilson. He arrived there at 5.20pm, But at this time Mr. Herbert was still on his way home, and he would not arrive until 5:45. So he introduced himself to the servant, and said that he wanted to wait in the study for Mr. Herbert to come back, and write A few letters. So the maid took him into the study, prepared paper and pens for him, and then left." "Mr. Herbert returned at five forty-five. He opened the front door with the latch key, and before the maid had time to inform him that he had a visitor, he went straight into the study and shut the door behind him."

"At six o'clock the dinner bell rang, and Mr. Herbert entered the dining-room alone. When he saw that the table was set for two, the maid explained:" "'I thought Mr. Bellingham would stay and dine with you, sir.'" "'Mr. Burlingham?' exclaimed Mr. Herbert in astonishment. 'Has he come? How did I not know he was coming? Why did you not inform me?'" "'But I thought he was in the study with you, sir!' said the maid, aggrievedly." "Then, they searched the entire study room, but found no one. Could it be that Mr. Branham just disappeared? What is even more strange is that the maid said with certainty that Mr. Branham did not walk out of the door because she and The cook did not know this Mr. John Bellingham, and she was always in the kitchen - from which she could see the front door, and occasionally she went into the dining room across the corridor from the study. There was a door in the study. Beautiful French windows, looking out on a small lawn, with a wicket leading into the alley, by which Mr. Burlingham may have left. In any case, the conclusion is that he was not in the house, and no one saw him. he is gone."

"Mr. Herbert, hurrying back to town without a good dinner, called the office of Mr. Jericho, a solicitor and stockbroker in Burlingham, and told him what had happened. Mr. Jericho Apparently unaware that their client had returned from Paris. The two then took a train to Woodover, the home of Godfield Burlingham, brother of the missing gentleman. His servant said he had gone out , his daughter was in the study, so they went to a cottage surrounded by bushes on the edge of the back garden. They were lucky, and there not only found Miss Bellingham, but also her father just came in by the back door. .”

"Father and daughter listened with astonishment to Herbert's story, and assured him that they had heard nothing from John Bellingham for a long time." "Then they left the study together and were about to go back to the main room. At this moment, Jericho noticed something shining on the lawn not far from the door of the study, so he pointed it out to Godfield. When Godfield When they picked it up, everyone immediately recognized it as a scarab on a watch chain often worn by John Berlinham Scarab, dung beetle, scarab family, commonly known as dung beetle. In ancient Egypt, people used this beetle as a A totem thing, when the Pharaoh died, his heart would be cut out and replaced with a stone covered with scarabs. Gemstone jewelry in the shape. You can't go wrong, because this Egyptian eighteenth carved from lapis lazuli The dynastic treasure is really special, and it has the oval coat of arms of Pharaoh Amenhotep III engraved on it. Also, there is a notched gold ring on the fob chain."

"There is no doubt that this discovery made matters more delicate. This was further compounded by the subsequent discovery of a suitcase marked with the initials of J.B. by the police in the luggage storage at Charing Cross Station. Strange. Judging from the ticket stubs left in the ticket book, the time the box was placed there was probably when the Continental Express arrived at the station on November 23, so the owner of the box must have rushed directly to Eilson.” "This is how it happened. If the gentleman had indeed disappeared, or if his body had never been found, the first question to be clarified was the exact time and place when he was last seen alive. The importance of the issues involved, I think everyone is already clear, so we don't need to talk about it. Time is another issue of special significance. I also mentioned it in class. In many cases In this case, the difference in the time of death of less than one minute can also prove the property rights of the survivors and ensure that the property is inherited.”

"Now analyzing the case at hand. The last time the missing man was seen alive was at 5.20pm on November 23. He also appears to have visited his brother in Woodover, but he The family's visit has not been confirmed by the family, so as of now, we cannot be sure whether he came first to Woodfer and then to Herbert. Assuming he did come to Woodfer first, then in November 5:20 pm on the 23rd was the last time he was confirmed to be alive; and if he arrived there later, the minimum travel time required for him to and from the two locations should also be counted.” "As to the order of his visits, the point also depends on the scarab ornament. If he had worn it when he came to Herbert's, he must have been there first; and if the ornament was not on his watch-chain at the time. , then he probably went to Woodover before. From this we can know that a key point in determining property inheritance is whether the maid noticed this tiny detail."

"Has the maid said anything on that subject, sir?" I asked. "Apparently not," replied Dr. Thorndike, "it was not mentioned in the press release, although the case has been reported in great detail: many details—even the plans of the two houses. It was published. The phenomenon alone is quite remarkable, showing the importance of the case." "What is the importance of this, sir?" asked a student. "I think this question is left to you." Thorndike said with a smile. "The case has not yet been heard. We must always pay attention to these parties." "Is there any description of the missing person's appearance in the newspaper, sir?" I asked again. "Of course, and the description is quite detailed. It's a bit of an overkill. After all, this person may appear in front of everyone in a good way. The missing person's left ankle seems to have an old Porter's fracture, two There is a slender scar on each knee of the leg, and the reason is not difficult to guess; in addition, there is a very exquisite cinnabar tattoo on his chest-Osiris (Osiris), the ancient Egyptian mythology The symbolic figure of the eye of Hades, also known as the eye of Horus or the eye of Ra. Of course, it is not difficult to identify the corpse, but I think the situation should not be like this." "Well, I have to go, and so do you. I suggest that you all go buy a newspaper, read this report carefully, and make a file on it. This is an interesting case, and there will likely be further investigations in the future." development. Goodbye, everyone!" For the students present, Dr. Thorndike's suggestion had an extraordinary influence. You must know that medical law is a popular subject in the affiliated college of St. Margaret's Hospital, and everyone likes it very much.Undoubtedly, the doctor's suggestion was quickly implemented. The students flocked to the nearest newsstand, bought a copy of the "Daily Telegraph", and came to the living room of the dormitory in groups, reading the newspaper with relish. Then reported and discussed the development of the case enthusiastically.Although the doctor raised many disturbing doubts before, our enthusiasm has not been affected in the slightest.