his grave bearded face unchanged. Dr. Wilkins was the spokesman for the two. He addressed himself to John:

“Mr. Cavendish, I should like your consent to a postmortem.”

“Is that necessary?” asked John gravely. A spasm of pain crossed his face.

“Absolutely,” said Dr. Bauerstein.

“You mean by that–-?”

“That neither Dr. Wilkins nor myself could give a death certificate under the circumstances.”

John bent his head.

“In that case, I have no alternative but to agree.”

“Thank you,” said Dr. Wilkins


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“No.”

“All right. Then we can lock up and go.”

I had seen Lawrence in quite a different light that afternoon. Compared to John, he was an astoundingly difficult person to get to know. He was the opposite of his brother in almost every respect, being unusually shy and reserved. Yet he had a certain


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