II

Leaving Mr. Mitchel, Mr. Barnes went directly to the office of Dr.

Mortimer, and after waiting nearly an hour was finally ushered into the

consulting-room.

"Dr. Mortimer," said Mr. Barnes, "I have called in relation to this

remarkable case of Mr. Quadrant. I am a detective, and the extraordinary

nature of the facts thus far published attracts me powerfully, so that,

though not connected with the regular police, I am most anxious to

unravel this mystery if possible, though, of course, I should do nothing

that would interfere with the regular officers of the law. I have

called, hoping that you might be willing to answer a few questions."

"I think I have heard of you, Mr. Barnes, and if, as you say, you will

do nothing to interfere with justice, I have no objection to telling

you what I know, though I fear it is little enough."

"I thank you, Doctor, for your confidence, which, I assure you, you

shall not regret. In the first place, then, I would like to ask you

about this identification. The newspaper account states that you have

depended upon some skin disease. Is that of such a nature that you can

be absolutely certain in your opinion?"

"I think so," said the doctor. "But then, as you must have found in your

long experience, all identifications of the dead should be accepted with

a little doubt. Death alters the appearance of every part of the body,

and especially the face. We think that we know a man by the contour of

his face, whereas we often depend, during life, upon the habitual

expressions which the face ever carries. For example, suppose that we

know a young girl, full of life and happiness, with a sunny disposition

undimmed by care or the world's worry. She is ever smiling, or ready to

smile. Thus we know her. Let that girl suffer a sudden and perhaps

painful death. In terror and agony as she dies, the features are

distorted, and in death the resultant expression is somewhat stamped

upon the features. Let that body lie in the water for a time, and when

recovered it is doubtful whether all of her friends would identify her.

Some would, but others would with equal positiveness declare that these

were mistaken. Yet you observe the physical contours would still be

present."

"I am pleased, Doctor, by what you say," said Mr. Barnes, "because with

such appreciation of the changes caused by death and exposure in the

water, I must lay greater reliance upon your identification. In this

case, as I understand it, there is something peculiar about the body, a

mark of disease called lichen, I believe?"

"Yes. But what I have said about the changes caused by death must have

weight here also," said the doctor. "You see I am giving you all the

points that may militate against my identification, that you may the

better judge of its correctness. We must not forget that we are dealing

with a disease of very great rarity; so rare, in fact, that this very

case is the only one that I have ever seen. Consequently I cannot claim

to be perfectly familiar with the appearance of surfaces attacked by

this disease, after they have suffered the possible alterations of

death."

"Then you mean that, after all, this spot upon which the identification

rests does not now look as it did in life?"

"I might answer both yes and no to that. Changes have occurred, but they

do not, in my opinion, prevent me from recognizing both the disease and

the corpse. To fully explain this I must tell you something of the

disease itself, if you will not be bored?"

"Not at all. Indeed, I prefer to know all that you can make intelligible

to a layman."

"I will use simple language. Formerly a great number of skin diseases

were grouped under the general term 'lichen,' which included all growths

which might be considered fungoid. At the present time we are fairly

well able to separate the animal from the vegetable parasitic diseases,

and under the term 'lichen' we include very few forms. The most common

is _lichen planus_, which unfortunately is not infrequently met, and is

therefore very well understood by the specialists. _Lichen ruber_,

however, is quite distinct. It was first described by the German, Hebra,

and has been sufficiently common in Europe to enable the students to

thoroughly well describe it. In this country, however, it seems to be

one of the rarest of diseases. White of Boston reported a case, and Fox

records another, accompanied by a colored photograph, which, of course,

aids greatly in enabling any one to recognize a case should it occur.

There is one more fact to which I must allude as having an important

bearing upon my identification. _Lichen ruber_, like other lichens, is

not confined to any one part of the body; on the contrary, it would be

remarkable, should the disease be uncontrolled for any length of time,

not to see it in many places. This brings me to my point. The seat of

the disease, in the case of Mr. Quadrant, was the left cheek, where a

most disfiguring spot appeared. It happened that I was in constant

attendance upon Mr. Quadrant for the trouble which finally caused his

decease, and therefore I saw this lichen in its incipiency, and more

fortunately I recognized its true nature. Now whether due to my

treatment or not, it is a fact that the disease did not spread; that is

to say, it did not appear elsewhere upon the body."

"I see! I see!" said Mr. Barnes, much pleased. "This is an important

point. For if the body at the Morgue exhibits a spot in that exact

locality and nowhere else, and if it is positively this same skin

disease, it is past belief that it should be any other than the body of

your patient."

"So I argue. That two such unique examples of so rare a disease should

occur at the same time seems incredible, though remotely possible. Thus,

as you have indicated, we have but to show that the mark on the body at

the Morgue is truly caused by this disease, and not by some abrasion

while in the water, in order to make our opinion fairly tenable. Both

Dr. Elliot and myself have closely examined the spot, and we have agreed

that it is not an abrasion. Had the face been thus marked in the water,

we should find the cuticle rubbed off, which is not the case.

Contrarily, in the disease under consideration, the cuticle, though

involved in the disease, and even missing in minute spots, is

practically present. No, I am convinced that the mark on the body at the

Morgue existed in life as the result of this lichen, though the

alteration of color since death gives us a much changed appearance."

"Then I may consider that you are confident that this mark on the body

is of the same shape, in the same position, and caused by the same

disease as that which you observed upon Mr. Quadrant?"

"Yes. I do not hesitate to assert that. To this you may add that I

identify the body in a general way also."

"By which you mean?"

"That without this mark, basing my opinion merely upon my long

acquaintance with the man, I would be ready to declare that Mr.

Quadrant's body is the one which was taken from the water."

"What, then, is your opinion as to how this strange occurrence has come

about? If Mr. Quadrant was cremated, how could----"

"It could not, of course. This is not the age of miracles. Mr. Quadrant

was not cremated. Of that we may be certain."

"But the family claim that they saw his body consigned to the furnace."

"The family believe this, I have no doubt. But how could they be sure?

Let us be accurate in considering what we call facts. What did the

family see at the crematory? They saw a closed coffin placed into the

furnace."

"A coffin, though, which contained the body of their relative."

Mr. Barnes did not of course himself believe this, but made the remark

merely to lead the doctor on.

"Again you are inaccurate. Let us rather say a coffin which once

contained the body of their relative."

"Ah; then you think that it was taken from the coffin and another

substituted for it?"

"No. I do not go so far. I think, nay, I am sure, that Mr. Quadrant's

body was taken from the coffin, but whether another was substituted for

it, is a question. The coffin may have been empty when burned."

"Could we settle that point by an examination of the ashes?"

The doctor started as though surprised at the question. After a little

thought he replied hesitatingly:

"Perhaps. It seems doubtful. Ashes from bone and animal matter would, I

suppose, bring us chemical results different from those of burned wood.

Whether our analytical chemists could solve such a problem remains to be

seen. Ordinarily one would think that ashes would resist all efforts at

identification." The doctor seemed lost in thoughtful consideration of

this scientific problem.

"The trimmings of the coffin might contain animal matter if made of

wool," suggested Mr. Barnes.

"True; that would certainly complicate the work of the chemist, and

throw doubt upon his reported results."

"You admitted, Doctor, that the body was placed in the coffin. Do you

know that positively?"

"Yes. I called on the widow on the night previous to the funeral, and

the body was then in the coffin. I saw it in company with the widow and

the two brothers. It was then that it was decided that the coffin should

be closed and not opened again."

"Whose wish was this?"

"The widow's. You may well understand that this lichen greatly

disfigured Mr. Quadrant, and that he was extremely sensitive about it.

So much so that he had not allowed any one to see him for many weeks

prior to his death. It was in deference to this that the widow expressed

the wish that no one but the immediate family should see him in his

coffin. For this reason also she stipulated that the coffin should be

burned with the body."

"You say this was decided on the night before the funeral?"

"Yes. To be accurate, about five o'clock in the afternoon, though at

this season and in the closed rooms the lamps were already lighted."

"Was this known to many persons? That is, that the coffin was not again

to be opened?"

"It was known of course to the two brothers, and also to the undertaker

and two of his assistants who were present."

"The undertaker himself closed the casket, I presume?"

"Yes. He was closing it as I escorted the widow back to her own room."

"Did the brothers leave the room with you?"

"I think so. Yes, I am sure of it."

"So that the body was left with the undertaker and his men, after they

knew that it was not to be opened again?"

"Yes."

"Did these men leave before you did?"

"No. I left almost immediately after taking the widow to her own room

and seeing her comfortably lying down, apparently recovered from the

hysterical spell which I had been summoned to check. You know, of

course, that the Quadrant residence is but a block from here."

"There is one more point, Doctor. Of what disease did Mr. Quadrant die?"

"My diagnosis was what in common parlance I may call cancer of the

stomach. This, of course, I only knew from the symptoms. That is to say,

there had been no operation, as the patient was strenuously opposed to

such a procedure. He repeatedly said to me, 'I would rather die than be

cut up.' A strange prejudice in these days of successful surgery, when

the knife in skilful hands promises so much more than medication."

"Still these symptoms were sufficient in your own mind to satisfy you

that your diagnosis was accurate?"

"I can only say in reply that I have frequently in the presence of

similar symptoms performed an operation, and always with the same

result. The cancer was always present."

"Now the coroner's autopsy on the body at the Morgue is said to have

shown that death was due to disease. Do you know what they discovered?"

"Dr. Elliot told me that it was cancer of the stomach."

"Why, then, the identification seems absolute?"

"So it seems. Yes."