And then, as a climax, he insisted on sending the contents of the
stomach in a jar, sealed with our respective seals, in charge of a
special messenger, to Professor Copland, for analysis and report. I
thought he was going to demand an examination for the tubercle bacillus,
but he didn't; which," concluded Dr. Burrows, suddenly becoming sourly
facetious, "was an oversight, for, after all, the fellow may have died
of consumption."
Thorndyke chuckled again, and I murmured that the precautions appeared
to have been somewhat excessive.
"Not at all," was the smiling response. "You are losing sight of our
function. We are the expert and impartial umpires, and it is our
business to ascertain, with scientific accuracy, the cause of death. The
_prima facie_ appearances in this case suggest that the deceased was
murdered by Draper, and that is the hypothesis advanced. But that is no
concern of ours. It is not our function to confirm an hypothesis
suggested by outside circumstances, but rather, on the contrary, to make
certain that no other explanation is possible. And that is my invariable
practice.
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