Nevertheless, I stuck loyally to my task. I read through the depositions and the will⁠—without getting a single glimmer of fresh light on the case⁠—and I made a careful digest of all the facts. I compared my digest with Thorndyke’s notes⁠—of which I also made a copy⁠—and found that, brief as they were, they contained several matters that I had overlooked. I also drew up a brief account of our visit to New Inn, with a list of the objects that we had observed or collected. And then I addressed myself to the second part of my task, the statement of my conclusions from the facts set forth.

It was only when I came to make the attempt that I realized how completely I was at sea. In spite of Thorndyke’s recommendation to study Marchmont’s statement as it was summarized in those notes which I had copied, and of his hint that I should find in that statement something highly significant, I was borne irresistibly to one conclusion, and one only⁠—and the wrong one at that, as I suspected: that Jeffrey Blackmore’s will was a perfectly regular, sound and valid document.