"
"Yes; but that explanation introduces the same difficulty. No person
with a deformed or ankylosed finger has been reported as missing."
Jervis puckered up his brows and looked at me.
"I'm hanged if I see any other explanation," he said. "Do you,
Berkeley?"
I shook my head.
"Don't forget which finger it is that is missing," said Thorndyke. "The
third finger on the left hand."
"Oh, I see!" said Jervis. "The ring-finger. You mean it may have been
removed for the sake of a ring that wouldn't come off."
"Yes. It would not be the first instance of the kind. Fingers have been
severed from dead hands--and even from living ones--for the sake of
rings that were too tight to be drawn off. And the fact that it is the
left hand supports this suggestion; for a ring that was inconveniently
tight would be worn by preference on the left hand, as that is usually
slightly smaller than the right. What is the matter, Berkeley?"
A sudden light had burst upon me, and I suppose my countenance betrayed
the fact.
"I am a confounded fool!" I exclaimed.
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