"No," replied Thorndyke. "Those teeth that are perfectly white are undoubtedly filled with gold, but that greyish one is probably filled with tin."
"Very interesting," said Dr. Norbury. "Very interesting! And what do you make of that faint mark across the chest, near the top of the sternum?"
It was Ruth who answered his question.
"It is the Eye of Osiris!" she exclaimed, in a hushed voice.
"Dear me!" exclaimed Dr. Norbury, "so it is. You are quite right. It is the Utchat--the Eye of Horus--or Osiris, if you prefer to call it so. That, I presume, will be a gilded device on some of the wrappings."
"No: I should say it is a tattoo mark. It is too indefinite for a gilded device. And I should say further that the tattooing is done in vermilion, as carbon tattooing would cast no visible shadow."
"I think you must be mistaken about that," said Dr. Norbury, "but we shall see, if the Director allows us to unroll the mummy. By the way, those little objects in front of the knees are metallic, I suppose?"
"Yes, they are metallic. But they are not in front of the knees; they are in the knees. They are pieces of silver wire which have been used to repair fractured knee-caps."
"Are you sure of that?" exclaimed Dr. Norbury, peering at the little white marks with ecstasy; "because, if you are, and if these objects are what you say they are, the mummy of Sebek-hotep is an absolutely unique specimen."
"I am quite certain of it," said Thorndyke.
"Then," said Dr. Norbury, "we have made a discovery, thanks to your inquiring spirit. Poor John Bellingham! He little knew what a treasure he was giving us! How I wish he could have known! How I wish he could have been here with us to-night!"
He paused once more to gaze in rapture at the photograph. And then Thorndyke, in his quiet, impassive way, said: "John Bellingham is here, Doctor Norbury. This is John Bellingham."
Dr. Norbury started back and stared at Thorndyke in speechless amazement.
"You don't mean," he exclaimed, after a long pause, "that this mummy is the body of John Bellingham!"
"I do, indeed. There is no doubt of it."
"But it is impossible! The mummy was here in the gallery a full three weeks before he disappeared."
"Not so," said Thorndyke. "John Bellingham was last seen alive by you and Mr. Jellicoe on the fourteenth of October, more than three weeks before the mummy left Queen Square. After that date he was never seen alive or dead by any person who knew him and could identify him."