The Eye of Osiris by R. Austin Freeman, 1911

 

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About the author: Richard Freeman (1862-1943) became a medical trainee at Middlesex Hospital Medical College, and was accepted as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. He became a writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr Thorndyke. (excerpt from Goodreads)

Series: This is Dr. John Thorndyke #3.

Major characters:

• Dr. John Thorndyke, lecturer in forensics
• Dr. Paul Berkeley, a GP (General Practitioner), our narrator
• John Bellingham, archeologist, missing for two years
• Godfrey Bellingham, his brother
• Ruth Bellingham, Godfrey's daughter
• George Hurst, cousin to the Bellingham brothers
• Arthur Jellicoe, John Bellingham's lawyer

Synopsis: Forensics lecturer Dr. John Thorndyke points out a newspaper story to his students. An archeologist, John Bellingham, had disappeared from his brother Godfrey Bellingham's home without a trace. He was last seen by a maid, sitting in Godfrey's library, waiting for John to arrive. Thorndike point of interest to the class is the legal point of succession: what is the last moment it can be proven Bellingham was alive? The case is complicated by the finding of a scarab, a curio John Bellingham's always carried, in the yard of his cousin George Hurst. Did John go from Godfrey's to Hurst's and lose the scarab there? Or did he leave Hurst's, lose the scarab, and then go to Godfrey's? 

Two years later, one of the students, Dr. Paul Berkeley, is called to treat Godfrey. Recalling the class two years earlier, he gets an update from Godfrey. Godfrey is nearly destitute, and his brother's will in his favor cannot be probated since he cannot be shown to be dead. 

Suddently bones are found in various places in the area, including on property owned by John Bellingham. The bones could be his. Bellingham had several injuries could identify his body, including a tattoo of the Eye of Osiris; yet none of the found bones are those which could be identified.

The legal point of succession comes into play. If Bellingham can be shown or presumed dead, the will can be probated. But the will is strange: Brother Godfrey inherits in one circumstance, else cousin Hurst inherits. 

Mini-review: Legal technicalities abound in interpreting this strange will. The action is continuous with new revelations always popping up. The coroner's inquest is hilarious and provides a lot of comic relief when the witnesses make the coroner look foolish. A romantic subplot with Berkeley and Ruth rounds out this well-constructed novel.

You may also enjoy this review by Bev Hankins on My Reader's Block.