“I am afraid not. He said nothing about it.”
“That is unfortunate,” said Thorndyke, “because these witnesses may be wanted as they might be able to identify a photograph of your husband. We must find out from Mr. Varney what he did in the matter.”
Margaret looked at Dr. Thorndyke with a slightly puzzled expression. “You speak of witnesses and evidence,” said she, “as if you had something definite in your mind. Some legal proceedings, I mean.”
“I have,” he replied. “If your husband makes no sign and if he does not presently appear, certain legal proceedings will become inevitable.” He paused for a few moments and then continued: “You must understand, Mrs. Purcell, that when a man of any position—and especially a married man—disappears from ‘his usual places of resort,’ as the phrase goes, he upsets all the social adjustments that connect him with his surroundings, and, sooner or later, those adjustments have to be made good. If he disappears completely, it becomes uncertain whether he is alive or dead; and this uncertainty communicates itself to his property and to his dependents and relatives. If he is alive, his property is vested in himself; if he is dead it is vested in his executors or in his heirs or next of kin. Should he be named as a beneficiary in a will and should the person who has made that will die after his disappearance, the question immediately arises whether he was dead or alive at the time of the testator’s death; a vitally important question, since it affects not only himself and his heirs but also the other persons who benefit under the will. And then there is the status of the wife, if the missing man is married; the question whether she is a married woman or a widow has, in justice to her, to be settled if and when possible.
“So you see that the disappearance of a man like your husband sets going a process that generates all sorts of legal problems. You cannot simply write him off and treat him as non-existent. His life must be properly wound up so that his estate may be disposed of, and this will involve the necessity of presuming his death; and presumption of death may raise difficult questions of survivorship, although these may arise at any moment.”
“What is meant by a question of survivorship?” Margaret asked.
“It is a question which arises in respect of two persons, both of whom are dead and concerning one or both of whom the exact date of death is unknown. One of them must have died before the other—unless they both died at the same instant. The question is, which survived the other? Which of them died first? It is a question on which may turn the succession to an estate, a title, or even a kingdom.”
“Well,” said Margaret, “it is not likely to arise in respect of Dan.”
“On the contrary,” Thorndyke dissented, “it may arise to-morrow. If some person who has left him a legacy should die to-day, that person’s will could not be administered until it had been decided whether your husband was or was not alive at the time the testator died; that is, whether or not he survived the testator. But, as matters stand, we can give no answer to that question. We can prove that he was alive at half-past two on the 23rd of June. Thenceforward we have no knowledge of him.”
“Excepting what Mr. Varney has told us.”