There was no lecture.  In the teeth of our expectation came the startling word that the doctor had disappeared.  Apparently when on the very verge of announcing his discovery he had been swallowed by the very force that he had loosened.  There was nothing in known science outside of optics, that could in any way be blended with the Blind Spot.  There were but two solutions; either the professor had been a victim of a clever rogue, or he had been overcome by the rashness of his own wisdom.  At any rate, it was known from that minute on as “The blind spot.”

Perhaps it is just as well to take up the findings of the police.  The police of course never entertained any suggestion of the occult.  They are material; and were convinced from the start that the case had its origin in downright villainy.  Man is complex; but being so, is oft overbalanced by evil Some genius had made a fool of the doctor.

In the first place a thorough search was made for the professor.  The house at No. 288 Chatterton Place was ransacked from cellar to attic.  The records were gone over and it was found that the property had for some time been vacant; that the real ownership was vested in a number of heirs scattered about the country.

The old lady had apparently been living on the place simply through sufferance.  No one could find out who she was.  A few tradesman in the vicinity had sold her some scant supplies and that was all.  The stress that Jerome placed upon her actions and words was; given its due account.  There were undoubtedly two villains; but there were two victims.  That the old lady was such as well as the professor no one has doubted.  The whole secret lay in the gentleman with the Eastern cast and complexion.  Who was Rhamda Avec?

And now comes the strangest part of the story.  Ever, when we re-count the tale, there is something to overturn the theories of the police.  It has become a sort of legend in San Francisco; one to be taken with a grain of salt, to be sure, but for all that, one at which we may well wonder.  Here the supporters of the professor’s philosophy hold their strongest point—­if it is true.  Of course we can venture no private opinion, never having been a witness.  It is this: 

Rhamda Avec is with us and in our city.  His description and drawn likeness have been published many times.  There are those who aver that they have seen him in reality of the flesh walking through the crowds of Market Street.

He is easily distinguished, tall and distinctive, refined to a high degree, and with the poise and alertness of a gentleman of reliance and character.  Women look twice and wonder; he is neither old nor young; when he smiles it is like youth breaking in laughter.  And with him often is his beautiful companion.