Now the one fact which militates against this view is that Hurst apparently had no motive for committing the murder.

We are assured by Jellicoe that no one but himself knew the contents of the will, and if this is so--but, mind, we have no evidence that it is so--Hurst would have no reason to suppose that he had anything material to gain by his cousin's death.
Otherwise the hypothesis presents no inherent improbabilities.

The man was last seen alive at Hurst's house.

He was seen to enter it and he was never seen to leave it--we are still taking the facts as stated in the newspapers, remember--and it now appears that he stands to benefit enormously by that man's death." "But," I objected, "you are forgetting that, directly the man was missed, Hurst and the servants together searched the entire house." "Yes.

What did they search for ?" "Why, for Mr.Bellingham, of course." "Exactly; for Mr.Bellingham.That is, for a living man.