These were not pleasant alternatives.
"Supposing, on the other hand, I concealed the body and gave out that John had gone to Paris.

There was, of course, the risk of discovery, in which case I should certainly be convicted of the murder.

But if no discovery occurred, I was not only safe from suspicion, but I secured the fifty thousand pounds.

In either case there was considerable risk, but in one there was the certainty of loss, whereas in the other there was a material advantage to justify the risk.

The question was whether it would be possible to conceal the body.