And then he explained by what accident of a dating-stamp on a canvas it had been discovered that the pictures guaranteed to be by Priam Farll were painted after Priam Farll's death.
He proceeded with no variation of tone: "The explanation is simplicity itself.

Priam Farll was not really dead.

It was his valet who died.
Quite naturally, quite comprehensibly, the great genius Priam Farll wished to pass the remainder of his career as a humble valet.

He deceived everybody; the doctor, his cousin, Mr.Duncan Farll, the public authorities, the Dean and Chapter of the Abbey, the nation--in fact, the entire world! As Henry Leek he married, and as Henry Leek he recommenced the art of painting--in Putney; he carried on the vocation several years without arousing the suspicions of a single person; and then--by a curious coincidence immediately after my client threatened an action against the defendant--he displayed himself in his true identity as Priam Farll.

Such is the simple explanation," said Pennington, K.C., and added, "which you will hear presently from the defendant.