THE    VENNER    CRIME	137
" Oh, damn Venner!" Faversham exclaimed. " You
and Priestley have Venner on the brain. 1 hoped we had
all forgotten that not very enthralling incident long ago.
Upon my word, Oldland, you're quite capable of sug-
gesting that Alcott was really Venner in disguise. You
want all your incidents nicely rounded off for you, like
a book. But unfortunately, our experience tells us that
things aren't like that. We rarely see the complete
story, only one phase of it. The beginning or the end
is always missing, I shall never know the circumstances
which brought Alcott to Weyford, and you will never
know what happened to Venner/'
" There's a lot of truth in that," replied Oldland.
" But really, you know, I wasn't going to suggest that
the vanished Venner had reappeared in the guise of
Alcott. What I meant to imply was that there seems to
be some hidden realm of space, from which some people
can appear and into which others can disappear. You
were going down to identify the poor chap when we met
at Waterloo, 1 suppose?"
Faversham nodded. '' I would have told you all about
it then, if 1 had had time. Yes, I went down and saw
him in the mortuary, frozen stiff, and I recognised him.
Has it ever struck you, Priestley, that recognition is a
queer thing?"
** Identification   is   always   surrounded   with   diffi
culties," Dr. Priestley replied.  " Had you any difficulty
in recognising this man Alcott?"
" Not the slightest, although before I saw him I won-
dered if I should know him again. I'm always amazed
when I hear people in the witness box swear to recog-
nising somebody whom they only knew slightly, and
that maybe a dozen years ago. And as we all know,
cases of mistaken identity occur every day."
Faversham helped himself to a glass of sherry, and
drew his chair nearer to the fire. " It's an uncom-