twenty minutes past five
Cases have occurred , as I pointed out in the lecture , in which proof of survivorship by less than a minute has secured succession to property . Now , the missing man was last seen alive at Mr. Hurst 's house at twenty minutes past five on the twenty-third of November . But he appears to have visited his brother 's house at Woodford , and , since nobody saw him at that house , it is at present uncertain whether he went there before calling on Mr. Hurst . If he went there first , then twenty minutes past five on the evening of the twenty-third is the latest moment at which he is known to have been alive ; but if he went there after , there would have to be added to this time the shortest time possible in which he could travel from the one house to the other . `` But the question as to which house he visited first hinges on the scarab . If he was wearing the scarab when he arrived at Mr. Hurst 's house , it would be certain that he went there first ; but if it was not then on his watch-chain , a probability would be established that he went first to Woodford . Thus , you see , a question which may conceivably become of the most vital moment in determining the succession of property turns on the observation or non-observation by this housemaid of an apparently trivial and insignificant fact . ''