corpus delicti

Today it was about whether—in the case of homicide—the corpus delicti is the knife or the dead man whose death is the actual proof of the crime.

Now, I read from Best on Presumptions, page 279: "The corpus delicti, the body of an offence, is the fact of its actually having been committed."

But, O wonder upon wonder! the corpus delicti was in very deed transformed into the fairest blooming roses; the rolls had changed to white roses, the sausages to red, the omelets to yellow ones!

The commonest method is the complete destruction of the corpse—the corpus delicti.

If Hallard could open the penitentiary, why not the grave in which a corpus delicti had been hastily hidden?