With this key phrase of legal discourse, Cuff's takes on the role of a prosecutor in a courtroom, shouldering the burden of proof in the case at hand. What is the relationship between detective work and legal argumentation? How does the novel's language put various characters on trial, not only before other characters, but also before the novel's jury of readers? A word collocation analysis of words and phrases with legal significance would help us to determine whether or not legal language shapes standards of evidence in The Moonstone.

Once again, we encounter the language of detective work, which often involves the uncovering and probing of underlying motives. What distinguishes Betteredge's "detective fever" from Ezra Jennings's understanding of detection? We could operationalize this comparative question into a word collocation study of target words that are associated with detective work (e.g., "detective," "suspect," "motive," etc.).