premise: Eight or ten years ago , a couple of French hoods stole a priceless Khmer head from the Musee Guimet , in Paris , and a week later crawled into the Salpetriere with unmistakable <mask> of leprosy .
hypothesis: the proper context for <mask> here should be (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease