He was wrestling with indecision when a newspaper reporter called. Grant
received the journalist promptly, and told him all the salient facts,
suppressing only the one-time prospect of a marriage between himself and
the famous actress.
The reporter went with him to the river, and scrutinized the marks, now
rapidly becoming obliterated, of the body having been drawn ashore.
"The rope and iron staple, I understand, were taken from the premises of
a man who lets boats for hire on the dam quarter of a mile away," he
said casually.
Grant was astounded at his own failure to make any inquiry whatsoever
concerning this vital matter. He laughed grimly.
"You can imagine the state of my mind," he said, "when I assure you
that, until this moment, it never occurred to me even to ask where these
articles came from or what had become of them."
"I can sympathize with you," said the journalist. "A brutal murder seems
horribly out of place in this environment. It is a mysterious business
altogether. I wonder if Scotland Yard will take it up."
Grant surprised him by clapping him on the back.
"By Jove, my friend, the very thing! Of course, such an investigation
requires bigger brains than our local police are endowed with.
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