‘We were just getting into our boat,’ said the elder Carroll brother, ‘when we happened to notice Ridge out there in the middle of the river, opposite Wolf’s old abandoned dock, acting very queerly. He jumped up and down in the boat, and then, all of a sudden, grabbed an oar, threw it up in the air, and jumped in.
‘We rowed to the spot, and I dived after him while my brother secured his boat. The current’s fast there, but I’m a strong swimmer. I swam around while my brother rowed about, but we could find no trace of him,’ he concluded.
‘We found the oar all right, in the weeds at Wolf’s dock,’ interjected Riley, of the River Patrol.
‘How wide is the river at that point?’ asked Professor Fordney.
‘About half a mile,’ said Carroll.
‘Pretty lonely, too, isn’t it?’
‘It is that,’ replied Riley.
‘The coroner’s report says Ridge had received a blow of some kind on the chin. Know anything about it, Carroll?’ inquired Fordney.
‘No, I don’t. Might have hit a rock or the side of the boat when he went over.’
‘Were you up or down river, from Ridge?’
‘Up river, about three hundred yards, on the west side.’
‘Did you and your brother have on bathing-suits at the time?’
‘I did, but my brother didn’t.’
‘Are there any blood-stains in Ridge’s boat, Riley?’
‘Well, there are stains all right, and they look like blood to me.’
‘I’m not surprised. Hold them both.’
Why was the Professor suspicious of the Carroll brothers?
