“I don’t know, sir,” he answered slowly. “I suppose to throw ’em in the river would be the best way. But he should have seen there was nothing passing underneath.”
“Ah, now that is an interesting point also. But first, does anything else strike you?”
French looked wary.
“Just in what way, sir?”
“This. Suppose you want to throw a package into the river and you want to do it absolutely unobserved. Where will you do it?”
“I see what you mean, sir. That bridge at that time of night is about as deserted as any of the London bridges.”
“Exactly, that’s what I mean. There is evidence there of selection which would never strike a man like these bargees. But you say he ought to have seen the boat. Why should our unknown not have looked out for passing boats? I’ll tell you, I think. Though the bridge is comparatively deserted, it is not deserted. To look over the parapet far enough to see the water below would have attracted attention. A suicide might have been feared. Some officious person might have come forward. No, the unknown would simply chuck his parcel over without even turning his head, secure in the belief that even if by some miracle it was found, the contents would never be traced to him. Do you agree?”
“Seems quite sound, sir.”
“It may be sound or it may not,” Mitchell returned. “All that I have been saying to you may be the merest nonsense. But it shows, I think, that the story these men told may be true. The chances of its being true are sufficiently great to warrant investigation before they are charged with theft. You agree with that?”
This time French felt no doubt.