There were many supplementary reports concerning Professor Rachaud; for his loss had created a great stir in the radio industry.
But most important were the actual circumstances that surrounded the accredited death of the eminent professor. Mann studied the clipping which referred to it — a recent article which had summarized the entire case.
Professor Pierre Rachaud had departed from New York on a weekend cruise. He had made a regular hobby of such cruises and his familiar face, with its huge, bushy black beard, had been seen by passengers on the cruising ship Albania when it had sailed from New York harbor.
On the first night out, Professor Rachaud had visited the smoking room and had been observed in a secluded corner, enjoying a bottle of his favorite French wine. Shortly after he had left, a radiogram had been received for him. It was an urgent message from New York.
Professor Rachaud, being neither in his stateroom nor in the smoking room, a search was instituted for him. He was nowhere on the ship. In a period of not more than fifteen minutes, the radio technician had disappeared!
Rachaud's luggage had been discovered in his stateroom. But there was no sign of the man. He had not, of course, expected the radiogram.
The logical assumption was that the professor had gone overboard. Yet the sea was calm and there were many passengers on deck. It seemed incredible that the man could have been lost at sea under such circumstances — either through suicide or murder.
The case had developed into an international mystery. Professor Rachaud was a Frenchman, living in New York, and he had taken passage on a British ship. Dozens of eminent detectives were working on the case, with no success.
To Rutledge Mann, this strange affair was of great interest. Beside it, the death of Clark Murdock, which had been declared an accident, seemed trivial.
Nevertheless, it was Mann's duty to assemble data on the Murdock case alone. So he regretfully replaced the Rachaud clippings in the desk drawer.