Keen eyes surveyed the two boys.
Rick worked his hand line absently. "You mean you want us to help?"
"Seems I've read about you boys solving a mystery or two, haven't I?"
"We've had a couple of lucky breaks," Scotty said. "We're not real detectives."
Cap'n Mike tried his line and muttered, "Feels like a cunner is stealing my bait. Well, boys, I wouldn't be surprised none if a little luck like yours is what we need. Can't pretend, though, that you might not be walking right into something you wouldn't like. Anything that scares Tom Tyler is something anyone with sense would be afraid of."
Rick hauled in his line and saw that his bait was gone. He rebaited, his mind on what he already knew of the case. "I've been wanting to ask you," he said. "That answer you gave to Jerry when he asked where Tom Tyler was. You said 'Inside. Surrounded by fools.' What did you mean?"
Cap'n Mike sniffed. "Just what I said. If the constable and the rest hadn't been fools they would have known that Tom Tyler was afraid to talk. Just like plenty of others are afraid."
Rick picked up his ears. "Others? Cap'n, I think you know a few things you haven't told us."
The old seaman hauled in his line and grunted when he saw that his bait had been stolen. "Reckon we got too many bait stealers down below now. Either of you boys hungry?"
"I am," Scotty said promptly.