“This was your fault!” Joe Matt accused Jacques savagely as a policeman snapped handcuffs on his wrists. “Yellow rat! I wish I’d let you go that time you sneaked away!”
During the ride back to the dock, police officers took detailed statements from both Dan and Jacques. The later spoke in broken English and had difficulty in telling his story.
However, he revealed that in recent weeks he had been held virtually a prisoner at Skeleton Island. Brought to America from France by his uncle, everything had gone well until Jabowski had fallen in with evil companions.
On the night that the Cubs had found him lying exhausted on the beach, the boy had been assigned to carry a message in code to Joe Matt.
“And what did that message say?” Dan asked. “I figured out only the first word before it was snatched from the Cave.”
“Coming through 24,” Jacques revealed. “Today the 24th.”
“That meant the fur shipment?”
Jacques nodded, explaining that the message, relayed by tip-off men to his uncle, had been intended for Joe Matt. But instead of delivering it, the boy had made up his mind to run away.
“I leap from my uncle’s boat and swim away in dark,” he added. “Reach shore. Hard swim.”
“You were plenty tired when we found you,” Dan recalled. “I understand now why you were unwilling to talk. You were deeply involved with your uncle and the gang.”