"Then this may be the one."
"I don't think there is much mystery about it," I answered. "I expect the body to come ashore presently."
"How about the insurance?" asked Quarles.
"The policy is in force with the Meteor Insurance Company for fifteen thousand pounds. He has paid the premiums regularly, less commission."
"The premiums have been paid by check, I suppose?"
"Yes. The doctor had an account at the Capital and Provincial here in London. It has never been a large account, but has been open for a long while. The doctor did all his business by letter, and does not appear to have been inside the bank for years."
"If he were in the boat, it is strange his body hasn't been washed up, isn't it?" asked Zena.
"I think a body might take longer to come ashore than wreckage," I answered. "Or it may have been caught in another current, and will be thrown up farther along the coast."
"Of course, there is the possibility that Dr. Smith is not dead," I went on, "that he has disappeared intentionally, hoping to defraud the insurance company. Were you thinking of that, Zena?"