“I suspected that some heavy object was missing, as I mentioned,” was the reply; “and a ballast-weight was a likely object. By the way, can you fix a date on which you know that all the ballast-weights were in place?”
“Yes, I think I can,” replied Phillip. “A few days before Purcell went to Penzance we beached the yacht to give her a scrape. Of course we had to take out the ballast, and when we launched her again I helped to put it back. I am certain that all the weights were there then because I counted them after they were stowed in their places.”
“Then,” said Thorndyke, “it is virtually certain that they were all on board when Purcell and Varney started from Sennen.”
“I should say it is absolutely certain,” said Phillip.
Thorndyke nodded gravely and appeared to reflect a while. But his reflections were broken in upon by John Rodney.
“Look here, Thorndyke, we have answered your questions and given you facilities for verifying certain opinions that you held and now it is time that you were a little less reserved with us. You evidently connected the disappearance of this rope and this weight in some way with Purcell. Now we are all interested in Purcell. You have got something up your sleeve and we should like to know what that something is. It is perfectly obvious that you don’t imagine that Purcell, when he went up the pier ladder at Penzance, had a couple of fathoms of rope and a half-hundred weight concealed about his person.”
“As a matter of fact,” said Thorndyke, “I don’t imagine that Purcell ever went up the ladder at Penzance at all.”
“But Varney saw him go up,” protested Phillip.
“Varney says he saw him go up,” Thorndyke corrected. “I do not accept Mr. Varney’s statement.”
“Then what on earth do you suggest?” demanded Phillip. “And why should Varney say what isn’t true?”