“The conclusive method of proving the death of a person is, as I have said, to produce that person’s body, or some recognizable part of it.”
“But Purcell’s body is at the bottom of the sea!”
“True. But we know its whereabouts. It is a small area, with the lighthouse as a landmark. If that area were systematically worked over with a trawl or dredge, or, better still, with a set of creepers attached to a good-sized spar, there should be a very fair chance of recovering the body, or, at least, the clothing and the weight.”
Phillip reflected for a few moments. “I think you are right,” he said, at length. “The body appears, from what you say, to be quite close to the Wolf Rock, and almost certainly on the east side. With a good compass and the lighthouse as a sailing mark, it would be possible to ply up and down and search every inch of the bottom in the neighbourhood of the rock.”
“There is only one difficulty,” said Rodney. “Your worm-tube was composed entirely of fragments of the rock. But how large an area of the sea-bottom is covered with those fragments? We should have to ascertain that if we are to work over the whole of it.”
“It would not be difficult to ascertain,” replied Thorndyke. “If we take soundings with a hand-lead as we approach the rock, the samples that come up on the arming of the lead will tell us when we are over a bottom covered with phonolite debris.”
“Yes,” Rodney agreed, “that will answer if the depth is within the range of a hand-lead. If it isn’t we shall have to rig the tackle for a deep-sea lead. It will be rather a gruesome quest. Do I gather that you are prepared to come down with us and lend a hand? I hope you are.”
“So do I!” exclaimed Phillip. “We shall be quite at home with the navigation, but if—er—if anything comes up on the creepers, it will be a good deal more in your line than ours.”
“I should certainly wish to come,” said Thorndyke, “and, in fact, I think it rather desirable that I should, as Phillip suggests. But I can’t get away from town just at present, nor, I imagine, can you. We had better postpone the expedition for a week or so until the commencement of the spring vacation. That will give us time to make the necessary arrangements, to charter a suitable boat and so forth. And in any case we shall have to pick our weather, having regard to the sort of sea that one may encounter in the neighbourhood of the Wolf.”
“Yes,” agreed Phillip, “it will have to be a reasonably calm day when we make the attempt; so I suggest that we put it off until you and Jack are free; and meanwhile I will get on with the preliminary arrangements, the hiring of the boat and getting together the necessary gear.”