“On the under side of the grating I found a cocoon of a common moth. Half an hour in the water would have soaked the cocoon through and killed the insect inhabitant. The insect was alive.”
“How’d the grating get there, then?”
“Dragged down from the high-water mark on the beach. It was an old half-rotted affair such as no ship would carry. Ask Sailor Smith.”
“That’s true,” said the old seaman with conviction.
“You’re an expert, Mr. Smith. Now, was that grating large enough to float a full grown human body?”
“Why, as to that, a body ain’t but a mite heavier than the water. I should say it’d just barely float it, maybe.”
“Exactly; but plus several pounds of clothing, and some dead metal extra?”
“No.”
“The clothes would have been soaked, and handcuffs weigh something,” said Kent calmly.
“There might have been extra spars under the grating, that got pounded loose on the beach and washed away,” propounded the medical officer desperately.