“Sure, I guess so,” said Hendricks. “I got nothing else going today, so I can sleep all afternoon.”

They drove out in Brody’s car. As they pulled into Foote’s driveway, Hendricks said, “What do you bet they’re all asleep? I remember last summer a woman called at one in the morning and asked if I could come out as early as possible the next morning because she thought some of her jewelry was missing. I offered to go right then, but she said no, she was going to bed. Anyway, I showed up at ten o’clock the next morning and she threw me out. ‘I didn’t mean this early,’ she says.”

“We’ll see,” said Brody. “If they’re really worried about this dame, they’ll be awake.”

The door opened almost before Brody had finished knocking. “We’ve been waiting to hear from you,” said a young man. “I’m Tom Cassidy. Did you find her?”

“I’m Chief Brody. This is Officer Hendricks. No, Mr. Cassidy, we didn’t find her. Can we come in?”

“Oh sure, sure. I’m sorry. Go on in the living room. I’ll get the Footes.”

It took less than five minutes for Brody to learn everything he felt he needed to know. Then, as much to seem thorough as from any hope of learning anything useful, he asked to see the missing woman’s clothes. He was shown into the bedroom, and he looked through the clothing on the bed.

“She didn’t have a bathing suit with her?”

“No,” said Cassidy. “It’s in the top drawer over there. I looked.”

Brody paused for a moment, taking care with his words, then said, “Mr. Cassidy, I don’t mean to sound flip or anything, but has this Miss Watkins got a habit of doing strange things? I mean, like taking off in the middle of the night … or walking around naked?”

“Not that I know of,” said Cassidy. “But I really don’t know her too well.”

“I see,” said Brody. “Then I guess we’d better go down to the beach again. You don’t have to come. Hendricks and I can handle it.”

“I’d like to come, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind. I just thought you might not want to.”

The three men walked down to the beach. Cassidy showed the policemen where he had fallen asleep—the indentation his body had made in the sand had not been disturbed—and he pointed out where he had found the woman’s clothes.

Brody looked up and down the beach. For as far as he could see, more than a mile in both directions, the beach was empty. Clumps of seaweed were the only dark spots on the white sand. “Let’s take a walk,” he said. “Leonard, you go east as far as the point. Mr. Cassidy, let’s you and I go west. You got your whistle, Leonard? Just in case.”

“I’ve got it,” said Hendricks. “You care if I take my shoes off? It’s easier walking on the hard sand, I don’t want to get them wet.”