“It seemed to be. The thing is, I’ve always thought there’s a logical explanation but I’m at a loss as to what it is.”
Harry rubbed his chin. “Does it appear every time there’s fog?” Silas shook his head. “Is there any kind of pattern to when it does appear?”
“Pattern? What do you mean?”
“Anything… time of night it’s seen… certain times of the month… any particular time of the year when it’s seen more frequently… any kind of pattern at all,” Harry explained.
“I never thought about checking that,” Silas said thoughtfully. “I’ll have to check my notes again.” He got to his feet, walked over and laid his mug on the counter behind Harry’s desk. “Tell you what, I’ve got a pot of turkey soup simmering on the stove. I’ll go through my notes again and we can continue this over lunch.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll bring fresh rolls from Janet’s.”
“Great. And don’t bother knocking, just come on in.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Several hours later, Harry opened the front door of Silas’ cottage and sniffed. “Smells good,” he called out as he closed the door behind him.
“Come on over here.” Silas was sitting at the table with his binder open and several pages of scribbled notes on the table to his right.
Harry laid boxes of fresh dinner rolls and raisin tea buns on the counter, then took a seat opposite Silas. “What’s all this?”
Frowning, Silas looked at him. “I’m not sure, but I might have found the pattern you mentioned.”
“That could give us a starting point. Let’s hear it.”
“I noted all the conditions for each time it was seen, weather, wind, tide… you name it. Times between sightings varied but it was roughly once a month. It was always noted within an hour before or after midnight; always during heavy fog, from April to October; always in light wind; and most interesting… it was only seen at low tide.”
Harry rubbed his chin. “Fog would provide cover for whatever was out there, light winds would be preferable where rocks are a danger… and the frequency might have depended on a number of things… but low tide?” He paused a moment. “Are there any caves in these cliffs?”
Silas nodded. “I’ve heard about caves down there but haven’t heard of anyone ever going in there because of the rocks.”
“Maybe the cave entrances are only accessible at low tide. I think we need to see for ourselves,” Harry said. “I’ll talk to Joe Grant about getting someone with a boat to take us out there.”
“You thinking Rum-runners?”
“It probably started that way. These days – who knows? It depends on the size and accessibility of the caves. And if there’s any storage space above water.”
Silas stood up and pushed everything on the table down to one end. “Let’s continue this over lunch.” He filled two soup bowls and passed them to Harry. Then he grabbed teaplates and the boxes of baked goods, set them on the table and they sat down to continue their conversation.
