"What... what are you doing?" Bill said. Still disoriented, he stood up automatically, and the robe fell open a third time before he clutched it around himself.

If this was the only way he could get out of this house to see if John and Robert were safe, he would have to go along with the investigation, he decided. The constable was awfully soft; maybe Bill could get away with what he'd done. He hadn't tried to investigate anything until the owner of the house... Zechariah? pressed him on it.

"It's Captain Richard Smith," he blurted out. "The boat's the Zephyr. He's staying at the Pier Inn. But please, sir, could I go to see if my friends are all right?"