Summary

Chapter 1 opens in the office of the coroner in New York’s Cataraqui County. The coroner’s name is Fred Heit and he receives the call that a husband and wife have apparently been the victims of a drowning at Big Bittern Lake. Officials had so far only been able to locate the body of the woman. The woman’s coat, which had been recovered from the inn, had a letter intended for the wife of Titus Alden in one of the pockets. Heit leaves for the lake with his assistant, Earl Newcomb.

In Chapter 2, the disappearance of a boat and the couple who rented it has led to the formation of a search party by the locals to investigate what may have happened. The body of Roberta is soon discovered. An investigation commences. The mysterious bruises on Roberta’s face, the discrepancy...