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London.
    ‘ “ I regret to inform you, ” ’ he started, then paused. ‘No, change that to “ I very much regret to inform you that as yet our investigations have revealed no clue as to the cause of these sinkings. The charred ship’s lifeboat will be sent to our laboratories at Portsmouth for investigation and analysis, and we can only hope that this may answer some of our questions. Meanwhile, we are keeping careful watch... ” ’
    It was at this point that he noticed the Doctor. While dictating the letter he had been standing at the window of his first-floor office, overlooking the concrete roadways, outbuildings and quayside of this most top security Naval base. No one could possibly enter the base without a special pass, unless they came in from the sea. And that’s just what had happened. At the captain watched, a fishing-boat with a small outboard motor had zoomed in from the sea, driven by a tall man with a lot of fair hair and a long black frock coat. The man made up the boat, jumped ashore, and within no time was busily inspecting the upturned charred lifeboat which had been left on the quayside.
    Jane looked up from her notebook. ‘Is something the matter, sir?’
    Captain Hart didn’t answer. He scooped up a telephone and bellowed into it: ‘ Master-at-Arms, we have an intruder! Kindly arrest him and bring him to my office immediately! ’
    Hart went back to the window to watch, and Jane joined him there. ‘Perhaps he’s lost,’ said Jane.
    ‘Then why,’ said Hart, ‘did he go straight for the lifeboat?!’
    Within seconds of the captain’s call to the Master-at-Arms, they saw a petty officer and six ratings bearing down on the stranger. The petty officer yanked the Doctor to his feet. There was a brief exchange of words, and then the Doctor was marched off, hemmed in by the six Naval ratings.
    Three minutes later there was a knock on Captain Hart’s door, and the Doctor was brought in under escort. Captain Hart was already seated behind his desk to ‘receive’ the unwanted visitor.
    ‘Intruder found and detained, sir,’ said the petty-officer.
    ‘Look, I’m terribly sorry about all this,’ the Doctor began, but was allowed to go on no further.
    ‘Are you aware,’ said Captain Hart severely, ‘that you have trespassed on Government property, and that that is a very serious offence?’
    ‘Actually,’ said the Doctor, ‘no, because I had not the means to become aware.’
    Captain Hart tried to contain his patience. ‘There are signs, in very large letters, warning the public to keep out, and you ignored these!’
    ‘I didn’t see any signs,’ pleaded the Doctor.
    Again Hart cut in. ‘Because you entered by way of the sea! Obviously, we can’t have signs bobbing up and down on the waves.’
    ‘There you are, then,’ said the Doctor. ‘So the way I arrived, there were no signs to be seen.’
    ‘But you had no right to enter by way of the. sea!’ thundered Captain Hart.
    ‘Ah,’ said the Doctor soothingly, ‘but I was not to know that I had no right unless I saw some sign to tell me.’
    It was clear that this conversation was going round in circles. The captain noticed the petty-officer trying to suppress a smile.
    ‘All right, petty officer,’ said Hart, ‘you can carry on.’ It was the Naval way of saying that the petty officer was no longer needed.
    ‘Sir!’ said the’ petty officer, as he about-turned and left the office.
    ‘Perhaps,’ said the captain, ‘you’d be good enough to tell me why you’ve dropped in on us in this unconventional way?’
    ‘I’d be delighted,’ said the Doctor, helping himself to a chair and sitting down. He explained what he had heard about ships sinking, and about the peculiarity of the lifeboat that was charred when no flames had been seen. ‘Before I was arrested,’ the Doctor explained, ‘I had a brief opportunity to look at those burn marks. I was particularly interested in the linear nature of the bums. Let me show