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The boat was handy
(To Whoever Finds This)

Short Story (1,800 words)

A French policeman on holiday finds clothes and a suicide note on the beach. He rows a boat out to rescue the young man who left them, who says he is destitute, but could survive with a thousand francs to live on until a job became available. The policeman gives him the money, but warns him not to repeat the trick. How did he know it was a trick?

First published in the Evening News, 5 February 1962.
Reprinted as "To whoever finds this", Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine #268, March, 1966.

Included in the collection Crime and Detection, ed. John Higgins.