ALIBI

The Professor was in an expansive mood.

“I’ve often observed,” he told his dinner guests, “how extremely difficult it is to fake an unassisted alibi. The recent Werner affair in Chicago is a case in point.” He fired a cigar and continued:

“I had no suspicion of Werner when I bumped into him on Michigan Avenue the morning after a friend of his had been found murdered. When I casually inquired where he’d been between 4 and 6 o’clock the previous afternoon, he gave the following account.

“‘It was such a glorious afternoon that about 2 o’clock I went for a sail. When I was about eight miles off shore—about 5:30—the wind died down completely. There wasn’t a breath of air. Drifting about I recalled that the International distress signal is a flag flown upside down, so I ran mine to the top of the mast in that manner and waited in the dead calm.

“‘Shortly after 6 o’clock the freighter Luella hove to and I went aboard her after securing my boat with a tow-line. Her skipper said he’d seen my distress signal about three miles away. He put me ashore at Harvey’s Landing and a passing car gave me a lift to town. Imagine my surprise when I read in the morning paper that the Luella had sunk in a storm last night and all hands had been lost!’”

The Professor sipped his wine and went on:

“While the Luella had been sunk with loss of entire crew, I immediately arrested Werner for further questioning. I knew his alibi was faked.”

How did the Professor know? Turn page for solution.