The Striped Bass: A Detective Story

"I am an Atlantic salmon man."

The investigator did not speak to James McDaniel until the car stopped at the Nova Scotia ferry wharf in Bar Harbor. As he got out of the car, McDaniel said:

"One final word here. When I go fishing, I go to catch fish. I can go out any day in the summertime and get myself a washtub full of scup. That's my idea of fishing."

The investigator walked away without looking around. He walked through the town, and at the main intersection he turned into a drugstore. The proprietor was seated in a rocking chair. He was puffing a pipe. In the breast pocket of his coat were a half dozen cigars. He was reading a paper book entitled How to Stop Smoking.

"What," said the investigator, "is the striped bass situation around here?"

The druggist puffed on his pipe, eyeing the investigator.

"We get a lot of sea bass around here," he said.

The investigator turned on his heel and walked out. A taxicab was passing by and he hailed it and asked to be driven to the airport.

Sometime later, the attractive stewardess on the Northeast Airlines DC-3 announced that-there would be a 20-minute stop at Portland if any passengers cared to stretch their legs.

Stretching his legs around the terminal, the investigator looked at one of his fellow passengers who was standing reading a newspaper. He was William 0. Douglas, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.