“You don’t think it was an accident, do you now?” Harry Jacobs completed his sentence.

“Not at all.” answered Peter, and took a look at the spot where the ice broke. Well-equipped men where gathered around it and had almost managed to recover the body.

“And why is that?” asked Jacobs.

“Something doesn’t add up, captain. Tell me about the victim, what do we know about him?”

Harry pulled out a file. “George Faning, aged 47, married, no kids. He worked at a local bank and was engaged in frozen lake fishing for the past 6 years, quite skilled I might add…”

“Exactly…” Aslan interrupted. “He was quite skilled, with 6 years of experience, you can tell by looking at his equipment too. If the ice was not thick enough and thus not suitable to step on, walk on and drill a hole to, he would have known better than to proceed. And surely he would have known better than to run on cracking ice. Running only makes the ice crack more.”

“What if he simply panicked?”

“That could be an explanation but I doubt it, captain. I bet he had most definitely dealt with similar situations before, during these past 6 years. He would have known exactly what to do in a situation like this.”

“I see, I see…” Harry Jacobs sighed, his breath visible in front of his face. “Does that mean the witness is lying? Mike Derry.”

Peter took a deep breath and shook his head. “No, not really…”

Harry looked at the young man confused but then patted his back. “I’ll let you do your magic then. I’ll be waiting for your findings.” said captain Jacobs as he walked away. “My greetings to your fiance, kid.”

“Of course captain.” the thought of Alice made him smile. Unfortunately he had to put the thought of her aside for the time being and concentrate on the case. He had to pay Faning’s wife, or maybe from now on Faning’s widow, a visit.