Shark Devils— and Gods 157 



Smith had been killed. His body had been disposed of, somehow 

 ... all but the arm. Either it had eluded the oblivion to which the rest 

 of Smith's body had been consigned (his body was never found), or 

 it had been used as gruesome proof of the deed to the man who had 

 wanted Smith killed. Then, a rope knotted about its wrist and a weight 

 tied to the other end of the rope, it had been hurled, probably from a 

 boat, into the sea. 



The arm floated near the sea bottom at the end of its tether, gro- 

 tesquely beckoning a relatively small shark which smelled the fresh 

 blood. The shark circled warily, then seized the arm as it would have 

 seized a fish— with one, swift lunge. If the arm had been floating on 

 the surface, the shark would probably have snapped at it, tearing it and 

 obliterating the fingerprints and the tell-tale tattoo which disclosed the 

 arm's identity. But, tethered as it was, the arm was scooped intact into 

 the shark, whose jaws clamped down on and parted the rope that held 

 the arm. 



Soon after finding the arm, the shark discovered Albert Hobson's 

 bait, lunged for it, and was hooked. The shark's struggles were detected 

 by a 14-foot Tiger shark, which immediately sensed easy prey. Again, 

 the wary approach; again, the swift thrust; again, huge jaws scooped 

 instead of seizing. This time, however, the shark meets resistance as it 

 attempts to bolt down its meal intact. The Tiger's prey is held by the 

 big hook. The Tiger's jaws rip and tear near the hook. (Perhaps the 

 Tiger itself is temporarily snared by the same hook— as often happens.) 

 It begins thrashing, entangling itself in the slackened line. And it is 

 held fast. Fortunately, before the Tiger's own struggles draw other 

 sharks to the scene, Hobson arrives, captures it, and brings it ashore. 



Why didn't the first shark's potent digestive secretions disintegrate 

 the arm? Why was the arm so remarkably well preserved? The theories 

 are many. Perhaps the sudden death of the first small shark suspended its 

 digestive process and, when it in turn was devoured, its own body may 

 have acted as a protective casing, shielding the arm from effacement by 

 the Tiger shark's digestive system. Smith was murdered, apparently, 

 some time around the middle of April. (He arrived in Cronulla on April 

 7th and was last seen by the landlord "a few days" later.) The shark was 

 caught on April 18th. The arm was disgorged on April 25th. 



Australian physicians and police have authenticated several cases of 

 preservation of human remains in sharks for even longer periods than 

 this. 



Thus did investigators recount the bizarre odyssey of Smith's aveng- 

 ing arm. But the arm that had revealed a murder was never to lead 

 justice to the murderer. Instead, the arm led justice down a laby- 

 rinth. . . . 



There are some who say that the shark disclosed the murder of 



