Mr. Wilkens’ wife was lost at sea while scuba diving. Late in the evening of the search’s second day, he answered the door and was greeted by two grim-faced policemen.

“We’re sorry to call on you at this hour, Mr. Wilkens, but we have some information about your wife.”

“Well . . . tell me!” he demanded.

One officer said, “We have some bad news, some pretty good news, and some really great news. Which would you like to hear first?”

Fearing the worst, Mr. Wilkens said, “Well, give me the bad news first.”

So the policeman said, “I’m sorry to tell you sir, but we found your wife’s body this morning in Puget Sound.”

“OH MY GOD!” said Mr. Wilkens, overcome by emotion. Then, remembering what the policeman had said, he asked, “What’s the good news?”

“Well,” said the policeman, “When we pulled her up she had two five-pound lobsters and a dozen good size Dungeoness crabs on her.”

“Huh?” said Wilkens, not understanding. “So, what’s the great news?”

The policeman smiled, leaned closer, and whispered, “We’re going to pull her up again tomorrow morning.”