So far Ginger had told only the Professor of Mary Ann's things being gone, and by the time she was through crying was too upset to do anything but touch up her make-up. So he took it upon himself to inform each castaway, and asked them all to convene at the eating table at 12:30 to discuss their plan of action.
At the appointed hour they had all appeared and the Professor called the meeting to order.
"I believe I told you all about the disappearance of Mary Ann's person and belongings, and obviously she isn't here. So…" At this point Ginger let out a low moan, but the Professor continued, "Therefore, we must come to the conclusion that Mary Ann has left our camp for some reason. Can any of you think of something we might have done to upset her that had such a great effect on her that she would be compelled to abandon us?"
The castaways were all silent.
"Well there must have been something we did." The Professor said thoughtfully. "Let's try to recall anything we may have said or done to even remotely offend her this past week."
"I…I insulted her on the way she cleaned our hut yesterday." Mrs. Howell admitted. "You see, she neglected to dust our safe. I had a few choice words with her and she ran out crying."
"Lovey!" her husband cried.
"Well you threatened to not invite her to our next island cotillion if she wasn't more careful with our laundry!"
"And you…"
"Mr. Howell, Mrs. Howell, please!" the Professor interrupted. "I doubt either of those things were the cause of her sudden departure, but it's a good start. What about you, Gilligan?" He looked across the table at the first mate.
"I uh, um, accidentally wrapped her in a fish net the other day." he replied sheepishly.
"Hmm…" the scientist said, not even wanting to know how that happened. "Ginger?" He turned to her.
The redhead just stared into space. "Ginger?"
"Oh… yes?" the movie star answered vaguely.
"Have you done anything to upset Mary Ann recently?"
"Oh. We had a little tiff last night. Nothing important."
"Well, if it's unimportant, what was it about?" "Nothing."
"Gee whiz, Ginger, how can you have a fight over nothing?" Gilligan piped up.
"GILLIGAN!" the Skipper shouted.
"What was it about?" the Professor asked again.
"Nothing!" To say she looked uncomfortable was an understatement. Deciding not to press her, he moved on.
"Okay. Skipper?"
"Well, I made a comment about her fish a few nights ago that I probably shouldn't have. I said it uh… tasted more like bacon than anything else. I'm sure she took offense. What about you, Professor?"
"Well, I um, uh, you see…"
"Blurt it out, Professor. We all told our faults." Ginger said bitterly. While Roy would have liked to point out that she had been very vague in her the description of her "fault" he didn't. Perhaps she had good reason.
"Well, I wouldn't let her borrow a book about…chess." His fellow castaways didn't seem the least bit surprised, for they knew very well that he'd hated parting with his beloved books ever since 101 Scientific Experiments for the Former Simpleton had been dropped in the lagoon by mistake.
"Should we organize a search party?" Mr. Howell asked.
"An excellent idea, Mr. Howell."