Ben Gardner's death

Ben Gardner, a seasoned Amity fisherman, becomes the great white shark's fourth victim when he vanishes at sea while attempting to catch the predator. His abandoned boat, the Flicka, is discovered adrift with a shark tooth embedded in the transom and gouges in the wood, confirming a violent struggle and marking a turning point in the town's escalating crisis.

Disappearance and Discovery

On Thursday, June 24, Brody and Officer Len Hendricks take Chickering's AquaSport out to investigate why Gardner's boat, the Flicka, has been anchored in the same spot all day without moving. As they approach, Brody sees no signs of life and calls out, but there is no reply. The boat is empty; Gardner is not on board. The radio is still on, contradicting the theory that he had turned it off. A bucket of chum—fish guts and blood meant to attract sharks—sits nearly full in the stern, unused. There are no fishing rods in the holders, and no harpoon or barrels are visible. Hendricks notes that Gardner swam like a fish and carried no dinghy, making it unlikely he simply fell overboard and failed to climb back in.

Evidence of the Attack

Brody notices four ragged screw holes where a cleat had been torn from the starboard gunwale, the wood splintered rather than unscrewed. On the outer edge of the gunwale, he finds an eight-inch-long sear where the paint has been scraped away and the wood abraded, as if by a tight, heavy rope. At the stern, he discovers a pattern of deep gouges in the wooden transom, forming a rough semicircle more than three feet across, with another similar pattern next to it. At the bottom of the transom, just at the waterline, there are three short smears of blood. Hendricks leans over the transom and, using his knife, extracts a nearly two-inch-long triangle of glistening white denticle from one of the holes. Brody scrapes the tooth against the gunwale, and it cuts the wood. The tooth is later identified by Matt Hooper as belonging to a great white shark, estimated at fifteen to twenty feet and weighing five or six thousand pounds.

Aftermath and Confirmation

Brody leaves the Flicka anchored overnight and returns to the dock in late twilight, where Harry Meadows introduces him to Matt Hooper, the oceanographer from Woods Hole. Brody reluctantly calls Sally Gardner, Ben's wife, to inform her that her husband is missing. She initially clings to hope, suggesting the engine might have failed and he hitched a ride with another boat, but Brody confirms the radio was working. When Grace Finley arrives at Sally's house, Sally's hope shatters, and she sobs, accusing Brody of sending Ben to his death. Brody hangs up, furious and guilty. Hooper later explains that the shark likely killed Gardner by pulling him overboard, possibly tangling his leg in a harpoon line, or by taking him while he leaned over the stern. The shark then attacked the boat itself, driven by instinct and impulse, leaving the tooth and gouges as evidence. Gardner's death is confirmed as the fourth fatality caused by the great white shark, intensifying the pressure on Brody and the town.