‘Uh-huh.’ I pulled the desk pad and pencil in front of me and wrote her name and a few other things down. ‘You don’t have any idea where your fiancé might be?’

‘No, none. I think something may have happened to Roy, an accident, amnesia… I don’t know. I’ve been so worried, and this morning I just couldn’t stand the waiting, the inactivity, and that’s why I came to you. I called up my attorney and he gave me your name; he said you were very reliable.’

‘I hope I am, Miss Kavanaugh,’ I said. ‘Suppose you tell me something about Roy Sands?’

‘Well, he’s a master sergeant in the Army,’ she said. ‘I mean, he was. He’s been in the service for twenty years, you see, and that makes him eligible for retirement with a nice pension and he chose to leave the service instead of re-enlisting when his tour came up just before Christmas. I met him at a U.S.O. dance here in San Francisco about two years ago; he was stationed at the Presidio at the time. He asked me out and then we started going together and we fell in love. After we were sure marriage was what we wanted, we made all sorts of plans and Roy bought me this ring’-she displayed the diamond engagement band with a kind of awkward pride-’and we opened the joint bank accounts just before he left for Germany.’

‘When was that?’ I asked.

‘Eleven months ago.’

‘Last February?’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘And he’s been in Germany since then?’

She nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘Where?’

‘At Larson Barracks, in Kitzingen.’

‘When did he return to the States?’

‘The eighteenth of last month.’

‘To San Francisco for his discharge?’

‘Yes. We were to spend Christmas and New Year’s together.’

‘But you never saw him after his return, is that right?’

‘Yes. I mean, no, I didn’t see him.’

I told myself: You weren’t such a unique holiday case, guy; the world is full of lonely people. I said, ‘Are you sure he did return to San Francisco?’