He nodded. "To be sure. And she was in great distress, you said."

"Yes. That's what drew my attention to her in the first place."

"What made her distress different from that of other women seeing off friends or loved ones?"

I frowned. "I thought at the time that perhaps she'd had a premonition or a dream that he wouldn't be coming back. She wasn't putting on a brave front, you see, as so many women do. She appeared to be giving in to her feelings."

"As you observed the two of them together-Mrs. Evanson and the officer-could you form an opinion of the relationship between them?"

"She clung to him. He hardly looked at her or touched her."

Inspector Herbert raised his eyebrows. "He didn't comfort her? Was he perhaps embarrassed by her behavior?"

"I-that's one possible interpretation. But he stayed there with her, he didn't walk away until the train began to move." It occurred to me then that by standing with her until the last minute, he'd kept her from following him to his carriage.

After a moment's thought, Inspector Herbert went on. "I am about to confide to you information that we haven't made public, Miss Crawford. And I hope you'll not repeat it. But I think it's necessary if we're to understand the facts you've placed before us. The coroner has informed us that Mrs. Evanson was nearly three months' pregnant. I must assume, from my exchange of letters with his commanding officer, that her husband, Lieutenant Evanson, couldn't have been the father of this child. By any chance, are you able to verify his medical history?"

I tried not to show my shock. "I know from his medical records that Lieutenant Evanson has been in hospital in France for two months. Before that, his aircraft had been shot down over German lines and it was at least two weeks before he made his way back to British lines. He wasn't hurt in that crash, at least not seriously, although he was sent to hospital for observation because of a blow to the head. There was no concussion, and he was released to his unit. But a few weeks later he wasn't so lucky-his aircraft caught fire and he was fortunate to survive at all. It must be four months or more since he was in England. At the very least."