Page 113 of Strangers in Time

“I’ve been everywhere I thought he might be,” he said. “So far, I’ve had no luck. But I will keep trying.”

“What if hewasarrested?”

“I think we would have heard, I really do,” he said.

Each week Molly had duly given him, despite his protests, her entire salary. “It’s not much, I know, but it’s something.”

“It’s more than something, Molly, it’s quite substantial, in fact, and I will pay you back when I am able.”

“Please, without you I would have no home.”

“And I did write Major Bryant for further particulars. I will let you know as soon as I receive a response.”

As Molly sat and ate the dinner Oliver had prepared, and watched him bustle around the tiny kitchen, she was thinking about how Imogen had died.

She decided to broach the subject with him. “I happened to meet Mrs. Macklin.”

“Did you now?” said Oliver in surprise as he sat down across from her with a cup of tea.

“She was outside several weeks ago and called to me one evening. She… mentioned she knew your wife. I mean, I already knew that because you had told me.”

“She also knew Imogen’s father, who owned this bookshop before her.”

“Yes, she mentioned that as well. Mrs. Macklin also talked to me about… Cornwall.”

Oliver set his cup down. “Cornwall? Indeed. Wait, do you mean…?”

Molly’s face paled. “Yes, she told me what happened. I didn’t ask about it, I promise.”

He looked down. “As I told you, Imogen and I spent our honeymoon in Devon. It was such a happy time for us. Thus, it did puzzle me that she would choose nearby Cornwall to do what she did.”

“And you had no idea she had gone there?”

He shook his head. “Imogen said she was traveling by rail toBristol to visit an old school friend. When the police came round… Well, it was quite impossible to believe what they were saying. I made myself think they had gotten it all wrong somehow. But when I rang the friend in Bristol, and found that she knew nothing of a visit from Imogen, and then the fact that Imogen never came back? Well, it became rather self-evident, didn’t it?”

“Perhaps it was an accident? She might have—”

“No, no, I was told that the witnesses were quite clear in their statements. She… jumped.”

“Did you… did you never go there and see things for yourself?”

“I thought I would have done. I planned to go, in fact. I never got the exact location from the police down there but… I…” He halted.

“I know this is so very difficult,” interjected Molly, her features full of compassion.

“I finally decided not to make further inquiries because what would have been the point? I could not bring her back. They could tell me nothing other than that they saw her jump, which I already knew to be the case. And… and I simply could not bring myself to go to the place where she… died.” He looked up at her. “Do you think that wrong of me?”

“I can’t judge you, Mr. Oliver, having never been faced with something like that.” She played with her napkin as she seemed to be mustering courage. “Did you ever think why she might have done what she did?”

“Yes, I have given it a great deal of thought.”

“You said that had you acted she might still be alive. But you never explained that.”

As she said this Oliver’s eyes closed and tears seeped from under the lids.

Molly looked alarmed. “I’m so sorry. I never should have brought it up. I just didn’t want Mrs. Macklin to mention to you what she told me. I thought it better for you to hear it from me.”

He lifted his specs, wiped his eyes with his napkin, and said, “I do appreciate your telling me, Molly. As to why Imogen wouldhave done that, all I can say is that she was acomplicatedperson. A loving, caring, quite dear woman, but… complicated, nonetheless. And when the truth came fully round, I think she couldn’t accept… things.”

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