course. How kind of you to come and see me. My family has just left-'
'Then you'll be tired. I just wished to be sure that you were recovering. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable? Is there anything you need?'
The young woman in the bed behind me coughed a little, and then slept again.
'The sisters have been so good,' she said. 'But I hurt-'
'I'll ask them to look in on you,' I promised. 'I was so shocked by the news,' I went on. 'Do you have any memory of what happened?'
'I remember dressing and leaving the house, looking forward to dining with friends. And then I woke up here and didn't know where I was.' She frowned. 'I'm told I was attacked-knifed. As I came home alone. Is it true?'
'I'm afraid so.'
'But who would do such a thing?' A tear ran from the corner of her eye down her pale cheek. 'I've never harmed anyone. Not ever…' Her voice trailed off.
'You're safe, now.' I touched her hand. 'Let the police deal with it.' Her fingers closed tightly over mine.
'Bess-it's frightening that I can't remember. They tell me it happens. The shock, they said.' She moved restlessly. 'I'm told it will all come back. Only I'm not sure I want it to.'
'If it starts to return, ask a nurse to send for the police,' I said, trying to soothe her. 'They'll want to know. It will help them apprehend whoever did this.'
'Yes, that's what Inspector Hemmings-no, that's not right-' She closed her eyes. 'I didn't imagine him-' She was still drifting in and out of consciousness.
'Inspector Herbert,' I said. 'From Scotland Yard.'
'Was he here? Did you see him?'
'I've spoken to him before, about Marjorie Evanson.'
'That's right. You were anxious to find out who killed her.'
'Did he-did Inspector Herbert ask you about Lieutenant Michael Hart?'
'I can't think why he wished to know if I'd seen him last night-no, it wasn't last night, was it? I'm so confused.'
'It doesn't matter,' I answered her, though I felt myself go cold.
'He told me I'd been calling Michael's name when I was found and brought to hospital. But that makes no sense. I'd have asked for my husband, wouldn't I? Not for Michael.'
'Perhaps you were thinking about him.'
'Not at dinner-afterward-'
I told myself that I must stop now, before I heard more than I wanted to hear. If she brought back some fleeting memory that would damn Michael, it would all be my doing. But truth is something I'd been taught to value. I couldn't walk away from it, whatever the consequences.
'Afterward?' I asked, before my courage ran out.
But she had drifted into sleep, and I recalled my promise to speak to one of the sisters and tell them she was in pain.
Still, I sat there for another several minutes, in case she awoke again. Then, after a brief conversation with the ward sister, I left, feeling very depressed for Helen Calder's sake and my own.
I was just walking down the steps of the hospital, taking a deep breath of the cooling evening air after the familiar smells of the wards, and nearly passed Inspector Herbert without noticing him, so distracted that I just registered a man coming toward me.
'Miss Crawford,' he said, stopping me. He frowned. 'Not questioning my witness, I hope?'
'I'm a nurse,' I replied shortly, 'and the patient is someone I know.'
He nodded. 'How is she? She wasn't making much sense earlier.'
'The ward sister tells me she's doing as well as can be expected. The fear, as always, is infection. From the knife, from bits of cloth driven into her wounds, from the surgery itself. She's healthy and that's in her favor. They're still sedating her for her pain.' It was a cowardly comment, but I told myself that it was also true.
'I was just on my way home and decided to stop and ask if she was awake again.'
'She's asleep at the moment. Or she was when I left the ward.'
'Did you speak to her?'
'Briefly. She told me you had called earlier, and that she couldn't remember what had happened. She added that she was afraid to remember. I tried to assure her that she was safe now and it would be all right. Which of course isn't really the truth-if she does remember, she'll relive that night for years. If not while she's awake, then in her dreams. Is there any possibility that you could send for her husband? It would be a comfort to her.'
'I hadn't thought of that. I'll see what I can do.'
'Will you let me see Lieutenant Hart?' I asked. 'I'm going back to France in a few days. I'd like to hear what he has to say about his arrest.'
'I don't think that's useful,' Inspector Herbert told me. 'He's allowed no visitors. Only his lawyers.'
'May I write to him and expect an answer?'
'I wouldn't advise writing him.'
I took a deep breath. 'What if all this evidence is just circumstantial? Will you hang the lieutenant and let the real murderer go free?'
'Hardly circumstantial, I should think,' he answered, a little annoyed with me. 'You've been a great help with this inquiry, Miss Crawford. But as I've said to you before, you must now leave the rest to us.'
He started to walk through the hospital doors, but I stopped him.
'Have you found Captain Melton?'
'There's no hurry there. He's at the Front, and we've time before the trial to interview him. I think even you will agree that he's not our murderer.'
'He can speak to Marjorie Evanson's state of mind-' I wanted to add that men died at the Front. Waiting was a calculated risk.
'And you have already done that. Quite admirably.' He touched his hat, and went through the main doors, holding them open for a pair of sisters just coming off duty.
There was nothing I could do.
Simon was waiting for me, but I said, 'I need a little time…'
He nodded, and I began to walk to clear my head, but I'd not gone twenty paces when I heard Inspector Herbert call to me.
I stopped and he caught me up.
'I wanted to ask-it's not my business to ask, but are you in love with Lieutenant Hart?'
I must have looked as exasperated as I felt. 'If anyone else asks me that question, I will gladly box his ears. Or barring that, kick him in the shins.'
He smiled. 'I'm sorry. As a policeman I must know how to judge your evidence. It has been impartial to a certain point. It's necessary to understand if that has in any way changed.'
'If I'm asked to testify in court, you may be sure I shall tell the truth, as I will have sworn to do,' I answered stiffly.
'It won't come to that. Your statement will be sufficient. Good night, Miss Crawford. I wish you a safe journey back to France. And hope that you will return to England safely when your tour of duty is finished.'
He touched his hat again and went back the way he'd come. I stood there looking after him as he passed through the hospital doors without looking back, thinking to myself that he was a fair man, but like many fair men, once he'd made up his mind, he wasn't likely to find any reason to change it.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I must have walked another hundred yards or more. And then someone spoke just behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
