ANSWER:It... everything was broken and shattered inside, and the chimney had fallen off, but, yes, it was still standing.
QUESTION:And when you returned six weeks later was it still standing then?
ANSWER:I told the police before. It had burned. Every house on the street had burned. Every house in our neighborhoodburned. Beggin’ your pardon, sir, but do you not know what happened in this city? Have you not looked around?
QUESTION:I assure you, I’m not here to mock the loss of your home, Mrs. Hocking. I am only establishing the facts for the record.Myrecord. I apologize for asking questions you have already answered. But I must ask them. You returned to your home six weeks after the earthquake and found it had burned? There was nothing left of it?
ANSWER:Nothing but ashes.
QUESTION:And you would have no way of knowing if Mr. Hocking returned to the house after the earthquake but before it burned?
ANSWER:How could I? I was not there.
QUESTION:Yes. Now, if we may go back to the day of the earthquake. You have said that you and Katharine found your way to the refugee camp at Golden Gate Park when the fires began. Do I have that right?
ANSWER:Yes.
QUESTION:And during your four days at the refugee camp you didn’t hear from your husband, correct? He did not join you there?
ANSWER:No. As I said before, he was away on a business trip. He travels for a living.
QUESTION:So, to be clear, your husband left on his business trip before the earthquake and you have had no contact with him since?
ANSWER:I have not. Have you come by some new information about where he is? I think I have a right to know.
QUESTION:I believe I have come upon some new information, yes. But I’m not sure if this new intelligence aligns with what we know already. That is why I need to revisit some of the details you provided from the initial investigation into his disappearance, to see if what I’ve recently learned is consistent with the previously reported details. May we continue?
ANSWER:If this will assist you in finding my husband, then of course.
QUESTION:Thank you. Now, for the record, then, you married Martin Hocking the same day you met him, is that correct?
ANSWER:Yes.
QUESTION:And can you tell me why you did that?
ANSWER:Why I did what?
QUESTION:Married Mr. Hocking the same day you met him.
ANSWER:It is not against the law to marry someone you’ve just met, is it?
QUESTION:Indeed, it is not. I am curious, you see.
ANSWER:I married Martin because he asked me.
QUESTION:You had answered a newspaper advertisement that he’d placed in theNew York Times? For a wife and mother. He had advertised that he was a widower with a young child. Do I have that right?
ANSWER:Yes.
QUESTION:And then you traveled to San Francisco from New York to marry Mr. Hocking, even though the two of you had not yet met?
ANSWER:I did.
QUESTION:Because?
ANSWER:Because, what?
QUESTION:Mrs. Hocking, are you declining to tell me why you married a man you’d only just met?
