October 11: May’s last shift at the hospital before her time off
October 12–14: May spends two nights with her sisters in Dollis Hill
October 14, morning: May leaves her sisters, tells them she’s staying with Celia and her sister in London
October 14, afternoon and evening: May’s whereabouts unknown
October 15, morning: May arrives in Brighton by train and meets Celia; they stay the night
October 16, 2:00P.M.: Girls arrive in Boulogne on theGlendowerfrom Brighton
October 16, 2:15P.M.: Girls take tea at Hôtel Morveaux
October 16, 2:45P.M.: Girls stroll to rue de Lille and shop; May visits the millinery alone at some point before or after her break in the park
October 16, 3:40P.M.: May and Celia separate for approximately thirty minutes, and May sits in the park near rue de Lille
October 16, 4:16P.M.: Girls stop in the chemist’s
October 16, 4:22P.M.: Girls walk down to the harbor to catch the ferry back to Brighton
October 16, 4:48P.M.: May stops in washroom at the Gare Centrale while Celia waits outside
October 16, 4:53P.M.: MAY DISAPPEARS
October 16, 5:00P.M.:Glendowerscheduled to return to Brighton
I line all but one of the papers up on the fireplace mantel. On the final sheet, I circle “MAY DISAPPEARS” with a red pencil. Underneath it, I write:WHY AND HOW DID MAY DIE,AND BY WHOSE HAND?Then I place that piece of paper alongside the others.
“Emma? Margery? What did you learn? Do you have anything to add to the timeline?” I ask.
Margery pipes up first. “Not much on my end. Spoke with her supervisor and several nurses at the hospital who knew her. She was well liked, hardworking, and—much emphasized by the matron—never missed a shift. No one could imagine that anyone would be out to get May, of all girls. Not a single one had heard anything about a beau. Or anything tawdry about drugs. They all seemed shocked and saddened by what happened. Several of the young nurses broke down in tears.”
“Nothing unusual about her behavior in the weeks leading up to Brighton and Boulogne? Not sick?”
“No.”
“Didn’t take any days off for illness?”
“No.”
“Much appreciated, Margery.”
“I don’t know how much that helps. You three”—she gestures to me, Ngaio, and Agatha—“seem to have pieced together most of the puzzle on your own.”
Emma changes the subject to her report. “My conversations with Mr. Marks were most intriguing.”
“Do tell.” I return to my chair, pencil and paper in hand.
“He has a very specific recollection of seeing a young woman perfectly fitting May’s description at the little garden near one end of rue de Lille called the Jardin Éphémère. Exactly as his friend told us.” Emma is puffed up like a peacock describing this interview and expands a bit more when she continues. “But that isn’t the intriguing tidbit. Mr. Marks had been on a bench, reading the paper, when he saw girls fitting May’s and Celia’s descriptions enter. When Celia left, May sat by herself on a bench opposite him for a few minutes, crying. At that point, a gentleman in a nondescript tan overcoat and bowler hat approached her. They engaged in a brief animated conversation, then May appeared agitated. Mr. Marks approached to see if she was all right, and that ended May’s conversation with the man. The stranger stormed off, and Mr. Marks asked May if she’d like him to take her for a cup of tea somewhere to calm her nerves. She thanked him but declined. Mr. Marks returned to his bench and his newspaper, and May pulled out paper and a pencil from her handbag. Then she started writing, filling several pages, for several minutes. At that point, she popped up and walked in the direction of rue de Lille, presumably to rejoin Celia.”
I sit back in my chair. “This is news indeed.”
Agatha asks, “Did May seem to know the man? Or was he a local pest she was shooing off?”
Emma replies, “Mr. Marks had never laid eyes on the man before. Otherwise he couldn’t tell me many details about his appearance or May’s relationship to him.”
I suspect that Mr. Marks is the town snoop, for which I am immensely grateful. Who else would take such careful note of May’s actions? Rising from my chair, I walk over to the timeline and add “May encounters man in Jardin Éphémère” next to “May and Celia separate for approximately thirty minutes, and May sits in the park near rue de Lille.”
