He turned again to Mrs. MacIver. “I told you the fee. We accept a retainer and bill you for the balance. We’ll take care of that before you leave. Any expenses we have will be itemized and, as much as possible, documented. Do you have any questions?”

“No, it seems all right.”

“Flo? What time do you have?”

“Eleven-five,” she said.

“Mrs. MacIver, I think we ought to see your husband’s mother and former wife first, as long as they’re so convenient to us.” He wanted to hear their side as quickly as he could. “I’ll use a cover and keep you out of it. Do you have his mother’s address? I’ll get the other from her.”

“Colin gave me both of them. Neither would have moved since we were married.” She searched her purse and drew an address book from the welter of stuff inside.

“How long were you married?” Leland asked her.

“A little over two years. Two years and a month.”

“How long was your courtship?”

She looked up from the book. “A year and two months.”

“Now, the article in the Examiner appeared just over three years ago—”

“It was in the summer,” she said. “We were just beginning to see each other steadily. He had already mentioned being in the same squadron with you. When I saw the article I thought of telling him, but it slipped my mind. It wasn’t important, then.”

Now he had a clear picture of the sequence of events and a better insight into the workings of her mind. “Now his former wife: has she remarried?”

“Yes, five years ago, just six months after Colin divorced her.”

“What was that? Adultery?”