“Once,” Ruth said.

“When was that?”

Ruth had figured out several occasions when Cynthia Gail might have come abroad—if she really ever had done so. “The summer of 1913.”

“When did you land?”

“Late in June; I don’t recall the exact date.” She fixed June, as she supposed Cynthia Gail would have come during summer vacation.

“Where did you land?”

“Dieppe. I crossed from New York on the Adriatic of the White Star Line to Plymouth for England first; then I crossed to France by Newhaven-Dieppe.” She had picked up a good deal on board the Ribot, you see.

“Visiting what places in France?”

“I spent most of my time in Paris; I was with my parents. We stayed at the Hotel Regina.” Gerry Hull had said he supposed she had been at the Regina or the Continental.

The readiness of these answers seemed to somewhat reassure the examiner.