“Oh, this gets better all the time,” said Mrs. Carmichael. “He left his wife and child in their unlocked home and went to sit in a park at night, and when he came back, he found his wife in a bloody pool in the kitchen. Is that correct?”

“I know it doesn’t look good,” said Frances Noonan. “But remember, I know his family. You’ve all met Julia. Sarah, you met the man. He couldn’t have done this, could he?”

Enid Carmichael watched Sarah intently. She was hesitating, that was for sure.

“You must have formed some type of opinion,” Olivia Honeycut persisted, “some judgment of the situation.”

Still the girl didn’t answer. How could she not have an opinion?

“I only met them briefly,” she finally said. “I honestly believe that man loved his wife and was trying desperately to change her mind about leaving.”

“Desperate.” Mrs. Carmichael latched on to the word. “What would a desperate man do?”

The Fog Ladies all turned to Sarah.

“I don’t know,” Sarah said. “I just don’t know.”