"It certainly would," Juliana agreed. She was unsure whether to treat these comments as potential leads to be investigated or only as idle speculation... it was difficult to tell from Mrs. Lestrange's tone which camp she thought they fell into, and Juliana had no personal knowledge of Mr. Crouch or of his wife on which to make judgements about either.

"Do you know Mrs. Crouch well?" she asked, setting the tea tray down on a nearby table and extending a hand for Mrs. Lestrange's cup, to refill it.