August

August is the one secure calendar detail on the postmark of Thorwald's Wife's Postcard. Its month and mailing time remain readable, but the damaged year-date leaves the postcard unable to establish when it was sent or how it entered the mailbox—a small piece of evidence whose precision stops just where Hal Jeffries needs it to begin.

The Postmark's Surviving Details

Inspector Boyne explains that a wet corner blurred the postmark. The hour and month survived: it was mailed at seven thirty in the evening in August. The year did not. August therefore identifies a month on the postcard, not a definite year or a complete chain of custody.

A Clue Without a Proven Date

Hal Jeffries points out that the illegible year could have been 1937, 1939, or 1942. Even if the month and hour are accepted, they do not prove when the postcard entered the mailbox or whether it came from a letter carrier's pouch or the back of a bureau drawer. Inspector Boyne consequently treats the clue as insufficient proof. August sharpens the question of when the postcard was mailed while leaving its most important chronological and evidentiary uncertainties unresolved.