Read Online Dying in the Wool by Frances Brody - Free Book Online

brought height into the Braithwaite family.’
    The maid chose that moment to tap on the door.
    Evelyn replaced the photograph on the table with great gentleness. ‘What is it, Clara?’
    ‘Miss Braithwaite has her gown on and would like you to come and see.’
    ‘Very well. Tell her we’ll be there shortly.’
    It crossed my mind that Tabitha may have anxieties about her wedding, and rather than face them had decided to worry about her long-gone father. Perhaps the best thing I could do would be simply to let her talk, to be herfriend for a few days. Not much detection would be involved in that, but with so little to go on regarding her father it might prove the better course of action.
    I asked was there a photograph of Mr Braithwaite that I could borrow. She took an album from a drawer in the cabinet, and handed me that along with the wedding photograph. ‘You’re a widow I believe?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Tabitha can be somewhat insensitive at times. You’ve no need to go up to see her. She ought to be aware of how so many women have had to entirely rethink their lives.’
    ‘It’s all right. I can bear to see her in her wedding dress.’
    ‘No it’s not all right. Let her wait. I’ll tell you all you need to know, and then perhaps you’ll see why you’d be wasting your time looking for Joshua Braithwaite. There are a few simple facts.’
    I waited. In my experience, simple facts can be baffling and mysterious, leading to more layers of ‘simple facts’ and complexities and intrigue that make Sherlock Holmes stories seem utterly straightforward.
    She arranged herself carefully on the sofa, smoothing her dress. I slipped a couple of photographs from the album then took the opposite chair, and waited.
    ‘My husband attempted suicide. Why? I’ve given this a lot of thought – I’ve had plenty of time to do so. Possibly it was because he drove my lovely son into the army. My boy was killed one week after his posting. Joshua knew I would never forgive him.’
    ‘You must both have been distraught.’
    ‘I was distraught. He was full of self-pity. With Edmund gone, there was no one to take over the mill.’
    ‘Are you sure he attempted suicide? Could Mr Braithwaite have found himself in the beck as a result of a blackout, a stroke, something of that sort?’
    ‘His health was perfect.’
    ‘But men in perfect health do suffer heart attacks or …’
    ‘In the weeks leading up to that night, he had been moody, morose, not his usual aggressive self.’
    ‘Aggressive?’
    ‘He attacked life as though it were his enemy. He had to beat everyone, be top dog. Of course he kept that hidden, under a bluff, brash exterior. But he sized everyone up – business rivals, associates, workers. He manipulated the world to his advantage. I didn’t complain. It led to a satisfactory life for me and my children. But as I said, I’ll keep to the simple facts. Tabitha doesn’t like inconvenient information. She wants to be happy. She was always a child with unreasonable expectations.’
    ‘Did he give any indication that he meant to take his own life? From the way you describe him, he does not sound like a man who would fall into despair.’
    ‘Someone had beaten him. His own son died a heroic death, turning his back on everything that Joshua stood for. He had been bested. He saw the contempt in my eyes and he couldn’t bear it.’
    ‘Was there a note?’
    ‘Yes. There was a note.’
    ‘Do you have it?’
    The newspaper account had not mentioned a note. Nor had Mr Duffield.
    Evelyn shrugged. ‘I can’t remember what became of it. He was found and arrested. The note was held, by the police I think.’
    ‘What were the circumstances of his disappearance?’
    ‘Constable Mitchell committed him to the local hospital. He walked out the following day.’
    ‘What measures were taken to find him?’
    ‘The police searched. His workforce took part.’
    ‘When?’
    ‘The next day.’
    She looked at the door, as if