Read Online Murder in the Afternoon by Frances Brody - Free Book Online
Authors: Frances Brody
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touched something Mary Jane had missed. It was a crumpled piece of newspaper, very tiny, an advertisement. It read:
A well provided and pleasant lady seeks well provided amiable gentleman with a view to joining lives and fortunes.
Box No. 49
I smoothed out the creases. A check of the dressing table revealed nothing else of interest. I put the advertisement in my pocket and went downstairs.
Harriet had finished her porridge. Mary Jane took the dish, and looked at me. ‘You’ll have something to eat?’
It seemed rude to refuse.
I nodded.
‘You can have an egg if you prefer. Georgina Conroy from the farm brought us half a dozen this morning, and a loaf of bread.’
‘Porridge will be grand.’
A dollop of porridge fell into the fire and sizzled as she ladled a portion from the pan into Harriet’s dish and passed it to me.
Harriet thoughtfully found me a clean spoon.
The next ten minutes involved children finding shoes and coats. Harriet claimed a headache and a belly ache and said she felt too poorly for school.
‘Your headache will blow away as you walk along,’ Mary Jane pronounced.
‘What about my belly ache?’
‘Do you want Syrup of Figs?’
Harriet did not. The children left for school. Not until she had waved them off did Mary Jane ask, ‘What else did Sergeant Sharp say?’
‘He doesn’t believe Harriet’s story. He says you rowed with Ethan, that you were seen by the quarry in the afternoon, and that Ethan has left you.’
‘Who saw me?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘Yes! Harriet said Miss Trimble came bearing down on you before you went into the station. It was her wasn’t it? Well, I wasn’t anywhere near the quarry. Not until after six when Harriet finally came back after chasing off to the farm and looking for help.’
‘You have a distinctive plaid cape.’
‘Oh, so I’m the only person in Yorkshire wears a tartan cape?’
‘Miss Trimble is sympathetic. She wants to help. She said to give you this.’ I put the missal on the table.
Mary Jane stared at the prayer book, and then turned away. ‘Let her keep it, swallow it page by page and choke on it for all I care.’
‘Well, whatever happened in the past, she wants to make it up. She’s concerned about you, and about the children. Though she doesn’t have a good word for Ethan.’
‘No, I don’t suppose she does. It’s Harriet she’s after.’ By the fireside was the set pot. Mary Jane lifted the lid and steam curled out. She lowered a sheet into the hot water, prodding it down as though trying to drown it. ‘She wants Harriet for her precious Girls’ Friendship Society. That’s what she gives to her girls when they marry, a white leather missal. Only she took mine back after Harriet was born. Now she’s changing her tune.’
I kept to myself the information that Harriet wanted to walk in the church Whitsun parade. But Mary Jane must know, especially since she was making a Whitsun dress for Harriet. I remembered that I used to like parades at her age, being part of something, that feeling of belonging.
Somehow I could not imagine Mary Jane wanting to march behind a banner. Now she stood at the sink, where she had propped the washboard, scrubbed at a bar of laundry soap, and at a stain on a sheet.
‘What made you join the Girls’ Friendship Society?’
A thin film of sweat shone on her brow. ‘They were putting on a play. I fancied a bit of singing and dancing, but it was all very dull. Miss Trimble made it hard for you to get out, once she had her hooks in you.’
The sheet joined the other laundry in the set pot.
‘Mary Jane, just come and sit down for a moment, and look at this.’
I showed her the cutting.
A well provided and pleasant lady seeks well provided amiable gentleman with a view to joining lives and fortunes.
Box No. 49
‘This was at the bottom of Ethan’s inside pocket. Does it mean anything to you?’
‘It does not.’ Mary Jane shook her head, and seemed genuinely surprised. She
A well provided and pleasant lady seeks well provided amiable gentleman with a view to joining lives and fortunes.
Box No. 49
I smoothed out the creases. A check of the dressing table revealed nothing else of interest. I put the advertisement in my pocket and went downstairs.
Harriet had finished her porridge. Mary Jane took the dish, and looked at me. ‘You’ll have something to eat?’
It seemed rude to refuse.
I nodded.
‘You can have an egg if you prefer. Georgina Conroy from the farm brought us half a dozen this morning, and a loaf of bread.’
‘Porridge will be grand.’
A dollop of porridge fell into the fire and sizzled as she ladled a portion from the pan into Harriet’s dish and passed it to me.
Harriet thoughtfully found me a clean spoon.
The next ten minutes involved children finding shoes and coats. Harriet claimed a headache and a belly ache and said she felt too poorly for school.
‘Your headache will blow away as you walk along,’ Mary Jane pronounced.
‘What about my belly ache?’
‘Do you want Syrup of Figs?’
Harriet did not. The children left for school. Not until she had waved them off did Mary Jane ask, ‘What else did Sergeant Sharp say?’
‘He doesn’t believe Harriet’s story. He says you rowed with Ethan, that you were seen by the quarry in the afternoon, and that Ethan has left you.’
‘Who saw me?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘Yes! Harriet said Miss Trimble came bearing down on you before you went into the station. It was her wasn’t it? Well, I wasn’t anywhere near the quarry. Not until after six when Harriet finally came back after chasing off to the farm and looking for help.’
‘You have a distinctive plaid cape.’
‘Oh, so I’m the only person in Yorkshire wears a tartan cape?’
‘Miss Trimble is sympathetic. She wants to help. She said to give you this.’ I put the missal on the table.
Mary Jane stared at the prayer book, and then turned away. ‘Let her keep it, swallow it page by page and choke on it for all I care.’
‘Well, whatever happened in the past, she wants to make it up. She’s concerned about you, and about the children. Though she doesn’t have a good word for Ethan.’
‘No, I don’t suppose she does. It’s Harriet she’s after.’ By the fireside was the set pot. Mary Jane lifted the lid and steam curled out. She lowered a sheet into the hot water, prodding it down as though trying to drown it. ‘She wants Harriet for her precious Girls’ Friendship Society. That’s what she gives to her girls when they marry, a white leather missal. Only she took mine back after Harriet was born. Now she’s changing her tune.’
I kept to myself the information that Harriet wanted to walk in the church Whitsun parade. But Mary Jane must know, especially since she was making a Whitsun dress for Harriet. I remembered that I used to like parades at her age, being part of something, that feeling of belonging.
Somehow I could not imagine Mary Jane wanting to march behind a banner. Now she stood at the sink, where she had propped the washboard, scrubbed at a bar of laundry soap, and at a stain on a sheet.
‘What made you join the Girls’ Friendship Society?’
A thin film of sweat shone on her brow. ‘They were putting on a play. I fancied a bit of singing and dancing, but it was all very dull. Miss Trimble made it hard for you to get out, once she had her hooks in you.’
The sheet joined the other laundry in the set pot.
‘Mary Jane, just come and sit down for a moment, and look at this.’
I showed her the cutting.
A well provided and pleasant lady seeks well provided amiable gentleman with a view to joining lives and fortunes.
Box No. 49
‘This was at the bottom of Ethan’s inside pocket. Does it mean anything to you?’
‘It does not.’ Mary Jane shook her head, and seemed genuinely surprised. She
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