A Quiet Death by Alanna Knight Read Free Book Online Page B

naturally very concerned.'
    'Oh I just wondered. Wouldn't put anything past that one. She was a thorough bad lot. If it hadn't been for her, our Polly would never have left home.'
    'In what way did she influence your daughter?'
    'They met when we were doing a penny gaff at Magdalen Green. We often called on members of the audience to do a turn and this Kathleen was persuaded by her uncle, or whoever he was, that actor chap, to do some bird calls.' And grudgingly, 'They were very good. She could have made a name for herself in the halls and seemed to have a liking for the travelling life. But she was ambitious and lazy and went back to the weaving after a day or two. Polly told us she had some well-off gent in tow who had promised to better her. We all know what that meant, of course,' he added scornfully.
    'What happened then?' Faro ignored the implication.
    'Our Polly just walked out on the circus. Went with her. Left home.' His sobs renewed. 'They'll never convince me that she took her own life. Oh dear God, dear God. That police doctor told me that she wasn't in the family way. As if any lass of ours would kill herself for that,' he said scornfully. 'There are no unwanted bairns with us. All are welcomed however they were come by. Welcomed, aye, and loved.'
    'When did she leave home exactly?' asked Faro gently.
    'About two months since, it would be. She had heard that there was money to be had in Dundee. The building of this bridge and so forth. There would be lots of chances for young lasses getting employment with Deane's.'
    'And that was the last you heard of her?'
    'Oh no. She came home a couple of times.'
    'But there was no other communication?'
    The man frowned. 'Communication?'
    'I mean did she write at all?'
    'We don't go much on writing, sir. Moving around all the time doesn't give much call for scholars. As long as we can count up the pennies that's all is needed. Last time we saw her was—I don't remember exactly—a few weeks ago.'
    'That isn't very long. Did she perhaps go to London with her friend?'
    'London? There was never any mention of London.' He made it sound like the ends of the earth. 'She was staying in Dundee and she promised faithfully to come home for her brother's wedding. When she didn't arrive we knew there was something wrong.'
    'It might have been difficult for her getting back—if she did go to London.'
    'London or Timbuctoo, what difference does it make? She would have come home for the wedding. A tinker lass's word is her bond. 'Sides she'd never have gone all that way to a foreign place without telling her family.'
    Refusing Faro's offer of fare for a carriage back to Carnoustie, or for the train, as they neared Paton's Lane Briggs said proudly: 'Legs were made to walk on, sir. Mine have been carrying me on longer roads than that for fifty years now.'
    Watching him walk away, their despondent farewell brought acute memories of that other bereaved father on the railway platform. And Faro remembered his promise to McGowan.
    Could that have been only yesterday?
    Retracing his steps to the police station, Faro asked the Sergeant in charge, Crail by name, if he might take a look at the accident log.
    'Anything particular you're interested in, sir?' asked the Sergeant, torn between helpfulness and curiosity.
    'A lad, Charlie McGowan, worked on the bridge.'
    'Oh that one.' Flicking through the pages, he said: 'Here it is, sir.'
    As Faro suspected, there was nothing in the entry to suggest it had been anything else but a platform that gave way on one of the piers. But turning over the pages for the last few months, he remarked:
    'There do seem to be rather a lot of fatal accidents on the bridge.'
    'What can you expect, sir? The Tay is notorious for high winds, it can pluck a body right off those pieces of iron, just as easy as winking,' Crail added with a kind of gruesome relish, and closing the logbook firmly: 'Anything else I can do for you, Inspector?'
    Faro smiled. 'I'm curious to know why