Death of a Milliner: Riley Rochester Investigates Book 9 (Riley ~Rochester Investigates) by Wendy Soliman
Author:Wendy Soliman [Soliman, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-08T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter Eleven
Riley spent the next hour catching up with his paperwork and then re-read all the statements that had thus far been taken with regard to Mrs Faulknerâs murder. He was no nearer to deciding which direction the investigation should take next when Salter put his head round the door.
âSoames and Carter are back. So too is Peterson.â
âWheel them in, Jack. Itâs time for a recap.â
âAfternoon, sir,â Carter said cheerfully.
âYou look as though youâve found something out that Iâm going to want to hear,â Riley replied. âI would welcome anything that might point us in the right direction.â
âWe found quite a few members of the Butler family in and around Clapham, sir. They havenât moved away. One sister is married to a docker. She has six kids ranging from fourteen to three and looks worn down by the responsibility. She was the only person willing to talk about Meg. She didnât have a good word to say about her either. She reckons sheâs turned her back on her family and doesnât want to help any of them, despite her success.â
âVery willing to dish the dirt, was Mrs Pamela Horton,â Soames added. âSays Meg always had ambition, but then we already knew that. Said she was determined to become a milliner, which also didnât come as any great surprise. She reckons Meg was the prettiest of the sisters and calculating with it. If Pamelaâs being truthful and not just venting her spleen, sheâd have us believe that Meg flaunted herself in front of any man with brass in his pockets from the age of twelve onwards.â
âShe sold herself?â Riley raised a brow.
âHer sister didnât go so far as to say that,â Carter replied. âShe told us Meg got noticed and was propositioned. She was vague when pressed in that regard. She said she ignored those propositions, but jumped at the chance of an apprenticeship with Mrs Faulkner. Butâand hereâs the interesting bitâbefore being apprenticed she did get over-friendly with Pamelaâs employer, a Mr Wakefield. Next thing Pamela knew, Meg disappeared off the face of the earth for a couple of monthsâ¦â
âShe had his child,â Riley surmised aloud.
âThatâs what Pamela reckons, but Meg refused to talk about her absence, let alone account for it. She was barely fourteen when all this went on. Anyway, she returned like nothing had happened and got in with Mrs Faulkner. Pamela reckoned sheâd learned her lesson good and proper and didnât take up with any of the other men sniffing around her petticoats. The moment sheâd served out her indentures she started up on her own account in Whitechapel.â Soames shrugged. âWhere did she get the capital? Thatâs what weâre wondering.â
âShe sold off some of her own designs when she was still an apprentice, but that wouldnât have been enough. Is Wakefield still alive and living in Clapham?â Riley asked. âPerhaps he paid for her silence if he did impregnate her.â
âHe is, sir. Heâs a justice of the peace, considered to be the epitome of respectability and is known to dish out harsh sentences when serving as a magistrate.
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