Death in a Blackout by Jessica Ellicott

Author:Jessica Ellicott [Ellicott, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House
Published: 2022-01-09T23:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

Kingston upon Hull

Dear Father,

How are you? Are you eating? Is it naïve to imagine a care package might reach you? I am sure you would find the time would pass more quickly, or at least more pleasantly, if you were to have a few of your favorite books to read. I am not at the rectory myself at present but am certain Ronald would be happy to send a carton of them to you.

And why am I not at the rectory, I can hear you asking yourself. It just so happens that your cousin Lydia invited me to pay a visit to her in Kingston upon Hull. She has the most breathtaking home right in the city, and she has asked me to stay for just as long as I would like. I know you have lost touch with that branch of the family, but I am delighted to report that Lydia is a font of knowledge about them all. She has been very generous with her memories and stories of them, especially Grandmother Phyllida. Did you know I am the spitting image of her when she was my age?

In other news, there is a matter I wished for you to hear about from me before word reached you from elsewhere. I know Mother was adamant that I not join the services and I believe I have honored that wish, although you may feel I am splitting hairs when I tell you what I have done. The Hull Constabulary has made the decision to add women to their force in order to free up more men to serve overseas. I am one of only two so far. Perhaps you might disapprove, but I must admit I feel quite thrilled to answer to the title WPC Harkness.

I shouldn’t like you to think it is all pridefulness, though. There is real work to be done in a place like Hull, and I am so grateful for a chance to help in whatever way I can. I went out on a call to a family who had lost their daughter in tragic circumstances and I thought of you and Mother and how you provided comfort to the grieving in the parish. I hope I can do something similar in my role as a WPC.

Should the Germans permit you to send a letter, I would be very grateful for word back from you. I miss you each and every day. You are in my heart and my prayers.

Love,

Wilhelmina

She was still agonizing over her decision to keep her questions to herself when they arrived back at the police station. Her reappearance in the company of the chief constable had drawn stares from the other constables. She wasn’t sure if it was a commentary on her gender or a reminder not to get above herself on account of being singled out to help the chief constable, but she spent the rest of the shift making tea for a steady stream of male constables and typing up their reports.

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