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Wednesday, 24th June 1908
Sleep evaded Martha. The streetlight outside her house ensured the room was never completely dark. She stared at the ceiling, watching the shadows flicker, while she thought about the rally. She wasn’t a devotee of Christabel Pankhurst, nor her call to women to take a violent stance to further the cause. But Christabel’s appearances generated publicity and interest, and even Martha had been surprised at the number of people who’d turned out to listen to her.
She adjusted her pillow and snuggled further beneath the blankets. Ethel had done well. The girl showed great promise; she would be an asset for the cause. Martha’s thoughts drifted to Victoria. Where had she disappeared to earlier? It wasn’t like her to miss a meeting or a rally. She was one of the foremost advocates of suffrage. What on earth had prevented her attending? It must be something serious.
Martha fell asleep worrying about Victoria, and what might have kept her from the rally.
***
THE CLANG OF A TRAM passing in the street outside woke her. She struggled to prise her eyes open as the previous night’s worries resurfaced in her mind. Determined to find out the cause of Victoria’s nonappearance, she sat up with a groan and forced herself out of bed.
Refreshed after a wash and breakfast, Martha donned a short jacket over her skirt and blouse and set out for Perth Road, where Victoria lived with her sister and brother-in-law.
Elizabeth Inglis opened the door to her knock.
‘I’m looking for Victoria,’ Martha said. ‘Can I speak to her?’
Elizabeth slumped against the doorpost and shook her head.
‘She’s not here. I haven’t seen her since the night before last and I’m sick with worry.’
‘The night before last?’ Martha’s mind whirled. That was when they’d been sticking posters all over Dundee to advertise the rally. ‘I was with her that evening. I said goodbye to her in the Nethergate and she told me she was going straight home.’
‘She never came home. I waited and waited, but she didn’t come.’
‘Strange,’ Martha said. ‘The last time I saw her was in the office, yesterday morning. She intended to join me at the rally in Albert Square but she never turned up and I wondered if something was wrong. Has anything unusual happened?’
‘Nothing I know about – she’s not said anything.’
A worrying thought crept into Martha’s mind.
‘Have you reported her as a missing person?’
Elizabeth shook her head.
‘I keep hoping she’ll turn up.’
‘Get your coat and we’ll go to the police station now.’
They walked in silence until they came to the archway leading into the police quadrangle.
‘You don’t think something awful has happened to her, do you?’ Elizabeth stopped, as if afraid that continuing meant making their fears a reality.
‘I’m certain it will be all right. Victoria’s strong and able to look after herself. It’s probably completely innocuous, but it’s best to be on the safe side.’ Martha put an arm around Elizabeth’s shoulder while she tried to sound convincing. But inside, Martha wasn’t as sure as she sounded. Her mind kept returning to the threatening letter pushed through the Women’s Freedom League letterbox that same morning, and she regretted not bringing it to the attention of her colleagues.
The policeman behind the counter in the charge-room glanced at them and then looked towards the door as if expecting someone else to follow them in.
Martha cleared her throat.
‘We want to report a woman missing.’
The policeman tapped his pencil on the desk.
‘If you had a piece of paper, I could give you the details.’ Martha was losing patience.
‘Perhaps this is something the man of the house should attend to? A police station is no place for ladies.’ The sergeant’s eyes flickered away from them. ‘You meet all sorts in here.’
‘Such as yourself, I take it.’
‘No need for that tone, ma’am.’ He placed a ledger on the desk and opened it.
‘Name?’
‘Victoria Allan. This is her sister, Elizabeth Inglis.’
‘Age?’
‘She was thirty-two on her last birthday.’
‘And you are?’
‘Martha Fairweather.’
The sergeant wrote the information in the book.
‘When and where was the missing person last seen?’
‘It must have been shortly before one o’clock yesterday. I left her at the Women’s Freedom League office in the Nethergate. I expected her to join me at Albert Square, but she never turned up.’ Martha tightened her grasp on Elizabeth’s hand. ‘And no one has seen her since.’
‘She never came home on Monday night, and I’ve been worried.’ A tear slid down Elizabeth’s cheek.
The sergeant laid his pen on the desk and closed the ledger.
‘So, she’s only been gone since yesterday, but she didn’t come home the night before and she’s a grown woman. It’s obvious to me that she must have a man friend.’
‘Why is it obvious?’ Martha stiffened.
‘Sounds to me she’s one of them modern young women. No knowing what they get up to.’
‘What you mean is that because Victoria is a suffragette, you intend to do nothing about this.’ Martha pulled Elizabeth towards the door. ‘Come on, we’re wasting our time here.’
Anger consumed Martha, and she didn’t calm down until they’d left the quadrangle and were walking along Ward Road. That was when she realised she hadn’t informed the sergeant about the threatening letter in her pocket.
* * *
INSPECTOR HAMMOND PUSHED open the door from the inner sanctum of the police station. Women always made him feel uncomfortable, so he lurked in the corridor while Sergeant Edwards questioned them.
‘What was that all about?’
Edwards snorted.
‘Missing person, sir. I’ve taken the details but – if you ask me – it’s a waste of our time.’
‘Why do you think that?’
‘Well, for a start, she’s one of them suffragettes and we know they’re all a bunch of unnatural women. She could’ve run off with a man or taken off for London to cause havoc with the police there. Maybe she’s banged up in a cell at Holloway. That’s where a lot of them wind up.’
Hammond sighed. He had an unsettling feeling.
‘I suppose you’re right but keep hold of the details. We don’t want them coming back and accusing us of negligence.’