The Wages of Desire by Stephen Kelly

idea who did it?”
    â€œI was hoping you might help me with that.”
    Walton straightened his shoulders. “Yes, of course,” he said. “I’m sorry, but you can imagine the shock of hearing this. I can’t think of any reason why anyone would have shot Ruth Aisquith, or anyone from the camp. We’ve only been here a month.”
    Lamb found himself surprised to hear that Ruth Aisquith had been a conscientious objector. Though he hadn’t thought about it until that very moment, he realized that the newly instituted conscription of women must have led some women, as conscription had some men, to protest the call-up on religious or other grounds. He knew little about the fates of such people other than that they were required to plead their cases for exemption to local tribunals. In some cases the tribunals approved the request, though in many cases—most, Lamb thought—they did not. Those whose requests were denied but continued to defy conscription could be jailed, and some were. He wondered if Ruth Aisquith’s refusal to serve the war effort, while others were doing so and dying in the process, might have caused someone to kill her, especially someone who had lost a loved one to the war.
    â€œWas Miss Aisquith a Quaker?” Lamb asked.
    â€œNo,” Walton said. “Not that I am aware of.”
    â€œGiven that she was a conscientious objector, why was she here, then, sir? You said that she was a conscript.”
    â€œShe was a conscript, yes. The camp is staffed by them, men and women both, and some contract workers. She originally had declared herself a conscientious objector but was one no longer, you see. She’d objected at first to performing fire-watching service on the grounds that she did not believe in military conscription. A tribunal rejected her plea and she was sent to prison for several months for her further refusal to comply. She then changed her mind at some point and agreed to go to join the Women’s Land Army and was assigned here; we have six Land girls here. They work in the laundry or the mess or do other light duty. In agreeing to work here, Miss Aisquith effectively ended her objection to conscription. Basically, she changed her mind, as I said. That’s the way I understand it, at any rate, though frankly I never questioned her on it and I treated her as I treated all the conscripts. It’s rare, I grant you—a female objector—but she was a good worker.” He looked a third time at the identity card and shook his head. “I find it impossible to believe that she’s been shot.”
    â€œI take it that the men’s and women’s quarters are kept separate.”
    â€œOf course, though they take meals at the same time, to keep things simple.”
    â€œWas Miss Aisquith’s status as a conscientious objector known to others in the camp?”
    â€œAs far as I know, yes. It’s not the kind of thing that is kept secret. It’s part of her official record.”
    â€œDid anyone object to her stance—perhaps someone who has lost a relative or loved one in the war?”
    â€œWell, there was some grumbling, I suppose, as there normally would be in such situations, but nothing that would lead you to believe that someone here might want her dead. If there was, I should think I’d have heard about it.”
    â€œDo you know of anyone, specifically, who voiced objections to Miss Aisquith’s attitude toward war service?”
    â€œI’m afraid not, no, Chief Inspector. Frankly, you’d be better off asking Mr. Taney—George Taney—such questions. He’s the main contractor on the job here; he’s a builder from Southampton and has more direct contact with the workers than do I. We’re not wasting prime military bodies on the construction of this place, you see. Nearly all of the work is being done by the less desirable conscripts—by women and by men who