The Challenge: week two

The Strangler in the Copse

Did Ruby have a boyfriend? That is the question.

Ruby never had a problem attracting the attentions of young men, although she was popular with women as well and would frequently be seen at local pubs. Whether there was anyone special, only she could have told, and now could not. Her mother does recall a young man who Ruby used to hang around with a few years ago. 'What was his name?’ she struggles to remember. 'Black, Sands. No, Stone. That’s it. Leslie Stone. They met in the bar of the Golden Bell Hotel.'

For a while their friendship, or was it something more, sung along like a cage full of canaries, but then came bad news. Stone was serving in the Royal Artillery and he was posted to Hong Kong. He knew it was always a possibility, but never spoke of it for fear of losing Ruby.

The couple were devastated. Ruby wondered whether Leslie would be tempted by the exotic life of thousands of miles away and Leslie worried that other men would quickly take his place in Ruby's heart.

When the time came to leave, the couple pledged to stay in touch. They would write every day. 'I don’t care what you say,' he said. 'You can tell me what you had for breakfast, dinner and tea so long as you keep writing.'

The couple did not let their separation dampen their love and wrote to each other constantly. They even talked of Ruby going out to Hong Kong or what it would be like if Leslie returned. They carried on planning their lives together with the same sense of urgency they had on their first night back in the Golden Bell Hotel. Their letters were as passionate as had been their meetings.

But their love affair needed the air of meeting to thrive and without it, after a very long year, the passion began to die. As it did, the letters that had once seemed so urgent fell away from one a day to one a week, until the couple could no longer find any reason for an exchange.

What question would you ask now?

Did Ruby have much money?

Who was Leslie Stone’s commanding officer?

Who saw the couple in the Golden Bell Hotel?

Did Ruby have another man?

Find out which is the right question to ask

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