Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear Page B

teased us both, because of course I would have welcomed him as a brother. He’s very happily married now, though, and living here in London.”
    Maisie nodded. “Yes, I plan to visit Mr. Singh—please do not be alarmed, it’s just that he might have some insight that has evaded you, being her brother. Do you know if she kept in touch with him, when she came to London? Or why she did not call upon him when she found herself thrown out by her employers?”
    Pramal smiled. “Pride. Usha would have been too proud to have done that, though Singh and his wife have told me that, once she was settled, she came to see them. But she never told them about her change of circumstances.”
    â€œYes, I can imagine her being like that.” She looked at her notes again. “And just to keep you apprised of our progress, Mrs. Tapley reports that Usha’s former employers are on holiday in Italy, but will be home soon. I will visit as soon as they return to London. In the meantime, I have another question regarding Usha. My visit to the ayah’s home revealed that your sister was left with precious little money from her daily work—which was as a cleaner in two mansions. Miss Patel informed me that Mr. Paige took most of the wages and saved them on behalf of the girls, so that they could one day return home. If that is so, then there should have been money coming to you from that quarter—have you received word regarding the funds?”
    Pramal pressed his lips together. Clearly the thought that his sister was engaged in menial work was painful to him.
    â€œI have received nothing.”
    â€œI thought not. I’ll ask about it. However, there is the matter of this money saved in the mattress. That being the case, I wonder, how do you think she might have been able to earn and put by such a tidy sum?”
    â€œAre you suggesting—?”
    â€œI am not suggesting anything, I am asking a very good question. Your sister had saved a considerable amount, and though it was over a period of some years, it still mounted up. Maya Patel was going to tell me more and now she’s dead. So, if you could offer me anything you know about Usha that might help me establish where the money came from—it might well be the key to finding her killer.”
    Pramal folded his arms, and as he moved his hands, Maisie noticed an obvious yellow stain on his fingers—he was a man who smoked cigarettes and, surprisingly, given the tension caused by her questions, had not asked if he might light one.
    â€œShe was a teacher, so she might have taken on private tutoring.”
    â€œHer free hours were limited, but it’s a possibility,” allowed Maisie.
    â€œAnd she . . . no, nothing. There’s nothing else.”
    â€œWhat were you going to say, Mr. Pramal? Was there something else?”
    Pramal fidgeted in his chair. Maisie felt Sandra looking at her, and looked back. She indicated the clock to Maisie—Caldwell would ring the bell soon. The moment might be lost.
    â€œMr. Pramal. What else might Usha have done to earn money?”
    He shook his head. “I can’t imagine that she would have, but—”
    The bell above the door sounded. Sandra pushed back her chair.
    â€œLet him wait, Sandra.” Maisie held up a finger. The bell rang again. “Mr. Pramal?”
    Pramal took a deep breath. “She touched people.”
    â€œShe touched people? I know you said she was the sort of person who might set her hand upon the arm of another when speaking with them—but you don’t mean that, do you?”
    â€œIt was not something she ever would have done outside our family, and never with men—never, ever, would she have touched a man. But if one of the women was in pain, if she had an ache—in the feet or the shoulder, anywhere—my sister would gently rest her hand on the place, and the pain would be soothed. She could leach away pain