Free The Woman In Blue: The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 8 by Elly Griffiths Page B

Mother. The imagery of the scriptures is entirely masculine. A male priest symbolises the power, the masterfulness, of our Saviour. In the church, as in the family, the man has the authority, the guardianship, the duty of care. A women’s sphere is motherhood and domesticity, not arguing from a pulpit. ‘I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man’ (1 Timothy 2:12). I will pray for you.
     
    There’s no signature.
    Flint jumps on to the table and tries to sit on the letters. Ruth moves him gently. In the background Bruce Springsteen sings about a wreck on the highway. She thinks about the letter-writer. Is he a priest? A theologian? The painstaking biblical notations certainly seem like the work of someone with biblical knowledge, or at least someone who wants to seem learned. Maybe he’s a thwarted academic? The reference to ‘you women academics’ sounds bitter and personal. Maybe he has been passed over for promotion by a woman. Ruth takes a sheet of paper and starts noting the biblical references. The Genesis quotation sounds as if it comes from an old translation. The writer is obviously the sort of person who likes archaic syntax. She’s willing to bet that he’s a Tolkien fan. Is the writer definitely a man? It’s certainly someone who believes that men should have ‘authority’ over women, but plenty of women believe that too. Ruth has heard similar arguments in her parents’ church, all about what a relief it is to have someone to make all the decisions, it’s so peaceful . Well, so is a prison cell peaceful, after a fashion. And isn’t there something of the submissive woman about the emphasis on God’s ‘masterfulness’? Not that Ruth knows any submissive women. She’s proud to say that she hasn’t even read Fifty Shades of Grey .
    The letters aren’t dated, but someone (Hilary presumably) has written the date they were received on the envelopes. The next two letters are sent a few months apart and more or less reprise the arguments of the first: the disciples were men, God is a man, men and women are different. With the fourth letter there is a distinct change of tone. According to the note on the envelope this letter was received on the first of November. Kate’s birthday. All Saints’ Day.
Dear Doctor Smithson,
You haven’t replied to my letters. [Difficult to do, thinks Ruth, when there’s no return address.] I fear you are mired in sin and in the wrongness of your ways. Do you follow the True Cross? ‘I warn you, repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near at hand’ (Matthew 4:12). ‘He will put the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left’ (Matthew 25:33). You and your fellow she-devils are the goats, make no mistake about that. ‘The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth’ (Matthew 13:42).
     
    The last letter was received on 27th December, which probably meant that it had been sent just before Christmas. The writer had obviously decided on a new salutation.
Dear Jezebel,
They dug in Walsingham but they did not find the True Treasure. Nor will you find the Truth there. You may have borne a child (O sacrilege that anyone calling themselves a priest should do so!), but you have not suckled from the Virgin’s breast. She stands before you, clad in blue, weeping for the world.
     
Weep , weep, O Walsingham,
Whose dayes are nights,
Blessings turned to blasphemies,
Holy deeds to despites.
Sinne is where our Ladye sate,
Heaven turned is to helle;
Satan sitthe where our Lord did swaye,
Walsingham, O farewell !
Beware, Doctor Smithson, for the Lord knows your ways and His eye follows you wherever you go.
Yours in Christ—
     
    Ruth Googles Jezebel and learns that she was the wife of Ahab, who encouraged him to worship false gods. Her punishment was to be