A Day's Folly

The newspaper-reading public called it the Somersetshire Outrage, and to this day, as far as the public is concerned, it was never properly explained at all. A young shop assistant named Jane Turner is found in her lodgings at Weston, tied to a chair with a rope, a shawl over her head, half-slipping to the floor. Somebody rushed at her, struck her, and pressed a damp handkerchief to her face. Nothing was stolen. Nothing was gained. The assault appears entirely without purpose. Scotland Yard works at it for three weeks and gets nowhere. There is a sweetheart with an alibi that holds, an elderly woman nobody can trace, and a series of assignations at out-of-the-way railway stations. Then Lady Molly reads a few silly paragraphs in a London newspaper and has the whole thing. She is the head of Scotland Yard's Female Department, and Baroness Orczy — the same author who gave the world the Scarlet Pimpernel — put her in charge of it in nineteen ten, at a time when the real Yard would not have dreamed of it. What she uncovers here is not a criminal conspiracy at all. It is a single reckless afternoon, and a great many frightened people afterwards arranging themselves around it. FOR LISTENERS This is a complete, unabridged reading of A Day's Folly by Baroness Orczy, collected in Lady Molly of Scotland Yard (1910) and now in the public domain. Every word is the author's own. Part of The Midnight Archive: three nights of classics every week, alongside four original Nocturnal Tales mysteries. YOU CHOOSE WHAT'S NEXT The Archive is deep — more Lady Molly? Max Carrados? Loveday Brooke? Violet Strange? Sherlock Holmes? Father Brown? Raffles? Dr Thorndyke? Arsène Lupin? Vote in the poll attached to this episode, or tell us in the comments which classic you want to hear by lamplight. Lady Molly solves it and then agrees to let the whole thing be buried, because a frightened woman matters more to her than a conviction. Was she right? CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:45 - Part One 12:11 - Part Two 22:56 - Part Three 33:07 - Part Four SUPPORT & LISTENING OPTIONS ABOUT THIS RECORDING A Day's Folly by Baroness Orczy (1910) is in the public domain. This recording is the complete, unabridged original text. Narration and production Nocturnal Tales. CREDITS Narrated and produced by Nocturnal Tales. Story by Baroness Orczy (public domain). TAGS / KEYWORDS baroness orczy audiobook, lady molly audiobook, a day's folly audiobook, lady molly of scotland yard 1910, female detective audiobook, scotland yard female department, edwardian england mystery, blackmail mystery story, staged crime mystery, classic detective story audiobook, public domain audiobook, unabridged classic mystery HASHTAGS