The buildings were quite high with steps leading down from the pavement to the basements where the caretakers were domiciled. None of them had any luck as they made their way along and three hearts were sinking as they neared the end. It was James who struck it lucky, for which he was truly grateful. He had wanted to be able tell Henry, ‘I discovered the truth.’
Tina Robbie, as she turned out to be, née Paul, asked him what he wanted of her and he told her, not altogether truthfully, ‘Three of us are trying to learn something about places like The Sycamores, where you worked at one time.’
‘You’d best go and get the other two,’ she smiled, ‘and I’ll tell you whatever it is you want to know.’
In no time at all, she was handing round cups of tea and plates of home-made pancakes and gingerbread and nothing was mentioned until everything had been cleared away again. Then she looked at James, as the leader of the group. ‘Who told you where to find me?’
He could sense some reservation in her voice, which was not so surprising really. She had taken three strange men into her house and, having had time to think, she had probably guessed what they wanted to know – a secret she had kept for twenty-five years. A secret she was determined not to divulge, James thought, going by the set of her mouth. ‘We did not know exactly where you were,’ he said carefully, ‘but Mrs Allardyce …’
‘Rosie?’ She smiled a little.
‘She worked with you at The Sycamores, I believe?’
‘That’s right, but how did she know …?’
‘Apparently she was very friendly with one of the other nurses who kept in touch with her over the years.’
‘Oh, yes, I remember meeting Lizzie in Princes Street one day. I think I did tell her I was working here.’ The brightness left her face abruptly. ‘She must have mentioned it in a letter to Rosie but why do you need to speak to me when you’ve seen Rosie? She could’ve told you all about The Sycamores …’
James inhaled deeply. ‘If I tell you that I am a friend of Jerry Rae’s father, do you understand?’
Her eyes were guarded now. ‘I can’t tell you anything,’ she said, coldly.
‘I am sorry to hear that. Jerry’s parents have spent many long years wondering what had really happened – whether or not their son was a murderer …’
‘I can’t tell you anything,’ she persisted but her lips were quivering.
‘That is not true, my dear,’ James said softly. ‘You are the only one besides the Millers who does know – the sequence of events, the manner of the deaths and why the police were not informed.’
‘I can’t tell you anything,’ she repeated.
‘Do ten pounds ensure your silence for the rest of your life?’ James’s voice held a sarcastic sharpness.
Her face a deep crimson, Tina didn’t try to deny the bribe. ‘A promise is a promise and Mr Miller gave me more than ten pounds – much more.’
‘You claim to have been a friend to Jerry so do you not think that his parents deserve to know?’
She burst into tears at that. ‘I never thought they would hear about it. Nobody was supposed to say anything. Oh, God, I’m so sorry for his poor mother and father … and he had a sister.’
‘Yes, Samara. I am her father-in-law.’ The increased volume of her sobs let James know this had struck home to her even further.
‘You can make reparation now,’ he urged. ‘You can speak out without fear. What you tell us will only go to Jerry’s family.’
‘Take this,’ Malcolm said softly, offering her an air-force blue handkerchief. ‘Once you start speaking, you won’t feel so bad.’
She began hesitantly but gathered confidence as she told of her part in the drama. ‘And Mrs Miller allowed Jerry to see Anna for half an hour every day, to keep her away from Charles Moonie … though we didn’t know he’d already raped her – Charles, I mean.’
She told of the discovery of Anna’s pregnancy, of Jerry practically being forced into marrying her. ‘Mrs Miller and me could hardly believe Jerry had betrayed our trust and, as it turned out, he hadn’t touched her – but maybe you’d best understand something here. Charles and Anna were both residents – patients, you know – and they weren’t stable enough to face up to what had happened and what was actually happening.’
While Tina stopped to think what to say next, James and Malcolm exchanged an astonished glance. Neither had known that Anna was also a patient.
‘Charles was angry at Anna for marrying Jerry and maybe he didn’t realise the baby was his but he suffocated wee William Henry in his crib and I think he meant to finish Anna off as well – but she managed to get away from him and ran.’
James nodded his head. ‘So it was Anna who struck Charles with a stone or something and rolled him into the burn? So how did she die? Did Jerry kill her?’
‘No, no, Mr Ferguson.’ Tina was more agitated than ever. ‘Charles’s death was an accident. He slipped in the mud and struck his head on a stone.’ Her hand jumped to her chest as if she were having difficulty in breathing.
‘Would you like me to fetch you a drink of water?’ Malcolm asked and was on his feet even before she nodded.
‘Should we leave her now and come back later?’ Frank whispered to James.
‘No, she still has not told us the most important thing. I need to know who was responsible for Anna’s death.’
After taking a few sips from the tumbler, Tina murmured, ‘I’m sorry but this is very difficult for me. I was very, very close to her, you see.’
James patted her back. ‘I understand that, my dear, and I truly regret having to bully you like this but you cannot just leave it there.’
‘I know and I’m doing my best to think … look, I’ll have to go back to when Jerry went home and found Anna missing. He didn’t realise the poor infant was dead and, when he came to tell the Millers about Anna, Dolly told me to go and sit with …’
She stopped again, swallowing her sorrow before whispering, ‘It was me that saw he wasn’t breathing and I went running to the big house and they had just brought Anna back. Then Dolly, or Raymond, made everybody leave and Anna was still screaming she didn’t want Jerry to touch her. She was out of her mind, of course, and I think she thought he was Charles wanting to kill her. Anyway, I was told to put her to bed in the spare room next to mine so I don’t know what the Millers and Jerry decided to do.’
James looked at Malcolm. ‘So Anna was left alone all night?’
‘No, no, I bade with her … just in case and it must have been one or two in the morning when I heard Raymond and Jerry going out and I knew they were going to look for Charles. It was maybe an hour and a half later when they carried him in for I heard what they said. When I asked Anna in the morning if it was her that hit him on the head and killed him, she swore to me she hadn’t seen him after she hid in the potting shed. I wished I hadn’t said anything, though, for she never opened her mouth after that.’
‘And what about Jerry?’
‘He went home – though I don’t suppose he had slept a wink – and Dolly Miller let him have the day off. I think it was the day after that – though my brain’s not so clear about this bit – I’d to do my morning round of my list of patients – seeing they were washed and dressed and that kind of thing – and that’s when Anna …’
Sure now that what was coming was the missing piece of evidence that only Tina herself and the Millers were party to, James held his breath, afraid that one wrong word could put an end to her story.
Her eyes were haunted – as if this last event was the most harrowing to recall – but then, with a tiny sigh, she said quietly, ‘That was when she had gone to Raymond’s bathroom and taken his cut-throat razor.’ The horrified gasps from her listeners seemed to give her a small modicum of satisfaction.
‘She slashed her wrists?’ James muttered.
‘No, she … cut her throat. There was blood everywhere.’
They sat as though frozen in a tableau until Malcolm, younger and mor
e resilient than the others, got to his feet. ‘I think we deserve some tea.’
The three men learned the end of the story while the hot tea was revitalising them. Tina told them she had seen Jerry with a razor and thought he was about to end his life, too. She told them of the discussion that had taken place and how the decision was made not to tell the police. She told them how Raymond Miller had made up his mind that the only way to make sure that his employees would keep quiet would be to give them money and how his decision had been followed by a short argument as to how much he should offer them. Finally, she told them that Jerry Rae had enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders just days later and left the district altogether.
After this, with her emotions at a low ebb, Tina said tearfully, ‘I often thought about him and wondered if he came through the war all right. I used to pray he would find another girl to love and have a few bairns and live happily ever after.’
Although quite aware that she would be upset, James felt it his duty to put her right on this. ‘He was killed in action, I’m afraid – about a year afterwards.’
‘Oh, my God! Poor, poor Jerry.’
She was dry-eyed now and they left after a few minutes. As Frank said, ‘She’s probably better to be on her own.’
They then made for Ardbirtle, Frank offering to stay in the car until they told the Rae family the truth.
But James was firm. ‘No, you were there at the denouement and you should be present at the actual finale.’
Nothing much was said on the journey north but all three minds were going over what they had learned. It was obvious that Tina had known nothing of the coffins that had been made or, perhaps, James thought, it hadn’t occurred to her to wonder how or where the bodies had been buried. Probably there was a small graveyard somewhere in the grounds, as there had been where Leo was buried, but that side of the events had not registered with her.
The nearer they came to Ardbirtle, the more apprehensive James became. How would the Raes be affected by the information they were about to hear? Instead of bringing happy answers to all their questions, as he had hoped to do, he would be reminding the inhabitants of Oak Cottage of the agonies they had gone through at the time of their son’s death. And they would learn of the tragedy that was Jerry’s marriage which, no doubt, would make then feel even worse.
Although he would be giving them proof of the boy’s innocence, he was not the bearer of good news.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
James went in first, to explain why he had returned so soon, and saying that he had left Malcolm and his father in the car.
‘Bring them inside,’ Henry cried. ‘Goodness, you don’t need me to tell you any friends of yours are welcome here.’
Fay was outside before he had finished speaking and was assuring the other two men that they shouldn’t be shy about coming into the house.
After being introduced as Malcolm’s father, Frank took a back seat and James stopped Fay from putting on the kettle. ‘We have come directly from Edinburgh, where we talked to Tina, the nurse at The Sycamores while your …’
‘Tina!’ Fay exclaimed. ‘I remember Jerry speaking about her. She was very good to him, as I recall.’
‘Indeed she was – more than you could imagine. I have a long story to tell, a surprising story, and I think, Henry, that we will need something much stronger than tea.’
Glasses duly filled, Fay’s with lemonade, James told the tale as succinctly as he could, including as much as he could remember, and, if he missed out the slightest detail, Malcolm would put him right. The events were laid bare in such a way that Henry and Fay were left in no doubt as to what went on and, when the very last tragic incident was told, all five people were in tears.
At last, Henry said, ‘So there was really only one murder – the little baby. The man’s death was an accident and Jerry’s wife’s was suicide. Am I right?’
‘That is correct,’ James replied.
‘So our Jerry wasn’t responsible for any of the things that happened?’
‘Not the least little bit responsible. Now, I know that the news has upset you, brought it all back, but I was duty-bound to tell you.’
Wiping her few remaining tears away, Fay said, ‘Of course you had to tell us and we are truly grateful to you, James. At least we know now that our son did not murder anybody.’
‘I feel bitter that …’ Henry hesitated and then went on, ‘that the baby wasn’t Jerry’s.’
Frank sat forward in his chair at this point, as if about to say something, but Laurie came running in from school. ‘I knew you were here,’ he crowed, making straight for Malcolm. ‘I saw the Rolls.’
‘My legs could be doing with a stretch,’ Malcolm smiled. ‘How about coming for a wee walk with me?’
Frank also stood up. ‘I could be doing with a walk myself.’
When the door crashed behind the boy, Fay turned to James. ‘You’ll stop for your supper?’
‘You are not prepared for three extra mouths,’ he told her. ‘I was meaning to go after Samara comes home. I would like to see her again.’
‘You’re stopping and no argument!’ She went through to the kitchen to pare some more potatoes, thankful that she had made enough broth that morning to do them two or three days because the boiled beef wouldn’t go round everybody. The family wouldn’t get any but at least there were plenty carrots.
His wife out of the room, Henry reverted to the topic uppermost in his mind. ‘You know, it was years after the army sent on Jerry’s belongings that we came across the two certificates – the marriage one and the birth one. That’s what made me try to find his widow and their son – of course, I didn’t know the boy wasn’t Jerry’s son at that time – but, as you know, they were not to be found. Mind you, I’d no idea that Anna Cairns, as her maiden name was, had been a patient, though I did have a strange feeling that something wasn’t right. That rough bit on the birth certificate, where the mother’s occupation was given, had been changed to read ‘nurse’. It would have originally said ‘patient’ or maybe even ‘mental patient’ and Jerry must have altered it because the registrar or whoever filled out the certificate wouldn’t have risked doing it. Altering legal documents is against the law – as my father was to discover when he tried to get my own birth certificate changed.’
James let him talk on. It would do him good to get everything sorted out in his mind.
‘Did anybody say anything bad about the infant? I mean, he wasn’t like his mother? He was … normal?’
‘As far as I know, he was. Tina would have said if he had not been. She had a lot to do with him and his mother. She was very fond of them … and of Jerry.’
‘Aye, that’s some comfort.’
Henry fell silent now but the ensuing silence was broken when Mara came in.
‘I’m so glad to see you, James,’ she said, kissing his cheek.
‘Take him up to your room and listen to what he says,’ her father instructed her. ‘Laurie and the two men’ll be back shortly and you’ll get no peace in here.’
Having told his story already, James was more fluent and, with Mara being quicker on the uptake, it did not take nearly so long. She did not weep when he came to the last tragedy but shook her head sadly. ‘That poor girl … and poor Jerry.’ She considered for a few moments and then said apologetically, ‘I can’t help thinking that it’s true what people say – that God works in mysterious ways. Anna hadn’t been cured, like they all thought and probably the birth had had a lot to do with her mental state. Then the business with Charles Moonie …’ She hesitated briefly. ‘You’ll maybe think this is callous of me but, to my way of thinking, Jerry would have that terrible time fresh in his mind for the rest of his life, plus the awful sights he must have seen in battle. It was probably best that he died when he did.’ She looked earnestly at James. ‘Do you think I’m awful?’
‘Not at all. It is not the way my mind was working but I can see your point. I do not think, however, that you shoul
d mention it to your parents. They will be struggling with their feelings for some time yet, I imagine, but they will settle down again and perhaps you can put your point of view to them then.’
She gave a wry laugh. ‘And perhaps I had better not.’
The two men returned with the boy just as James and Mara went downstairs. James introduced her to Frank and supper was served. Because of Laurie, the meal was eaten amid light-hearted banter and it was Henry who said, as the two ladies were clearing the table, ‘Mara, why don’t you take Frank out and show him a bit of Ardbirtle? Malcolm can play a few games of Ludo or something to amuse Laurie and I’ll help your mother with the dishes.’
She didn’t like to refuse. As she told her mother the next day, she quite liked the look of Frank Fry but had thought it would be difficult to know what to say.
Soon after Laurie was settled for the night, Malcolm excused himself on the grounds of all the driving he had done and went to bed, too, although Fay knew that it was only an excuse. ‘What were you playing at?’ she accosted her husband. ‘Are you trying your hand at matchmaking with Mara and Frank? Maybe they’re the right age for each other but I don’t think it’ll work – they’re both too shy.’
The couple were very shy and walked along silently for a few minutes and then Mara said, ‘We can go back if you’d rather. I’m not a great conversationalist.’
‘Neither am I but we can surely find something to talk about.’
She found his grin very attractive. ‘Right. I believe you brought Malcolm up on your own? It must have been difficult when you had to go to work as well.’
‘It wasn’t easy but he was a good boy – always ready to help. We got through.’
‘You made a good job of it, anyway. He’s a very nice young man. I wish he were a good few years older.’ Wishing that she hadn’t said it, she gave a laugh to show that she was joking. ‘One of these days he’ll surprise you by bringing home a girlfriend. How will you feel about that?’
‘I’ll have to say nothing – whatever the girl is like.’
The Shadow of the Sycamores Page 44