The Unsuspecting Housewife

by Olivia Charles

  “I am Professor Van-Hall. Do you understand why you were brought to my attention Mrs Champion?”

  “The police have insinuated that I’m mad, so I wanted to be tested. How did I do?”

  “This is not an optional extracurricular activity, Mrs Champion, my staff here are highly trained professionals who access and assess the most complex criminal mind. The prison security staff here have become aware that you do not accept your guilt, which is a necessary and intrinsic part of the prison process.”

  “I don’t mean to be obtuse but I actually don’t think I should be here and consequently I have felt very low and started to question my own sanity. How did I score?”

  “Mrs Champion, I’ve had access to your criminal file and to your medical records and having read everything and having observed you myself, I can confidently say that you are as sane as I am. I do not pretend to understand the Law but you have most definitely been abused and traumatised and it is a miracle that you haven’t actually lost your mind. I don’t think I would have coped as well in your situation and I can’t say fairer than that.” The Professor smiled and stood to leave. “I sincerely wish you well and will authorise your access to my team at any time during your sentence, if you want to talk to someone. Good luck and stay safe Henrietta.” The women stood up to leave their patient who was still seated on a bench as the two women walked away. They turned:

  “Should we take you back inside?” Hetty nodded.

  Henrietta realised that every letter and phone call she made from prison was recorded and logged and although she felt like a lab rat, she tried to hold her head high and act and speak with dignity. Her behaviour was observed and questioned by all of the curious staff and was the catalyst for her being pulled from the long line of prisoners and given a job in the education department to do general filing and admin for the Governor. She became trusted in the rooms where phones and computers sat on desks and the teachers and staff and the security team regularly spoke with her as she walked around the department with the class registers. She was described as a Holloway swan; floating along gracefully but paddling and flapping like mad beneath the surface. It was an appropriate and accurate description.

  She received a letter from her barrister and anxiously awaited his proposed visit and any positive news he might bring. When he arrived, he kissed her on the cheek and handed her a much appreciated decent coffee from the service hatch.

  “Hi Henrietta, how are you doing?”

  “I’m stuck in a filthy dump with frightening criminals and I can’t begin to tell you how awful I feel but I have been psychologically tested and at least I have disproved the Police and I’m totally sane. I’ve even got a job.” She tried to appear positive.

  “Can I have the sanity part in writing? As for a job, what have they got you doing?” He smiled pitifully at his wretched client.

  “I’m helping in the main education department. The Governor and her staff are lovely and treat me like a human being and I’m trusted.”

  “Only you, Hetty! Why am I not surprised?” He laughed. “So things aren’t that bad?”

  “Oh Andrew, I’m trying to stay positive but there must be something you can do? Surely it can’t be lawful to keep me here? I need to go home, my Mum needs me, she is very ill.”

  “You think you’ve got problems, the CPS has Clive Goode in their headlights now. Apparently his file notes documented an attempt to blackmail Terry Newman.”

  “Ridiculous! He was trying to take the attention away from me by pretending he held all the evidence when in actual fact, I had it.”

  “The police have made investigations into his entire firm’s business. Bear in mind; he represented you when they arrested you but wasn’t actually qualified to do so.”

  “The Police told him to attend.”

  “Hetty, it’s like a game of chess. The Police make a move on the board, you make a counter move. The CPS step in to play for the Police, you get a lawyer to play for you and the game continues. It all depends on how clever a player you are and how smart your initial lawyer is and Clive wasn’t. Someone like you doesn’t stand a chance if the CPS decides a case has financial case law implications and bring out the big guns. It is archaic and unfair but appears to be just. It is just a joke, but we all play our part. I’ve risked my credibility to help you. Admittedly, it has put me in the spotlight but I could only push so far because the case had to be shut down at some point. They couldn’t afford to let you win.”

  “So the thick housewife must be sacrificed.”

  “Definitely not thick but perhaps unwitting or trusting.”

  “What about poor old Clive?”

  “He’s a solicitor, he will find someone to defend him but he might get struck off. They don’t want him as a member of the Bar who can vouch for you. I don’t know what will happen to his firm.”

  “What about his children and his home.”

  “Not your problem Henrietta. There is nothing anyone can do if the CPS decides it is worth their while to ruin him.”

  “That wouldn’t be just.”

  “It may be what happens though. You ought to know that the money confiscated from criminals is either paid in compensation to a victim or split between the Home Office who get half of the money and then share the balance equally between the Police, the CPS and the Court. So you can see how they are all in bed together!”

  “Does everyone know this except me?”

  “No Hetty, it is an unspoken fact of law. I think in your case it was significant that the bank didn’t raise their heads for compensation though.” He expressed his avarice toward the negligent ‘jobs worth’ men behind Terry’s fraudulent mortgage application. “I’m sure that if you had your time again, you wouldn’t turn Mr Newman in, just like all the other women who didn’t dare and ironically are now better off than you. I’m sorry, but that’s how it is.”

  Henrietta spent the following weeks and months trying to stay physically fit, remain safe and chose a couple of women to befriend. She spent a couple of hours each week in the library and was given free access to every reference book in the prison. She skipped through the multitude of hard backed legal books and realised that Archbold and other legal authorities had compiled books of Law as a reference tool for the Prosecution, there appeared to be no books in the library or any reference to any book ever written to advise a defendant how to fight the system.

  June 3rd 2015.

  It was a Home Office regulation that all prisoners had to be interviewed by the prison security staff, the medical team and give an address to the prison service before they could be released at the end of their sentence. Simon suggested Hetty give his new address, as he intended to look after her for the rest of her life. She was excited by the prospect of living with Simon and wondered what sort of wedding ceremony they would have as she knew how much he loved grand parties.

  When Henrietta spoke with the medical team, they insisted that she be interviewed and signed off by one of Professor Van-Hall’s psychologists before departure. The lady psychologist acknowledged Henrietta’s stoic and resilient personality and her dismissive attitude to mental frailty but suggested that the damage done to her psyche could only be healed if Hetty was prepared to open up and try to speak about her suffering. The woman acknowledged the fact that Henrietta’s trauma caused her to stutter and stammer and choke when she tried to talk about her experiences and explained that as her suffering had been hidden for so long, talking about it would be excruciatingly difficult. The woman suggested that Hetty try a method of outlet which was often employed when trying to communicate with children of sexual abuse who had been forcibly conditioned not to speak about their suffering to another adult. Hetty was imbued with the idea of writing about her experiences in the third person, as if she had only been the ‘fly on the wall’ and observed her own ordeal. She was assured that the process would not only prove to be cathartic but would be a great release of the secrets she unnecessarily guarded. It was hoped th
at Henrietta could begin a self-healing process.

  The security staff thanked her for her model behaviour and hard work within the prison regime, reminded her of her legal obligations and made her sign a document which precluded her from owning or using a fire-arm for the rest of her life. The process seemed preposterous for non-payment of a fine, but she acquiesced politely. Anything to get out!

  When the time arrived for her to walk towards the open door of the prison exit with the few possessions she wanted to take home, the head of security came towards her and smiled.

  “Mrs Champion, it has been a rare pleasure. I am very sorry for your experience and I wish you all the best for the future. I don’t believe we will ever meet again.” Big man shook her hand firmly and waved as she walked out with her large plastic bag which swung against her shin.

  Simon sat in his car outside the prison gates waiting anxiously for the woman he loved to be released to him. When she appeared, he held his arms out towards her, hugged and kissed her and threw her bag into the boot and drove her far away from London to the new house they would share. Once home, he poured two glass of champagne and asked for her approval of his domestic planning and efforts. He had tried very hard to make the house look like their respective previous homes and had filled several vases with her favourite flowers.

  “Do you like the house? Do you think you will be happy here with me? I am obviously renting for now but I promise things will change. You might want to apply your artistic magic to the flowers though, as I just plonked them in water. Most importantly I have a surprise for you outside.” He took her to the garage to see the black convertible bearing her old personalised number plate and handed over the keys.

  “I don’t understand. I sold that plate to pay the court.”

  “And I found it and we bought it back for you to use again. Even your mother approved.”

  “Oh thank you Simon!” She was touched by the gesture and gave him a big kiss.

  “You deserve respect my darling and should hold your head high. Hopefully now you can forget about everything that has happened and be your old self again. I certainly remember you as the most loving and passionate woman I have ever known. Speaking of passion; dare we go upstairs right now?” He grinned with anticipated delight.

  “What plans have you made? When are we getting married?”

  “I’m offering you a loving life with me, against my family’s wishes and a nice car. Surely that is enough?”

  “I don’t want to appear ungrateful but you said we would get married when I was free. Why say it if it isn’t true?”

  “I told you what you wanted to hear, just to keep you going whilst you were in prison. When I broached the subject of divorcing their mother with my kids, I met with a frosty response. I daren’t cause unnecessary upset or sacrifice the respect of my children over a piece of paper. It’s not like we need to get married is it?” Simon could not justify a tawdry public divorce and financial hardship but Henrietta wanted her fairy-tale ending. She tried not to be overly petulant but Simon’s attitude dramatically changed her anticipated affection and his horizontal happiness. She spent most of the following week days with her mother and time at the weekends with her son, both of whom she felt she owed so much care and love.

  Her mother was recovering well from her stroke and was at home, assisted by carers whom she wanted to sack as soon as she saw Hetty. It was understandable that Grandma wanted to spend what time she thought she had left, re-building a bond with her daughter whom she had ashamedly disbelieved. Grandma appeared physically unchanged but her driving licence had been revoked and she could no longer read or tell the time and could certainly not be trusted with electrical appliances in the kitchen.

  Oscar had been given an administrative job by a generous friend of Henrietta’s who had seen the boy grow up with his own son and wanted to help. Oscar was transported to and from work each day by the Managing Director until he was well enough to take off the debilitating lumbar support and drive himself. Hetty was told that Oscar was liked by his workmates and his IT skills were extremely useful to the firm.

  Soon after Henrietta’s home-coming, she received a letter from the Magistrates Court in London. It said that although she had chosen to serve the term of imprisonment in default of payment of her confiscation, her debt had not been expunged. It explained that original sum would still have to be paid but would now include the specified daily amount of compounding interest. The letter outlined the necessity for her to make some form of payment every week until the debt was cleared. Henrietta immediately went in to consult with her solicitor and asked Emma when the Court would cease hounding her for money she did not have. She was told;

  “When you are dead.”

  “Once I’m dead, will they come after my next of kin for money?”

  “No, it is your debt, not theirs. Your family has no legal conviction or responsibility.”

  “Then why did the court expect them to pay up or lock me up.”

  “Once you are dead, the Court can’t assert any allegations on the ones you love who have been unfortunately caught in the crossfire. I do hope this information will not make you think of doing anything foolish at this late stage, Henrietta. The hard part is over now.”

  “Is it? I’m not so sure.”

  “Just agree to pay them ten pounds a week.” Emma suggested.

  “I see. Thank you for your time and your help.”

  Henrietta felt immensely hurt that she seemingly had no human rights and was only deemed to be worth the sum of the fine inflicted upon her by a legal system which refused to acknowledge her abuse. She walked out of the lawyers fancy glass offices in a daze and sauntered across the road towards the car park. Suddenly a horn blasted loudly and she froze in the middle of the bus lane as pedestrians shouted to her. The double decker bus careered towards her but the driver hammered the brakes and Hetty felt a cold rush of diesel infused air engulf her body with such force that her hair flew over her face and into her mouth and she nearly toppled over. She closed her eyes and accepted her impending fate but once more she cheated death and was physically unscathed. The irate bus driver shouted abuse at the idiot pedestrian woman who did not speak or apologise and whose negligent actions could have cost him his job. Judging from her indifference, she didn’t even appear to understand what nearly happened.

  Hetty went home to Simon and decided it was time to take the advice she had been given and write her memoirs in the third person to see if it would help to overcome the mental numbness or the social helplessness she felt or hopefully cure the crying she heard every morning like a grieving alien inside her stomach. She piled up her old diaries and drummed away on the keys of her lap top in Simon’s study to compile a detailed chronological report of all the events that had happened to her since she met her con-man in October 2004. She confided in Simon how much she hoped that when Oscar read her story, he would understand the reason why their lives had been ruined.

  Simon was a primarily a tea drinker but Henrietta already needed to replenish their supply of coffee. As she returned from the local supermarket to her car she was confronted by the genteel police man husband of her old friend Angela. Paul gave her a respectful peck on the cheek and said he had spotted her obvious number plate and waited for her. He asked how she was feeling since her publicised imprisonment and how Oscar was recovering since his spinal injury. Hetty in return asked after his wife and boys. Paul filled her in on his families’ recent news and told her that he had decided to take early and imminent retirement and said that he had spent the last few weeks tidying his work-life documents, reports and files before his departure from the fprce. He informed her that he had coincidentally found the note Hetty sent to him when she first wanted to check out her proposed fiancé and asked whether she wanted the note returned to her or shredded. Henrietta said how much she wanted the evidence he offered of her original suspicions, to validate her credibility and sanity and gave Paul her current address on a scrap of p
aper.

  Paul expressed his disbelief and sympathy for Hetty’s public demise and also offered information that:

  Terry Newman had returned to Spain and had opened up another large commercial enterprise with a woman partner. Aiden Hoare was now divorced and had apparently re-trained as a long distance lorry driver. The man known as Hit Man Mark had changed his name and could not be found, even on the worldwide web. The Bank manager who Terry Newman had bamboozled had been promoted to the head of off-shore banking. Terry’s Spanish mortgage broker, Ted, has fled to Cyprus; the country of his birth where he had a ready-made business in the newly flourishing holiday property market. He also confirmed that DC Wooster had been promoted since his successful conviction of Henrietta and her co-conspirators. Paul pulled a cynical face which insinuated that he was not comfortable with Hetty’s fate and told her that since the publication of Terry’s imprisonment, two new allegations had been documented from other women who had complained to the Police and alleged that Terry had conned them out of their savings and property.

  Hetty rushed back home to tell Simon about her surprise meeting with Paul and the affirming and enlightening information he had divulged. Simon questioned how the women victims would felt when they were presumably informed that the police ‘were not debt collectors’ and he grumbled sarcastically. Henrietta retreated to the kitchen as her phone rang and she saw a ‘withheld number’.

  “Hello?”