The Loophole

by Vera Morris

  He needed to get away before anyone saw him, get back to London. Patsy would give him an alibi, say he’d got home several hours before the time of death. He looked at his watch, noting the time. Could he get back into the barracks without anyone seeing him? That was going to be tricky. If he was spotted, what would he say? Forgotten his present for Patsy. He put the knickers in his pocket and turned to leave. Then he saw John, still fast asleep in his pushchair. His pink cheeks moving as he breathed. What should he do about him?

  Frank saw Stephen sitting in a wheelchair by the side of his bed with a young woman close to him in another chair. They were holding hands and her other arm was round his shoulder. She was speaking to him, but her voice was low and Frank couldn’t hear what she was saying

  ‘Stephen,’ Frank said, ‘sorry to barge in on you. I didn’t know you had a visitor.’

  Stephen looked pale, unhappy, tears not far away. His chest was heavily bandaged. ‘Mr Diamond. Good to see you.’ He didn’t look as though that was the truth.

  ‘Eve, this is Frank Diamond, one of the detectives who was working undercover. Mr Diamond, my wife, Eve.’

  She was a slim, dark-haired woman, her face showing the strain of the last few days. ‘Mr Diamond. I must thank you for saving Stephen. If you hadn’t found him...’

  ‘Mrs Salter.’ He shook her hand. ‘There were three of us: Laurel Bowman and Tommy Coltman. He rowed us over to Orford Ness. His knowledge was invaluable.’ Stephen gasped. ‘Did he hear what my father said?’ Frank shook his head. ‘No, we persuaded him to meet the search party before Laurel and I went into the pagoda. We did tell him later.’

  Stephen looked at his wife. ‘I still can’t believe it. What does Mr Coltman think? It must be bringing it all back. Poor man, how he’s suffered. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to face him. I’m so ashamed.’

  Eve frowned. ‘Stephen, that’s ridiculous. None of this is your doing. Of course, you must see Mr Coltman and try to help him. But you have nothing to feel guilty about. I won’t allow you to think like that.’

  Stephen looked at Frank, a faint smile on his lips. ‘Don’t you love a bossy woman?’

  Frank shook his head and laughed. ‘No thanks! No offence, Mrs Salter, but my mother cured me of that.’ She was just what Stephen needed, he thought. But not for me.

  The nurse coughed and gave him a fish eye. Get on with it, her expression said. Another bossy one.

  He pulled up a chair. ‘Stephen. I know you’re still in shock, but I’m going to ask you to see your father.’

  Stephen recoiled, a look of horror on his face. ‘No! I couldn’t. Not after hearing what he did.’

  Eve leant towards him. ‘Why are you asking Stephen to do this? Is his father asking for forgiveness? How can Stephen do that?’

  Frank hesitated. He couldn’t tell them why he thought it was important. He could be wrong. He wished Laurel were here, she’d find the right words. ‘I believe your father has more to tell us, facts that would be important to Tommy Coltman. If you are there I think he will do that. Mr Coltman has suffered for many years, but I believe what your father could tell us may help him. Will you do this for him?’

  Stephen looked as though he wanted to escape from the room and from what was being asked of him. Eve looked grim.

  ‘Please?’

  Stephen swallowed hard. ‘I don’t know what to think. I loved my father, but how can I continue to love him knowing what he did? Not only the murder of a woman and her baby, but deliberately sending that poor boy to be hanged.’

  ‘Has he got long to live?’ Eve asked the nurse.

  ‘He may die tonight. In my opinion he’ll go in the small hours, or just before dawn. It’s often the way,’ she said.

  Eve took Stephen’s hands in hers. ‘Darling, I think you must do it. Mr Diamond wouldn’t ask if he didn’t think it was important. He and his friends saved your life. It will be difficult, but this is the last chance. If you don’t do it the truth will be lost forever. If it will help Mr Coltman, I think you should see your father and persuade him to talk to us.’

  Frank felt like kissing her; perhaps there was something to be said for bossy women.

  ‘Will you come with me?’ Stephen asked Eve.

  ‘If that’s allowed.’ She looked at the nurse.

  ‘I don’t see why you shouldn’t be there.’

  ‘Good.’ Eve stood up and moved behind Stephen’s wheelchair, gripping the handle. ‘Let’s get on with it.’

  Chapter 29

  Salter fought back the pain; he needed, wanted, more morphine, but he was afraid if he took it he would lose consciousness before he’d seen Stephen. Would he come? Would Diamond be able to persuade him? He clenched his teeth and thought about that day. The day he murdered Audrey Coltman. For those few brief minutes she’d been his: he’d held her, kissed her, loved her and then the dreadful realization dawned. She was lifeless. Her deep blue eyes gazed at him, unseeing.

  There was a swish of noise and a faint current of air brushed his face. The sound of rubber wheels on the floor, and then a face came into his view.

  ‘Mr Salter. Stephen is here and so is Eve. He’s agreed to see you if you’ll tell him what happened the day you met Audrey Coltman. Are you willing to tell him the truth?’ Laurel asked.

  Salter tried to raise his head to see Stephen, but it was too difficult. ‘Pillow,’ he croaked.

  The nurse gently raised his head and shoulders as she slid another pillow under him. He groaned with pain. Now he could see him. Stephen, in a wheelchair, his poor chest covered in bandages, his face as pale as the white sheet Salter lay under. Eve sat beside Stephen, holding his hand. She’d be a great help to his Stephen. Good woman. Sensible. There was Frank Diamond sitting next to Laurel Bowman, and next to her, a man. Who was he? Policeman, Inspector something. The nurse sat by the door.

  ‘Stephen. Come.’ He wanted to hold out a hand to him, but couldn’t. If only he could hug him, show how much he loved him, surely he’d be forgiven?

  Eve said something to Stephen and he nodded. She got up and pushed the chair nearer to the bed.

  ‘Stephen. I am sorry you had to hear what I said.’

  Stephen nodded and a tear ran down his cheek. Eve bent over and wiped it away.

  ‘I’ll tell you what happened.’

  He looked at the baby. He’d killed his mother. His father might never come home. John would be an orphan brought up by that snobby mother-in-law. Someone would find him. But when? What would he do when he woke up and found his mother lying dead beside him? Would he understand? He might fall out of the pram, crawl away and fall in the river. Or an animal, a fox, might attack him. He couldn’t leave him. Where could he take him? He had to get off. Now. He started to walk away from John. He turned.

  That’s what he’d do. He’d take him, keep him. He couldn’t have children. He hadn’t wanted to adopt, let everyone know his shots were duds. Patsy wanted a child, and was willing to adopt. He wasn’t. You never knew what you were getting with an adopted child -they could turn into right little bastards. He’d square it with her. Make up some story she’d believe. She wanted a kid so much she wouldn’t ask too many questions.

  This was Audrey’s child. He’d always have part of her. He’d be a good father. Sort out the details later. Got to get back into the barracks and put the knickers in Hovell’s locker, then get back to London. Make up a story about John while he was driving. Couldn’t call him John.Something beginning with S, like his name, there’d be two Salters. Stephen, yes, he liked that name. Stephen Salter.

  He picked up the baby and held him gently against his chest. He glanced around again. No one in sight. He walked quickly to his car, which had an enormous boot; plenty of room for cigarettes and booze. He opened it and made a nest for Stephen, his Stephen, with a blanket he always kept there. Be prepared was his motto and you never knew your luck when you were dating a girl. Stephen was sleeping peacefully. Soon what memories he had of his mother would fade, and h
e’d never seen his father. Not until today. The thought of being a father, and his son being Audrey’s son, filled him with joy and excitement. Now he must get to Hovell’s locker and then to London. A birth certificate wouldn’t be a problem, he knew just the bloke to fix that. He turned on the engine, and it quietly throbbed into life. He put it into first gear and smoothly backed out of Doctor’s Drift.

  Salter looked into Stephen’s tearful eyes. He’d had a son for all those years. A son who’d loved him. Today he’d give him back to his real father.

  ‘Stephen.’ He wouldn’t be Stephen any more, in a few seconds he would be John. ‘Stephen. That day.’ Stephen winced. ‘When I said I threw John into the river, I lied.’

  Stephen leant back. Eve turned to anxiously look at him.

  ‘I took John home with me. You were that baby. You are John Coltman.’

  What little blood was in Stephen’s face drained away, his eyes widened, his mouth gaped. Eve put up a hand to cover her face. Miss Bowman was biting her lip and Diamond was nodding his head. He’d guessed.

  ‘You... you are not my father?’ Stephen whispered.

  ‘No, Thomas Coltman is your father.’

  ‘Mr Coltman?’ He was shaking his head in disbelief. ‘My mother? You killed my mother?’

  Should he have told him? The boy was looking at him as though he was seeing a monster. Too late. ‘Yes, your mother was Audrey Coltman.’

  The look of horror turned to one of anger and loathing. ‘You murdered my mother, then you kidnapped me. My father thought I was dead. You turned him into the man he is today. How could you do it?’ He turned to his wife. ‘Get me out of here.’

  So, this was how it was to end. Did he deserve to die with the one person he’d truly loved hating and reviling him? Was there no one feeling any pity for him?

  ‘Stephen, I love you,’ he whispered as Eve pushed Stephen from the room; Laurel Bowman followed them.

  Frank Diamond sat beside him. ‘You did the right thing.’

  He didn’t reply.

  ‘Can you hang on for a bit longer?’

  ‘Hang on? For what?’ he croaked.

  ‘I think Tommy Coltman needs to hear this from your lips. I think you owe him that.’

  ‘Why? I’ve said it. He’ll know soon enough.’

  ‘I think he deserves to hear it from you, before he’s reunited with Stephen -John. Otherwise he may never be able to come to terms with what happened. Stephen’s been taken from you, never to return. You’ve had his love for nearly all of his life. Those years should have been Tommy’s. You’ve robbed him of all of Stephen’s childhood, boyhood, his marriage and his grandchildren. He will never be able to get back those vanished years. You are hurting now at your loss. Think of what he must have felt when he came back from Java, a physical and mental wreck, only the thought of his family keeping him going through torture and humiliation. To return and discover what you had done. You owe him, Salter.’

  Salter remembered Coltman’s ravaged face, his stooped figure, as he walked about the holiday camp on his way to some menial task. He’d feel a twinge of guilt now and then, but he’d salved his conscious by thinking how he’d given Stephen everything, supported him in all his ambitions. Stephen would take over the running of the camps when he retired. Perhaps one of Stephen’s children would follow on. A dynasty. Now it lay in ruins. Would Stephen want to run the camps? He doubted it. He’d a conscience, a real conscience. ‘Send for Coltman, be quick.’

  Diamond had a word with the Inspector who was at the back of the room. He left.

  The nurse approached him with a syringe. ‘Only enough to keep it at bay. I need to keep awake,’ he whispered.

  Diamond came back. ‘I’ll stay with you if you want me to,’ he said.

  He gave a nod. He didn’t want to die alone.

  Chapter 30

  When they’d returned to Stephen’s room, Laurel sat down next to him; she found it hard to think of him as John. Eve sat on his other side, holding his hand. Inspector Revie had barrelled in for a few minutes and told them Johnny Cottam was fetching Coltman, if he would come. He wished Stephen luck and barrelled out: important police matters to attend to, or was it all a bit too much for him? It was probably a bit much for all of them, but especially Stephen. She hoped Salter was still alive by the time Coltman arrived.

  The tension in the room was high, and a sunny day outside and little ventilation in the room made for a claustrophobic atmosphere. She managed to open the one window, but there was hardly any air movement outside either.

  ‘Stephen -do you still want to be called Stephen?’

  He looked at her and shrugged. ‘I can’t believe it. I’ve always felt sorry for children who were adopted and didn’t find out until they were adults, the people they thought were their mothers and fathers, weren’t. Now it’s happened to me, only a million times worse. How can I love my true father? I don’t know him. I only know him as a part-time worker at the camp, a recluse, who wandered round the fields and near the river at night looking for the body of his baby son.’ He looked as though he might lose control of himself, his throat working as he gulped down the sobs heaving from his chest. ‘He was looking for me, for my dead body. What will I do if I can’t love him when I meet him? He deserves so much from me. What if I can’t give him that?’

  Eve put an arm round his shoulders. ‘Stephen, try not to intellectualise your meeting with your father, let it happen. Remember, he’ll only have a few minutes to digest the truth before he meets you. Perhaps he may feel he can’t see you straight away. It’ll be a great shock. We don’t know how he’ll feel.’

  Laurel didn’t know whether to join in or not. It was a complex problem; it ought to be joyful, the reuniting of a father and son, but Stephen seemed to be afraid; worried how he’d react. Did he think he would have nothing in common with his father? Did he think Tommy was a weirdo? ‘I haven’t known your father for very long,’ she said, ‘but I can tell you what I think he’s like as a man, and also how he helped us to get onto the Ness. I’ve also learnt from him something of his past life. I like him, and the way he reacted last night showed me the man he once was. A brave, intelligent, caring man. He loved you and your mother so much. Would you like me to tell you what I know of him?’

  Stephen looked at her. ‘Yes, I would.’

  She told him everything she could remember from meeting him in the churchyard to the point when he left them outside the pagoda to meet the police on the quay.

  ‘He was an architect? I didn’t realise he was an educated man.’

  ‘He’s also a very competent boatman, and knows these waters well.’

  ‘It must have been dreadful when he was accused of Bert’s murder,’ Stephen said.

  ‘I think he deserves our respect, and if you find you can’t love him as your father, then you must hide that, but hopefully it won’t be necessary,’ Eve said.

  There was a knock on the door. Frank put his head round. ‘Tommy’s here. Johnny Cottam says he was reluctant to come. Cottam found him in his back garden burning all the boxes. He wants to speak to you,’ he nodded to Stephen, ‘before he’ll see Salter.’

  Stephen gasped. ‘I can’t see him, not until he knows.’ Eve gripped his arm. ‘It’s important he hears the truth from Salter. You must try, darling.’

  Stephen took a deep breath and nodded to Frank. ‘I’ll see him, but not alone. Everyone must stay.’

  Frank looked round. ‘I’ll bring him in.’

  A few minutes later he opened the door and Tommy Coltman walked in, Frank following. When Tommy saw Stephen, white as the walls of the room, bandaged and with a worried face, he gasped and shook his head, concern written on his face.

  ‘Mr Salter,’ he said, ‘I’m so sorry you had to face such a dreadful ordeal. I can’t imagine how you’ve suffered, not only at the hands of Hinney, but to find out about your father. I want you to know if I can do anything for you, or help in any way, I will. The events of the past few days hav
e made me realise it’s time to accept the loss of my wife and son. I must try and bring myself out of the morass I’ve created. I am truly sorry for what you’ve had to endure.’

  Stephen’s eyes filled with tears. ‘Thank you, you’re very generous.’

  Eve stood up and held out her hand. ‘I’m Stephen’s wife, Eve. Thank you for helping Laurel and Frank last night. You got to my Stephen in time. I can never thank you enough.’

  Tommy took her hand. ‘I must admit I enjoyed the first part of the night; for once I felt alive and useful.’ He turned to Stephen. ‘Your father has asked to see me. I hope you can understand why I don’t want to meet him. I wanted to talk to you first. Is there any point in this meeting? What can either of us gain? I’m afraid if your father’s looking for forgiveness, this is impossible. I am a Christian, I know I should turn the other cheek, but it would be false to pretend.’

  Stephen gulped. ‘Tommy, can I call you Tommy?’ Coltman smiled. ‘Of course.’

  ‘Tommy, I would like you to see him and to listen to what he says. He hasn’t much longer to live. I want you to hear his confession. It’s very important to me and I think it will be to you.’ His voice was filled with tears.

  This was so hard for Stephen; she was afraid he’d blurt out the truth.

  Tommy frowned, then sighed. ‘Do I have to? What will it achieve, except to make my blood boil and put murder into my heart?’

  ‘Please.’ Stephen held out his hand.

  Tommy grasped it. ‘Very well. I’ll say goodbye. I won’t want to speak to anyone afterwards.’ His gloomy expression and drooping shoulders changed him back to the recluse he’d been. Frank followed him from the room. Eve kissed Stephen’s cheek. ‘Well done.’

  Stephen sniffed and blinked back tears. ‘He seems a kind man, but I still can’t believe he’s my father.’

  ‘I can see the resemblance. Can you?’ Eve asked Laurel.