Where There is Evil

by Sandra Brown

  This twin’s tone was less intimidating, but manipulative, because he also had the same goal: just what had been said at the hospital bed? Whatever had taken place, his father seemed brighter, so could I tell him what had lifted the burden?

  Reluctant to get into any correspondence with either twin, I wrote a sparse note to say the meeting had been private; it didn’t involve them or their mother to any extent, and I hoped the funeral went well but I wouldn’t be attending.

  After that, for Janet and myself, all hell broke loose as we were both under siege by the press. Janet left Sydney where Steve Smith had broken the news to her and her daughter, and headed to Perth. At the charity in Airdrie, journalists and TV reporters were on the phones all day and it was a relief when we could finally talk. Poor Janet had ended up in hospital for several days with the sheer stress of it all.

  I explained to her that what had caused me the greatest stress was a Sun journalist, who had rung me on Tuesday, 4 April. I made it clear that, as we had said all day at the charity, there would be no comment, as the deceased had not yet been cremated.

  ‘I know,’ the reporter said, ‘but I thought you might want to make a comment on the press statement put out by your half-brother Marcus. Did you know about him?’

  ‘No,’ I said, puzzled. ‘Who’s he?’

  ‘He changed his name. He is a struggling writer calling himself Marcus de Storm.’

  It clicked – this was one of the twins using a pseudonym.

  ‘Anyway, this has been released tonight throughout the UK. He’s saying that you saw your father on his deathbed, asked for his forgiveness and said you had made this huge mistake about his involvement with Moira Anderson – and he forgave you completely.’

  ‘What? As if!’ I banged down the phone, shaking.

  Janet was speechless when I told her of this duplicity. I had immediately asked a friend to put out a statement refuting absolutely what was being claimed by ‘Marcus’, but the fabrication still appeared in a number of tabloids next day.

  ‘Huge apology indeed! No wonder you were furious!’ Janet cried. ‘I was furious too, at that Steve Smith wanting to know every detail of what was said. I told him you had talked with only me about the meeting, and I know all about confidentiality because of my job, so if he thought I’d share anything with him on my sister, he was up a gum tree.’

  ‘I know you wouldn’t have told him anything, but he’s the type to publish stuff anyway.’

  Janet was even more thunderstruck when I told her the barrage of emails had stopped, but the last one revealed who ‘Jared’ was.

  I spotted my short note of thanks to him at the top of the message, then there was a long diatribe that told of three sons gathered round their father’s bed, two holding his hands, one separate. In semi-literate, rambling phrases he thanked me for visiting and described how each had felt at the passing of ‘this great man’.

  Halfway through, the grammar changed dramatically.

  ‘If you have been strong enough to read this far, then read on, Sandra. You will have guessed by now I am Jared – sorry about tricking you, but I could not think of any other way to get you to come.’

  ‘It’s written by one of the twins, Fraser, a.k.a. Marcus de Storm,’ I said. ‘Seriously disturbed, if you ask me, or just downright duplicitous. I was duped, but the trick backfired. I was there much quicker than he ever imagined, and I have the evidence to show just who said what. It was a set-up, a trap. What he has put out to the press is the scenario he would have liked to happen, not what really did take place.’

  ‘But people might believe you really did make a huge apology to your dad about Moira. Thank goodness you taped it. They need to know the true version of events!’

  ‘They will. Once my father is cremated, I will make sure of that. But only after his wife has had a chance to put him to rest. She has done me no harm, and if he found the courage to get everything off his chest to her, maybe she will say so later.’

  On Easter Sunday, a full sixteen days after the death, Jacqui McGhie of the Scottish News of the World published the truth, after listening to the tape recording. That article and an in-depth follow up in the Sunday Times by Gillian Bowditch ensured that the record was now put straight, and the treachery exposed.

  I sent copies to Janet and we discussed the way forward. Janet knew my second book would be about the incredible journey I had made since setting up the charity in her sister’s name. I had met extraordinary people with the most remarkable of stories, had encountered both inspiring individuals and the most malevolent abusers.

  However, we made a pact. We were not giving up. We had got nothing from the authorities but apathy and resistance to our quest to find Moira. The book would also detail our fight to get the final truth under the Freedom of Information Act, our pressure campaign to see the release of the paedophile dossier, and it would describe our final efforts to find her sister’s remains. We were prepared to look, even if few were willing to search for a small child whose only crime had been to lose money in the snow and whose innocence had ensured she did not recognize in my dad the true face of evil.

  Where There Is Evil

  Sandra Brown was educated at Coatbridge High School, Hamilton College and the Open University, which awarded her an Honours Degree in 1978 and a Masters in Education in 1996. A Primary Deputy Headteacher, then a Senior Lecturer in Further Education, she is the author of a number of articles. Recently she has worked for a children’s charity in Scotland, which has involved her in a wide range of issues affecting children and their parents, including child protection. Scotswoman of the Year in 2005, she was awarded the OBE in 2006.

  She believes that dangerous sex offenders, with very few exceptions, should be detained for life, and argues that it is time, in this country, that we review how such people are dealt with by the authorities. Where there is compelling evidence of a pattern of sexual deviance, she calls for juries to be fully informed of the defendant's history.

  Where There is Evil is her first book.

  ‘Sandra Brown’s past has come back to haunt her in an extraordinary way . . . her story rocks many fondly held assumptions about the warmth of working-class culture in the 1950s’ Sunday Times

  ‘Explosive, evocative . . . a remarkable story that climbs into your mind and stays there; a book that should shake a nation’ Scotland on Line

  ‘If this wasn’t a true and appalling story, it would have made a terrific thriller. As it is, this tale of child abuse, murder, betrayal and corruption is utterly harrowing . . . A powerful book from someone brave enough to confront evil on her doorstep. Five Stars’ Daily Mail

  ‘Very few writers can evoke childhood, even and especially their own . . . Sandra Brown has served up real childhood, raw, unexpurgated, tunnel-visioned and common to every last one of us. A graphic and indelible account of the mind-boggling persistence, audacity and ruthlessness of the truly obsessional paedophile’ Guardian

  ‘Sandra Brown’s powerful account of her memories, her fears and her dawning belief that her father was responsible for the death of a child as well as sexual abuse of her contemporaries, makes compelling reading. It is an example of the very reason for the existence of Childline’ Anne Houston, Director, Childline Scotland

  Acknowledgements

  If life is not measured in how many breaths you take, but how many moments you have that take your breath away, then you may feel the same is true of books. Many are read, some you discard, some influence your thinking, some climb into your head and stay there, a few are even profoundly life changing.

  This one, which laid the foundation of a charity which has now supported many families affected by child abuse, is unique. I am glad I found the strength to tell Moira’s story.

  Since Where There is Evil was first published, thousands of messages about its impact, and requests to know of more developments, have come from across the world. The appendix to this new edition brings an update, and perhaps provides a kind of clos
ure.

  Thank you, Georgina Morley at Macmillan, for approaching me to write what is something of a rarity in publishing, with Gitta Sereny’s insightful revisiting of the Mary Bell case, Cries Unheard – also based on true events – being the only one I know.

  I would like to acknowledge other professionals whose names do not appear within, and to whom I am indebted: Robert Kirby, my agent, whose nurturing guidance is special; Catherine Cameron for her unfailing enthusiasm, and also Sarah Leigh, Mark Lucas, John Boothe, Jimmy Boyle and Tim Corrie for early advice.

  Above all, I can never thank enough my family – my brothers, Ian and Norman for their understanding and help, my husband Ronnie, son Ross, his wife Kirsty, and my daughter Lauren for their unshakeable faith in me. Our beautiful grandchildren, Calum and his baby sister Morgan, both lift my heart, and remind me why I work to protect children.

  My gratitude goes to friends who ensured I was never overwhelmed by the hard road taken – Patsy and Fergus Gillies, Madelene Thompson, Margaret Clark, Ruth and Alec Dall. Especially, however, my wee group of college buddies, still influencing new generations – Janet McGill, June Porte, Liz Bruce, Irene Mcintosh, and Barbara McKechnie. Thanks to English lecturer Helen Murdoch, who encouraged my storytelling skills, and who now sees a former student take a solo show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Thanks also to Colin Scougall, Pamela Neil, and Lisa Potts, who rooted for One of Our Ain to reach a wider audience after its first outing in London’s Soho Theatre.

  To my lifelong friends, Irene Weir, Sheila Donnelly, Elizabeth Clark, Barbara Jordan and Jean Kendal, special thanks. To Gillian Grainger, and Irene Hamilton, both neighbours and wise advisers, my appreciation. To my ‘Californian Cheerleaders,’ Maureen Berti and Sandra Donohue – and the San Jose Book Group – much love! To Anne Lawson, Lucinda Dempsie, John McGill, Chriss and David Mills, deepest thanks for ‘being there’. To church friends, Christine Lawrie, Anne Currie, Jess and Dave Mcintosh, my thanks; they demonstrated the power of prayer and positive thinking, as did my courageous friend Linda Moyes, who read my work when she had much harder battles to fight than me.

  My admiration also goes to three remarkable women who have inspired me recently. Liz Lochhead, poet and playwright, Carol Laula, singer and songwriter, and Janey Godley, comedienne and writer. Scotland should be proud of these daughters. All have given me encouragement, hope, and good humour: all have immense talent in their own right, but also willingness to help others. Collectively, they have ensured that my personal testimony reaches wider audiences.

  Space doesn’t allow mention of all who have helped set up the charity, and I must respect those requesting anonymity. However, my thanks to Patrons and Friends of the Moira Anderson Foundation who support the work that Moira’s story started: without them we could not exist, or fund our willing therapists across Scotland who assist families and individuals, and who need to be such safe people to work with our brilliant staff.

  Thank you, Sarah Trevelyan for your insight, and thank you Vera and Gerald Weisfeld for your vision, which let us open the first safe house in the UK for families we support.

  To trustees and volunteers, a huge thank you. As an individual, even if all you do is buy this book, you are helping too, with what is a global issue we should not ignore.

  It is a wonderful legacy that one small child has left the world.

  Finally, my heartfelt gratitude goes to Elizabeth Nimmo, Janet Hart and family in Sydney, and her cousin, Moreen McLaggan of Fife: they shared their memories of Moira, and also my view that even one person speaking up can make a difference.

  Sandra Brown, Scotswoman of the Year, O.B.E.

  www. moiraanderson. com

  Edinburgh, June 2006

  Real people, real voices, real stories

  The Pan Real Lives Series brings together some truly remarkable stories. From moving accounts of suffering and redemption to fun and fabulous confessions, entertaining adventures and touching tales of devotion, these are life-changing stories told from the heart.

  Full of drama and wisdom, these books will transport you to another world. They are uplifting, inspiring and timeless – and perfect whether you’re looking to laugh or cry, or both!

  For the full range of titles available in The Pan Real Lives Series visit

  www.panmacmillan.com/reallives

  First published 1998 by Macmillan

  Paperback edition first published in 1999 by Pan Books

  This electronic edition published 2013 by Pan Books

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

  Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

  Basingstoke and Oxford

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-0-330-46978-4

  Copyright © Sandra Brown 1998, 2006

  The right of Sandra Brown to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Visit www.panmacmillan.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.