‘See you later, love you.’
‘Bye, love.’
Trish placed her phone on the table on the patio where she could hear any calls coming through and resumed her gardening. She’d not told Tom, but there was another dead squirrel this morning, so she was in the process of digging a hole for it towards the back of the garden. Hopefully, next spring her pots of bulbs would stand a better chance. This year had been particularly annoying, as one pot with some new crocuses only produced a couple of flowers. Her investigation of the container revealed all the rest of the bulbs had been removed by the cheeky pests.
She heard a clanking of ladders, which sounded the arrival of Jake, their regular long-standing window cleaner.
‘Morning, Mrs Webster,’ he called cheerfully. ‘The garden is looking fabulous as usual!’
‘Thank you, at least it’s not so hot now.’
‘Tell me about it. It’s been unbearable the last few weeks. Well, I’d better get on.’
‘OK, I’ll get your money,’ said Trish, heading back inside.
Reluctantly, she’d told Beth she would be unable to accompany her to the inquiry as it was too stressful for her. Naturally, her friend had insisted she could cope and that Derek was planning to take a few days off work to lend moral support.
‘I’ll leave your money here!’ she shouted up to Jake.
‘Thank you!’ he called down.
Trish returned inside and made herself a small cafetière of coffee. She would return to the garden later but first, she had some things to research on the Internet. Despite promising not to attend the inquiry in person, her interest had been piqued. The nature of the evidence had been so disturbing that she felt drawn to look up the background to the sordid affair of SEKare and the trials of the convicted offenders. Each day, transcripts of the inquiry were available online so she could follow the interviews at a distance without witnessing first hand the distressing evidence.
Although attendance at the inquiry had doubtless been the cause of her transient amnesia, she now felt much stronger. On the advice of Francine, she had visited her GP, who had prescribed anti-depressant medication and though it hadn’t taken full effect, it was already making her feel less emotional and more psychologically robust.
Jake passed by the window and gave a cheery wave.
‘Bye!’ she called as she refilled her cup and heated some more milk in the microwave before sitting down with her laptop.
**
Melanie had stayed in hospital for just over a week before being discharged back to her flat. The Psychiatry Liaison Team had drawn up a care plan, in conjunction with the Adult Mental Health team, and it would be reviewed regularly to ensure she was making progress. Melanie had also been prescribed anti-depressants, in conjunction with regular counselling sessions, both individual and with a group. Izzy had agreed to move in with Melanie to provide support and company and had reduced her working hours for the first fortnight.
That morning, Melanie had her first appointment with a clinical psychologist.
‘Come in and take a seat, Melanie,’ said Hannah, a woman in her early fifties.
‘Thanks,’ replied Melanie, her voice showing a hint of nerves.
Hannah wore black trousers, black ankle boots and a long-sleeved white blouse. Her hair was cut in a short, urchin style which framed her small face. A pair of reading glasses with bright red frames was perched on top of her head. Her plain attire was set off by a chunky necklace and matching bracelet on her right arm, her left sported a large boldface watch with a red strap.
‘How’s your arm feeling?’
‘Oh, it’s OK, I can’t wait to get rid of this cast, it makes it so awkward getting dressed or doing anything.’
‘I can imagine.’
‘I’ve read your notes and I see that you were prescribed some medication before you left hospital. Have you been to see your GP since you were discharged?’
‘Yes, I saw Dr Anand yesterday. I’m going to stay on this dose of anti-depressants for two more weeks and then see him again. I’ve also got some tablets for anxiety, but I don’t take those every day.’
‘Do you think the tablets are helping?’
‘Well, yes, I think so but I might have to increase my dose.’
Hannah put on her reading glasses and made some notes in Melanie’s file.
‘I’m really sorry that you’ve been feeling so depressed and anxious recently and my job is to try to help you manage your feelings. I can see that you have had counselling before, with Trish Webster,’ she paused and looked up. ‘Are you able to tell me a bit about how she was helping you?’
‘Well, I’ve had a lot of problems in the past, my teenage years were hard because my parents didn’t get on. Then I was bullied at school.’
‘Are you in contact with your parents now?’
‘No, I don’t really want to, we don’t get on.’
‘OK, can you tell me anything more? Take your time and stop anytime you feel you want to.’
Melanie nodded. ‘I’ve sort of felt like I’ve had a black cloud following me all the time. I’m OK when I’m working and really busy, but sometimes my painful memories just become overwhelming.’
‘OK, you are doing really well.’
‘I learnt some techniques to help with my anxiety but recently they didn’t seem to work very well. Suddenly I started to feel much worse, and I reverted to self-harming. It was the only way to get rid of the pain.’
‘How did it feel when you cut yourself?’
‘It felt like I was releasing the pain from my body. It gave me something to focus on, and the physical pain distracted me from my other mental agonies.’
‘Do you feel you want to hurt yourself again?’
‘No, I don’t think so.’ Melanie stopped. ‘No, I really don’t want to. I won’t do that again. I think it was because I started drinking again heavily and that made my depression worse.’
‘OK, are you able to talk a bit more?’
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘Can you tell me a bit about what happened the night of your accident?’
‘I’d been to the pub with Izzy, my friend, then when we walked back across town, we were asked for money by a homeless man. It made me feel even sadder. The next thing I remember, was waiting to cross the road and I must have stepped in front of a car.’ Melanie closed her eyes as she thought about the events of that fateful evening.
‘Take your time and some deep breaths, that’s good, there’s no rush.’
‘I really don’t know whether I intended to kill myself, I was just in another world. Everything seemed distorted and blurry as if I was in a daze. I think I misjudged the traffic and started to cross.’
‘Thank you, Melanie, you’ve been really brave telling me what happened that night. Do you need some water?’
‘Yes, thank you,’ said Melanie, taking a sip of the water.
‘Do you wish you had died in the accident?’
‘No, I think it was a silly thing to do. I wish I hadn’t.’
‘Well, I think about the people I would leave behind, my friend, Izzy, for example. She would feel terrible if I killed myself. She’s been such a good friend.’ Melanie paused. ‘Also, I do enjoy my job. It’s just I’m prone to my mood swings.’
‘Thanks for sharing that with me. It’s really good that you have recognised those feelings. Now, over the next few weeks, I want to talk about the things which upset you and how you react when you start to feel overwhelmed. I hope I can help you manage your feelings and to cope with those past painful events.’
‘OK, I’d like that,’ replied Melanie.
Hannah looked at her client and truly believed that she wanted to be in a better place, mentally. It was clear that there were some deep psychological scars which needed to be healed but there were positive signs, and that was a starting point.
Chapter 16
It was Thursday morning, and the inquiry was in session, with Beth giving evidenc
e. Even without Trish’s presence she was coping well with the questions from Gina which began with details of her mother’s condition, and the reasons for choosing Stour View.
‘Did you speak to any other residents privately on your visits to the home?’
‘No, we weren’t allowed to, they told us it was a safety issue.’
‘And in your statement you say that it was Jason Morley who showed you around, who initially appeared friendly and helpful.’
‘Yes,’ replied Beth.
‘When did you suspect something was wrong?’
‘My mother told us about Jason Morley. That he’d been rough with her and she had tried to tell Mrs Price, but she didn’t seem very interested.’
‘Did you speak to Mrs Price?’
‘Yes, we did but she suggested my mother was confused. We knew she wasn’t. She had physical problems, not mental ones. So we asked if she could have a different carer instead of Jason Morley.’
‘Did that happen?’
‘It did but it made him even worse, he took it out on my mother and blamed her for him getting a bit of a telling off,’ Beth paused. ‘He began to hit my mother.’ At this point her voice broke.
‘Take your time, we can stop if you need a break.’
‘I’m alright,’ she replied.
‘Can you tell us about the webcam you fitted in your mother’s room?’
‘It was my husband’s idea. He’d read about it on the Internet so we bought one and he read all about how to set it up. We were appalled at what we saw, but it gave us the evidence we needed. We took it to Mrs Price, and that was when she accepted what had been going on and called the police.’
‘Did you manage to move your mother from that care home?’
‘Well, not exactly. We were looking for a place, but two days after we raised our concerns, she had to go into hospital. She never came out as she contracted pneumonia and died. The post-mortem found loads of evidence of abuse, and there was some internal bleeding, either as a result of a fall or a punch to the kidneys.’
‘Mrs Sheldon, thank you for the evidence you have given. You provided a detailed witness statement prior to the inquiry, and I thank you for that. That is all I wish to ask you for the moment.’
‘Mr Fairbrother? Do you wish to ask Mrs Sheldon any further questions?’
‘Thank you. According to Mrs Price’s witness statement, you said and I quote, “you are a bloody disgrace of a nurse and shouldn’t be allowed to work as one,” is that correct?’
‘I might have said something like that, in the heat of the moment but initially, Nurse Price accused me of making it up.’
‘Your husband said to Nurse Price, “you are a lazy cow,” is that also correct?’
‘As I said, we were both upset.’
‘Your husband, reportedly said, “I’ll slap you and see how you like it?” and then tried to get hold of Mrs Price but she managed to leave her office.’
‘We are very sorry about that.’
‘Well, perhaps we will be able to ask your husband on a later occasion, thank you, Mrs Sheldon.’
Dame Margaret looked over towards the row of barristers. ‘Thank you, I think we should break for lunch now. We will have an extended break of two hours as there are some administrative details I need to discuss with the legal teams. We will reconvene at 2 p.m.’
Gina and the other barristers had been made aware of this at the start of the day and were due to speak to Dame Margaret at 1 p.m. Until then she had an hour to escape so she left the Cathedral Lodge Conference Centre and walked briskly back to her office through the busy lunchtime streets. As always there were lots of tourists in Canterbury, groups of students and European visitors taking in the sights of the historic city and shopping. She stopped off at a cafe to buy a sandwich and started to eat it as she was making her way towards her chambers.
‘Oh, hello, Gina,’ said one of her colleagues, Hugh as they almost collided in the doorway. ‘Given up on the inquiry?’
‘Ha! No, it’s an extended lunch break then Counsel needs to be back before session resumes to go through some points of order with Dame Margaret.’
‘I hope you’ve not been naughty boys and girls!’ joked Hugh. ‘You might get a detention.’
‘Perhaps, anyway, I’m in a bit of a rush. See you tomorrow.’
‘Bye!’ he called breezily.
‘I’ve put some post in your office,’ called Carly. ‘Not much today, thankfully. Also, the breakdown people came and changed the tyre on your car. They think the puncture should be repairable.’
‘Thanks so much, Carly, for sorting that out,’ said Gina. ‘Sorry to rush off, I’ll catch up with you later.’ She sprinted up the stairs to the sanctity of her office and a few moments of peace and quiet.
Gina flopped down into her leather desk chair and slipped off her shoes. She hoped she would be able to get them back on after lunch as her feet felt quite swollen. Tomorrow, she would wear a different pair as these were definitely a mistake. Did shoe repairers stretch shoes nowadays? This pair might have to be consigned to the charity shop or reserved for the winter when her feet should be smaller.
She flicked through the post. There wasn’t anything that stood out as particularly important, so she opened them at random. The first was a reply which was about a week overdue, to her request for some medical records to support a case she was pursuing. At least she would now be able to make progress when she had a break from the inquiry.
Next, was a plain brown envelope, largish in size and thicker than normal as if it contained a brochure or several sheets of paper. Gina opened the flap with her finger and reached inside to pull out the contents, which she discovered was a notebook. She flicked through it and saw that all the pages were blank. There was no accompanying letter or note.
This time the envelope had a printed address label, unlike the card which she’d received recently. She leaned back in her chair and took a swig of water. Her mobile rang.
‘Hi, Will. Everything OK?’
‘Yes, fine. I just wanted to hear your voice. How’s the inquiry?’
‘Oh, ticking along. Nothing much to report, just standard procedure really.’
‘That’s good. I just wondered when you might be going to see the house we are interested in?’
‘Hopefully, soon. I’m going to call in at the estate agent later today, providing I don’t get held up at the inquiry. It will be easier than phoning. Besides, I need to take my identification in for their checks.’
‘OK, that’s good. Are you sure everything is OK, you just sound a bit flat.’
‘I’m fine, sorry, I’m just conscious of the time. I’ve popped back to my office at lunchtime, and I’ll have to be on my way back to the inquiry again soon.’
‘Call me tonight, I won’t hold you up. I miss you.’
‘I miss you too, but it won’t be long now.’
‘Bye, darling, chat tonight.’
Gina ended the call and continued to stare at her post. Was her mother sending these items? It seemed unlikely, but she did have periods of lucidity. She picked up her mobile and phoned the care home.
‘Oh, hello, this is Gina Overton, Gwen’s daughter.’
‘Oh, yes, hello. Your Mum is fine, do you want to speak to her?’
‘No, it’s OK, I just wondered whether she’s asked you to post anything for her? I mean, asked one of the carers to post some items to my office?’
‘Er, well, I don’t know, I can ask around. It’s always possible. Can I get back to you?’
‘Yes, yes, of course, it’s not urgent. Just leave a message on my mobile as I won’t be contactable for the rest of today.’
‘OK, I will. Take care and don’t worry about your mother, she’s settled in very well. She took part in a keep fit session this morning.’
‘Keep fit? Gosh!’
‘It’s only gentle, they sit in their chairs, and we do hand and foot movements.’
‘Excellent, well, thanks and I’
ll be along to see her soon.’
‘Bye, Mrs Overton.’
‘Bye.’
Gina ended the call and collected up her things. She had to put these mysterious items of post out of her mind otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to concentrate this afternoon.
**
‘Well, it’s great to see you looking and sounding much better,’ said Francine, towards the end of her counselling session with Trish. Francine was in the same counselling practice as Trish, acting as her supervisor and providing guidance and support.
The mental health team in the hospital had been satisfied that regular meetings with Francine would be sufficient for Trish and there was no need to enlist additional support.
‘I feel much better. I could get used to this retirement lark!’ joked Trish. ‘Tom’s been nagging me for ages to reduce my hours, so he’s as happy as Larry, whoever he is.’
‘Do you think you will go back to work? I certainly don’t expect you to rush into anything.’
‘I was wondering whether to do just one day a week and see how I get on, do you think that might be possible?’
‘I don’t see why not but let’s take things slowly and review how you feel nearer the time.’
‘OK. I’m keeping busy so it’s not like I’m watching TV all day.’
‘I would never have thought that,’ replied Francine.
‘I’m going into town this afternoon as I want to pop into the library. Also, I’m going to get some information on this University of the Third Age, U3A, Beth was telling me about it, and they have some interesting talks.’
‘Sounds great! You’re making me jealous!’
‘You will let me know how Melanie gets on? She’s a lovely girl, and I was shocked at the news.’
‘I will keep you informed if that’s what you want but only if it’s not too much for you.’
‘It’s hard, but I’d rather know how she is. I just feel so guilty,’ Trish paused. ‘I can’t help but think I should have realised she was at risk.’
‘It sounds like it was quite out of the ordinary. Don’t be hard on yourself, you are good at your job.’
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