‘Tea, please. I’ll go and find a seat if you don’t mind?’ laughed Sue.
Trish joined the queue which was quite short, and soon she had her drinks along with a Danish pastry for them to share. Despite Sue’s assurances, she had been shocked to see her friend looking so wan and drawn. She scanned the seating area to see that she had chosen a table towards the back of the restaurant where only a couple of other tables were occupied.
‘There we are. I couldn’t resist temptation,’ she said, placing the pastry between them.
‘Just a small piece for me. I don’t have much of an appetite.’
They continued to chat about their respective lives, comfortable in each other’s presence.
Chapter 23
The police station was located on Old Dover Road, just off the ring road which was snarled with the usual nose to tail rush hour traffic. The buildings over this side of town were less attractive but a large section of the city walls was still intact, and it was pleasing to see remnants of Canterbury’s historical legacy. Gina scurried down one of the pedestrian underpasses, keeping her eyes firmly to the front as she walked past a homeless young man sitting on a sleeping bag reading a tatty paperback, next to a sign asking for money. Emerging into the afternoon sunshine, she walked the twenty yards or so to the main entrance of the featureless building.
To her relief, the waiting area was occupied by only two other members of the public who were engaged in studying their phones so presumably were already being attended to.
‘Yes, madam,’ said the officer on the desk. ‘How can I help.’
Gina relayed all the information to the uniformed constable, and he had recoiled in a fashion similar to her own when the contents of the box were revealed. Due to the warm weather, the dead mouse was beginning to smell, and Gina hoped she would be going home without it.
‘Just take a seat whilst I speak to one of my colleagues,’ he suggested.
After about five minutes, another policeman came out and asked for her by name. She followed him through to a room in the main part of the station.
‘I must say, we have had cases of things like this being sent in the post to people, but I’ve never seen anything like this before,’ said the young man who had introduced himself as Sergeant Darren Hilton.
Someone had removed a patch of fur from a mouse and had pinned it alongside on the piece of card.
‘That’s what’s so horrible about it,’ said Gina. ‘Also, the other needle looks like it’s gone through the heart, almost like a voodoo effigy.’
‘Yes, well it is very odd.’
‘It’s disgusting, it was such an awful shock.’
‘Do you have the previous items with you?’
‘Yes, here they are.’
‘Hmm,’ sighed the policeman. ‘Well, those are quite different, aren’t they? A card and a notebook. Could they be from someone different and they were just a genuine mistake?’
‘I’ve no idea. But there was the phone call as well, that was definitely someone trying to interfere in my life.’
‘So, do you have an idea of anyone with a grudge against you?’
‘Well, I have suspicions about two of the witnesses at the inquiry but no proof.’
‘I don’t need to tell you it’s a difficult situation. Any items sent through the post will be covered with fingerprints. Besides, we can hardly ask the witnesses at the inquiry for fingerprints for comparison without anything more substantial.’
‘So, what do you suggest?’ said Gina, a hint of aggression creeping into her tone. Although she had anticipated this response, hearing it from the police was a hard message to absorb.
‘We would encourage you to be vigilant. Don’t go to places alone at night. Lock your doors, keep your car door locked when driving, that sort of thing. If you should get any further items of suspicious mail, then bring them straight here, unopened. Here’s my card, should you need to contact me directly,’ he paused. ‘As for the phone call, well, if that happens again try to find out the number, we might be able to check it, although it will likely be a Pay As You Go one.’
‘Thank you,’ said Gina, without enthusiasm.
‘Have you been aware of anyone following you? Watching your flat?’
‘Of course not!’ she snapped. ‘Sorry, I mean no. It’s very busy in the city, and I’m occupied with the inquiry and my work so I wouldn’t have even thought to watch out for anyone.’
‘In most cases, the person will just get bored with this type of game and begin to worry they are taking too much risk. There are cases when it escalates, I have to warn you, but that’s rare.’
‘I did have a nail in my tyre but I guess that might not be related.’
‘Well, yes, it’s a common occurrence.’
Gina sighed, she felt depressed.
‘So you can’t do anything?’ she asked.
‘Not really. It’s low-level intimidation at the moment but we will make a note of it and if you do think of anything else, please get in touch. I’m very sorry this has upset you.’
‘Well, thank you for your time,’ said Gina, getting up to leave.
‘I’ll show you out,’ said Sergeant Hilton.
Gina left the police station and wandered back in the direction of her flat. She would wait until she was inside and away from the noisy traffic before she updated Will. She fumbled in her bag for her e-cigarette and tried to calm her nerves. For the first time ever, she looked over her shoulder at every corner in case she had a stalker.
**
‘You’ll never guess who I saw last week in Marks and Spencer.’
‘Well, not on that information,’ joked Trish, finishing the remainder of the pastry.
‘Mrs Carter, from school, or Mrs Farter as we used to call her.’
‘Lucky you,’ said Trish. ‘I hated that bitch. She was like some sort of PE instructor from the army. You could see her shouting at new recruits and reducing them to tears. Are you sure it was her?’
‘Oh, yes, definitely. She’s not changed, even though it’s nearly forty years ago. I must say she looked remarkable really for her age. She told me she goes running and has done the London Marathon four times.’
‘I’ll tell Tom to look out for her and trip her up if he sees her,’ said Trish with malice. ‘Perhaps he could tip her into the Stour and drown her!’
‘Hey, chill out! Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned her. I didn’t want to depress you!’
Trish laughed. ‘No, well, he wouldn’t recognise her, so there’s no risk. Anyway, don’t worry, it’s in the past, as you say, a long time ago. So, you were saying about the fundraising you’ve been involved with.’
‘Yes, the response has been amazing. We’ve done a moonlight walk, a coffee morning, the usual things and now we are organising an upcycling event where people sell their items for charity.’
‘Excellent, well done!’
‘Actually, at the risk of mentioning school again, they’ve been really supportive. I got in touch with the Old Girls’ association, and they’ve also done fundraising. They had a drinks reception because someone who used to go to the school now owns a vineyard near here, so they donated the wine and people paid twenty pounds per head to go, it was very popular.’
‘Perhaps I should reconsider and join. Can you send me the link?’
‘Sure, I’ll do it now.’ Trish heard her phone ping as the message was received. ‘Actually, there’s a reunion with a speaker, I’m not sure you’ll want to go though. I can’t go as we are going to visit Jenny for a few days.’
‘Oh, that will be nice for you. She’s still in York, isn’t she?’
‘Yes, near there.’
‘Why do you say I won’t want to go?’
Sue fiddled with her phone once more and then showed the page to her friend.
Trish read the page and nodded. ‘Actually, it does look interesting.’
Chapter 24
Two weeks later...
‘Melanie, how
are you feeling today?’ asked Hannah.
‘I’m feeling good, thanks.’
‘Well, I discussed your case with everyone on your team here, and we think that you are doing really well, making good progress.’
‘Oh, thank you. I’m feeling a lot better, actually.’ Melanie’s demeanour suddenly brightened.
‘So, as you gave your consent, we’ve also been in touch with your workplace, and they are happy for you to start back at work part-time. Obviously, you won’t be able to do exactly the same job with your broken arm, but it should be helpful to be back in the working environment. They suggested you work mornings for a couple of weeks. How does that sound?’
‘Fine. I need to have a routine again.’
‘OK, I’ll get your key worker, Becky, to liaise with them and yourself and work out the fine details.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Now, you’ve spoken to me about Izzy, and I know how helpful she has been, but I just wondered whether there are any other friends who you could be in regular contact with?’
‘I’m not sure, I’m a bit embarrassed about a lot of people knowing about my situation.’
‘It’s your choice, we can’t force you, but we generally find it helpful if people have a good support network in situations like this. I’d like you to think about it. Will you?’
Melanie nodded.
‘How has your sleep been recently?’
‘It’s not too bad, I don’t sleep through the night, but I’m finding I get back to sleep a bit more easily when I wake.’
‘That’s really good.’
‘Yes, I try the relaxation exercises, starting with the muscles in my feet, working up through my legs and it seems to help.’
‘That’s good. Now, today, I’d like to talk about what happened when you were at school. Would that be alright?’
‘OK, I’ll try.’
‘Take your time, we can stop if it gets too much for you.’
Melanie’s leg began to jiggle up and down but then she became aware of it and placed her feet together, flat on the floor. ‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘That’s OK, take it slowly.’
‘My father used to have affairs with other women, and the girls at school found out about it. One particular girl’s parents split up because of her Mum going with my Dad. Then my Dad dumped her and went with someone else. He was horrible and used to argue and fight with my Mum all the time. So, this girl, Tamsin, bullied me because of it. She saw me as an easy target and her friends helped her.’ Melanie’s voice wavered as she recounted the painful situation.
‘How old were you?’
‘About fifteen. When it started, that is.’
‘They did horrible things to me. Oh, God, they were relentless.’ She leant forward and held her head with her uninjured hand.’
‘You’re doing really well, take it slowly.’
‘They kept defacing all my possessions, stealing my lunch and stamping on it so I couldn’t eat it. Whispering, hinting that I smelled. They even suggested my Mum was a prostitute. Oh, and after what they had already said about my Dad they started to say that he had been in prison and was a paedophile.’
‘I’m so sorry, it must have been awful.’
‘They did other things, but I don’t want to talk about them today. It made me so nervous about going to school that I was sick every morning before I left the house. I think that’s why I stopped eating,’ she paused. ‘Well, anything I ate came up so easily because I was so nervous.’
‘Did you tell the school?’
Melanie nodded. ‘They believed me and suspended the group of girls for a while, but that made it worse,’ she paused. ‘I’m sorry, I’d like to leave it there for today.’
‘Melanie, you’ve been very brave. I know it was painful for you, but those girls can’t hurt you any longer. You weren’t to blame. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, I realise that now.’
‘OK. Now, you are in control of your life, and I’m going to help you cope with the memories of your school days when they resurface.’
Hannah gave her client an encouraging smile. There was a long road ahead, and the pain Melanie had experienced would try to make a comeback, but with help, she was confident that she wasn’t at risk of harming herself or taking the final drastic step to remove herself from society.
**
The inquiry was making good progress and would soon enter its final few weeks allowing all participants to have August free for holidays or normal duties. At the conclusion, Dame Margaret would begin to compile her report which would take her some time to complete. Then it would be submitted to the Health Secretary before being published. A summary report would be issued first followed by more detailed documents. Only time would tell whether the recommendations were being implemented and there was an improvement in the standard of care homes.
Gina left her offices after lunch to head back to the inquiry for the final session of the day. As she walked along the road towards the cathedral, she noticed a tourist heading towards her studying a map as well as her phone. She could see that the woman was about to walk into a low bollard as she was so engrossed in her directions.
‘Watch out!’ called Gina.
The woman looked up but didn’t seem to register that the instruction was directed at her.
‘I thought you were going to trip over the post!’ said Gina as she approached the woman. She was wearing a straw hat and sunglasses, well protected against the afternoon sun.
‘I’m looking for Palace Street.’
‘Oh, well, wait a minute. Now, you need to go down to the bottom of the road here. Cross the road then turn right, then straight on and you will come to it.’
‘Can you show me on the map?
‘Oh, yes, let me see,’ said Gina, taking it from her and squinting against the strong sunlight. ‘Look, here we are. Down here, cross over, turn right then straight, OK?’
‘Thanks, that’s very helpful.’
‘No problem. Well, enjoy the city.’
‘Thank you!’ shouted the tourist, waving as she walked off in the right direction.
Gina continued on her way, vaping as she strode along. She seemed to be a magnet for people asking directions. That was the third time it had happened, since moving back to Canterbury. In contrast, whenever she was on holiday and asked someone for directions, she always managed to select someone who was a fellow tourist.
Her thoughts returned to the weeks following the inquiry and the work which would be her responsibility. Gina would focus on other medical negligence cases, although she might also take other work, should her chambers require her to do so. The Percival trial was still to be scheduled and would doubtless be in August. This would be her first case prosecuting in the Crown Court in the city, and she wanted to get off to a good start. She hadn’t had any further distasteful items of mail, so she had mentally consigned them to history. Hopefully, their impact would begin to lessen as she became busy with her workload of cases and the renewal of her married life with her husband.
Their house in Manchester was now on the market, so it was just a case of waiting to see whether they received any offers. They had agreed to rent Bridleway Gardens for six months, which would give them time to look for a property in the city or surrounding area. Gina was looking forward to being reunited with her furniture and possessions, but those were secondary to having Will’s company. After a rocky start, her move back to the county of her birth was gaining a sense of stability. Even her mother’s cognitive function had improved since she had been in the care home, attributed to the increased stimulation and having made some new friends. Luckily, not all care homes were bad, and Gina was so thankful that there had been an opportune vacancy.
**
Trish was still taking a break from counselling but on the whole was feeling much more positive.
‘My goodness! I hardly recognised you!’ said Tom, upon his return from work. ‘Let me look? Very fashionable,’ h
e declared as he took in his wife’s new hairdo.
‘Are you sure you like it?’
‘Well, yes, it’s a complete change and well, a bit shorter than I assumed you’d have it cut. But it’s great.’
‘It’s too short, isn’t it?’
‘No, seriously, it’s really good. You look so, well, how can I say, very with it.’
‘Do people say, with it? Cool is the phrase, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, it’s really cool.’
Trish smiled. ‘I feel a bit exposed,’ she said, feeling the back of her neck. I’m used to having hair over my ears but I feel freer and it’s cooler. I was a bit worried when she showed me the back, it’s cropped at the neck, but the layers on top are a bit longer. You don’t think it’s too young for me?’
‘Of course not. You’re only in your fifties. Fifty is the new forty, isn’t it? Or thirty, I can’t remember. Whatever, you look great.’
‘Well, the good thing about hair is that it grows and mine grows very quickly, so if I don’t like it I can go back to my old style in six months.’
‘Well, that’s true,’ he laughed. ‘I’ll just get a lager, I’ll be back.’
He returned and slumped down on a chair in the patio, stretching out his feet on the wall.
‘Shit, I’ve spilt it. My goodness! What’s that I can see over there?’ He went over to the side of the garden. ‘It’s a hutch! That’s not for me, is it, when I upset you?’
‘I think it might be a bit of a squeeze,’ said his wife wandering over. ‘Do you like it?’
‘Er, yes, I guess so. But I’m a bit surprised. You didn’t mention anything about keeping guinea-pigs! They are cute though.’
‘I wanted it to be a surprise. I’m testing your powers of observation!’ she joked.
‘Well, I was hardly going to miss that, was I? It’s huge!’
‘I wanted to get a decent sized one. It’s not nice to think of them being too cooped up.’
‘There’s loads of room. Five-star accommodation I’d say!’
‘I had guinea-pigs as a child, and I realised that as I have more time, I’d like to keep them again. Do you want to hold one?’
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