Smith
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FORTY SEVEN
TOO LITTLE TOO LATE
Wednesday 17 August 2005
“You’re looking much better this week,” Lin said to his wife.
“I don’t feel so drowsy either,” Vera Mae said, “they said they’ve figured out the medication I need and it’s not as much as they thought at first.”
“How’s the morning sickness?”
“Bearable. I’m definitely pregnant; they did a proper test. That’s another reason they don’t want to drug me up too much.”
“Will they let you out early to have the baby?”
“I don’t know what will happen. I hope so. How are things going at work?”
“They’re laying people off. I don’t think there will be a Post Office in a few years. Nobody sends letters anymore, its all on computers now. A friend has offered me another job.”
“What kind of job?”
“Driving a taxi. It’s quite a fancy taxi company and they need more drivers. They pay well and the tips are great.”
“Are you going to take it? You can hardly drive.”
“I don’t think I’ll have much choice. It won’t take me long to learn and people will always need taxis. I’m seriously thinking about it. Anyway, enough about me, how are things going in here? Have you made any friends yet?”
“Not really, everybody is a bit strange. There are people here who have been here for years; this is the only life they know.”
“Another woman has come forward with information on Passman.” Lin said suddenly.
“What information?” Vera Mae’s eyes were shining.
“She said she used to work for him and he made her life hell too. She only came forward now because she found out he had been killed. I’ve spoken to your lawyer and he said she could have made a huge difference in the outcome of the case.”
“Can’t we still do something?”
“The lawyer said it was too little too late. He said that if you’d been sent to jail we could have appealed and you’d probably be at home now but something in the law states that a commitment order is almost impossible to change. There’s nothing we can do.”
“I’m sure they’ll let me out early to have the baby though.”