(aka Bike) Part 1645 by Angharad Copyright © 2012 Angharad
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I dropped the children, the girls actually, to school and got back into the car, I had just turned it round and was headed out of the school when I got the shock of my life as Reg Burford sat up behind me. He’d obviously effected an entry to my car and was now looking at me via the rear view mirror.
“Just keep driving, Lady Cameron.”
I stopped the car–“I think you’d better leave.”
“Just keep driving, I have a rather large gun pointing at your back through the seat. I’m sure you wouldn’t want your husband to have to raise your children as a single parent.”
“Why should I? If you’re going to kill me anyway, why should I make it easy for you?”
“Because I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet.”
“I don’t know where Jacquie is.”
“Can’t say I actually care where she is.”
“So why are you sitting in my car pointing a gun at me?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“I don’t think I need to talk to you though, do I?”
“Don’t you want to know what happened–what really happened?”
“Not really, I have a good idea and I can’t trust you, can I? So you could just as easily lie to me.”
“You said you thought you knew what happened.”
“I know what happened at the drowning, but not the interview with Jacquie.”
“She was Joyce then.”
“I know.”
I started driving, I wasn’t sure if he had a gun or was bluffing, but I wanted to know why he’d got into my car and what did he want to say. We headed up onto the downs finally stopping at a view point where there were no other parked cars. My anxiety began to rise.
“What did Joyce tell you?” he prompted me.
“She didn’t tell me anything.”
“You said you knew what happened?”
“Yes, I saw it happen.”
“You can’t have, there was only one witness, Joyce Watkins.”
“There are ways, Mr Burford, there are ways.”
“So what did you see?”
“I saw the little boy fall into the pond and splash round as he drowned. Joyce, as she was called then watched in horror and fascination. She was rooted to the spot and it was only when the little boy stopped struggling she realised he was drowning–she was only five. Then she shook herself and went to get some help.”
“It was too late then, she watched him die.”
“She was five years old, she was barely more of a child than he was.”
“She let him die.”
“She was transfixed by it all. She was five years old.”
“She knew wrong from right.”
“Don’t be ridiculous–she didn’t even meet the criterion for being aware of right and wrong. She was only half the age required.”
“She could have gone and got help.”
“Don’t you think she knows thatnow? Don’t you think she’s not aware she could possibly have saved him if she’d gone for help–but she was only five years old herself, barely more than a baby herself.”
“She let him die.”
“You let her perjure herself in front of a judge–you let the system send her to a secure unit. She didn’t need correction, she needed a mother.”
“If she’d acted responsibly, the child would still be here today.”
“You can’t possibly know that–he might have caught some horrible disease or been run over–a million different things could have killed him.”
“But it didn’t did it–it was her.”
“What about you? She wasn’t responsible for what happened–but you were; you were an adult and you deliberately got her sent away–how can you live with that?”
“No one died from what I did.”
“You self-righteous fool–how d’you define a forcible termination which destroyed Joyce’s ability to have children? What d’you call the bastard of a priest who raped her repeatedly and caused the pregnancy? She was twelve years old for God’s sake–how could you condemn her to that?”
“I didn’t know about that until recently–but she probably led him on.”
“Don’t be so ridiculous–he was an adult, she was a child–I know where the responsibility lies–so why aren’t you out investigating that crime–child abuse, instead of trying to make something out of nothing and destroy a child’s life. Why did you pursue the case like a medieval inquisition–it’s not like it was your child who died.”
I glanced in the mirror there were tears in his eyes.
“My God, it was your child.”
“Little Micky never hurt no one and she let him drown.”
“It was an accident, Reg, an accident.”
“She killed him, my boy.”
“How could you investigate your own child’s death? No one knew he was yours, did they?” I was forming this picture of an illegitimate child born to his mistress and no one knew, or if they did, they neither stopped him investigating the death or came forward at the time or since.
“Did you not have any children with your wife, Reg?”
“A bloody girl–I wanted a son, I ’ad a bloody son until she let him die. She ’ad to be punished–she killed my boy.”
“What you did was wrong, Reg.”
“I ’ad t’ do something, she ’ad to pay.”
“She paid severely, Reg, she paid with her own childhood and adolescence, with her innocence, with her ability to have children. She paid alright, but it wasn’t justice, was it Reg? It was revenge.”
He was sitting in the back seat sobbing, “My son, my Micky–he died, my boy...” There was no gun, as I'd suspected.
I quietly got out of the car and called police headquarters and asked to speak to the Chief Constable.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but he’ll speak to me.”
“Hold on, I’ll talk to his PA.”
“Hello, I’m Judy Scrimshaw, how can I help you?”
“By letting me speak to the Chief Constable.”
“What is it about?”
“Something which is going to prove very embarrassing to him and his force.”
“Could you give me more information?”
“Tell him it’s Cathy Cameron, Lady Cameron–he’ll speak to me.”
“He’s very busy, Lady Cameron.”
“So am I, and one of his senior officers is in great need of his help at this minute. So please stop obstructing me and put me through to him.”
“Please don’t take that tone with me, Lady Cameron.”
“If you don’t, you’ll be in all sorts of shit.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No, you stupid woman, he’ll be roasting your arse, now put me through or I go straight to the press and your precious job will be irrelevant.”
“I don’t know ...”
“Just do it.”
Finally, I got through to him and he got the gist very quickly. He sent a car to collect his Assistant Chief from my car where I think he’d suffered some sort of breakdown.
An hour later I was sitting in his office and discussing the options with him. He appreciated that there was no way he could keep the lid on it, and at the same time he accepted that the Court of Appeal needed to be made aware of the new information and asked to rule the previous conviction unsafe and that Joyce/Jacquie needed to be exonerated and compensated for all the hurt she'd received.
He agreed that Reg Burford would be investigated, although it would be up to an independent enquiry to consider what the consequences of that would be. Burford was suspended immediately and probably in need of a good psychiatrist.
It was agreed that if Jacquie was in favour, the priest who abused her and the doctor who carried out the termination would be investigated, and if sufficient evidence could be found–they would be brought to trial. As this would have consequences for Jacquie, in giving evidence and coping with a trial, only she could decide.
I left after shaking hands with our Chief Constable, whom I considered to be an honourable man, and besides which, I had enough information to bring him down if he wasn’t. He thanked me for my assistance in resolving some dirt which had been under the carpet for too long and ruefully added, “We should really have some sort of notice on the top of every officer’s notes telling them to treat you with very great care, or watch their pensions shrink.”
“Oh, I think the grapevine already does that for any of them–and perhaps when this deadwood is removed–we can have a better relationship than previously.”
“Amen to that,” he said and I left the police HQ feeling better than I had for some time. I needed to speak with Jacquie, but first I needed to see Catherine and deal with some of the discomfort in my breasts and get some lunch. Poo, it was nearly three o’clock–I’d better go straight to the school and collect the girls. No wonder I felt hungry.
Comments
Thank you Angharad,
Wow,that one came from out on the boundary but explains a lot.
You are a wizard!
ALISON
Excellent conclusion
Well this tidies up a few threads, but will Jacquie be able to deal with the court appearance in any prosecution of priesr and doctor and subsequent hounding by the gutter press? Good story though, nicely put together.
Let's Not Ignore
Let's not ignore the last paragraph. Something is going on. It might be nothing serious, or it could be very serious. Some deity might be getting ready to put Cathy through another trial. Or, maybe she is getting ready for another baby to show up. Or .....?
Portia
Interesting twist that.
Nice one Angie. I was wondering if there was a connection but felt it too tenuous because if the dead boy was 'legitimate' (horrible expression that,) the connection would be known to the authorities.
It didn't strike me to think of the dead boy being 'illegitimate' or of a father having feelings for an illegitimate son. (My shortcoming, that one.)
Yes, nice twist that.
Still lovin' it,
Beverly.
OXOXOX
Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 1645
Now that Jacquie's Life seems to be getting sorted, will she have her womb restored by the Blue Light?
May Your Light Forever Shine
The copper was so darned
The copper was so darned vindictive in his pursuit, I suspected a bit of a relationship, but I had discounted that the child could have been his son due to the plod (singular) role in the investigation. I would think there is more dirt to yet be found. And the silly plod (clollectively) need to take heed and leave Cathy alone. Still, it gives one a satisfied feeling when they get their little noses in the squeezer, eh?
CaroL
I just assumed that he'd
needed a conviction to get a promotion or something. This explains his taking things to the degree he did on a 5 year old. Surprised the court system went along with it though. There should have been someone along the way who looked at the case and said "STOP" this girl is 5 years old. What are we doing? Suspect Cathy and company can find a few more rotten parts of the system that put the poor girl through this beside of course the rapist and the doctor(s). (lets not forget them)
Bike 1645
The way he single mindedly went on about how she killed the boy, I knew it was going to turn out to be his bastard secret child. Even back then, it was not a super big deal, he didn't have to do this. He not only needs a shrink, he needs to be in jail with the rest of them. Cathy is lucky, the jerk didn't have a gun, and if she was smart, she had her phone recording it, just in case. Never know when it might come in handy. And the chief constable has the right idea.....the whole force needs to be personally introduced to CVathy and Co., and they all need to be smarter about her.
Fascinating turn.
Fascinating turn of events.
That the Assistant Chief was the father had never occurred to me.
Cathy doesn't watch out - she'll end up getting in trouble for practicing counseling without a license....
Thanks,
Anne
As i mentioned
in my last comment i thought Burford would make a reappearance.... But i have to say not in the way it happened, Great little twist Angharad and just another reason why Bike is so addictive .... Hopefully now it all appears to be sorted Jacquie can get on with life and enjoy being part of the Cameron clan..
Kirri
It's not over,
Too much damage was done, and apologies only appear in small print. Jacquie can never have a normal life, and there always be some fool with bad info to make her life hell.