Chapter 47

My phone flashes; Kirstie's icon. And almost simultaneously, a message pops on my laptop screen.

He's back

I stab at my keyboard.

Thnx kirstie. Am taking over

And there, on my live feed, our watcher, Charlotte's old acquaintance, Tom.

I message Michael and Richard.

Our spy is here same place in cafe

Michaels' message snaps back almost instantly.

On my way 5 min

And Richard's too

Will inform Stanton

Two minutes later, another message from Richard:

Police on their way Will Stanton coming himself

I watch from afar; two officers entering the café, standing to either side of 'Tom'; his startled expression, then his reluctant compliance as he 'accompanies' them across the road.

*****

"How do we play this?" asks Richard.

"I'll start proceedings," says Will Stanton, Police Commissioner, "then I'll introduce you. This isn't a formal interview, yet. His face doesn't flag in our files. We have no record of him for previous convictions, so we'll keep it informal until we hear what he has to say. I'll take a view after that."

Richard nods then eyes me. "Who asks the questions?"

"You take the lead," I say. "Will can introduce you. After that…." I look to Michael.

"You do it," he says. "You're better at talking than I am. I'm better at listening than you are."

*****

Tom enters the lobby flanked by a police officer to either side, Kirstie directing them to the conference room where we are waiting.

The central table is bare save for a tray with a water jug and glasses. Stanton sits at the end of the table nearest the door, an officer standing by his shoulder.

As they enter, Tom is guided to a seat at the end of the table furthest from the door. The police officers stand behind him, one to either side. His face is pale, shiny.

Michael enters, quickly looks around the room and then calls something back through the door. Charlotte follows him in, then silently, she sits. Michael takes a seat next to her.

Tom's face flashes recognition and he stands awkwardly. "Hello, Jenny." His expression is odd; as though he's trying to smile, but he's nervous. "It is you, then."

Her face is a frozen blank. "Hello, Tom. And yes, it's me."

He looks around at the gathering. "Am I under arrest?"

Stanton shifts in his seat. "Let us say for the moment that you are assisting the police with their enquiries. What happens after that depends on what you have to say."

Tom nods, looking unhappy, then sits again.

Stanton continues. "This is not a formal police interview. I have simply dropped by to have a chat with my old friend Richard here. These good people have some questions for you. I'm listening in."

Tom's eyes dart to the door.

Two more officers stationed outside….

Stanton waves to Richard with a 'Go ahead' gesture.

Fingers steepled, Richard says, "Why have you been watching my offices?"

Tom's eyes flash to Charlotte. "I was looking for Jenny."

"And why is that?"

"I'd not seen her for a few years. After she left the farm…. when it hadn't worked out with Chad…. we all lost track of her. But I always hoped to find her again."

I interrupt him. "Why? From what... Jenny tells us, you weren't particularly a friend of hers."

"No, I wasn't…." He hangs his head, breathing deeply. "I wasn't."

There's something in his tone. He sounds….

Sick at heart?

Ashamed?

But he keeps speaking. "I wanted to apologise," he says, looking up at Charlotte. "I wanted, so much, to tell her I was sorry for what I'd done. To make it right between us."

Charlotte's face tightens, her lips pressed white.

"What had you done?" I ask.

Tom's voice is thick. "I was…. spying on her…." His head drops into his hands, his voice muffling. "…. Reporting back to the people who sent her there."

Charlotte's chair scrapes back as she stands. "You were spying on me? For them?" Her chest heaves. "For Klempner?"

Michael stands with her, takes her in his arms then guides her back to her seat. Then sitting close, as ever, he holds her hand in his.

Tom blinks, blank-faced. "Who? I never knew his name. He was a police officer. Or he always made out he was. I was never sure."

Stanton sucks in his cheeks.

Bech? In his role as Corby?

"Corby? Was that the name of this police officer?"

Tom's voice chokes. "I don't know. I never had a name. He was just a voice on the phone." His eyes are swimming as he looks to Charlotte. "Jenny, the only reason I did it was because they had Katy…."

Her chin lifts. She looks at him sidelong, as though dealing with a dog that might bite.

"…. My little sister. They had her…. And he said if I didn't do what they said, she'd... They would.… You know what happened to the girls they took. And they didn't always wait for them to grow up. She was seven years old. Seven." His voice breaks. "I swear that's the only reason I did it."

Richard stands, pours water into a glass then passes it to Tom. He gulps it down then breathes deeply a couple of times. Speaking more easily now, he says, "When you first arrived at the farm, Jenny, it was so hard…. I kept telling myself that it was your fault what was happening, what they might do to Katy…. But later, when I really got to know you…. When I let myself get to know you, I saw what a great person you are. I stopped doing it."

Hmmm….

Michael and I exchange glances. He raises a sceptical eyebrow.

"You stopped reporting back?" I ask.

His voice shudders. "I couldn't stop completely. He'd ring me up at odd times…."

"He? Your voice on the phone?"

"Yes. He'd call out of the blue and ask what Jenny was doing. How she was…. So, I started lying to them, or missing stuff out…." He looks to Charlotte again. "When you married Chad, I didn't tell him about that…. Then, when you disappeared, I knew I had to do something. It could only be a matter of time before they figured you'd gone. Katy.... she was still just a kid, even then after you'd been at the farm a few years. I had to do something…." His eyes turn glassy as he looks into some distance…. "And then, when I saw.… When I saw them all at Blessingmoors that night…"

Stanton breaks in. "What night?"

"The night I broke in. I went to get Katy out. I had to take the risk. But then I saw them all. The girls and the boys. Just children. And some of them were so small…. That's when I got them out. I got them all out, and I told them to run. And to tell anyone they could find the truth about the place."

Stanton gestures up to the lieutenant standing behind him, mutters something, and the lieutenant slips out of the door.

He leans forward onto the table. "Tom, so I understand you correctly. Are you saying that it was you that staged the break-out of the.... inmates at Blessingmoors?"

He nods, head hanging. "Yes, it was me."

"If you knew they had Katy there, why hadn't you tried to get her out earlier?"

"I wasn't sure that's where they had her. I knew they were a network. Links everywhere. If I'd tried, and I was wrong, and they found out…. But when Jenny left, I had to try. I couldn't think what else to do."

"Why didn't you come forward afterwards? Under the circumstances, we'd hardly have been charging you with B&E."

"I only wanted to get Katy away. I'd done what I could for all those others. I just wanted her safe."

"Where did you go?"

"Back to the farm. At least at first. But then the police officer turned up there, asking for Jenny."

"What police officer? Was his name Corby?"

"I don't know. But he was looking for Jenny. And when he spoke, it was the same voice as I'd heard on the phone." He looks to Charlotte again. "Mrs Collier thought he was really the police. She told him you'd got married. That's when he knew I'd been lying to him…. The way he looked at me. And at Katy. That's when I decided to leave the farm…"

"…. He went to the Bennetts after that. He told them you were wanted for fraud and petty crime."

Charlotte stands again, this time looking furious. "I never…" Her voice is loud, indignant.

"I knew it wasn't true. It was just his way of trying to find you and to make sure you wouldn't be welcome there if you went back."

My head is spinning.

Christ….

Information dump….

What next?

"So," I say. "why have you now been looking for Jenny?"

Tom's mouth works. "I'm sorry. Could I have some more water, please."

Wordlessly, Richard refills the glass and offers it back. Tom sips, swills out his mouth and swallows, then takes another sip.

Michael murmurs something to Charlotte, and still scowling, she sits again.

Tom speaks again. "I told you," he says. "I just wanted to say sorry." He looks up, meets Charlotte's eyes. "To ask you to forgive me. I felt so ashamed. But you'd gone and I'd no idea where."

"So, now?" I prompt him.

He's still addressing Charlotte, ignoring me. "Then one day, I saw you in the papers...."

She frowns...

".... except that you weren't called Jenny. You were called Elizabeth, and you were married to him…." He nods toward Richard, then his gaze drops, lingering over Michael's hand resting on hers.

"…. and I didn't know what to think. I mean, I can understand you might want to change your name after everything that had happened. And if you'd managed to marry the richest man in a hundred miles, well, good luck to you…."

Richard's mouth quirks…

"…. I just wanted to be sure it was you. That you were okay. And maybe I'd be able to talk to you. So, I started watching…."

He sips more water. "Then one day, I'm looking and there's two of you. And I didn't know what to think..."

The door opens, and the lieutenant steps back inside, passing a note to Stanton, who in his turn, nods him to Tom's drinking glass. The officer slips a plastic bag over the glass and takes it away.

Stanton reads the note then holds up a hand. "My lieutenant there confirms from the files that several escapees from Blessingmoors reported that the man who released them was called Tom, and he had a sister in there called Katy." He turns to Charlotte. "Do you remember a Katy?"

"Yes, I do. She was small when I knew her. Maybe six or seven."

Tom nods. "That would have been about right, yes, for when you knew her."

Charlotte tugs her hand from Michael, hugs herself, rocking slightly in her seat, head bowed.

Jade….

The room falls silent. Michael wraps his arms around her. "I'm not going to ask if you're alright, Charlotte…" He kisses her hair. "…. but you will be."

Tom jerks his head up. "Charlotte?"

She shudders, brings her head up again, then swipes a hand through her hair. Her eyes are glossy. "You were right. I did change my name."

Tom's face cracks into a smile. "You changed your name, and you called yourself after the horse?"

She beetroots up as the tension in the room twangs loose. Michael creases up with laughter.

"I loved that horse," she mutters.

*****