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It was Thursday morning, and the inquiry was in session, with Beth giving evidence. 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.’
Trish seemed to drift off as she remembered her counselling session with Melanie.
‘Truly, I never suspected the signs. Perhaps I should give up my job, maybe I’ve not been concentrating as I should.’
‘Trish, have you spoken to Ash about Melanie?’
‘Yes, I did give him a call yesterday actually.’
‘And?’
‘He says that I followed the correct protocol and I’d discussed Melanie’s case with him, so it was just one of those things. He’s being very supportive.’
Ash was Trish’s line manager in the counselling service where she worked, and thus she had regular meetings with him to discuss the progress of her clients.
‘Try to hold on to that conversation with Ash. Melanie’s getting good care now and will be monitored regularly?’
‘OK, I’ll try.’
‘There’s another thing I wanted to mention. Is everything OK between you and Tom?’
‘Well, yes, I think so. We do get irritable with each other from time to time but all couples have problems, don’t they?’
‘Yes of course. It’s only when it becomes the norm that it means a relationship might be on the rocks.’
Trish thought for a few moments.
‘I guess I do worry sometimes that our relationship is heading in the same direction as that of my parents, which is a bit scary.’
‘I remember you mentioning that they had a loveless marriage, is that what you mean?’
‘Well, yes, but hearing you say that out loud, no, I don’t think ours is going to go downhill like that. My father was very domineering and a bully. In fact, I’m sure he hit my mother once.’ Trish paused as she remembered the incident.
‘Did you witness him strike your mother?’
‘No, but she had a mark on her face which she blamed on walking into a door,’ Trish smiled, ‘the usual excuse. Then he died not long after that, so I guess it couldn’t have been that many incidents.’
Francine listened, allowing Trish the freedom to unburden herself.
‘Tom isn’t like that. Sometimes I feel he’s overprotective and wants to tell me what to do, rather than letting me make my own decisions but he does care for me. Whereas, my father just treated my mother like a housekeeper. He was happy to be the breadwinner, and she was dependent on him. It wasn’t a real partnership. It sounds dreadful, but it was a relief when he died.’
‘How did things change?’
‘My mother got her vitality back, and we moved to a smaller house. We managed financially as we had the insurance payment and I got a grant for university of course. Nowadays, I doubt I could have afforded to go, it would have been a struggle anyway.’
‘Sorry to mention this but you are picking at your arm a bit. Is it having a flare up again?’
‘Oh, it’s OK, it happens from time to time.’
‘Every time I boil a pan of water for the pasta I’m extra careful after what you told me about your accident.’
‘Well, it’s good if it makes you careful. I still don’t know how I was so clumsy with the pan.’
‘OK, well, I’ll schedule a telephone session for us next week. Would a similar time suit you?’
‘Yes, that should be fine, thanks. So, don’t forget that plant I potted up for you. It can tolerate sun or partial shade and should be hardy unless we have a really hard winter. Connie’s Pink is the variety, it’s very pretty.
Francine looked at the penstemon plant. ‘Great, thanks. I’ll plant it tonight.’
They said their goodbyes and Trish went to make herself a sandwich before her trip into town.
