The Stalking of Louise Copperfield

by Robert W Fisk

  “Wake up Sleeping Beauty,” she said as she returned with a tray. She had prepared boiled eggs with toasted soldiers, plus slices of toast and marmalade, and fresh coffee.

  “What happened?” asked Nigel sleepily.

  “Nigel, that’s not nice!” Louise protested like a prima donna. They both laughed.

  “Give me a hug, Nigel,” said Louise after she had set the tray down. The hug went on and on. They both became aroused.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Why not?” said Louise. “Neither of us is going anywhere.”

  Afterwards they lay together making plans.

  “I think it’s yes,” said Louise, “but I have to see Kezia first, sort out Alexander, store my stuff and let the house out.”

  “You mean it? You’ll come with me? Back to Wales?” asked Nigel. “Louise, I’ve loved you all along. I was so jealous of Ricky and then Frank. They’ve both let you down but I won’t. Unlike them my love is forever.”

  “Weasel words!” joked Louise, but she knew his words came from the heart. He would be there at the end. Kezia would be thrilled for her Mum, the house would sell quickly, but custody of Alexander could take months. Or never.

  “You go ahead,” Louise said. “Nigel, I love you. I love your quiet kindness, the way you are always there for me. I think I’ve always loved you, right from school, but I guess I was looking for the wrong things in a husband. You go ahead and organise your banking and I’ll follow you.”

  Kezia was thrilled about Nigel. She wanted to come home to congratulate her mother but Louise said she did not want Kezia to interrupt her studies because exams had already started in October and ran into November.

  “I don’t know where we’ll be,” said Louise. “Sort of like a mystery honeymoon I guess. It’s all brilliant, except that Frank and I are still legally married. I want to see Father Larkin about that.”

  “Don’t, please. You know what he will have to say,” said Kezia. “Just follow your heart. Oh, Mum, you’re so romantic. I had no idea!”

  Early in the afternoon Nigel called at the house.

  “I think we can meet up in London,” he said. “Or Paris.”

  “Oh, Paris, please,” said Louise. “I’ve always wanted to go to Paris.”

  “When you get things sorted out, make a booking in Paris on the Internet and let me know what hotel,” said Nigel. “Do you need money, honey?”

  “If you’ve got the money, honey, I’ve got the time,” sang Louise. “I can’t wait to leave here, at the tail end of winter. Paris in Autumn! What a honeymoon!”

  “The weather forecast is very bad,” said Nigel. “I’ll get down to Christchurch before the coming storm. I might have to hang around for my flight but at least I will be at the airport. It is not going to be a nice Labour Weekend.”

  Little did Nigel know what a horror weekend it was going to be for Louise, for him and for Wahanui.

  CHAPTER 66.

  Jayne had some good news. She wasn’t sick, she was pregnant. At last. Bernard was bursting to tell the team but Jayne asked him to wait until close family had heard the news.

  Jayne needed to warn Charlotte about stalking Louise Copperfield. Louise did not want to press charges but Charlotte had to be told in no uncertain terms what would happen if she continued her vendetta. There was no point in trying to resolve whatever issue Charlotte had with Louise because they were police officers not social workers.

  Jayne talked to Gareth about the matter.

  “The proof is thin,” he said. “Sure, you have photos of Ms Hoar visiting Mrs Copperfield’s house at the relevant times but you do not have anything to link those times to the actions someone took. There is nothing to link her to the poisoning of the dog, nothing to link her to the graffiti on the front door, and no positive ID, except an old woman who says the perp is a tall young man. You can surmise, and you probably have a circumstantial case but all Ms Hoar will get is a slap on the wrist.”

  “What if she was a man, what would happen?” asked Jayne, disappointed and playing the Devil’s Advocate.

  “He would get the same. Until you can prove Ms Hoar is the actual perpetrator, all you can do is put the frighteners on her.”

  “Let’s do that,” said Jayne. “Will you do it? You are much better than me at frighteners.”

  “Bring her in,” said Gareth. “Stalking is a very serious offence and perhaps she will let something slip that we can use to gain a confession.”

  “Can we go and see her?” asked Jayne. “I think she will be more frightened of us in her home than here at the station.”

  Gareth could not see it. When he wanted to put the wind up someone he laid it on with a trowel, the whole nine yards. “Why?” he asked. “Why make it soft for her?”

  “I think that bringing her in will make it look like a formal complaint has been made,” said Jayne. “She will clam up and then go and harangue Louise Copperfield and add the interview to the resentment she already has. Remember, Louise will not press charges.”

  “Then we should do nothing until she does,” said Gareth. “We catch law breakers; we’re not the bloody Sally Army.”

  Nonetheless he heeded Jayne’s advice. “You make the call and set up a time for us to see her. At home,” he said as he conceded.

  Frank’s rented house was made of smooth plaster painted a cream colour. The window frames were pale green. The house was situated quite close to Larcombe’s. Gareth Evans said, “Wow! Look at that view, you can almost see Australia.”

  Inside the house it was light and airy. Charlotte led the detectives through to a large room that overlooked the sea. They looked over the roofs of the houses below, orange and green and grey squares of colour leading to a yacht in a bright blue sea some way below them like some Mediterranean painting popular in the sixties.

  Their seats were deep and comfortable grey leather arm chairs. The arm chairs had levers to make the back recline and the foot rest rise but Jayne and Gareth were not there for pleasure.

  Charlotte offered Jayne and Gareth coffee and biscuits.

  “Thank you, but no,” said Jayne. “I’ll get straight to the reason we are here. We have had Louise Copperfield’s house under surveillance, and I have a series of photographs that show you have been stalking Mrs Louise Copperfield. Would you please explain?”

  Jayne showed the prints that she had selected. Charlotte picked up each one of the photographs by the corner, raising them just a little from the coffee table.

  Jayne waited silently. Then Charlotte said in a tiny voice, “I hate her. She slept with my husband.”

  “Tell me about it,” said Jayne.

  “Just after New Year. Stuart Larcombe, a businessman, held a party to thank supporters. My partner Nigel and I were invited,” said Charlotte. “I saw Nigel take Louise upstairs. You can guess what for.”

  “What did you do about it?” asked Jayne.

  “I got my own back,” Charlotte replied. “I was miserable but I didn’t get mad. I got even.”

  “By turning off her freezer so all of her frozen food rotted?” asked Jayne.

  Charlotte remained silent.

  “By poisoning an innocent dog?” prodded Jayne.

  “No. I mean, yes. But it was an accident,” Charlotte replied.

  “What if the child had died?” You would be facing a murder charge. Did you think about that?” Jayne asked.

  “No. The internet said dogs needed a hundred times greater dose than a rabbit. I didn’t think about children.” Charlotte voice was almost a whine.

  “Where did you get the Pindone?” asked Jayne.

  “I took a small drum of it from Dad’s stables,” Charlotte replied. “He just thought he had used it all and bought a new lot. I returned what was left.”

  “Then you took Louise's ex-husband,” said Jayne. “You moved in with him to rub salt into the wound. But in doing so, you lost your husband Nigel, who turned to Louise to start a new life.”

  “She stole Nigel
as well,” said Charlotte.

  “Is that why you stalked Louise? Because you were jealous and thought she had seduced your husband? Because you’d won the battle but lost the war?”

  “No!” said Charlotte loudly.

  Jayne Hyslop felt unwell. She guessed it was part of being pregnant. She looked at Gareth. “Gareth, can you carry on please?”

  Gareth had four children He knew the procedure. Jokingly to his wife he called it ‘toilet drill’.

  “May I use your toilet, please?” she asked Charlotte.

  In Jayne’s absence Gareth took up the thread. “Ms Hoar, Charlotte,” Gareth continued. “We have a considerable number of photographs taken by two of Louise Copperfield's neighbours over a period of time. I believe there is enough evidence to convict you of stalking.

  "I have a photo taken at an earlier time, showing you picking up a key from under a stone in the front garden and using it to enter Mrs Copperfield's house. The Facebook entries were made on Kezia Copperfield's laptop, and that is why she still has the posts. You signed them 'Ultor'.”

  “Yes. Yes, I admit everything. But you haven’t asked me why it started.”

  “Charlotte, when did this intense jealousy start?” asked Gareth Evans.

  “In high school, when she took Mr Bannister from me,” Charlotte replied.

  “Please tell me, was Mr Bannister abusing you sexually?” asked Gareth.

  Charlotte nodded. Jayne came back to rejoin the interview. She seemed to be glowing, and not a little distracted. He smiled understandingly at Jayne. “All right now?” he asked.

  Jayne nodded and Gareth continued the interview.

  “Charlotte, I am going to ask you about Mr Bannister and your allegation of sex abuse. Would you like me to leave for a while so you can talk to Detective Hyslop on your own?”

  “Yes,” said Charlotte, putting her head down and avoiding eye contact.

  “I’ll make a cup of tea,” said Gareth. “Is that all right Charlotte? Would you like one?”

  Charlotte nodded but Jayne said she would like hot water.

  “The tea has been upsetting me, I think,” she said. As Gareth left to find the kitchen, she restarted the interview. “Tell me what you said to DS Evans?”

  Charlotte looked at Jayne and summed her up as honest.

  “It started out with Mr Bannister asking me to stay behind after school. That was difficult because I was on a school bus, but he said he would drop me off close to home so I could walk and say I had been visiting friends.”

  ‘Typical,’ thought Jayne. ‘Same MO as a dozen other monsters I’ve interviewed.’

  “At first, he helped me with extra exercises. I was a gymnast, in the school team. Then he would look at my pants when he held me up in a handstand. I would be upside down and he could see me. After a while it excited me that I could make a man, you know, get aroused without doing anything.”

  “But how did he abuse you?” asked Jayne. ”Did he have sex with you?”

  “Yes. But not at first. For a long time he just walked around with no pants on, then he asked me to stroke him, and later suck him.”

  “How old were you at that time?” asked Jayne.

  “I was fourteen.”

  “When did the intercourse start?” asked Jayne.

  “I think I was fifteen,” said Charlotte. “He said it was only fair that if I stroked him, he should stroke me.”

  “Did you know it was wrong?” asked Jayne.

  “Yes, of course. The secret was kind of exciting, and scary.”

  “Did he threaten you in any way?” asked Jayne.

  “Yes. When I got upset and scared, especially when my period was late, he said he would tell my parents I had asked him for sex, and I was having sex with some of the boys in the gym store.”

  “Were you?”

  “What?” asked Charlotte.

  “Having sex with the boys in the gym store?”

  “No, not then. After Louise stole Mr Bannister from me. Then I did.”

  “Will you make a statement about Mr Bannister?” asked Jayne.

  “No. Never. I love him.”

  Without a statement, Bannister was safe. For the moment. The team would have to wait for an appropriate time before pursuing the issue again, only then it would be a full-scale job involving child abuse specialists from Auckland. Charlotte might at that stage be persuaded to lay charges, and possibly Louise would too. Meantime, Charlotte had to be reined in and told to stop stalking Louise.. Gareth gave Charlotte a warning.

  “I understand that you and Louise Copperfield have been friends for a long time. I believe you have read things wrongly and have acted on false beliefs. Mrs Copperfield has a right to press charges but she will not because you are a friend. However, I will formally caution you.

  “Charlotte Hoar, I am warning you that this case will remain open. Charges of stalking and willful damage may be laid at any time, or the Police may proceed against you. It is in your best interests to consult with your lawyer and to stop stalking, Louise or anybody. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” said Charlotte. “What will happen to me?”

  “Perhaps nothing,” said Gareth. “Louise Copperfield is a kind and caring person. She will not bring charges at this time. As she is leaving the country to live overseas, the chances of being prosecuted depend on whether you disturb anyone else.”

  After the detectives left Charlotte thought about what had just happened. Although Detective Evans had said Louise was kind, Charlotte could not believe she would not lay charges because she thought of Louise as a devious and spiteful cow. The Sergeant guy had read Louise all wrong. She was an evil conniving bitch. Louise would wait until the worst possible time and then like a snake she would strike. There was only one certain way to ensure that Louise never testified, Detective Evans got what he wanted, for Charlotte to stop her stalking. Forever. A mutual suicide. With Labour Weekend coming up, she would find a way to drug Louise with horse pills and when she was certain Louise would never wake up, Charlotte would take them too. Ultor, the final vengeance.

  CHAPTER 67.

  After the proposal from Nigel, Louise rang Frank to let him know how things stood.

  “Frank, this is not going to be an easy thing to say. Can we meet somewhere?” she asked.

  “Golden Shears Hotel, dinner for two?” he asked. “Around six?”

  The Golden Shears Hotel had always been a special place for Frank and Louise. That would not make her task any easier. That was typical of Frank.

  Frank was waiting when Louise arrived at the Golden Shears. They had drinks, ginger beer for Louise and a jug of draught beer for Frank before they went through to the dining room to order dinner.

  “So, what brings about this dinner date?” asked Frank while they waited for the meal to be cooked.

  “Frank, you’ve got Charlotte back. I wish you every happiness. You might have heard that Nigel and I are an item,” said Louise.

  “Wow! Where did that come from?” asked Frank.

  “He was kind to me after you left,” Louise.

  “Sounds like we’re into wife swapping,” said Frank with a laugh. “But seriously, Nigel has blown it in Wahanui.”

  “That took guts, Frank, to stand up to the Council knowing you are throwing everything away, and you know it,” said Louise. “Oh, Frank. Do be very careful. Nigel is very clever and if he says your building might fail then please take him seriously. And cover your backside. I don’t trust Larcombe. He will drop you in it every time.”

  “Our Shanghai partner, remember Mr Xi Wei?” asked Frank. “After Nigel’s outburst, he insisted that the steel we had used to build the mall was tested. It is more than strong enough even though it hasn’t been certified to New Zealand Standards level. He has submitted samples for testing here. We are confident it will get the green light. So what are you going to do?”.

  “Go to Europe with Nigel,” said Louise. “I’ve got the money from the overseas account. That is rig
htfully mine. Half the house is mine. At the moment Alexander is with you but if I appeal and Nigel swears that we did not have sex until two days ago, and I bring up more of your porkies plus your affairs, you will lose Alexander. I know how much you love him, and I thought we could maybe sort everything out between us.”

  “I didn’t like what that lawyer did,” said Frank. “I took advantage of her findings through that Rothman outfit and it got me Alexander but I don’t feel good about it.”

  “And you’ll lose hands down in Court. Rothman Investigations now works for us in COM. We have enough enquiries to keep him busy, working just for us.”

  Louise paused. The next part was the hard one.

  “Frank, I know you’re a good father,” said Louise. “I’ll be travelling, so why don’t we get our lawyers to draw up an agreement that I look after Kezia, you raise Alexander, and I get fair access, say a month a year during school holidays, time that can be split to suit.”

  Frank said, “A month. I’ll give you a month, thirty days a year, and when he’s older, say twelve, he can join you overseas if that’s where you are. He’ll need more time, so let’s increase the contact to three months at that stage. Okay with that? I can see no point in paying lawyer’s fees for a Court case. I did lie because I believed Charlotte. She really believes you slept with Nigel. Can’t convince her otherwise. You are right. I’ll lose custody in a Court battle. Meet tomorrow at the Family Court, and go back to Step One?”

  They agreed to go back to the Mediation Officer. Louise would make the time to meet, and text Frank. Their food had gone cold while they talked. Frank asked the waiter to have their food reheated or replaced. They had more drinks while they waited, enjoying each other’s company and happy together for the first time in a long while.

  The following day, they met in an office in the District Court. They had the same mediator, who asked whether they would like to try Mediation again.

  Frank said, “I’m not so angry any more. I guess Louise feels the same. We have both moved on, and it’s time to sort out what will happen to Alexander.”