“God, Eliza, that would never do.” She got up and took the tray from Eliza and put it on the coffee table.“Alice, everything will be fine.Séamus is very confident.”
“I know,”Alice said, taking the cup of tea that Nicola had poured for her. “But I’m nervous and I feel so lucky that you two are there.”
“And Cassandra,” Nicola reminded her.“She’s going to be your chief independent witness tomorrow.She’ll be coming to Ennis with us.”
“Of course!How could I forget Cassandra? Wasn’t it she who took me in and pointed me in the right direction when Jack left?” Alice smiled wanly.
Nicola again noticed the strained look on Eliza’s face and she had a feeling that it was not only the court case that was bothering her.
Chapter 10
Just as she was leaving the apartment the following morning Nicola got a call from Cassandra.
“Could you pick me up on your way to pick Alice up?”Her voice was low.
“Of course. Something wrong with your car?”
“I went out for some muesli this morning and as I pulled into the car park at Centra my brakes failed. I’m a bit shaken.”Cassandra sounded far from her calm confident self.
“My God! Are you all right?”
“Yes, I was going very slowly but I hit another car which was parked and there was all the aggravation about that.I got my car towed away and so am dependent on Shank’s mare for the moment.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.You must have got an awful fright.Are you sure you’ll be allright?”Nicola knew that Alice’s case would be weaker if Cassandra didn’t turn up.
“Of course I’ll be alright.It would take more than a small prang to put me off helping Alice get what’s her due and neither Jack Madden nor anyone else will stop me.”Her voice was harder now and more determined.
“What do you mean? Do you think he had something to do with the accident?”
“What indeed?” Cassandra said mysteriously.“I had my car serviced last week.It’s quite a new car anyway but last week it was in perfect nick.I think that the garage report today will be very interesting indeed.”
Nicola felt cold.She knew that Jack Madden was nasty.He had threatened her job but it had never occurred to her that he might threaten anybody’s life.Cassandra had no such doubts.
“Look, today the most important thing is that we all turn up at the court and do our bit,” Cassandra said. “We can worry about my car and why its brakes failed when that is over. Listen, it might be wise for you not to come into Lady Gregory Court.I’ll meet you at the traffic lights.When will you be here?”She sounded so calm now that she might as well have been arranging to meet Nicola to walk the prom.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Nicola replied.She locked all the doors and windows as she left her own apartment and, driving slowly down the road, she checked the brakes of her own car a few times, before she speeded up a bit and headed for town.
“We won’t tell Alice what happened,” Cassandra said as she got into Nicola’s car. “We’ll just say that I couldn’t start the car or something.Let’s not give her anything else to worry about.”
“You’re right,” Nicola replied.“I’m dead nervous myself.Alice must be beside herself.”
However, Alice seemed calm enough when they arrived at The Coven.In a pale pink linen suit she was the picture of innocence.Nicola thought that if she had advised Alice how to dress for the day she would have advised something like this.But she doubted that Alice had done it deliberately.
Eliza, who again looked strained, came outside to see them off, assuring them that she and Hugo would look after everything – meaning they would pick up the girls from school and get them a snack etc, assuming Alice hadn’t returned by then.
Cassandra suggested turning on Ryan Tubridy on the radio and Nicola thought that a good idea – his light-hearted version of the day’s events would prove a suitable accompaniment to the trip.Eventually they switched off the radio and Nicola rooted out a Van Morris CD which they listened to in virtual silence until they reached the courthouse in Ennis.
Séamus met them and said that they were second in the order of business, so if they wanted to get a quick cup of coffee in an adjacent café he would come and find them when the time came.
Alice started to shiver.“I thought that when they called us for ten thirty that would be the time they would hear the case!” she wailed.
“Oh God, I should have explained,” Séamus apologised.“They call everybody for ten thirty and it isn’t until the day of the court people find out the order in which they will be called.Sorry, Alice, I should have warned you.”
“That’s alright.” She smiled wanly.“I think I can rise to a latte if they make such a thing here.”
Séamus grinned, relieved.“I’ll come and get you when they’re winding up the first case,” he assured them.
An hour of strained conversation followed.The quality of the lattes (bad) was discussed, as was the décor of the café (vile).The women were almost relieved when they saw Séamus approach.But Alice’s hand was shaking as she rooted in her purse for the money.
The women followed Séamus into the small courtroom.There were a few people in the public gallery, waiting for their cases to be called.
“We’ll sit in the body of the court near your barrister,” Séamus said to Alice.“That way you can go to give evidence if required without walking the length of the court.”
Alice nodded meekly.
“Where will we sit?”Nicola whispered.
“Well, Cassandra should sit as near to Alice as possible as she may also be called and you might as well sit beside her.”
“Alice O’Brien versus Tower Properties,” the Court Clerk announced.
“What is being sought in this case?” The judge sounded grumpy.
“An injunction, Judge.” Alice’s barrister, Gerard Murphy, was on his feet immediately. He was a dapper, smallish, very young man. “My client Alice O’Brien is seeking an injunction preventing the sale by Tower Properties of 3 Lady Gregory Court, Taylors Hill, Galway, on the basis that it has been her family home for the past twelve years.”
“Well, if it’s the family home, of course it can’t be sold without her written consent but,” the judge continued in a droll tone, “I doubt she is married to Tower Properties.”
The judged had cracked a joke and the legal eagles smiled dutifully.
“No, Judge. She is not married but she lived with her partner and two children there until she was evicted a number of weeks ago. She thought her partner owned the property and that he had bought it in order to provide her and her children with a secure home. She has been made homeless by the eviction. She was, in fact, locked out of the apartment when she was collecting her children from school.”
“And what did her partner do about that? Did he just stand idly by?” The judge had a theatrical air about him but was clearly intrigued by the story.
“My client thinks that her partner arranged the eviction. He is a director of Tower Properties but it is the company that owns the apartment.”
“Oh, and who is the lady’s partner and why would he arrange to have her evicted so suddenly?”
“John Madden,” the barrister said without hesitation and suddenly you could hear a pin drop in the courtroom.
Nicola held her breath. She was pretty sure that there would be a clatter of newshounds within minutes, but no one moved.
“We had better swear the lady in,” said the judge. “I will need to hear the story from her own mouth.”
Alice’s voice could barely be heard as she took the oath.
“Ms O’Brien, could you please speak louder than that when you are giving evidence?” the judge said, not unkindly.“There is no need to be nervous.I only need to find out the facts in order to see if an injunction is warranted.Now, would you tell me in your own words why you think you are entitled to stop the sale of this property?”
Alice coughed.“I have lived with J
ack Madden at 3 Lady Gregory Court for the past twelve years.During all those years he spent roughly half the week in Galway and half the week in Dublin. I regard it as my home.”
Alice was speaking slowly and clearly and her barrister was delighted.
“When he was in Galway he stayed with me. He is the father of both my children and he supported us completely up until recently.”
“Would you tell the judge how you came to be homeless?” Gerard Murphy asked gently.
“I just went to the school to collect the girls as usual and when I came back the locks had been changed in the apartment and I couldn’t get in. My neighbour called a locksmith for me but when he arrived the doorman of the apartment block said he would call the Gardaí if we opened the door so he left. I tried to contact Jack but he didn’t answer my calls. I stayed with my neighbour that night and when I came out of her apartment next morning, my car was gone. My neighbour put me in touch with a social worker and I have since then been living on a social welfare payment and have found alternative accommodation – but it is not permanent. I hope to be able to go back to my home in Taylors Hill.”
“Do you want to question this lady?” the judge asked the barrister for Tower Properties.
“Yes, Judge. Ms O’Brien, you say you lived with Jack Madden. Everybody knows he is married and lives in Dublin. How can you have lived with him?”
“I already explained. His constituency is Galway and he lives in Dublin for part of the week and Galway for the rest.I lived with him for about the same length of time each week as he lived with his wife.” Alice’s voice was certain.
“What an unusual set-up! Did you not think that strange?” The barrister’s voice was sneering.He turned to the judge. “Judge, my client, Tower Properties, will maintain that Jack Madden did indeed visit this young lady at Lady Gregory Court. She was an ex-employee of his and he was sympathetic to her predicament. The apartment had been boughtby the company, along with other properties, as an investment and for Mr Madden’s occasional use, and Mr Madden allowed her to stay there until she found her feet. However, she abused his generosity and never made any attempt to get a proper job or find alternative accommodation. Since she had Jack Madden’s permission to reside there, initially at least, she does not have a case for adverse possession. I understand she is seeking an interim injunction to stop the sale of the property so that she can gain re-entry and then seek to establishadverse possession.”
Alice was crying before the man stopped talking and her own barrister interrupted.
“Judge, since the apartment is owned by a company and there is no record in the company documents that my client, Ms O’Brien, was to be allowed to live there I would maintain that she lived there for the requisite period without the permission of the legal owner, i.e. Tower Properties.”
“And do you have proof she lived there for that long?” the judge asked.
“Yes, we have documents addressed to her at her home and her neighbour is also in court and can give evidence that my client lived there for twelve years.”
“That will not be necessary. Just show me the documentary evidence.” The judge seemed anxious to sort the situation out quickly.
The barrister handed a wedge of documents to the Court Clerk. The judge glanced at them in a rather cursory way.
“There appears at least to be a case to be heard. I am going to grant the injunction until such time as the substantive issue is dealt with by another court. I would advise Ms O’Brien’s legal team to seek a date as expeditiously as possible. However, Ms O’Brien, the fact that I have granted the injunction does not mean necessarily that you will be successful in your bid to gain title to the property by adverse possession. Adverse possession is a very complicated legal issue and is an exceedingly rare occurrence. So the outcome is by no means certain. However, you may have some rights under other legislation and I presume your counsel will investigate this. One way or another there appears to be a case to be answered.You may step down.”
“Thank you,” Alice said.
Gerard Murphywas smiling when he approached Alice and her friends outside.“That went well!” he said.
“What happens next?” Alice asked fearfully.
“I will seek a court date, preferably in Ennis, for the hearing. We have most of our evidence in place so there isn’t much work to be done. I think we have agoodcase, though I have more work to do to try and copper-fasten it. I’m surprised that the judge granted us the injunction so quickly.He’s an arch conservative and of the old school. I wouldn’t have thought he would have much sympathy for single parents. However, I also think he would take a very dim view of a TD having an extra-marital affair. That probably went in our favour in the end.”
Nicola felt like laughing.“It was almost easy,” she said.
“Yes,” Cassandra agreed.“I’m so glad I didn’t have to give evidence.”
“You won’t be so lucky next time,” Séamus said. “I think all the witnesses will be cross-examined – maybe even you, Nicola.”
“But I would have thought I am not involved really?”
“Didn’t you say that Jack Madden threatened your job when you asked him if it was true that he was the father of Alice’s children?”
“Yes, but I can’t prove that. We don’t record our phone calls at the Health Service Executive.”
“Yes, but you could still be asked about that conversation. Do you take notes?”
“Sometimes but I didn’t on that occasion. It all seemed a bit unreal. I have a record in my diary of all the calls I made that day but not necessarily their content.” Nicola could have kicked herself that she hadn’t taken notes but the conversation had been so dramatic she remembered every syllable.
“That will probably be sufficient – it will have to be,” Gerard replied. “Don’t worry about it.I believe we have a good case.I’ll be in touch.I’m afraid I have to dash.”
With a wave, he got into his car and sped away.
The three women stood in the car park with Séamus, still sort of shocked.Nicola started to laugh, then Alice and then Cassandra. They laughed until tears were running down their faces.
Séamus stared at them, wondering what to do.
Nicola noticed the bemused look on his face and tried to pull herself together.
“Don’t worry, Séamus – it’s just tension,” she said through her laughter. “We’ll get over it. Ladies, we’ve frightened him.Get a grip!”
The other two eventually stopped laughing and apologised to Séamus.
“Don’t worry,” Séamus assured them.“In my job I come across all sorts, though this is pretty unusual for me as well.”
As he walked to his car Séamus wondered if it was his imagination that Gerard Murphy seemed to be slightly less confident than he had been before the hearing.
The women got into Nicola’s car and when she started up the engine Van Morrison was singing “Days Like This”.
Chapter 11
The women were in high spirits when they got back to The Coven.They knew that the war wasn’t over yet but it was clear that they had won the first battle.They didn’t phone ahead because they wanted to tell Eliza and Hugo the news face to face.But Eliza wasn’t yet back from the doctor and Hugo had gone to pick up the girls from school.The place seemed oddly desolate.The other residents were about their own business.There was no one to be seen.
Bemused, they didn’t quite know what to do until Alice suggested making tea in her apartment.The three women walked up the stairs.There was not sound in the whole house.
While the kettle boiled Nicolathought to put on the TV.
“Oh, God!”groaned Alice.“I hope it’s not on the news.”
“Not at all,” Cassandra assured her.“Sure wouldn’t we have seen the camera? There was no journalist of note there, though I suppose there could have been a stringer from one of the nationals, but in any case there wasn’t a camera.”
“Yes, it almost seemed too easy,” Alice replied.
“Yes, but I think that was the easy bit,” said Cassandra. “It’s when you go for adverse possession that things could get nasty,in particular if the media get hold of it. And the judge did say it isn’t a foregone conclusion.”
“I’d say that Jack Madden won’t want any publicity,” Nicola interjected. “That might work in our favour in the end.He is unlikely to turn up at court at this critical point in his career. Though the media could still get hold of it and God knows what the consequences of that would be for him.”
“Or for me,” Alice said in a timid voice.
“Alice,” said Cassandra gently, “I think the worst has happened to you.Things can only get better from here on in.”
“I hope you’re right,” Alice said doubtfully.“But I hope for the girls’ sake that there’s not too much publicity.”
“We’re home!” Hugo’s voice came from downstairs.
The three women went to meet him and the girls.
Grace and Orla raced up the stairs and hugged their mother.
“We missed you!” Grace said as if she really meant it, even though she didn’t know where her mother had been that morning.
“I missed you as well,” Alice said, puzzled by this sudden rush of affection.“But I’m back now. Why don’t we have a drink and some scones?”
“Have it in the main kitchen,” Hugo suggested.“Eliza will be home soon and we’re both anxious to hear your news.”
There was an odd atmosphere in the kitchen as they ate their snack, an air of expectancy. As soon as the girls were finished they raced out to find the dog and Hugo turned to the women.
“It went well, I take it,” he said.
“Yes, Alice was granted the injunction,” said Cassandra. “But she has to apply for adverse possession at the earliest possible opportunity, and that, apparently, will be the hard part.What time is Eliza due?I thought she’d be back before now.”
“Soon now.Her appointment was for two thirty.”
Who is Alice? Page 10
