Detective Lucy Harwin 01-The Lost Children

by Helen Phifer

‘I know,’ Lucy said, ‘and I hate to ask you this, but whilst we were trying to find out the names of staff and patients, your name came up. Or someone with the same name as you, on the patient list.’

  ‘Yes,’ Alice said. ‘That was me.’

  Mattie and Lucy exchanged glances. ‘If it’s too painful and you don’t want to talk about any of this,’ Mattie said, ‘then we completely understand.’

  Alice looked at Lucy. ‘Will it help you to catch whoever has done this if I do?’

  ‘I think so, yes.’

  Alice let out a huge sigh. ‘I wasn’t a bad girl – although according to my mother I was. She never liked me the way that she liked your mum, Matthew. I was born out of wedlock, and you know what a big deal it was back then. She met another man – your granddad, Matthew – who married her, and then she got pregnant with your mum. I was so angry with her for getting pregnant again when she didn’t even bother with me. I thought she wouldn’t care for the baby. But she did – she so obviously loved her. She was very different with her to the way she was with me.’

  ‘I had no idea about any of this, Alice, or why it was such a big secret. It wasn’t your fault, it was Grandma’s, yet she treated you as if it was?’

  ‘The older I got, the angrier I got. In the end, when I was fourteen, my mother took me to the doctor’s, telling them I was some kind of evil devil child. Uncontrollable. She cried and begged, she refused to take me home with her, so he sent me straight up to the asylum.

  ‘I suppose, looking back, it was quite common then, especially if you weren’t too bright. There were kids on some of the wards who couldn’t read or write. They had no place being inside that hellhole; all they needed was some extra help. I had no place there either. I wasn’t mental at all, but my mother had told everyone that I was. I remember sitting there crying tears of anger whilst listening to her lies. All she wanted was to be a happy family with your mum and her husband, I was just an embarrassment.’

  ‘Oh no. That’s terrible, Alice.’ Mattie dragged his chair closer to his aunt and reached out, putting his hand onto hers. She looked up at him with love in her eyes.

  ‘You know,’ she said, ‘when I see how teenagers carry on these days, it makes me shudder. If they’d been like that in my day, they would have been lobotomised.’

  Lucy looked at Mattie. ‘One of the murder victims was lobotomised,’ she said. ‘There was a metal spike protruding from his eye.’

  Alice flinched.

  ‘I’m sorry, Alice,’ Lucy said. ‘We can talk about something else.’

  ‘No, I want to help,’ the older lady said. ‘I’ve been keeping this shame inside my heart for years. It might do me some good to finally tell someone and let it all go. I was lobotomised.’

  Both Mattie and Lucy gasped.

  ‘But why, Aunt Alice?’ Mattie asked. ‘I can’t believe they would do that to a kid. Why did they do that to you? You were only fourteen!’

  Alice nodded, pulling a tissue from her sleeve to dab at her leaking eye. ‘I was, but it was what they did. I’ll never forget the day it happened. There was a nurse on the children’s ward who was a horrible woman – the nastiest I’ve ever come across. I’ve never been able to understand why she was allowed to work with children. She was so evil. She didn’t like me because I wouldn’t do what she told me. So she told the doctor I was uncontrollable, that none of the drugs they were giving to me had worked She suggested that the doctor carried out the radical new treatment that was taking the country by storm. He agreed, and arranged to perform a transorbital lobotomy on me.’

  ‘I know it was a long time ago,’ Lucy said, gently, ‘but do you remember the nurse’s name?’

  ‘My dear, I could never forget it. She was called Nurse Stone. Nurse Audrey Stone.’

  Mattie saw that Lucy was trying to keep her face from reacting, not wanting to upset Alice any more than she already had.

  ‘What about the doctor that performed the lobotomy?’ Lucy asked.

  Mattie knew the name Alice was going to give before she even opened her mouth, and he knew that Lucy did too.

  ‘Dr Wilkes,’ Alice said. ‘He was a bit of a bully, too. There was this one little boy, Tommy, who they chased into the showers one night – Dr Wilkes and Nurse Stone together. The next morning when I woke up, Tommy had gone. There was no sign of him anywhere, but his teddy was still on his bed where he’d left it – until Nurse Stone came and took it away in a plastic bag, as if it was just a leftover piece of rubbish. She didn’t think anyone had noticed, but I had. Tommy wouldn’t go to sleep unless he had that bear to cuddle up to. I often wondered what they did to that poor boy that night. I asked them where he’d gone. I would have kept on asking, too. That was another reason they were so keen to lobotomise me, I think. I was a vegetable for months after the procedure – I can’t actually remember it, thank god. I slowly began to regain my memory and various other functions that I’d lost, but it took a very long time. The lobotomy stopped me from talking to anyone or saying anything that I shouldn’t. After a few weeks the doctor told my mother I was cured and I was sent home.’

  Alice caught Mattie and Lucy exchanging a glance. ‘I’m not as frail as you might think,’ she said. ‘Tell me and I promise that I won’t breathe a word to anyone. Those bodies you found: it was them, wasn’t it? Nurse Stone and Dr Wilkes?’

  Lucy nodded, and Mattie was glad. Alice deserved to know the truth. She was a lot tougher than they’d given her credit for. Besides, the victims’ names would be all over the newspapers soon enough.

  ‘Yes, it was,’ Lucy said.

  ‘Then I think you need to find Lizzy Clements,’ Alice told them. ‘She was a fiery child and hated them more than any of us. She was the only one of the other patients I ever really bothered with. I felt sorry for her. She was only a child: nine years old when they put her in there. I looked after her until they lobotomised me, and then I was in no fit state to look after anyone. She took it hard.’

  ‘Do you know why they put her in there?’ Lucy asked.

  ‘She told me she’d put a pillow over her baby brother’s face because she hated his crying all the time. He’d died.’

  ‘Have you ever seen her since?’ Lucy pressed. ‘Do you know where she might be?’

  Alice shook her head.

  ‘Thank you so much, Alice,’ Lucy said. ‘You’ve been such a good help. I’m really sorry if I’ve upset you by bringing it all back.’

  ‘You haven’t upset me, Lucy. Believe it or not, I feel a little bit better for speaking about it. It’s always been a shameful family secret. The skeleton in the closet, so to speak.’

  Mattie pulled her close. ‘You, Aunt Alice, are amazing and I love you loads.’ He kissed Alice’s cheek and she hugged him back.

  ‘I’m so sorry we have to leave so soon,’ said Lucy.

  ‘Go. Don’t you be worrying about me. I’ll be fine; you have a killer to catch. I’m not sad to hear that those two are dead, though, and I suppose that makes me a bad person. I do feel sorry for their families. They’ll be grieving for them.’

  Mattie knew how she felt. How many times had he sat in a courtroom, watching the families of the accused? He and Lucy had witnessed first-hand the disbelief of family members that their husband, son, mother or daughter could do something so horrific as to take another person’s life. It was truly heartbreaking.

  Leaving Alice to her memories, they got back into Mattie’s truck to return to the station.

  31

  Nurse Stone. Audrey Stone. You were living out your life just as I’d always imagined you would. A bitter, lonely old spinster. It was nothing that you didn’t deserve. I would sit outside your house, waiting for you to come home, just to see if you ever deviated from your routines. You didn’t.

  I have never met a woman crueller than you – except for me, possibly, but we won’t get into that. I have my reasons, whereas as far as I know, you were just an evil bitch for the sake of it. You thoroughly deserved what you got, as
did the doctor. Live by the sword, die by the sword – or in your case by your American Tan fifteen-denier tights. How many pairs did you go through looking after us all? Snagging them on the metal bed frames, then punishing us terrified kids because of your own mistakes. How many children had to go without their supper because you were in a bad mood? And do you remember Tommy Wright’s last night? Because I certainly do. It’s ingrained into my mind.

  Did you ever come home and feel bad about the way you treated those children? I don’t think that you did; I think you loved every minute of being in charge and making their lives as miserable as you possibly could. Did you ever ask yourself why? Did you have a terrible childhood? Were you abused or mistreated when you were a baby or a young child? I’ve tried to find out if you were, but all I know is that you were born the only child of a couple who doted on you. What would your parents say if they knew how you behaved towards those scared, sad children in The Moore? I don’t think they would have approved of your behaviour, Audrey.

  Well, it came full circle, didn’t it? You ended up dying on your own, afraid, choked to death by a pair of your beloved tights.

  It was such a shame that pretty young girl saw the final moments of your life. I only ever meant to kill the people who deserved it, but she got in the way, and now she’s dead. That’s your fault, too – I wouldn’t have had to kill her if I hadn’t had to kill you. So, technically, you are the one who’s going to have to explain her death to St Peter, if you ever get near to those pearly white gates. Somehow I don’t think God would have you. He wouldn’t let you in, would he? And you knew that deep down.

  When your life flashed before your eyes at the end, did you have any happy memories at all? I don’t think that you did. What did you have to smile about? I’ll tell you what: nothing. You never deserved to live this long; neither you nor the doctor should have got away with what you did. I’m just glad that I realised before it was too late that I had to make you pay for every mean, spiteful thing you ever did.

  No one is going to be crying at your funeral, Audrey Stone. I wonder how that made you feel at the end, when you realised?

  What goes around comes around. Sometimes it just takes a little bit longer than it should.

  32

  Lucy didn’t speak to Mattie all the way back to the station. She was in shock about what Alice had just told them. How could they have treated children like that? She couldn’t get the image of the metal spike out her mind. They had done that to Alice without a moment’s hesitation. What sort of people were they? How had it ever been allowed? And what had happened to that little boy, Tommy, who Alice had mentioned?

  Lucy felt her heart break for all the children The Moore had housed. So young and innocent, left on their own in a huge hospital without their families. It must have been terrifying. She might not be the best parent in the world, but she loved Ellie and couldn’t imagine leaving her in a place like that just because she was hard work. Poor Alice. How she’d ever got over it and managed to lead a relatively normal life was a testament to her strength.

  She needed to know what had happened to Tommy. Maybe he had been sent somewhere else and it was him who had come back to get his revenge? With Lizzy Clements, that was two possible suspects already from the nine names on the list.

  Lucy walked back into the office to see Col sitting at his desk in his usual position, head bent and fingers furiously flying over the keyboard.

  ‘Thank you for the list,’ she said. ‘Now can you try and find me as much information on a Lizzy Clements as possible? I need to know if her parents are still alive, if she’s still alive –

  anything at all.’

  ‘Yes, boss. What about Alice Evans? She’s the next.’

  ‘There’s no need to find out anything about Alice Evans. I’ve already spoken to her and she’s not a suspect at this time.’

  Colin looked as if he was about to ask her how she’d managed this, then changed his mind when he saw the don’t-piss-me-off face she was wearing.

  ‘According to that list, the others had more serious physical or mental disabilities; I can’t see them living independently. It’s highly likely they are living in care homes or assisted housing now. So I suppose Lizzy is as good a place to start as any.’

  ‘Thank you Colin, I thought so too.’

  Lucy went into her office, where Mattie was waiting for her.

  ‘Can you believe what Alice said?’ he said. ‘I’m so shocked by it all. I didn’t really know my gran, but Alice has always been there for my mum. She looked after me when I was little so my mum could go to work. I wonder if Beth knows about it?’

  ‘I got the impression that until we jumped in with our big feet, it isn’t something Alice had ever talked about,’ Lucy said. ‘Especially not to her own daughter. It’s so desperately sad.’

  The phone on Lucy’s desk began to ring. Mattie left the office and she picked it up – Col was on the line.

  ‘There is a Mr and Mrs Clements at eleven, Brookfield Terrace,’ he told her. ‘They’re the right age to be Lizzy’s parents – no mention of an Elizabeth or Lizzy, though.’

  ‘Well, I can’t see her still living with her parents, unless she’s unable to live alone. I mean, how old would she be now?’

  She could see Col at his desk through the glass partition, counting it out on his fingers. ‘Fifty-one,’ he said.

  ‘Are they the only Clements in Brooklyn Bay?’

  ‘Yes. Don’t forget, boss, Lizzy is probably not called Clements now. There’s a good chance she’s married or changed her name.’

  ‘Thank you, Col. I’ll bear that in mind.’ She grinned and put the phone down, and looked through the partition for Mattie. He was laughing with Browning about something. She threw her jacket over her arm and crossed the room towards him, wondering if they were laughing about her.

  ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We have an address for the Clements. No record of a Lizzy, though.’

  Mattie shrugged. ‘What about Tommy?’

  Lucy turned to Col and asked, ‘Did you find me anything on Tommy Wright?’

  Col shook his head. ‘Nothing. It’s as if both he and Lizzy disappeared without a trace.’

  ‘Well, try and find me something on him, please. There has to be something on record. Why was he in the hospital in the first place?’

  ‘Yes, boss.’

  * * *

  As they were driving towards Brookfield Terrace, Lucy lifted her hand to her mouth.

  ‘Oh my god, I’ve just had a horrible thought. Do you think Alice is in any danger? She was there in the asylum and knew the other kids. If the killer is one of them, and they found out she’d been talking to us…’

  ‘I didn’t think of that. We can’t risk it; I’d never be able to live with myself if something happened to her.’

  ‘Go back to Alice’s,’ Lucy said. ‘Let’s take her to Beth’s house for a couple of nights, or at least until we know who the killer is and what’s happening.’

  Mattie put his foot down on the accelerator. Alice was far too vulnerable to leave her all alone like a sitting duck.

  Much later than they’d planned, they finally parked up outside 11, Brookfield Terrace. Alice had been safely deposited at her daughter’s house, much to her objection. Lucy pulled down the sun visor to check her eyeliner hadn’t smudged. She’d lost count of the number of times she’d almost been in tears today.

  ‘You look fine,’ Mattie said. ‘Just as good as when you walked into work this morning.’

  ‘Thanks. I feel like a complete emotional wreck today. Not to mention knackered. How come you don’t have dark circles under your eyes like I do?’

  ‘Maybe it’s your time of the month?’

  Lucy turned to stare at him, shaking her head. ‘Don’t you dare. You know how much I hate all that crap. Blaming everything on it pisses me off.’

  Mattie held up his hands. ‘Slow down, tiger. I was just trying to get in touch with my feminine side and be sympathetic.’<
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  ‘Well if you want to continue working with me, don’t bother,’ Lucy said. ‘The last thing I want is you turning into some fanny.’

  Mattie smiled. ‘I love winding you up. It’s like taking candy from a baby. The reason I don’t have dark circles under my eyes is because of my masculine good looks and genes.’

  He jumped out of the car before she could punch him in the side of the head.

  Lucy smiled, and climbed out with a bit more effort. She smoothed down her trousers and pulled her jacket out of the back of the car, shrugging it on. Mattie was already knocking on the door. It was opened by a grey-haired man, who must have been at least in his seventies. Lucy joined them, her warrant card in her hand.

  ‘Mr Clements?’

  He nodded.

  ‘I’m Detective Inspector Lucy Harwin; this is Detective Sergeant Matthew Jackson. Could we come in and talk to you?’

  The man pulled a pair of thick black-rimmed glassed from his shirt pocket and put them on. He took the card from Lucy and studied it, looking between her and the photograph closely. She knew why: on the card she had platinum blonde hair, not bright red. The man finally nodded and stepped to one side to let them in, indicating a doorway inside. ‘Through there,’ he said.

  They walked in to a sitting room with a fire burning so hot that Lucy thought her make-up might melt from her face. Beside the fire sat an elderly woman, reading a book, which she put down when she realised they were there. Lucy noticed the hearing aids on the table next to her and smiled at her. The woman arched an eyebrow at her husband.

  ‘It’s the police, Sandra,’ he said. ‘They want a word.’

  She shook her head at him. ‘What?’

  Much louder, he shouted: ‘They’re from the police!’

  The woman looked at Lucy, then her husband, and shrugged her shoulders. He tutted and walked across to her, handing her the hearing aids.

  ‘For god’s sake, woman, put them in so you know what we’re talking about!’