Until You're Mine
Page 34
‘Sissy,’ I say. ‘I had no idea.’ To think, we went through an entire childhood without me knowing this.
‘Perhaps it was because Mum never really, truly loved us.’
It is the most plausible thing ever to have come out of Cecelia’s mouth. ‘I . . . I don’t know if that’s true. I’m sure she loved us in her own way.’ In my head there’s a woman, existing, interacting, taking care of her children, going through the motions of life; but as for love, I can’t say if she truly cared. Perhaps I was too busy watching out for Sissy to notice. As Sissy says, having something to love goes a long way towards filling the void that not being loved leaves behind.
‘Anyway, I know you’re right,’ she continues, sounding less morose now.
‘You do?’
‘I know I can’t have a baby,’ she says quietly. ‘I’m utterly sad about it, though.’ There’s a pathetic finality to it, as if her life had always been written up as childless from the moment of her own conception. ‘To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have been a very good mother,’ she adds resignedly. ‘And, Heather?’ Her face remains disturbingly calm, as if all those years of agony, desire and longing were nothing more than a miscarried dream gone wrong in her unfathomable head.
‘Yes, Sissy?’ I say. Her hands are warm in mine, slightly sticky from the fruit.
‘I’m sorry. Really, I am.’
And then her head is resting on my shoulder, right where it belongs.
EPILOGUE
RECORD OF INTERVIEW
Person Interviewed: MORGAN-BROWN, Claudia
Place of Interview: Police HQ, WMP, Birmingham
Date of Interview: 28/11/12
Time Commenced: 10:18 Time Concluded: 11:14
Duration: 56 minutes (inc. break)
Tape/Image Reference Number: 11/BH4/03561
Interviewing Officer(s): DI 1093 Adam
Scott, DI 2841
Lorraine Fisher
Other Persons Present: DC 8932 P. Ainsley
DI Scott: This interview is being tape-recorded and may be used in evidence if this case is brought to trial. The interview is taking place at Birmingham Police Headquarters and the time is currently eighteen minutes past ten a.m. on the twenty-eighth of November two thousand and twelve. I am Detective Inspector Adam Scott and also present are Detective Inspector Lorraine Fisher and Detective Constable Patrick Ainsley.
We are here to interview you about the offences for which you have been arrested. Can you state your name, please?
CMB: Claudia Morgan-Brown.
DI Scott: And your date of birth?
CMB: Fourteenth of April nineteen seventy-two.
DI Scott: And please will you confirm, for the tape, that there are no other persons present in the room except those already mentioned?
CMB: Yes, I can confirm that.
DI Scott: Before we begin, I must remind you that you have the right to free independent legal advice, but you have elected not to have this. This is an ongoing right, and if you change your mind, please let me know and I can stop the interview so you can do this. I will now caution you that you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be used in evidence. At the end of the interview I’ll explain to you what happens to the interview tapes.
Do you know why you’ve been arrested and brought here today?
CMB: Yes.
DI Scott: Please speak loudly for the tape. Did you attack and kill Sally-Ann Frith and her unborn baby on or around the fourteenth of November two thousand and twelve?
CMB: Yes. But I didn’t mean for them to die.
DI Fisher: Will you explain what you mean by that?
CMB: After I’d got her baby out, I was going to call an ambulance. I wanted her to be OK. But she put up a fight and made the operation harder. She caused her own death.
DI Fisher: You believe that it was Sally-Ann’s fault she died?
CMB: Yes.
DI Fisher: How do you feel about their deaths?
DI Scott: For the benefit of the tape, Mrs Morgan-Brown has just shrugged.
CMB: It made things harder. I was running out of time.
Inaudible due to someone exhaling.
DI Scott: What do you mean by that?
CMB: A fake pregnancy can’t last for ever. I needed a baby by my due date. When it didn’t go to plan, I panicked and just left them.
DI Fisher: Will you tell us why you . . . you wanted to take Sally-Ann’s baby?
Long pause.
CMB: Because all of mine died. Sally-Ann didn’t want hers. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. I saw her in the department store. She went crazy, yelling out she didn’t want her baby. I’m a social worker, Detective. I know a good mother from a bad one.
Another pause.
DI Scott: For the tape, the accused is nodding.
CMB: Look, I tried to help her. She was smashing up the shop and I calmed her down. Afterwards, I followed her home. I was sick with worry about her baby and I felt it my duty to check up on her. Over the next few months, I tracked her to college, to the shops, to her hospital appointments. It was easy to work in around my job. I’m always visiting unfit mothers. I was overjoyed when I saw her growing in size. She’d taken my advice.
DI Fisher: For the tape, Claudia Morgan-Brown is drinking water. She is standing up.
DI Scott: Sit down and continue, please.
CMB: Sally-Ann never knew I was watching her, although I spoke to her in passing a couple of times. Once, when I touched her tummy in the college canteen, she told me she was having a little girl. She didn’t recognise me.
DI Fisher coughs.
DI Scott: How did you fake your own pregnancy?
DI Fisher: For the tape, the accused is grinning and shaking her head.
CMB: I’d never have believed it possible. And that’s the truth. She told me that unless they see you totally naked, no one will ever know.
DI Scott: Who told you?
CMB: The woman from the internet who makes the suits. She was right, too. With my medical history, James wasn’t allowed to touch me, so that was easy. He works away most of the time.
DI Fisher: Describe the suit, please.
CMB: It was made especially for me. It fitted like a glove. I had to go and get measured. She told me she sells quite a few, that some women like to feel pregnant all the time. They enjoy the fuss made of them. But for me, it was actually real. I was finally pregnant and I wasn’t going to miscarry. As time went on, I pumped it up with gel like the instructions said. There were weights inside that moved when I did. When the kicks came, they were realistic. You’d never think it, would you?
DI Fisher: No.
DI Scott: Did you wear the suit when you murdered Sally-Ann?
CMB: No. It was cumbersome. I didn’t murder her. She died in the operation.
DI Fisher: Please describe the . . . the operation. Tell us how you did it.
CMB: I went to Sally-Ann’s flat. She seemed rather nervous at first but I talked her into letting me inside. We chatted about babies and stuff. She eventually relaxed.
DI Scott: Will you remain seated, please? For the benefit of the tape, Mrs Morgan-Brown keeps standing up.
CMB: Sorry. Inaudible. It was funny. She told me she was going to have a Caesarean in a few days’ time. I’d been lucky.
A pause.
I told her that I could do the operation for her now. I locked the door to her flat and took the key. I said it would save her having to go to hospital. She thought I was joking at first. It would be easier, I told her, if she got in the bath, but she didn’t want to. She told me to leave. I got a kitchen knife from the drawer. I did my best to make it easy for her but all she did was scream. Should I carry on?
DI Scott: Yes.
CMB: The thing is, she wouldn’t keep still. I was way stronger than her, but not strong enough to hold her down as well as do the procedure. And I didn�
�t want to hurt the baby. She was going to be mine. I had no choice but to knock Sally-Ann out. It was no worse than an anaesthetic.
DI Fisher: And how did you knock her out?
CMB: I found a hammer in the cupboard under the sink. She tried to escape again. She was making it really hard.
DI Scott: What did you do with the hammer?
CMB: I hit her on the head with it.
DI Scott: Where were you when you hit her with the hammer?
CMB: In the bathroom. I’d dragged her in there.
DI Scott: Do you think she was being unreasonable by not wanting you to cut her baby out of her?
A long pause.
CMB: Yes.
DI Scott: What happened after you hit her?
CMB: She fell down. It took two blows.
DI Fisher: Did you think she was unconscious or dead?
CMB: Unconscious. I could see her breathing. I had to consider my baby.
DI Scott: Describe what happened next.
CMB: May I have more water please?
DI Fisher: For the tape, DC Ainsley is pouring water. Continue.
CMB: I got her into the bath. It was hard. She was heavy. I cut her clothes off. Then I cut into her. Have you ever cut human flesh, Detective?
DI Scott: We’ll ask the questions. Please continue.
DI Fisher coughs and clears her throat.
CMB: It’s surprisingly easy. And I had to be mindful of my baby inside. I sang a lullaby, in case she could hear me. I made an incision. Going this way.
DI Fisher: For the tape, Mrs Morgan-Brown is indicating a vertical line from her chest to her lower abdomen.
CMB: I know it’s not technically correct but it was going to make for the biggest opening. Then something awful happened.
A pause.
She woke up. She was staring at me, half out of it, and then she saw what I was doing. She suddenly went mad and was screaming and thrashing about.
DI Scott: Did she say anything?
CMB: She begged me to stop. It was hard to understand her. Then she just made heaving noises. Her womb went into a sort of spasm.
DI Scott: Could you see the baby?
CMB: Yes, just about.
DI Scott: What happened then?
CMB: I hit her and she passed out again. Then I half pulled out the baby. I tried to cut the cord but it was difficult. Most of it was still inside, deep and buried, and her muscles were really tight . . . as if she didn’t want to let go.
DI Fisher: Was the baby alive?
CMB: Yes. I felt it moving in my hands. Its legs and bottom came out first. And then I saw it. It was an awful shock.
DI Scott: Saw what?
A long pause.
CMB: That it was a fucking boy. I was having a girl.
DI Scott: We’ll take a short break. Pause the tape.
The tape is stopped for eighteen minutes. PC McMAHON enters the room and DC AINSLEY remains. DIs SCOTT and FISHER exit the room.
DI Scott: The interview with Claudia Morgan-Brown is resuming at ten fifty-eight a.m. The same persons as before are present.
Mrs Morgan-Brown, did you attack Carla Davis with the purpose of removing her baby from her womb?
CMB: Yes I did.
DI Fisher: Why?
CMB: Because she didn’t want her baby either.
DI Scott: Did you also knock her out?
CMB:No. She didn’t struggle.
DI Fisher: Why not, if she knew you were going to harm her?
CMB: Because I gave her drugs.
DI Fisher: What kind of drugs?
CMB: Ketamine. A large dose. It was easy to get. I deal with people who take drugs all the time, and Carla was always after something. She took it of her own free will.
DI Scott: Then what happened?
CMB: She was on the sofa. I made her comfortable while the drugs worked. I’d brought a knife with me. This time I would get my baby and I would call an ambulance and Carla would be fine after the operation. But . . .
A long pause.
DI Scott: For the tape, the suspect has just banged her face on the table three times. She now has blood on her lip.
CMB: I’d known Carla a long time. I should have realised.
DI Fisher: What do you mean by that?
CMB: She’d obviously had lots of boyfriends, not just the one I’d seen hanging around. I never thought . . . when I cut into Carla and first saw the baby girl, my heart sank. She was beautiful and sweet and I wanted nothing more than to have her as my daughter.
A pause.
But James could never have been her father. The baby wasn’t white. I felt utterly despondent and ready to give up.
DI Fisher: But you didn’t give up, did you?
CMB: No. No, I didn’t.
DI Scott: Was it your intention to remove Pip Pearce’s baby from her womb yesterday?
CMB: Not until she called me. She asked for my help, Detective. What was I supposed to do?
A pause. DIs Scott and Fisher confer inaudibly.
DI Scott: So to recap, you’re confessing to the murders of Sally-Ann Frith and her unborn baby, the attempted murder of Carla Davis and the murder of her unborn baby, and you were intending to inflict serious bodily harm on Pip Pearce?
A pause.
CMB: Yes.
DI Scott: Have you anything further to add?
CMB sighs heavily.
CMB: Would you like me to tell you about the others?
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Copyright © Samantha Hayes 2013
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First published in Great Britain in 2013 by
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