Part Seventy Seven
Jo had spent most of the rest of Wednesday wading through the file Karen had given her on Michelle Dockley. It really was beginning to look like a jigsaw, a five thousand piece puzzle comprised of pain and suffering, mostly at the hands of one James Fenner. But on the Thursday morning, Jo hit on one large section of the network of fragmented stories that she couldn't solve through George's dubious contact at area management or from Karen's illicit photocopies. Going through the details of the witnesses she'd used for the Merriman/Atkins trial, she found Yvonne's phone number and dialled it.
"Yvonne Atkins?" Came the fairly cheerful reply.
"Yvonne, it's Jo Mills."
"Hi, how's it going?"
"Well, I've come to a part of the trail that I think you might be able to help me with. Does the name Virginia O'Kane mean anything to you?" Yvonne laughed mirthlessly.
"Considering I almost got fitted up for her murder, yeah, I'd say it does."
"Karen seems to know surprisingly little about why Fenner was prepared to help you find her true killers. I was wondering if you could fill me in."
"With pleasure. Though it starts a long time before she even died. When O'Kane first came in to Larkhall, she was in a wheelchair, but it was fake. She did it to get a lighter sentence."
"There was a man not so long ago who tried to avoid a trial by faking a severe catatonic state. It happens."
"Well, Fenner being Fenner figured he was on to a winner and took sympathy on her. At some point during his getting her a cell on her own, and generally easing his way in to her favour, he must have persuaded her that it might be a good idea for someone to keep an eye on her establishments while she was inside. You do know what she was in for?"
"For running various brothels and lifting credit cards from clients."
"Yeah, pretty much. So, in exchange for getting her everything she wanted on the inside, plus a cut of the takings, Fenner starts keeping an eye on her brothels. I figured he must be doing something like this and I got Lauren to check it out. he was going under the name of John Farmer, stupid git, and picking up the takings as regular as clockwork. Finally having something concrete on Fenner was a good feeling, believe me. Helen Stewart was the acting number one in those days, and I took it to her. Not taking a con's word for it, she wanted dates and places, somewhere she knew she could catch him out. Lauren did a bit more digging, and I supplied Helen with a place he was sure to be and let her do the rest."
"And did she?"
"I haven't got a clue. The number one, acting or otherwise, doesn't owe a con anything as simple as an explanation. You'd have to ask her."
"There's the problem, she's proving utterly unobtainable."
"I'd give anything to know why she left."
"Yes, that's yet another of the mysteries coming to light with this case."
"I thought lawyers could lay their hands on anyone," Said Yvonne, the challenge clear in her tone.
"Not always," Admitted Jo regretfully. "We can only do so much before we begin to deviate from the straight and narrow. But tell me the rest of the O'Kane debacle."
"On the day that Helen Stewart left, O'Kane was drowned. It was assumed I'd done it because I'd been seen and heard rowing with her and I was the one who found her, not something I think I'll ever forget. At first, I thought it was Fenner. O'Kane had been about to squeal on him for looking after her brothels. So, I thought it was him and he thought it was me. Yet it wasn't either of us. Just before O'Kane had arrived in Larkhall, Maxi Purvis and her two sidekicks had come on to the wing. Slim, dark-haired, a bit of a tough nut, certainly not above shagging a screw to get a foot in the door." Jo had to smile at Yvonne's turn of phrase. "Anyway, after O'Kane's death, I asked two of my mates, the Julies, who were the wing cleaners and so had access to more of the wing than anyone else, to pick the lock on Fenner's locker to see if they could find any incriminating evidence against Fenner."
"And so enter the knickers and the porn mag."
"Oh, Karen told you about that, did she. Yeah, a pair of skimpy red knickers and a magazine full of pictures of scantily clad female couples. Fenner might claim to loathe those who sleep with their own sex, but it doesn't stop him ogling pictures of them. We'd heard on the grapevine that they were engaged, so one of the Julies left that little package in Karen's intray. Then, I tried to escape and got in to a fight with Karen. It's funny to think about that sometimes. I gave her the best black-eye I think I've ever given anyone, and now that's the last thing I'd ever do." Yvonne went suddenly quiet, showing a level of introspection that also gave Jo a moment's contemplation.
"You really love her, don't you," Said Jo, almost in wonder.
"Yeah," Said Yvonne in surprise. "I've never actually put it in to those terms, but yeah, I guess I do. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for her."
"Would you try and find Helen Stewart?" Having half expected this ever since Jo's admission that lawyers couldn't achieve miracles, Yvonne grinned.
"Now what makes you think I can where you can't?"
"Well, not to put too fine a point on it, you have access to methods which, as a champion of the law, I cannot be seen to use or encourage." Yvonne laughed.
"Very nicely put. I'll see what I can do. I've got an address for her one time girlfriend, so that should be a good starting point." Then, on observing Jo's careful silence, she added, "Helen Stewart was also a jailer with a thing for one of her cons. That place seems to breed them."
"I think I've learnt more about human nature in the last few days than in the last ten years," Said Jo in astonishment.
"Prison is the ultimate social equalizer," Replied Yvonne, "The rich and the poor, the well-educated and the illiterate, the black and the white, the straight and the gay, all shoved in to one confined space. You can't fail to be different in some way when you come out of prison. I'll see if I can track down Helen Stewart, and I'll see if Lauren ever took any pictures of Fenner in the vicinity of O'Kane's brothels. I didn't ask at the time because Helen wanted to collect her own evidence. I think her words were, I don't do deals with prisoners. But Lauren might have taken some anyway."
"Thank you, Yvonne, you've been a great help."
"Anything that puts Fenner behind bars is worth doing," Replied Yvonne, uncannily echoing Denny's words of yesterday.
"How strange," Commented Jo. "You've just used the exact words Denny did yesterday."
"Oh, yeah, Karen said you'd spoken to her. She's like one of mine is Denny. I looked after her through some of the crap she went through with her mum. Sometimes I think I try to make up with Denny for some of the things I got wrong with my own kids. I tried to legally adopt her after I got out of prison, but she's over twenty one so I couldn't."
"Yvonne, for the moment, I would like you to keep what you're doing for me from Karen. After what she's told me, I'm not sure that Helen Stewart will want to become involved in this case. I wouldn't want to get Karen's hopes up."
"But she'd have to. It's the only way to put Fenner behind bars. apart from Karen, Helen Stewart's the only decent witness you've got."
"I know," Said Jo gently, "But it has to be her choice. Please do this for the time being, Yvonne."
"Okay, but Helen Stewart had better have a bloody good reason for not getting involved."
A short while later when they ended the call, Jo sat for a moment, overwhelmed by the feeling of close attachment between some of the most unlikely people, clearly displayed in the way Yvonne had talked about both Karen and Denny. Yes, from what she'd learnt ever since Karen's visit to her on Monday, Jo knew that prison could cultivate some of the most hateful, despicable acts she'd ever heard of. But Yvonne had without realising, shown her a positive side of prison, a fostering of deep, lasting emotional bonds forged between members of every echelon of society. Yvonne was right, prison was the great social leveller, an enormous cauldron of humanity that could help or hinder those who were unfortunate enough to land within its midst. For such as Rachel Hicks and Maxine Purvis, there would never be anything other than the type of release that at some point stole everyone from their place of existence, and the likes of Michelle Dockley would forever remain in limbo, waiting for their minds to acquire the agility necessary for them to return to some semblance of normality. But for Yvonne, and possibly Denny, prison hadn't been all bad. Yvonne appeared to be content in her relationship with Karen, and clearly prepared to do whatever she could for those she loved. In spite of recently losing her son in the worst way possible, Yvonne seemed to know what she wanted from life, to have a purpose, a means of keeping going.
Jo had spent most of the rest of Wednesday wading through the file Karen had given her on Michelle Dockley. It really was beginning to look like a jigsaw, a five thousand piece puzzle comprised of pain and suffering, mostly at the hands of one James Fenner. But on the Thursday morning, Jo hit on one large section of the network of fragmented stories that she couldn't solve through George's dubious contact at area management or from Karen's illicit photocopies. Going through the details of the witnesses she'd used for the Merriman/Atkins trial, she found Yvonne's phone number and dialled it.
"Yvonne Atkins?" Came the fairly cheerful reply.
"Yvonne, it's Jo Mills."
"Hi, how's it going?"
"Well, I've come to a part of the trail that I think you might be able to help me with. Does the name Virginia O'Kane mean anything to you?" Yvonne laughed mirthlessly.
"Considering I almost got fitted up for her murder, yeah, I'd say it does."
"Karen seems to know surprisingly little about why Fenner was prepared to help you find her true killers. I was wondering if you could fill me in."
"With pleasure. Though it starts a long time before she even died. When O'Kane first came in to Larkhall, she was in a wheelchair, but it was fake. She did it to get a lighter sentence."
"There was a man not so long ago who tried to avoid a trial by faking a severe catatonic state. It happens."
"Well, Fenner being Fenner figured he was on to a winner and took sympathy on her. At some point during his getting her a cell on her own, and generally easing his way in to her favour, he must have persuaded her that it might be a good idea for someone to keep an eye on her establishments while she was inside. You do know what she was in for?"
"For running various brothels and lifting credit cards from clients."
"Yeah, pretty much. So, in exchange for getting her everything she wanted on the inside, plus a cut of the takings, Fenner starts keeping an eye on her brothels. I figured he must be doing something like this and I got Lauren to check it out. he was going under the name of John Farmer, stupid git, and picking up the takings as regular as clockwork. Finally having something concrete on Fenner was a good feeling, believe me. Helen Stewart was the acting number one in those days, and I took it to her. Not taking a con's word for it, she wanted dates and places, somewhere she knew she could catch him out. Lauren did a bit more digging, and I supplied Helen with a place he was sure to be and let her do the rest."
"And did she?"
"I haven't got a clue. The number one, acting or otherwise, doesn't owe a con anything as simple as an explanation. You'd have to ask her."
"There's the problem, she's proving utterly unobtainable."
"I'd give anything to know why she left."
"Yes, that's yet another of the mysteries coming to light with this case."
"I thought lawyers could lay their hands on anyone," Said Yvonne, the challenge clear in her tone.
"Not always," Admitted Jo regretfully. "We can only do so much before we begin to deviate from the straight and narrow. But tell me the rest of the O'Kane debacle."
"On the day that Helen Stewart left, O'Kane was drowned. It was assumed I'd done it because I'd been seen and heard rowing with her and I was the one who found her, not something I think I'll ever forget. At first, I thought it was Fenner. O'Kane had been about to squeal on him for looking after her brothels. So, I thought it was him and he thought it was me. Yet it wasn't either of us. Just before O'Kane had arrived in Larkhall, Maxi Purvis and her two sidekicks had come on to the wing. Slim, dark-haired, a bit of a tough nut, certainly not above shagging a screw to get a foot in the door." Jo had to smile at Yvonne's turn of phrase. "Anyway, after O'Kane's death, I asked two of my mates, the Julies, who were the wing cleaners and so had access to more of the wing than anyone else, to pick the lock on Fenner's locker to see if they could find any incriminating evidence against Fenner."
"And so enter the knickers and the porn mag."
"Oh, Karen told you about that, did she. Yeah, a pair of skimpy red knickers and a magazine full of pictures of scantily clad female couples. Fenner might claim to loathe those who sleep with their own sex, but it doesn't stop him ogling pictures of them. We'd heard on the grapevine that they were engaged, so one of the Julies left that little package in Karen's intray. Then, I tried to escape and got in to a fight with Karen. It's funny to think about that sometimes. I gave her the best black-eye I think I've ever given anyone, and now that's the last thing I'd ever do." Yvonne went suddenly quiet, showing a level of introspection that also gave Jo a moment's contemplation.
"You really love her, don't you," Said Jo, almost in wonder.
"Yeah," Said Yvonne in surprise. "I've never actually put it in to those terms, but yeah, I guess I do. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for her."
"Would you try and find Helen Stewart?" Having half expected this ever since Jo's admission that lawyers couldn't achieve miracles, Yvonne grinned.
"Now what makes you think I can where you can't?"
"Well, not to put too fine a point on it, you have access to methods which, as a champion of the law, I cannot be seen to use or encourage." Yvonne laughed.
"Very nicely put. I'll see what I can do. I've got an address for her one time girlfriend, so that should be a good starting point." Then, on observing Jo's careful silence, she added, "Helen Stewart was also a jailer with a thing for one of her cons. That place seems to breed them."
"I think I've learnt more about human nature in the last few days than in the last ten years," Said Jo in astonishment.
"Prison is the ultimate social equalizer," Replied Yvonne, "The rich and the poor, the well-educated and the illiterate, the black and the white, the straight and the gay, all shoved in to one confined space. You can't fail to be different in some way when you come out of prison. I'll see if I can track down Helen Stewart, and I'll see if Lauren ever took any pictures of Fenner in the vicinity of O'Kane's brothels. I didn't ask at the time because Helen wanted to collect her own evidence. I think her words were, I don't do deals with prisoners. But Lauren might have taken some anyway."
"Thank you, Yvonne, you've been a great help."
"Anything that puts Fenner behind bars is worth doing," Replied Yvonne, uncannily echoing Denny's words of yesterday.
"How strange," Commented Jo. "You've just used the exact words Denny did yesterday."
"Oh, yeah, Karen said you'd spoken to her. She's like one of mine is Denny. I looked after her through some of the crap she went through with her mum. Sometimes I think I try to make up with Denny for some of the things I got wrong with my own kids. I tried to legally adopt her after I got out of prison, but she's over twenty one so I couldn't."
"Yvonne, for the moment, I would like you to keep what you're doing for me from Karen. After what she's told me, I'm not sure that Helen Stewart will want to become involved in this case. I wouldn't want to get Karen's hopes up."
"But she'd have to. It's the only way to put Fenner behind bars. apart from Karen, Helen Stewart's the only decent witness you've got."
"I know," Said Jo gently, "But it has to be her choice. Please do this for the time being, Yvonne."
"Okay, but Helen Stewart had better have a bloody good reason for not getting involved."
A short while later when they ended the call, Jo sat for a moment, overwhelmed by the feeling of close attachment between some of the most unlikely people, clearly displayed in the way Yvonne had talked about both Karen and Denny. Yes, from what she'd learnt ever since Karen's visit to her on Monday, Jo knew that prison could cultivate some of the most hateful, despicable acts she'd ever heard of. But Yvonne had without realising, shown her a positive side of prison, a fostering of deep, lasting emotional bonds forged between members of every echelon of society. Yvonne was right, prison was the great social leveller, an enormous cauldron of humanity that could help or hinder those who were unfortunate enough to land within its midst. For such as Rachel Hicks and Maxine Purvis, there would never be anything other than the type of release that at some point stole everyone from their place of existence, and the likes of Michelle Dockley would forever remain in limbo, waiting for their minds to acquire the agility necessary for them to return to some semblance of normality. But for Yvonne, and possibly Denny, prison hadn't been all bad. Yvonne appeared to be content in her relationship with Karen, and clearly prepared to do whatever she could for those she loved. In spite of recently losing her son in the worst way possible, Yvonne seemed to know what she wanted from life, to have a purpose, a means of keeping going.