Chapter 31
As he waited for the other man to answer his question Nathan glanced out of the window along the length of Main Street. He could see Lee Coulter busy trying to control two dogs as well as his sons who were dancing with delight around him, calling out what were obviously the names they had chosen, "Hamish! Dougal!"
He smiled at the joy on their faces but wondered whether Lee had got things the right way around, as from what he could see it may actually have been easier putting the leashes on the boys instead of the dogs. Thankfully Patrick and Little Jack seemed to have come through their experience in Brookfield unscathed, the story of their exploits growing bigger with each telling. This seemed the ideal reward for them being so very brave.
Nathan thought back to his own childhood. There were times when everything was too much for him, especially once his father's gambling became known around the local area and he was bullied by some of the bigger boys. Worse still was when they turned on his sister Colleen. He never told her the reason for so many of the bruises and black eyes he sported, instead taking the lectures from their mother in silence as she reproached him for fighting. Then he would go out to the barn and find his dog, Dreyfus. There he would pour out his troubles to him and let the gentle eyes absorb all the pain that he was feeling. He knew that the loyalty and unquestioning devotion that dog gave him was far more than he had ever given in return and he still carried that love in his heart after all these years. If Patrick and Little Jack received even a small share of that same joy Dreyfus brought to his life then they would be truly blessed.
So he was glad they had found such a perfect answer to one of the problems thrown up by the abandonment of the warehouses. A small one, Nathan admitted, when viewing the bigger picture of what they had found. But still something to which he had needed a solution. It was fortunate that Chuck Stewart had been here, the veterinarian from Brookfield having come across as part of the group who volunteered to assist the people of Hope Valley. Chuck had more experience with dogs than the local vet, particularly when it came time to determine their temperaments and the suitability of these two for becoming family pets. After first checking their health, he had set about assessing the nature of each. His conclusion was that they showed no signs of aggression and would be perfect for the two young boys who had been pestering their father for a dog for quite some time. To be able to have one each was even more than they had hoped for. As he watched them disappear in the distance Nathan wondered if Lee would still be thinking it was a good idea this time next week, or even this time tomorrow.
The sound of Lucas clearing his throat brought Nathan's attention back to his surroundings and he once again looked across at the other man, the question lingering between them until finally Lucas spoke. "You want to know about my father and brother? Why? I thought your first questions would be about Elizabeth. After all, hasn't she been the elephant in the room every time we've encountered each other since your return. Wouldn't you rather I told you about my wife and how this town turned her against me? How they never really let me become one of them."
Nathan smiled. Some things never changed and Lucas's self-pitying attitude was one of them. Of course they needed to know as much as possible about the relationship between Elizabeth and Lucas. Not just how it had turned so sour but which one of them had been the instigator in what had happened to Hope Valley. But first, he wanted to break Lucas down, by making him uncover truths that he had long kept buried and force him to face the reality of who he really was. "The town welcomed you Lucas, even though you did little to warrant it at times. They embraced you as one of their own, especially after Elizabeth made it clear that you were her choice, and yet you betrayed them."
Shaking his head Lucas looked at Nathan, a sardonic smile on his face. "No, they took you and Allie to their hearts and have kept you there. I was always just the consolation prize next to you. That has been the story of my life really, forever second choice. There was always someone better than me."
Remembering his early days in Hope Valley, Nathan recalled that the welcome he received from everyone was certainly not warm. He could understand why, after all he wasn't the easiest of people to get know and certainly not the most ebullient of characters. There was also the matter of him taking up the position previously occupied by their beloved Jack Thornton. It was clear from their attitude that they were not gladdened by the sight of another main in the red serge on the streets of this town. Until Elizabeth came to speak to him, that is. After that things slowly began to change. How sad that his memory of what he thought had been a profound moment of grace and kindness had now turned out to be anything but that.
Returning to what Lucas had said he realised there was a deeper meaning to his words, an emotion that far preceded his arrival here. This, he hoped, was the key to unlocking the truth of this man and thereby finding answers to the questions that remained. "I hear some bitterness there Lucas, perhaps you should start by telling me about your brother." Nathan kept his voice calm, underplaying the importance of taking Lucas back to what he believed could open up the floodgates of information, the opportunity for the man to be heard, not one he usually let pass.
"I know he was killed along with your father but I'd like you to tell me what happened. You were there with them that night, weren't you?" Nathan had just guessed at this fact, knowing that one way or the other Lucas would answer that question.
Lucas bent forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he thought back all those years, not wanting to remember but unable to stop the memories from rushing in. He felt the cold and the dark, how frightened he was as he waited for his father and brother to appear. Giles Bouchard was five years his senior and at 14 years old already the size of a man. That his mother worshipped him was clear to see, after all he was everything that Lucas wasn't. "I was in the boat, keeping it alongside the quay so that we could cross the river as soon as they arrived. We often used that method, it was like vanishing into thin air if the Mounties searched the streets for us not realising that we slipped quietly into the river and out of sight."
Realising Lucas was not aware that he was speaking out loud Nathan stayed still, letting him fall further into his memories. "We worked our way along the river towns in those days, never staying in one place for too long. My father had perfected a scam selling snake oil, although it wasn't the real thing made from the oil of a Chinese water snake but another concoction he had made up. We had little success in the previous town, the people there too sceptical of trying it. There were a few times when the Mounties were called and we were ushered away, told not to return."
Nathan could see that Lucas had slipped into another world, the image of those times playing like a movie in his head. "My father was clever. He had all the words to back up the claims. An old miner had given him a bottle of the real stuff in payment for a debt and it was after he tried it to ease his arthritic hands that he came up with this plan."
"What we didn't know was that the Mounties had realised our movements and were waiting for us. That particularly night my father and brother were working some of the saloons and bars, using the drunkenness of the patrons to our advantage. All I can remember is the sudden shouting and noise of people running, then they appeared out of nowhere racing towards the boat, telling me to get ready to push off from the quay."
He paused then, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I could hear the Mounties shouting as they pursued them and my father and Giles dropped into the boat and I started rowing. I was only small and not strong so my father stood to change places and take over. That is when the bullet struck him. As he began to fall my brother tried to hold him and the next bullet hit him, toppling them both into the water."
Lucas looked up at Nathan, the man's lips trembling as he quietly finished. "They disappeared under the water and I couldn't see them in the dark. I tried to bring the boat around but lost my bearings. It was only when I recognised the lights from a larger boat on the other side that I found my way."
"I remember struggling ashore, upset and cold, wanting to reach my mother quickly. To get her to come and help me look. She was waiting at the hotel, our stay at that town intended to be a few more days. When she saw me she knew something was wrong. At first I couldn't speak but finally it all came out. I wanted comfort but instead she screamed and lashed out at me."
Ed Harter had stopped beside Nathan, his attention totally focused on the tale unfolding in front of them. Did such an incident excuse the man Lucas Bouchard had become? He believed the answer was no but at least it did now explain something of the dynamics between the man and his mother. What Ed didn't realise was that there was yet more to be told.
Sitting with his chair facing the cell Gabe kept his eyes fixed on Helen Bouchard as she stared back at him, neither wanting to be the first to look away. It was a battle for supremacy he thought, wanting to be on top, with each combatant bringing different weapons to the fight. While he had the power of the law on his side and as much time as this would take, she held the key to the information they needed to fit the final pieces to the puzzle. There was something else that gave her an unwarranted air of confidence but he had yet to figure that out.
As much as Helen Bouchard may believe she was one of the main players, he knew there were bigger fish to fry and much more at stake than what happened here in Hope Valley. Her testimony could give them the clues to finding the link between the criminal syndicates and the Mounties and so he stood his ground, determined to maintain the upper hand. Finally she gave way, pulling her eyes sideways, a look of sadness briefly flashing across her face as her thoughts turned to a time she had fought so hard to cast into the deepest recesses of her mind. Only the bitterness had been allowed to remain, the hatred that was needed to keep alight the fire that drove her in an unrelenting pursuit of vengeance. Now she had to find a way of using her story to drive another nail into the coffin of the RCMP.
"You want to know about my husband and son? For me to tell you of that night, when they were hounded to their deaths by Mounties?" Gabe said nothing, merely nodding as he made a show of getting comfortable on the chair. Helen Bouchard laughed at him, "There's not a lot to tell Constable. They were murdered by the Mounties and left to die by the man who calls himself Lucas Bouchard."
Sensing that he was not going to get very far at this time with that questioning, the hurt and pain still as strong after all these years in this woman's mind, Gabe focused on his second question. "If Lucas is not your son, who is he?"
Anger flashed across her face as she stood up, turning her back to Gabe as she stretched her arms out against the wall to gain some control over her emotions. He knew she was trying to compose herself before answering. Undoubtedly she would also be figuring out just how much she wanted to tell him. He didn't mind. That initial crack to the facade, that first bit of information, always had a way of widening until more was revealed than the person intended.
As she spun back around there was a spiteful, almost evil look on her face, as though her whole inner self was being displayed for him to see. "Lucas?" She paused for a deep breath, the dramatic effect not lost on Gabe, before she continued. "Lucas Bouchard is a bastard! He is the illegimate child of my husband and some tawdry harlot with whom he had an affair. At least the woman had the decency to die in childbirth, unfortunately she didn't take her son with her."
The information was not news to him, Nathan had received confirmation of their suspicions about The Bouchard family a while earlier and it then formed their opening strategy for the interrogations. But even knowing what she would say, Gabe struggled to hide his revulsion. The venom in this woman's voice as she spoke of an innocent child was enough to disgust any decent human being. She was not ashamed of her words, or her feelings. The hardness in her tone making it clear that she would have been happy for the baby to die too.
Lying back down on the bed she moved her arm across her eyes, as if the memories were too much for her. "Then I wouldn't have been forced to take him into my family and pretend to the world that he was mine. I had to do it. This was his son, but he has never been anything to me but a painful reminder of my husband's betrayal."
Gabe realised the conversation was over for now but he needed to know one last thing. "Does Lucas know the truth? Did you ever tell him?" She turned towards him, an expression of glee lighting up her face. "Oh yes, I told him. When he returned from the boat and informed me that my husband and son were dead. He was pitiful, crying that he was sorry but he promised he would be a good son and never leave me. That was when I told him the truth, that he was a bastard and I had never loved him."
It was a very tired trio of men who met in the judge's office later, after finishing their interviews for the day. As Nathan looked at Bill he realised just how gruelling his task must have been, the man seeming to have aged since they spoke earlier. They had expected it to be difficult but it was only when Bill began recounting what they had been told by the Chinese people that the others realised the scale of it. The story of Jook Liang and her husband who was killed at the station as he came for his wife and child was difficult for him to tell but then when Bill spoke the name of Miu Lan his voice broke and he found it almost impossible to continue.
In contrast, when Gabe explained his conversation with Helen Bouchard they couldn't help but wonder at the audacity of the woman. Her ability to twist the truth to suit her own means was incredible. Nathan was not surprised, he had been looking into the background of Lucas and his mother since the gambler arrived in Hope Valley. It was his idea to carry out the interrogations in a different way. Not questioning them on recent happenings but by delving into their past and bringing all of their insecurities and secrets to the surface. It had been easy to manipulate Lucas into confirming some of what they had already uncovered about the woman he referred to as his mother. He was almost broken already and as he went deeper into the truth of his past the little that was holding him together began to crumble.
As expected, Helen Bouchard was not going down without a fight. That they knew the truth about her past obviously had not occurred to her. That he was about to confront her with it would come as a great shock. He began telling of his conversation with Lucas and they all hoped this was where the breakthrough was going to come. Once Lucas had started talking everything came pouring out, from when his father and brother died and his mother had told him the truth about his birth and the deal that was made to keep him.
Nathan had sensed a change in his demeanor as he stated that at least he knew he was a Bouchard, something of which he was proud. The French blood ran in his veins and he had a right to claim it.
By not admitting that he already knew most of the story, Nathan used this to his advantage as he steered the questioning to specific points that would cause enough anger and pain to loosen the other man's tongue. Lucas had obliged, relating in detail the story of his upbringing and how he couldn't understand the hatred his mother had for him until the day his father and brother died and she told him her version of the truth. He had been lost, not knowing what to do. Feeling so alone at just nine years of age, he realised he would be unable to survive on his own and so he had stayed with the woman, enduring the ongoing abuse as they continued their life as grifters, neither wanting to be together yet needing the other to go on.
But Lucas was brighter than Helen Bouchard suspected. He listened and learnt, watching the gamblers as they outsmarted the dealer and other players, studied the conmen as they tricked people with their scams. In his mind he developed a picture of the man he wanted to be and spent his youth perfecting the skills he would require. Books were his most important asset. Not just for the knowledge they contained but in the way people began treating him differently once they thought he was an educated man.
Then he realised that Helen Bouchard had been watching him all the time, without commenting, and gradually he saw that she was working to turn herself into the mother who would fit in with the new him. If there was good fortune to be found she was not going to miss out but Lucas was determined she would not be allowed to spoil his life any longer. Then finally it was time. He had chosen his new character carefully, creating a persona that would be welcomed into all manner of establishments and levels of society. And one day he simply disappeared.
The small amounts he had secretly squirrelled away over the years now amounted to a substantial sum, enough to get him to New Orleans and give him entry into the places where he would put the finishing touches to the man who was Lucas Bouchard. He did well for a time until a spot of bad luck at the tables meant a quick exit was required. Travelling north he stopped at gambling dens along the way, lucky in some, others not so much. Eventually he made his way back to Canada and settled in Vancouver, where his French background and gentlemanly manners fooled enough people for him to be accepted. But life on his own was harder than he thought. Without someone to have his back there were times when he came perilously close to being caught out and so he found himself standing at his mother's door again. It was at that moment he knew she had won, that he would never escape her.
There was very little in life that surprised Bill, he felt he'd been there and done it all. However, as Nathan and Gabe recounted what they had learnt he was completely lost for words as even more evidence of the heartlessness of Helen Bouchard came to light. Did he feel sympathy for Lucas? Perhaps for the young boy who had been treated badly but certainly not for the man he had become. There had been so many opportunities over the years for him to turn his life around and yet he chose to continue on the destructive path that had eventually brought him here.
Helen Bouchard was a different matter. Listening to the story she told one couldn't help but feel for the woman. Betrayed by the man she loved, forced to bring up his illegitimate child as her own and then losing her husband and own son at the hands of the Mounties. Surely anyone with a heart would sympathise with her plight and make allowance for what she had become. But Madame Bouchard had a way of twisting a story, conveniently forgetting any facts that did not suit her purpose and fooling people with her words. For the first time she had met her match in Nathan Grant.
He didn't want to wait. Although they had planned to leave it until the morning to continue, something inside told Nathan that now was the time to confront the woman. Then leave her to stew during the night over how her world had unravelled. It was difficult for him to admit that his motivation for searching into Lucas's background was not totally ethical. As Elizabeth was drawn more towards the man he had wanted to know as much as possible to use against him should the need arise. Little did he think at the time that it would be under circumstances such as this so many years later.
They had all read the file that had been compiled on the Bouchard family over the years but he felt it important to go through the details again, before he confronted the woman they were holding in the jail. When he picked up the paperwork both Bill and Gabe suggested he read out the facts, putting it all together for clarity now that they had Lucas's sorry tale to add. Agreeing on the benefit of this, Nathan began. "As you know, there was little we could find out about Helen Colombier's childhood but by the time she was in her teenage years she was well known in Montreal. In fact the whole Colombier family was regarded as amongst the best of the scam artists in the city".
His mind drifted back to the attractive woman he had first seen as she exited the stagecoach on the day of his ill-fated dinner with Elizabeth and it wasn't difficult to picture the beauty of Helen Bouchard in her youth. "As she grew into a young woman she discovered the power she had over men, especially impressionable young men from wealthy families. She would charm them with her teasing ways and let them lavish her with clothes and jewels, before dismissing them as idiots when she moved on to a new mark. Of course, their pride would not allow them to acknowledge what had happened and so she was able to continue undetected".
"Then she met Yves Bouchard. According to the newspapers of the day he was regarded as the most handsome of men, not from an established family but one whose European background had allowed them to buy their way into Montreal society, and yet he appeared immune to her charms. Until one day he approached her and admitted that he knew what she was but instead of turning her in he made her go out with him, on his terms." Nathan marvelled at the bravado of the man to call her out on what she was doing and then take control of such a headstrong young woman so that she complied with his wishes.
"There was a great deal of gossip in Montreal when Yves refused to be dissuaded from marrying her. His family, who had worked so hard to discard their own past, said they would disown him but so enamoured was he with the woman that he was willing to give up everything for her. They continued to live a privileged existence for a while, making the pages of the society columns, usually as the subject of scandalous gossip, until his money ran out. It wasn't long after that she went off with another man."
How humiliating that must have been, he thought. To give up everything for a woman who ran out on you as soon as things turned sour. Perhaps Lucas and Helen Bouchard had more in common than they realised. "Her husband was devastated but by this time he had fallen so far down in the eyes of society that he knew he would not be welcomed back. So, he left and travelled to Hamilton where he set about turning himself into a gambler and trickster".
"A few years later he came across her, having been deserted by her lover and now with the man's child, a baby boy. Yves tried hard to resist but in truth he had never stopped loving her. So, he took her back and agreed to bring up the child as his own. From what I have found they were happy for a few years, living off his winnings as a gambler and enjoying a good life within that world. But when they had a dip in fortunes a new lover appeared and she left him again, but she didn't take her child with her". No matter how many times Nathan read this he still found it hard to imagine any woman acting in this way. Bill and Gabe could see the disbelief in his eyes. This man who had taken in his niece and changed his whole world for her would never understand what made people like his own brother-in-law, Dylan Parks, abandon their child.
Nathan could see the thoughts on both men's faces, so hurried on. "From all accounts Yves Bouchard was a weak but kind man and he had grown to love the boy. So, he arranged for a woman to move in to look after him and over time they became involved. When she fell pregnant he searched for Helen to ask for a divorce, wanting his child to be his legitimate heir and so become legally entitled to any fortune from the Bouchard family that may come their way". He paused, not wanting to rush the details.
"Helen refused to divorce him but realising that she may be better off back with her husband she returned to him once more. Horrified to find another woman expecting his child she paid someone to abduct and kill her but the man couldn't go through with it when he saw that she was pregnant. The poor woman was held captive for quite a few days before being abandoned on the streets in a terrible state and by the time Yves found her again she had given birth to their son. But she was dying." Another pause, as the depth of the woman's evil sank in. "It was then he made a deal with the devil. He would not turn Helen into the Mounties if she agreed to bring up his son. But he promised her that if anything bad was to happen to Lucas then the same fate would befall Giles."
Even having heard the story before, all three men were astonished by the callousness of the Bouchard woman. Some people were beyond help and it was now up to them to ensure that she would never hurt another soul again. Nathan closed the file, looking at the others as if requesting their permission to go and do what he knew was necessary. Both men nodded. They were so close to ending this they could feel it. Stopping at the door to the jail, he went over again in his mind how he needed this to work. There could be no sympathy for her, what she had done over so many years had hurt too many people and now it was her turn to know how it felt to be alone with no-one to come to her aid.
She didn't move as he approached the cell, although he could tell by the change in her breathing that she knew he was there. He wasn't fooled for one minute, right now Helen Bouchard would be weighing up what she could do to save her own skin. "It is up to you if you wish to speak to me or not but perhaps you may change your mind when I tell you that no-one is going to help you get out of this. If you are waiting for either Inspectors Hodge or Duncan to intervene here, I should tell you they have both been arrested and are being held in their rooms for now. We know that they have both been in here and spoken to you. Believe me, they are already scrambling to try to save themselves."
Helen Bouchard looked in his direction then, vitriol showing in her eyes as she sneered at him. She worked hard to hide the sudden panic she could feel inside at that news. They didn't matter, she would keep these Mounties tied up for a long time as they tried to untangle her tale of hardship at the hands of her bastard son and how he forced her to do everything. She was smarter than all of them.
Nathan turned as if to leave, paused for a moment waiting for her to notice, and then stepped back in front of the cell. "Your lies won't work anymore. We know everything, from when you were a cheap courtesan in Montreal, how you deserted your own child, then tried to kill Lucas's mother….and him. How long do you think he will remain silent when I tell him that?"