STOLEN BAIRNS: Scottish Fiction Read online

  The couple made their way along the street until they reached the bus station where Jason would catch his bus back to Donside. Before he boarded the bus he turned towards his sister.

  ‘Just one thing I want to say to you Beth,’ he looked into her glowing and happy face, ‘I am very happy for you. Marty is right for you and I know he will make you happy. I think you have fallen on your feet, and about time. Beth it’s just ace good to have you back… if you know what I mean.’

  She nodded, feeling the tears beginning to well up into her eyes. Yes, she knew what her little brother meant. She was lucky, and if she found her little children she would be permanently on cloud nine.

  She took him to her and hugged him tightly. ‘Great, now you will be able to come in and stay at weekends. And give Mrs Bellows my best wishes.’

  She waited until the bus drove away, waving until she could no longer see her little brother. He too was starting a new life. Thank goodness!

  Chapter 22

  January was bleak as far as the weather was concerned. Snow fell for several days making it difficult for Beth to go on her daily walks to the cliffs around Torry Battery. She did manage with Molly’s help to find a really nice two-piece suit which was very smart and stylish. She had point blank refused to wear a hat. She did stand beside Molly on several occasions on their forays into town and try a few arrangements of hats on, but refused to believe Molly’s view that she suited hats. As far as she was concerned it made her look like some small dwarfish character looking as if she was trying to be an adult.

  She eventually settled on a dark blue woollen suit. The fitted jacket was what had sold it to her; it was three quarters in length and fitted her like a glove. The skirt was short and sat just above her knees. Underneath the jacket she had chosen a very pale cream blouse, which was plain without the frills which were in abundance in the high street shops. The beauty of this outfit was that it was classic and would last long after the one day it was purchased for. Beth, the ever-sensible young woman, too sensible many would say for her age, was delighted that she would be wearing brand new clothes to her wedding, something she was still trying to get used to.

  Marty was not allowed to see any part of the outfit; it was hidden at the back of Molly’s deep dark wardrobe. He teased them both by saying he was going on a search, but both women knew he would not dare enter his aunt’s bedroom without her invitation.

  The excitement about the forthcoming wedding acted as a distraction from the police search for the children. Although Beth was beginning to think about how she would launch her campaign, she had agreed with Marty that it would be sensible to wait until after the wedding, when they could stand officially together as not only a couple but as parents of the children.

  Marty had sat her down one evening and talked about the risks of going public and how she needed to be careful about exposing herself to any ridicule. This conversation occurred following a similar discussion Marty had had with Molly. Beforehand he had not given much thought to how others might view Beth. As far as he was concerned, she was wonderful and he knew the anguish she had suffered from her children being taken. He knew she would have been a loving caring mother, but once Molly had outlined for him how the public might perceive the situation he realised that others might hold a different and less positive view.

  As Molly had said with two children born to a young lassie under age, with different fathers, some might think that these children would be better off with a couple rather than this slip of a girl. Once Molly had spelt this out, he had realised that if Beth launched her campaign in the public arena, then she would be open to criticism. He did not want her to be hurt in any way, and knew that on the surface she appeared strong and ready to face the world, while just underneath her bonny clear skin, she was as fragile as a piece of expensive porcelain. He would do his best to protect her.

  One of the things Beth started to do was to visit the library when she realised that they seemed to have copies of all the daily newspapers, and she would spend some part of the day scouring them for any stories about missing children. The library staff became used to seeing this small young woman, her face hidden by the fur-lined parka, appearing every day. She spent time looking through the newspapers and they just thought she was trying to improve her knowledge about current affairs, and were impressed by this.

  Another thing which Beth did to prepare for her campaign was to drag out an old typewriter, which Molly had in the back of the sitting room cupboard. She set this up in the front dining room and practiced typing letters. She soon got the hang of the machine and started to really think about what she needed to say in the letters and to whom she would send them too.

  Meanwhile, at Police Headquarters, Des and Jane continued with their search. However, as time went on, the reality was that keeping up the momentum for the search dwindled as they were dealing every day with other cases. While they put all their efforts into solving cases, making sure the local criminals were being dealt with accordingly, Beth’s missing children were never far from their thoughts.

  They had one lead which they had not yet shared with Beth, in case it proved to be as unproductive as previous leads. This one concerned the registered keeper of the car that was found at the railway station and which had been identified as the couple’s they had missed in the Borders. The car was registered to a Maureen Davenport, with an address in Edinburgh. Jane had begun to research this address and found that a Maureen Davenport had lived at the address some three years previously, and had in fact owned the property. The property had subsequently been sold, but it appeared she was still using the address to register the car. Jane thought that this was indeed interesting and worth a look.

  Jane managed to find the time to continue to investigate this woman, and it was like finding pieces of a jigsaw and fitting them together. First, Maureen Davenport seemed to be around the same age as the woman they were searching for. Second, the property was sold for a substantial sum, which would give this couple the private income the woman had told Liz Morran about.

  It was enough to convince the Inspector that a trip to Edinburgh was necessary by Des and Jane. The Inspector was beginning to think that it was unlikely that these children were going to be traced, although he could do nothing else but go along with his detectives in their wish and need to locate these children.

  So, on a cold and frosty winter’s morning in the third week in January, the two detectives set off on their journey to Edinburgh. Their first stop was the address of this Maureen Davenport. The house turned out to be a substantial three storey terraced villa in a quiet residential street in Edinburgh’s West End. There were several steps leading up to the front door which appeared now to have several doorbells, signifying that behind lay multiple properties. They had to press all three bells before they received an answer. The voice seemed surprised when they announced through the intercom that they were from Grampian Police and could they speak to the person answering the buzzer.

  The occupant of the flat on the ground floor turned out to be quite helpful. He had bought one of the three apartments that had been converted two years previously. He had been taken with the property on the first floor as it had retained many of the original features for, as he told the two officers, nowadays, the first thing developers usually did was remove every piece of historical remnants of a building. From what he had understood, the previous occupants had lived in the house for many years and it had needed a fair bit of decoration and modernisation. The middle-aged man scratched his head when asked whether he knew the previous owner’s name. His answer was that occasionally an odd bit of mail arrived addressed to Davenport, therefore he assumed that this must have been the previous occupants’ name, especially given that no person with that name has resided here since he bought the property.

  The officers thanked the man for his assistance and left the property to think about their next move. They wandered back along the street realising that many of the houses had been made
into flats, and this meant that it was unlikely that anyone would remember the family who had resided at number forty. Des was then drawn to the house he was passing, it looked as though it was still in its original state and it might just be worth a knock.

  Des was rewarded by the door being answered by a stooped elderly lady. She had insisted in carefully examining their ID cards before permitting them entry. They had then slowly followed her as she used her walking stick to assist her progress down the long passageway to a small sitting room. Jane explained the reason for their visit. Oh yes, she knew the Davenports who had lived at number 40, she told them. However, before they could continue they must allow her to provide them with a cup of something. They must be in need if they had travelled all the way from Aberdeen that morning.

  Des and Jane waited as she disappeared out of the room; they could hear her speaking to someone and wondered who this was. The old lady returned to inform them that she had asked her daily woman to make some coffee and she would be along in a moment.

  The elderly woman, Mrs Cameron, informed them that she had resided in this house for forty years and she thought it a real shame that all of the houses were being turned into flats. The street had changed considerably over the years and, in fact, the last house to make the change from house into flats had been the Davenports.

  The two detectives realised that this interview was going to be slow. Mrs Cameron kept losing track and would start telling them about her life rather than of those along the street that they were interested in. They were rather pleased when the daily woman appeared carrying a tray with a coffee pot and a plate of biscuits, as it was a welcome distraction and allowed them to steer the conversation back to number 40.

  ‘Now, you’ll remember Maureen Davenport won’t you, Mrs Touch?’ This was a statement rather than a question to the woman as she placed the tray onto the small mahogany table.

  ‘Oh Aye, I remember her well. Bit of a surprise her up and going just like that it was.’

  Jane and Des felt their interest rise. ‘Could you tell us more?’ they asked.

  Between them the two women turned out to be a bit of a double act. It was clear that they had obviously known each other for many years as they almost finished off each other’s sentences. They were able to give the detectives a potted history of the Davenports from number 40.

  Jane took some notes as she listened to how Maureen Davenport, a woman in her forties, had lived in the house all of her life, the only daughter who had remained single, and had been a quiet unassuming and rather cultured woman. Naïve would be a good description of the woman. Apparently she had not been a particularly attractive woman, she was described as plain and homely and it was a great surprise when she took up with a man. When asked whether they could give details of the man, they were unable to assist. They did not know his name, they never had the chance to find out what it might have been, and it was, it seems, a bit of a clandestine affair. First, they heard how Maureen had nursed her mother over many years. Her mother suffered from multiple sclerosis and Maureen had been a wonderful daughter, never giving a minute to herself. When her mother eventually passed away about five years ago, Maureen switched her care to look after her father. The two women described how Sidney Davenport passed away, a sad affair and a very quick passing, apparently a heart problem. It was after this that Maureen had seemed to get a new lease of life. She had spent many years in the house looking after her parents and it was a surprise to the neighbour that she started going out at night.

  Mrs Tough was very clearly enjoying the telling of this story and continued to outline that, before they knew it, a For Sale sign suddenly appeared outside the house. Maureen had been a bit evasive when asked where she was moving too, ‘going to travel for a bit’, she had told Mrs Tough when she had been questioned by the woman as they stood waiting for a bus.

  The waiting for a bus comment caused Jane to raise her head and ask ‘Did Maureen have a car?’

  ‘No. Maureen never ever learnt to drive,’ they replied almost in unison to the young female detective. ‘No, she never had a car.’

  Mrs Cameron continued to provide the officers with further bits of information such as how quickly the house sold. It had made her think that if she ever wanted to retire to one of those pensioners modern apartments, she too would also be able to sell her house quickly.

  Des tried to bring the two women back to discussing details about Maureen. ‘Yes,’ they told him, not long before the house For Sale sign went up they had noticed that her man friend was spending more and more time visiting Maureen. Mrs Cameron did not like to admit that she had made it her daily duty to watch the goings on up the road. She could not help admit though, that Maureen’s father would have turned in his grave if he had known that his daughter had had a man staying with her, and her not married.

  The two detectives found themselves trying to hang on to their patience. Did either of the women remember much about this man, where had she met him? No, they did not know where Maureen would have met this man, he seemed a bit older than she was, and from afar he seemed a personable sort of man. Nor they did think they would be able to give them a description of the man. ‘Sort of thick built and brown non-descript mousy hair, a bit thinning on top. Had a bit of a belly on him,’ Mrs Tough recalled, screwing her face up in distaste.

  Des asked the next question. ‘When Maureen started going out socialising did either of you know whether she went alone, did she have any friends?’ Now that question set the two women off. Mrs Cameron clearly didn’t know the answer, but on this occasion it appeared that Mrs Tough was the font of all knowledge. She recalled that she had got sort of pally with another single woman.

  ‘Now, what on earth was her name? She lived in one of the flats in number 42,’ she recalled. She remembered sitting beside Maureen on the bus one afternoon and Maureen saying that she and whatever was her name, something like Stacy, ‘No, I remember it was Susan Stacy. That’s it I am sure. As far as I know she still lives in the same flat, except she won’t be there now as she works full time. But if anyone could tell you more about her romance with the man, then surely Susan would be able to.’

  There was one other thing that might help them, Mrs Cameron announced. All eyes turned to her expectantly. She had a photograph of Maureen; it had been taken a few years ago, during a New Year get together. Would that be of help?’ she asked.

  ‘Would it…? Oh yes, it would,’ Des responded, thinking that at last they seemed to be getting somewhere.

  They waited while Mrs Cameron disappeared out of the room to return several minutes later with a small leather photo album. She sat down back in her seat and began to flick through the photographs until she came to one showing a group of people toasting whoever had been taking the picture. She removed the item from its base and handed it over to Des.

  ‘That’s Maureen,’ she said, ‘it was taken, now let me think, it must have been four years ago, the year before Sidney died. That’s me next to her.’

  Des and Jane could not be more thankful as for the first time they may well have got a real lead. They thanked the two women and reassured them both that they had been a great help.

  Des and Jane left the house and returned to their car. ‘Well I never,’ he said, while rubbing his eyes as though trying to remind himself to stay awake. He was not someone who would have been described as a whiz kid, he was more of a plodder. He was pedantic and thorough, and liked to stand back from any situation to analyse and consider, before he made his next move.

  It irritated Jane who was almost the opposite, she wanted immediately to dash to number 42 to knock on the door of Maureen’s friend.

  Des repeated, ‘Well I never,’ again. Jane looked at him expectantly, as although he irritated her, she had enormous respect for her colleague and senior officer. While he would rub his chin and take his time before making any statements, she had on many occasions almost seen his cognitive processes working overtime to make sense of any confused in
terview they had conducted.

  ‘This Maureen does not sound as though she would be someone who would find it easy to break the law, now does she? From what the dynamic duo have just told us, she came from a good family, well brought up, middle-aged, and suddenly she gives everything up,’ he scratched his head again. ‘Right! We’ll go and find a café and get some food, then this afternoon we will come back and see if we can contact this Susan Stacy. Ok with you?’ Before Jane had any chance of answering the question, he had turned the ignition key and they were off in search of a café. She had to admit she was ready for something to eat before they continued with their investigations.

  It was actually after three when they saw a rather smart woman, possibly in her early forties, make her way along the pavement and stop outside the doorway of number 42. ‘Do you think this is our woman?’ Jane asked. Des nodded that it was a likely possibility, and he hoped very much that it was, as he was finding it difficult to stay awake while they waited for the woman to arrive home.

  They watched as the woman let herself into the front door of the property. Jane made her way out of the car quickly to call to her, and the woman nodded her head in affirmation that she was Susan Stacy. If she was surprised then she did not show it when she heard that these two people were police officers and wanted to speak to her about her friend Maureen Davenport. Or more like ex-friend she told them. She gestured to them to follow her up the central wide staircase to the first floor flat which it appeared was her home.