Jane returned to Bromley to do her report on the meeting with Mrs Parkin. She phoned Nick first to see if he was in.
‘Hi. It’s me. I’m due a lunchbreak. If you’re not busy, I could pop to the café and get a couple of sandwiches.’
‘I’d love to, but I’ve got to go to my dad’s,’ he said.
Jane thought he sounded stressed. ‘Is he all right?’
He sighed. ‘Not really. One of the other residents at the convent showed him the News Shopper article. He’s got himself in a right state about the site being closed down. He’s convinced no one will buy any property there if they think bodies of murdered children and nuns are buried in the grounds. His breathing sounded heavy and a bit erratic, so I’m quite worried about him, to be honest.’
Jane wondered if there was more behind Thomas Durham’s distress. ‘I’m really sorry, Nick. Obviously, we have to reassure the public we are investigating the allegation, but personally I think it’s just sensationalism by a young journalist. I found a document in the diocesan archives confirming the land was deconsecrated prior to the sale, so that should help put your father’s mind at rest.’
‘Thanks. That should cheer him up a bit. Hopefully I’ll see you tonight if he’s feeling better.’
‘No problem. Give him my best,’ she said, and ended the call, realising Nick was in a hurry.
Jane had started typing her report when Boon walked in.
‘How’s your leg?’
‘Bloody sore.’ He sat down, rubbed his shin, then looked at Jane with a sly grin. ‘I’ve just spoken to a woman who was a child at the convent from 1957 to 1962. She told me about a priest who used to visit and read them stories. The children called him Father Bob.’ He paused for Jane to answer.
Her eyes lit up. ‘Robert Meade! The bishop!’
He nodded. ‘She didn’t know his surname, but I’d bet my life it was Meade.’
‘That’s brilliant work, Boony. I was at the diocesan archives earlier. I think Meade knows more about the convent fire than he’s letting on. I’m beginning to wonder if it was arson.’
‘Pity no one examined it at the time,’ Boon remarked.
Jane held her right finger and thumb close. ‘I was this close to getting my hands on a list of former St Mary’s priests. With Meade’s name on it and Annette’s recollection of “Father Bob”, we’d have undeniable evidence to link him to the convent and the nuns.’
‘You might not need the list,’ he suggested. ‘Mrs Gorman is in regular contact with a lady called Julie. She used to be a nun at the convent. I’m waiting to see if she’ll speak to us. If she says Meade was a regular visitor to the convent, he’s screwed.’
‘You’ve had a productive day, Boony. Barnes will be pleased. How on earth did you find Annette Gorman?’
‘Believe it or not, PC Rogers’ daughter, Becky. She is really nice — unlike her old man. As a thanks for her help, I said she could attend the press conference.’
‘Be careful, Boony. I know from personal experience that journalists can be very underhand. They turn on the charm to get what they can out of you.’
‘She’s just a junior reporter,’ he said, ‘and her heart’s in the right place.’
Jane raised her eyebrows. ‘Sounds as if you like her.’
‘I’m not so stupid I’d mix business with pleasure,’ Boon said quickly.
Jane didn’t comment further. She knew many of her colleagues would disapprove of her dating Nick if they found out. It was early days, but she’d tell them when the time was right and duly suffer the raised eyebrows and cynical remarks.
‘What else did Mrs Gorman tell you?’ Jane asked.
Boon opened his notebook and went through his conversation with Annette.
Jane felt physically sick hearing how the children had been treated by some of the nuns. ‘Those poor kids. An orphanage is supposed to be a safe place, not a bloody prison camp.’
‘I just can’t understand why the nuns Annette said were nice, like Sister Julie, didn’t do something about it,’ Boon remarked.
Jane thought for a moment. ‘Maybe our victim tried to... and that’s why she was murdered.’
Boon nodded. ‘If you’re right, it points to nuns being involved more than Meade. Mrs Gorman said all the children liked him.’
‘I don’t doubt that, Boony. But what Annette told you raises a stronger possibility for me. Men who abuse children need to win their trust. Father Bob’s stories and boiled sweets may have been a means to an end.’
‘You think he was sexually abusing young girls?’ Boon asked in a shocked tone.
‘It could be boys as well as girls,’ she said. ‘When he handed out sweets, he said not to tell Mother Superior, or he’d get in trouble. Children who are abused don’t understand right from wrong or what is happening to them. They trust the abuser. They will do whatever they say. If our victim knew Meade was abusing children and threatened to expose him, his life would be over. He’d be defrocked and go to prison.’
‘His only way out would be to silence her,’ Boon concluded.
Jane’s desk phone rang. She picked it up, giving her rank and name.
‘It’s Father Floridia. Are you free to talk?’
She sensed an uneasiness in his voice. ‘Yes. Go ahead.’
‘Bishop Meade just phoned me in an absolute rage. He’s been made aware of an article in the Bromley News Shopper about the nun’s murder and the bodies of children—’
Jane interrupted him. ‘I know. I was at the diocesan archives earlier. I got asked to leave by a priest who’d just spoken with Bishop Meade.’
Father Chris’s tone changed. ‘Did you know about the newspaper article as well?’
‘Not until it was published this morning.’
‘You could at least have had the decency to warn me as soon as you knew about it,’ he said.
‘I’m sorry. It was thoughtless of me. It hit us out of the blue as well. What did Bishop Meade say?’
‘He accused me of being in cahoots with you, a liar and a disgrace to the Church. He said we have been deceitful, and the police were underhand by not being honest from the start.’
‘I’ll speak with Meade and tell him you didn’t know about the murder,’ Jane assured him.
‘I’ve already told him that, but I don’t think he believes me. He said I was not to talk to you again without his authority or a representative of the Church being present.’
‘Then why are you talking to me now?’ she asked.
‘There’s something you need to know, but I’d rather not say it over the phone. Can you come over to the presbytery?’
‘I’m quite busy at the moment...’
‘It’s about Bishop Meade. He’s lied to us.’
‘I’m on my way.’ Jane got up and grabbed her coat.
‘Where are you going?’ Boon asked.
‘I’ll tell you later. Write up your report on the Annette Gorman information,’ she said, hurrying out.
Father Floridia was dressed casually in his tracksuit when Jane arrived. He took her through to the living room. She could see the anxiety on his face as he took a deep breath.
‘Since we parted on Friday, the thought that someone connected to the convent might be involved in the nun’s death has eaten away at me. On Sunday, after mass, I spoke with one of my older parishioners about the convent. She didn’t know much about the nuns so I asked if she could remember who the priest at St Mary’s was in the late fifties and early sixties.’
‘And she told you it was Bishop Meade.’
Father Chris raised his eyebrows. ‘How did you know?’
Jane told him about her visit to the archives and Annette Gorman’s account of her time at the convent.
‘I don’t want this to sound insensitive,’ he said, ‘but... do you believe her?’