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Authors: Evelyn James
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answer
to his own anguish.
“You did not tell Jurgen?”
“It’s not the sort of news you write in a letter and,
well…” Mrs Smith grimaced, “I couldn’t face explaining it, not then. And the
longer I left it, the harder it was to think about writing it down on paper. I
should have told him, I intended to. I just didn’t.”
“I can see these last few years have been hard on you Mrs
Smith.”
Mrs Smith gave a hollow laugh.
“Very hard. I turn up an hour early for a doctor’s
appointment just to avoid being in the house alone.”
“My sister has worked on a lot of missing person cases,
she might be able to help.”
“I don’t expect Jurgen to be alive. I hope, naturally.
But if he was alive he would have come home. I just need to know what happened
to him.”
Tommy nodded.
“Look, my sister will gladly accept whatever you can
afford. Don’t pawn the watch or anything else.”
“Thank you. That is the kindest thing anyone has done for
me in years.” Mrs Smith almost cried. Her relief was palpable.
“Just give me your address and the relevant details about
Jurgen. His date of birth, height, German name, and any details about exactly
where he was interned.”
“I have all his letters and things. I could bring them to
you?”
“That would be ideal.” Tommy dug in his pocket and drew
out a crumpled cigarette card featuring one of his favourite cricket players.
He decided the card would have to be sacrificed in the name of a good cause,
and borrowed a pencil off Mrs Smith to jot down the Fitzgerald home address,
“I’ll be in all tomorrow, thought I can’t guarantee Clara will be.”
“Thank you very much, I will drop by in the morning.”
Mrs Smith carefully put the card away in her bag.
“And thank you Mr Fitzgerald for talking to a German.”
Tommy suddenly felt ashamed of his earlier reaction to
the woman.
“I shouldn’t… I mean, it’s not your fault the war began.”
He stammered.
“But I saw how hard it was for you, because of what you
went through. I can understand that. I didn’t say it to make you feel bad, just
to let you know that I appreciate your patience with me when it must be
difficult.”
“The war left a lot of… unpleasant feelings.” Tommy
explained.
“As long as you can accept I am not the enemy?” Mrs Smith
gave him a gentle smile, “I will look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
Dr Cutt appeared around the door at that moment.
“Mr Fitzgerald? How are the legs?” He asked merrily.
Tommy found he had not been paying attention to the
effects of the sedative. He rubbed at his thigh.
“A little numb. In fact, I feel a bit numb all over.”
“Good! Time for the next phase.” He went to grab Tommy’s
chair, “Good morning Mrs Schmitt, you’re early.”
Mrs Smith/Schmitt nodded her head at him.
“Now Thomas, I want you to clear your mind of all
thoughts.” Dr Cutt continued as he pushed Tommy from the room.
Tommy realised he had not been listening, his mind
instead turned to wondering what had become of the young Jurgen.
“Hmm?”
“Clear your mind of all thoughts.”
“Oh, right.” Tommy pulled a face. He might as well have been
asked to stand up and tap dance. Oh well, it was just one more experiment to
prove he couldn’t walk. Tommy tried to block out thoughts of Jurgen Smith and
his lonely mother. Whatever had become of him it was Clara’s mystery to solve.
Only problem was he couldn’t help an image of that silver
watch flashing back into his mind, and the sensitive, ill man behind it who had
shot himself out of shame for being German. Somehow he just knew there was a
tragedy lurking in the background of the Smith life, one that had yet to be
discovered and he had the nasty feeling he was going to be the one to do it.
Chapter Seven
‘Mummification methods’ was one of those topics the
Brighton library card catalogue did not appear to cover. Clara found this
highly annoying, but she was not deterred and a visit to
to his own anguish.
“You did not tell Jurgen?”
“It’s not the sort of news you write in a letter and,
well…” Mrs Smith grimaced, “I couldn’t face explaining it, not then. And the
longer I left it, the harder it was to think about writing it down on paper. I
should have told him, I intended to. I just didn’t.”
“I can see these last few years have been hard on you Mrs
Smith.”
Mrs Smith gave a hollow laugh.
“Very hard. I turn up an hour early for a doctor’s
appointment just to avoid being in the house alone.”
“My sister has worked on a lot of missing person cases,
she might be able to help.”
“I don’t expect Jurgen to be alive. I hope, naturally.
But if he was alive he would have come home. I just need to know what happened
to him.”
Tommy nodded.
“Look, my sister will gladly accept whatever you can
afford. Don’t pawn the watch or anything else.”
“Thank you. That is the kindest thing anyone has done for
me in years.” Mrs Smith almost cried. Her relief was palpable.
“Just give me your address and the relevant details about
Jurgen. His date of birth, height, German name, and any details about exactly
where he was interned.”
“I have all his letters and things. I could bring them to
you?”
“That would be ideal.” Tommy dug in his pocket and drew
out a crumpled cigarette card featuring one of his favourite cricket players.
He decided the card would have to be sacrificed in the name of a good cause,
and borrowed a pencil off Mrs Smith to jot down the Fitzgerald home address,
“I’ll be in all tomorrow, thought I can’t guarantee Clara will be.”
“Thank you very much, I will drop by in the morning.”
Mrs Smith carefully put the card away in her bag.
“And thank you Mr Fitzgerald for talking to a German.”
Tommy suddenly felt ashamed of his earlier reaction to
the woman.
“I shouldn’t… I mean, it’s not your fault the war began.”
He stammered.
“But I saw how hard it was for you, because of what you
went through. I can understand that. I didn’t say it to make you feel bad, just
to let you know that I appreciate your patience with me when it must be
difficult.”
“The war left a lot of… unpleasant feelings.” Tommy
explained.
“As long as you can accept I am not the enemy?” Mrs Smith
gave him a gentle smile, “I will look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
Dr Cutt appeared around the door at that moment.
“Mr Fitzgerald? How are the legs?” He asked merrily.
Tommy found he had not been paying attention to the
effects of the sedative. He rubbed at his thigh.
“A little numb. In fact, I feel a bit numb all over.”
“Good! Time for the next phase.” He went to grab Tommy’s
chair, “Good morning Mrs Schmitt, you’re early.”
Mrs Smith/Schmitt nodded her head at him.
“Now Thomas, I want you to clear your mind of all
thoughts.” Dr Cutt continued as he pushed Tommy from the room.
Tommy realised he had not been listening, his mind
instead turned to wondering what had become of the young Jurgen.
“Hmm?”
“Clear your mind of all thoughts.”
“Oh, right.” Tommy pulled a face. He might as well have been
asked to stand up and tap dance. Oh well, it was just one more experiment to
prove he couldn’t walk. Tommy tried to block out thoughts of Jurgen Smith and
his lonely mother. Whatever had become of him it was Clara’s mystery to solve.
Only problem was he couldn’t help an image of that silver
watch flashing back into his mind, and the sensitive, ill man behind it who had
shot himself out of shame for being German. Somehow he just knew there was a
tragedy lurking in the background of the Smith life, one that had yet to be
discovered and he had the nasty feeling he was going to be the one to do it.
Chapter Seven
‘Mummification methods’ was one of those topics the
Brighton library card catalogue did not appear to cover. Clara found this
highly annoying, but she was not deterred and a visit to
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