Page 128 of The Stranger in Room Six
‘Do you have any children?’ I ask.
‘No,’ she says. ‘I wish I had.’
Is that the dementia speaking or could it be true? Had Penny, Gerald’s receptionist, been lying to me? Was it possible that Karen sent her to see me in prison with some concocted story about a child just to make me feel worse?
Did I kill my husband for nothing?
But then something happens that pushes Karen clean out of my mind.
89
I can tell something’s wrong with Mabel the minute I arrive. Her face is pale and her words stumble over each other.
‘I received something in the post this morning.’ She hands over an envelope with a shaky hand.
Inside is a note in large capital letters.
FASCIST TRAITORS MUST DIE. YOUR SINS WILL BE PUNISHED.
My heart begins to thud. ‘Who sent this to you?’
‘I don’t know. But I do know that I’m not a fascist.’ Mabel’s eyes fill with tears. ‘I was just a naive teenager. I didn’t know what I was doing. You’re the only person alive who knows about Clarissa roping me in. Have you told anyone?’
‘No, of course not.’ I tell myself that the snippets I’d passed to Mouse didn’t necessarily imply that Mabel was a traitor.
‘Have you shown this to anyone else?’ I ask.
‘I briefly thought of telling Harry but he’s so busy with this political campaign that I don’t want to bother him.’
‘Political campaign?’
‘Don’t you know? He’s in the running for PM.’
During my time in prison, I avoided the news and the habit has stuck. ‘What’s his surname?’
‘Like mine, of course. Marchmont.’
Harry Marchmont! I’d seen pictures of him on the front of newspapers when he’d been appointed deputy PM a while ago. A good-looking man with kind eyes. The public seem to like him.
‘Why haven’t you mentioned that your brother’s a famous politician?’
‘Well, I sort of did,’ Mabel says vaguely. ‘But Harry has always told me to play it down. It might put off residents if they don’t share the same political values.’
I can see that. But what will it do to his prospects if it’s discovered that his half-sister was unwittingly involved with people who wanted Hitler to win. And more importantly, what would it do to Mabel? Her safety could be threatened.
The jigsaw pieces are slowly beginning to fall into place.
‘Give the note to me,’ I tell Mabel. ‘I’ll sort it out.’
‘Do you think I’m in danger?’
I hesitate, not wanting to frighten her. ‘Just don’t accept any visitors or phone calls until we know more.’
90
I storm into Mouse’s room and find her slumped in front of the television, watching a daytime quiz show.
Slamming my hand down on the remote, I wave the note in front of her.
