Faith - Lesley Pearse [237]
Laura told him about the property in Bromley. ‘We haven’t had much of a chance to discuss it properly, but Meggie and Ivy hope I’ll open a dress shop there.’
‘That sounds just perfect for you,’ he said.
Laura had hoped she might hear disappointment in his voice, but he didn’t even add a suggestion that maybe they could spend a little time together in Edinburgh before she returned to London. ‘Yes, I’m sure getting stuck into another business is just what I need,’ she said, forcing herself to sound excited. ‘But what about you? Are you all healed up?’
‘Pretty much,’ he said. ‘And I’ve had several offers of work, both here in Scotland and abroad. I think I’ll stay in Scotland though, at least until this probate stuff is sorted. Jackie would have wanted me to see it all through.’
He said then that he’d have to ring off as he had a lot of things to do, but he thought Patrick Goldsmith would be in touch with her any day with the date for the appeal.
‘So!’ Meggie said as she came off the phone. ‘Is he coming down? What are his plans?’
Laura smiled at the bright expectancy on her sister’s face. ‘His plans don’t include me, Meggie, though I’ll see him at the appeal. But after that it’s goodnight and goodbye, and we both move on.’
19
‘One more picture, Laura!’
‘How do you feel now you are free?’
‘What are your plans now, Laura? Will you stay in Scotland?’
‘Do you feel angry that you were put in prison for a crime you didn’t commit?’
‘You’ll be called as a prosecution witness when Belle Howell comes to trial. Will that be difficult for you?’
Laura fixed a smile on her face as the journalists outside the court fired questions at her. But what she really wanted to do was run away and hide, from them, the photographers and the television cameramen intent on sending her face out into every living room in the country.
She was of course ecstatically happy that finally it was publicly acknowledged that she was innocent of any crime. The judge had smiled at her and wished her well for the future, she’d been patted on the back, kissed, hugged and congratulated by a great many people. Patrick had even said she should get a hefty sum in compensation for wrongful imprisonment.
But she didn’t feel any joy at the smiles of the media people here today, for almost all of them had condemned her just twenty months ago, and revelled in all the dirt they managed to dig up on her.
It was tempting to remind them of that, even to quote some of the more salacious headlines they’d used at the time and make them squirm. But if she showed spite they were likely to reciprocate, and the sooner she said a few words, the sooner she could walk away and begin her new life.
Glancing behind her at Meggie, Ivy, Angie, Stuart and Patrick, the concern etched on their faces gave her the strength she needed.
‘I’m thrilled to be free, and my name cleared,’ she began, looking from one face to another and trying hard not to think how good it would be to slap some of them. ‘It’s too soon to know where I’ll live permanently. As for my wrongful imprisonment; my biggest sorrow is not that I lost my freedom for two years, awful as that was, but that people actually believed I killed my dearest friend.’
She paused for dramatic effect. ‘Jackie Davies had been my lifelong friend. We had grown up together and shared so much. I loved her and I still grieve for her. My life will never be the same again because she can’t be part of it.’
She was glad to see a few of them looked a little shamefaced, and that was all the revenge she needed.
‘But today isn’t one for blaming others, nor for anger or bitterness,’ she went on. ‘It is a joyful day because a wrong has been righted.’
She turned slightly, holding out one hand to indicate Stuart.
‘I would like to publicly thank my old friend Stuart Macgregor. Without him I wouldn’t be talking to you today. He believed in me when few others did, and dug up new evidence for my appeal. He even risked his life for me. I’d like you all to join me in applauding his courage.’
As she began to clap, the crowd