Who is Alice? Read online

  “I think he bought it outright. He’s never talked about a mortgage. But . . . maybe he was into buying properties . . . occasionally letters arrived addressed to some company – Tower Enterprises or something like that. He never told me why they were addressed to our apartment so I always assumed it was some private businessenterprise of his.”

  “Then it’s possible a company owns the apartment – we’ll have to establish that,” said Nicola. “Right – can you remember exactly when you moved in, Alice?”

  “It’s definitely over twelve years ago because it was a few months before Grace was born and she’ll be twelve on the 29thof October. Is that important?”

  “Yes, because the length of time you’ve been here is significant if we have to establish a legal right to remain in the apartment. It’s complicated but I’ll explain it to you soon if the need arises. We have more immediate things to deal with now.”

  Alice sighed.

  “Tell me more about your situation,” Nicola encouraged her.

  The story that unfolded over the next half hour was bizarre even by Nicola’s standards, but the most bizarre aspect of all was the fact that, as Alice recounted the story of her life over the past thirteen years or so, she appeared to think that it was quite normal.

  She told them that her relationship with Jack Madden had begun when she was aged seventeen and she went to work for his family as a sort of au pair. She had intended to work for them for a year or more because she was undecided what she wanted to do with her life after her Leaving Certificate. She had hoped to make a decision by the end of the year. The sexual relationship between her and her employer had begun on her eighteenth birthday. Her face practically glowed as she told them and she said that she was delighted when some months later she found that she was pregnant. Jack, she said, was delighted too and suggested that they set up home in Galway, which was his constituency and where he had grown up, and he already spent a lot of time there doing constituency work. “I can have two real homes,” he said, beaming at her. His wife, of course, was not informed of this arrangement. Alice went along with it and, judging from the way she told the tale, she was quite happy to do so.

  Alice recounted her story as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She was deeply hurt by the fact that her parents were disapproving of her situation and, though she had a brother and sister, only her sister was in regular contact with her now. She did send photos of herself and the children home. They were the first grandchildren in the family, but she knew from her sister that the photos were not framed and put on the mantelpiece like the rest of the family photos. They were kept in an envelope in a drawer and only taken out if an immediate member of the family showed an interest. No – nobody in Alice’s home village knew that she was in a relationship with the dashing TD and that she had two children and was living in sin in a posh apartment in Galway.

  As the story unfolded it became obvious to Nicola that virtually nothing had occurred by accident. Jack Madden had planned most of it. He had targeted a very young girl when she was at her most romantic and naïve and even now, thirteen years later, stunningly beautiful. He formed the relationship with her entirely on his own terms. He dazzled her with his wealth and, if there was ever a possibility that she would question his commitment to her and the girls, he simply bought her another expensive gift or arranged for them to go on a holiday to a really exotic location . . . and, if he was really feeling generous, he would grace them with his presence for a day or two while they were on holiday and just for that few days they behaved like a real family. And if, by chance, they bumped into an Irish person while on holiday he would pass Alice off as his niece. On one occasion, when a city councillor from Galway walked over to them by the pool in a beautiful hotel in Antibes, they even joked that he was too young to be agreat-uncle to the girls. Alice had laughed along with them, going along with the deceit. Jack preferred it that way.

  Heusually stayed with his second family three nights each week except during the summer when the Dáil was in recess and his other familywere holidaying in their second home in Connemara. That was the time that Alice found most difficult because she saw less of Jack. His visits were short and hurried and, even though he tried to say that this made it more romantic, Alice didn’t like not having him around.There was also the added complication that she could meet his wife on the streets of Galway but she avoided that by just turning away if she saw her coming. But, in general, she accepted her situation. She had known he was married when she fell in love with him and there was never a question of him leaving his wife.

  Apart from the unusual nature of the relationship, Alice described it as a very comfortable way of life. When the girls were babies she had a nanny – an older woman who was very discreet. Jack had chosen her but Alice was quite happy with his choice. She certainly didn’t want another nubile young woman coming into Jack’s life in the way she had. Jack was marvellous but he wasn’t a saint!

  Alice lived in a sort of a cocoon in which Jack organised and financed everything. She had been upset when he insisted she put ‘Father unknown’ on the birth certificates but she supposed she could understand it really. While he really loved having two families and assured her that things would “sort themselves out in the future”, it was just not appropriate for it to get out at that time.

  He was marvellous and attentive when he was with them and always phoned or texted to let them know his plans. He was generous with money and never asked her to account for how she spent her allowance. She always had a good car which he paid for, taxed, insured and changed every two years. He allowed her as much freedom as she wished. She had girlfriends and he was happy with that so long as she promised him that she would never disclose who the girls’ father was and made sure no friends dropped in when he was there. He trusted her and up until today she had never betrayed that trust.

  “Grace is getting older now,” she whispered, “and beginning to ask questions.So I told her that her dad had died in a drowning accident and his body was never found and that Uncle Jack has stepped into the breach. She seems happy enough with that.”

  “And you haven’t heard from him for two days now?” Nicola eventually asked. The situation was almost too strange to be believed. “This isunusual, you said?”

  “Very. He normally gets in touch almost every day – and he has never left an urgent message unanswered.”

  “What type of urgent situations arose in the past?”

  “Like when Orla was rushed into hospital with a burst appendix. He was here within hours and arranged everything for us.”

  “How do you mean ‘arranged’?”

  “He got her a private room, the best consultant and so on – I didn’t have to worry about a thing.”

  “And did nobody in the hospital remark on that?”

  “Not to me and, if they remarked on it to him, he probably told them I was his niece.” Her lower lip quivered again.

  “We will have to try and fix you up with accommodation for the next few nights and I will see what I can do in the longer term,” Nicola said in an effort to bring the conversation back to the present.

  “I have very little money for a hotel, though I suppose I could use the credit card,” Alice said thoughtfully. “I’ll need clothes as well for me and the children.”

  Cassandra intervened at this point.

  “I could take you to Dunnes,” she said, “and then we could try and book you into a hotel. I am fairly free for the rest of the day so I can do the driving.”

  “I usually shop at Brown Thomas,” Alice said.

  The other two women looked at each other, both having the feeling that she wouldn’t be shopping in BT for much longer.

  It was arranged that Cassandra would take Alice shopping, book her into a B&B or hotel near the school and Nicola would go back to the office and see what she could arrange for the longer term.

  As she drove back to the Health Centre, Nicola wondered if she was being conned. In her he
art she believed Alice, and Cassandra seemed to believe her as well, but the situation was so far-fetched that she wondered if she was being naïve. She was going to have to convince a Community Welfare Officer to pay Alice subsistence within the next few days and she could almost see in advance of that discussion the look of incredulity on the CWO’s face. If she was being taken for a ride, it wouldn’t be the first time, but that sort of thing went with the territory. People in desperate situations sometimes were less than totally honest but, in this case, if the client wasn’t being sincere, Nicola could be left with a lot of egg on her face. As she drove into her parking space she wondered how the case would unfold.

  Chapter 2

  By the time Alice and Cassandra came to Nicola’s office the next day she had some homework done. She had spoken to Alice’s local Community Welfare Officer and got a predictable sceptical response but the CWO said Alice should attend one of her clinics over the next few days, bringing relevant documents showing proof of address, bank statements, Child Benefit receipts, PPS number etc, and she would do what she could to help her. But even that was more complicated than Nicolaexpected. When she spoke to Alice she discovered that she didn’t know her PPS number – in fact, she had never heard of one.Jack took care of all the paperwork.

  “You must have one!” Nicola said. “You have to have one to claim. You must surely be gettingChild Benefit, aren’t you?”

  “I didn’t claim it. Jack said it wasn’t necessary. He would look after us.”

  “We’ll have to register you for it so. Everybody in the country is entitled to Child Benefit. And the fact that you don’t know your PPS number will undoubtedly delay your application for a Social Welfare payment and Rent Supplement so we’ll have to apply for interim emergency help. How much money do you have in the bank now?”

  “Just over two hundred euro,” Alice said tearfully. “And that will have to pay for the B&B. My credit card wasn’t accepted in the shops yesterday. It seems that has been stopped as well.”

  “Keep it anyway. We’ll need it as evidence.”

  “For what?” Alice sounded panicky.

  “To prove that your children are Jack Madden’s and that he has a responsibility to provide for them. But that is a long way down the road and we need to look after your more immediate needs now – like where you are going to stay for the next few weeks or months.We’ll need proof of your address for starters. Do you have a driving licence?”

  “Yes, but it’s in the apartment. Everything I own is in the apartment – even Orla’s favourite blanket. She couldn’t sleep last night.” Alice broke down in tears again.

  “We need to get into that apartment but we will need an injunction and I’m not sure that we can get that on legal aid, based on your story.”

  Cassandra, who had been silent up until now, said quietly, “I think I can help.”

  “How?” the others asked in unison.

  “Don’t ask. Alice, make a list of what you need from the apartmentand I’ll see what I can do.”

  Nicola looked doubtfully at Cassandra and was about to question her further but then thought it best not to know what she was up to. She turned back to Alice.

  “Now that your money has run out,” she said quietly, “I’ll have to get you into a women’s refuge.”

  “But those places are not for the likes of me! I’ve never been hurt by any man!” Alice’s tone was appalled.

  “What do you call this?” Nicola said. “I don’t mean to offend you, but you have to face up to the fact that you’ve been abandoned and you’re in for a very difficult time. If you don’t face up to the reality of it, you will not be able to deal with it.”

  Fresh sobs convulsed Alice’s body and Nicola felt sorry she had been so blunt but she felt the sooner Alice accepted her situation the sooner she would be able to make difficult decisions, like pursuing Jack Madden for maintenance, even if it meant costing him his career.

  By the time Alice and Cassandra left, Nicola felt quite frustrated by Alice’s attitude, but she was glad in a way that she had such a complicated case to deal with.

  She had gone home the night before, stressed out completely, to find that Jonathan had passed out on the sofa. She had looked at him in exasperation. He was gorgeous – no doubt about that. The epithet ‘tall, dark and handsome’ described him to a tee even if it was a bit of a cliché. But his charm was beginning to pall – for her at least and not without good reason. She’d thought she noticed the sickly sweet smell of dope on the landing as she turned the key but had hoped that it was not from their apartment. The stronger smell in the apartment confirmed her worst fears but it was when she found traces of coke on the coffee table that she nearly blew a fuse.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The place was like a bomb site with the remains of his breakfast and lunch on plates on the floor beside the sofa.

  “It was only a little line,” he whined. “And I had to have a smoke to come down. In any case I deserve it. I’ve had a bad week.”

  “I am a social worker with the Health Service Executive!” Nicola shouted. “What do you think it would do to my career if the police found drugs in my apartment?”

  “Don’t be so neurotic. They won’t find anything. Chill out.” Jonathan heaved himself into a sitting position, his beautiful brown eyes drowsy with sleep. He was more dishevelled than usual and looked as if he hadn’t even washed that day.

  “For God’s sake, Jonathan! Grow up! You know that thatsergeant living on the ground floor already suspects you since he came complaining about the noise at our New Year’s Eve party and you went out to him as high as a kite!” She had taken off her jacket and now automatically started to clear up.

  “You have nothing to worry about. It’s me that uses the stuff. He can’t get you for anything.”

  “Except that it’s my apartment and if they carried out a search, it’s my name would be in the local paper! I would be fired and I would be unemployable. I want you to flush what you have down the loo and never bring it into the apartment again!”

  “You can’t be serious. It cost me my last few quid.”

  “Maybe you should be wiser about the way you spend your money.”

  “You are so uptight. What’s a bit of weed and a few lines of coke between friends?”

  “You’re my partner. We live together. That, I would have thought, makes us more than friends. I’ve never been comfortable with your drug-taking even though you think you can control it. Most alcoholics and heroin addicts hold the view that they are in control. I think it’s getting out of control. You can’t afford it in any case, apart altogether from the fact that it could cost me my job and ultimately my apartment.”

  Jonathan went through the motions. She didn’t follow him to make sure that he had destroyed the stuff and she suspected that he hadn’t, but she hadn’t the energyfor the argument that would be inevitable if she insisted on watching him.

  Nicola sighed and tried to shake the thought of Jonathan out of her head. She wondered, and not for the first time, what she had ever seen in him. He was handsome, talented, witty, but she was fed up with his tantrums and she wasn’t sure if the relationship was worth the hassle. But that was for another day, and for now she had to concentrate on Alice.

  Having received permission from Alice to do so, Nicola went to discuss the case with her manager. He just didn’t believe it.

  “I’ve been a member of that party for years, all my adult life in fact. If he were carrying on I’d know about it. You know me. I’m aware of a lot of secrets that people don’t know about but this is definitely not true. Your woman is mad or very cunning, and I suspect the former.”

  Pat Kelly was normally very astute. He was an easygoing man who was not easily phased. He dressed casually even at work and in generalexuded that type of impression.

  “You haven’t met her, Pat. I believe her. Otherwise she has put on a performance worthy of an Oscar.”

  “Oh, come on, Nicola! I
would never have put you down as a woman who sees every woman wronged in some way.”

  “I’d never have put you down as a member of the old boys’ club, where boys will be boys, and so long it’s not too open we don’t tell!”

  “Don’t be so snide, Nicola! It doesn’t suit you. Help this woman by all means but I don’t believe her story.”

  “If she gives me permission today I’m going to ring him at his Dáil office,” Nicola told him quietly.

  “That is not a good idea. If it blows up in your face, you’re on your own. This could cost you your career but it’s not going to cost me mine.”

  The conversation depressed Nicola. She and Pat had always got on well and, up until now, she’d felt she could trust him with anything. In fact, they had been through many rough situations together in the few years she had been in Galway and she’d always felt that they were of like mind where it mattered.

  She dealt with a number of other cases and visited a young father of five children whose wife had died a month earlier of cancer and was again astonished by his excellent coping skills. Despite the fact that this family had been visited by the most horrendous loss, the children were so well looked after that she knew she need have no concerns about them. The biggest question posed here was how this man could retain his not very well-paid job and still look after his children, because his wages wouldn’t run to childcare and his extended family were in Cork. She wished Alice O’Brien had half his coping skills.

  Chapter 3

  When Cassandra and Alice came to Nicola’s office the following dayCassandra had good news.

  “I got some of the things Alice needed from the apartment – her passport, the children’s birth certificates, her driver’s licence and some of their favourite clothes and toys. And this.” She put a large jewellery case on the desk. “Jack Madden was quite generous when it came to gifts of jewellery.”

  “How did you do that?” Nicola was amazed.