Chapter 12

Later that day WPC Knight came to see Eve, to get her statement. Eve couldn't give her much information. She had been walking along the pavement and was unaware of the car approaching, until it hit her. Understandably at that point she was in no position to see what sort of car it was, nor describe the driver. She was shocked when the policewoman told her that Aubrey had been arrested and charged with Dangerous Driving with intent to cause injury. Eve looked at me astonishment. When WPC Knight had gone I explained as much as I knew.

"I knew Aubrey was angry with me for divorcing him, but I didn't think he would go that far." I had different ideas.

"I don't think it was you so much, as Aubrey getting back at me." Eve thought about that, then agreed with me.

"Yes. I think that's right. Oh John what are we going to do?"

"Nothing at the moment, let's see what the Law does first."

Eve's recovery was gradual. After two weeks they had her up and walking, very slowly with a frame, and two weeks after that she was walking steadily on her own. Doctor Emerson explained her injuries to us.

"Eve, you have been lucky." She looked at him in amazement.

"Lucky?" He grinned.

"Yes. Lucky. Without going into the medical terms it was the bone above the hip that was fractured. We pinned it, and it is healing well. If it had been the bone at the back, the Sacrum, we would have been in quite a lot of trouble. Now it is up to you. You must try to walk steadily every day. There will be discomfort so we will give you some pain-killers to counter that. Try not to depend on them too much. Now do you feel up to going home?"

"Yes please." Emerson looked at me.

"Eve will need your care. I know that you will give her that, but she must understand that she is not to overdo things." I agreed.

"I will make sure she doesn't."

I was so pleased to get Eve back home. I installed her on the long couch in the Lounge, with plenty of pillows which she argued about.

"I want to be back in our bed. I know we can't do any sullying, but I need to feel you next to me." I wanted Eve there as well, so compromised.

"It's easier for me to look after you down here during the day. But at night I will carry you upstairs." She was content with that.

"My Hero!" She smiled.

We had a stream of visitors during the day. Her friend Jillian was first, and told me firmly that she would help, allowing me to get back to my desk every other day. Andy called and let me know that Yvonne was doing as much of my work as she could.

"She can do the posting, John. But anything else and she's lost." We then got into a discussion about why Aubrey would do this. Eve added snippets about Aubrey's character, that neither Andy or I had seen.

"Aubrey has to be the winner. I know that if he lost an order to a competitor, he would go to see the client and tell them that they had been stupid, that the job would not be done right, and the components were rubbish. He told me gleefully on one occasion when he knew that a competitor was calling, he called on the prospect half an hour before the other agent was due. Then he kept the client talking until the other agent got tired of waiting and drove off." I was aware of some of his tricks, it explained some of his stunts with the paperwork, quoting a ridiculously low price to get the order, then sneaking in the add-ons.

Aubrey had already been charged in the Magistrates Court, and had opted to go to Crown Court for Trial. He had shocked the Court by instructing a lawyer to appear for him, rather than a Solicitor. The Court allowed him Bail, much to the anger of the CPS Solicitor. DC. Whittaker had given us the news when Eve was still in Hospital. It was therefore a surprise to have him call a week after we got Eve home.

I gave him coffee and he sat with Eve chatting casually, until I joined them in the Lounge.

"I'm afraid that I have some bad news for you. Aubrey, or rather the person calling himself Aubrey Chatsworth has skipped Bail. One of the conditions for Bail was reporting to the Police every week. He hadn't reported for three weeks and a Warrant for his arrest was issued." I was confused, as was Eve.

"Excuse me. The person who was calling himself Aubrey Chatsworth. What does that mean?"

"Your Aubrey Chatsworth flew to the States ten days ago, using a Passport in the name of Jackson Adams. An American Passport. We did some checking, and all Aubrey Chatsworth's in the UK are present and accounted for. The only one who hasn't been verified by local Police is an Aubrey Chatsworth who died aged three." We were to say the least stunned.

"How do you know it was him?" I asked the detective.

"All departures and arrivals are monitored on CCTV, and recorded on DVD. We got the recording. It was definitely him." Eve was bitterly angry.

"So if Aubrey wasn't really Aubrey, who did I marry?" Whittaker shook his head.

"We don't know. It wasn't Jackson Adams either, the FBI have already told us that is a false identity. They are pretty certain as to who he could really be, and if they are correct I'm afraid that we will never see him back in this country to stand Trial. The FBI want him for other crimes. In any case we find great difficulty in trying to extradite a citizen of the United States from the United States." I was shocked to hear that.