46. I’m Not Signing Anything

Kathy looked at Brampton for guidance on how to respond. She got nothing. “I think you’re brave for sharing all this,” she said cautiously. “And you’re brave to take on the house, I think your dad and your sister would be pleased,” she spoke sincerely, but finished with a frown which Madeline picked up on.

“There’s a but?” she asked.

“You’re very open today,” Kathy said, “we appreciate that, but when I spoke to you before, you often seemed anxious and guarded. There were times I wondered if you were being totally honest with me.”

Madeline wasn’t offended. “Let me put this in perspective. I’m a surgical nurse which can be traumatic. My husband has had a dreadful accident, and unless we spend a lot of time and money he may never work again. I’m fighting a heartless company for compensation. Did I tell you they brought five lawyers to our first meeting and about a hundred pages for me to sign? I couldn’t understand them so I didn’t sign them. Then you come snooping around, for all I know you’re working for that company or undercover for the police because, oh yes, my sister was murdered by some ceremonial fanatic.”    She tipped her head. “Yes, I was a little tense.”

Kathy decided to plough on. She still had questions. “You told me a different story about your mom and Shaye’s dad, you said it was just a brief encounter. It was a lot more than that.”

Madeline opened her mouth and shut it again. She drew a big breath. “Okay. What I told you at first was the story my mother told me. This one is the true story, the one I heard from Shaye, and she knew it because her dad confided in her before he died. He never knew about the pregnancy, he just told her that he’d been in love with another woman who had gone away and broken his heart. He begged her not to tell her mother. Shaye never told anyone but me – why would she? I had no idea the story would be of interest to you, Kathy, so I told you my mom’s version.”

At this point, Brampton seemed to wake from his reverie. “Tell me about this issue with your husband.”

“What do you want to know?” she sighed. “You could get all the information you need from the company or the lawyers.”

Brampton was unfazed. “It sounds like you need a hand. I don’t know if I can help, but maybe Jackson, Jackson and Kelsey can.”

She considered. “The company says John was drunk. If he was drunk, he’d be responsible for the accident and they’d be off the hook.” She shifted in her chair and looked uncomfortable. “The day of the accident there had been a small party in the back of the warehouse where beer and liquor were being served and John had stopped in for a few minutes before his shift. They jumped on the chance to claim he was drunk.”

Kathy asked gently, “Madeline, is it possible he had been drinking?”

“No!” Madeline said loudly. “My husband does not drink. I’ve said it and said it again, but they don’t want to hear it. He’s had maybe three drinks in all the time I’ve known him, and that was including a glass of wine one Christmas that his bloody brother practically poured down his throat. He doesn’t like the taste, he doesn’t like the sensation, so he just doesn’t bother with booze. If people get insistent he tells them it would be a waste of alcohol because he’s tried it and he doesn’t like it. That usually puts them off. Our friends and his workmates know he only drinks soft drinks and wouldn’t even bother to offer him alcohol.”

“Why didn’t the company just ask his workmates?” Kathy asked.

Madeline shrugged. “It’s not what they want to hear. The real issue is the equipment he was using had no safety guard and the company had been cited several times for not following regulations. The machine requires constant maintenance and with the safety guard in place they have to shut down the whole line to do maintenance. Without it they can just slow down the line to do a fix. Everybody knows it’s not safe, but they do it. If the company is found guilty of endangering the workers, ignoring regulations, there will be a huge government fine.”

Kathy began to see the big picture. It was worth paying a team of expensive lawyers to fight the little nurse and her injured husband. Brampton seemed satisfied with her explanation.

“Okay, let’s move on to the house release. It’s a seven-page legal form we need you to sign.”

She sat back and folded her arms across her chest. “I want my lawyers to look at it before I sign anything,” Madeline said.

“It really is just a standard form,” he said patiently. “I’m not trying to put anything over on you.”

“Detective Brampton, my lawyer specifically told me not to sign anything until he’s looked at it.”