but screamed. ‘How bloody dare you!’ Her shrill voice bounced off the hard low ceiling. ‘She was like his own, like his own flesh and blood. It was never like that . . . like you say!’
‘But he was always in their rooms,’ replied Alice, ‘wasn’t he? Always hanging around them, always poking his nose in.’
Heads nodded either side of her.
Tami shook her head. ‘He was as good as a grandfather to her. I know you do not like him but I know he is a good man.’
‘Oh, yeah!’ Alice snorted sarcastically. ‘Just like a scout leader, or an outreach worker. A good man until you go and find all the filth on their computer. That’s how it usually—’
‘Alice!’ Tami snapped. She shook her head. ‘You have a dirty, poisonous mind! I know why he was with the Sutherlands so much.’
‘Why?’
‘He is in love with Jenny.’
That silenced Alice for a moment.
‘He loves her,’ she continued. ‘He . . . he worships her. That is why!’
‘And that’s exactly how manipulative people like him can be,’ said Alice. ‘Work through the mother to get to the child.’
Tami’s face creased with exasperation. ‘Why, Alice? Why do you hate him so much?’
‘I just know men, Tami. You don’t mix old men like Walter with young girls!’
‘But he has never done anything like this. How can you say he did things to Hannah or Natasha!’
‘Oh come on, you’ve seen him with Hannah. Carrying her, holding her . . . it’s not right, it’s not appropriate!’
‘It is not appropriate to hold a child?’ Tami looked incredulously at her. ‘Not appropriate to hug a child? Where my family come from . . .’ she paused a moment, ‘where my family came from, it was natural for all the family, the aunties and the uncles, the cousins, everyone, to cherish the children, to show them love, to hold them.’
‘Well that’s your fucking country!’ shouted someone from the back.
Tami lowered her eyes, infuriated. ‘My country? My country!’ She sighed, looking defeated. ‘Yes, you’re right, that’s how it was in my country. But in my country, a good man like Walter would have been respected. He would be treated much better than this.’
‘Oh,’ Alice tutted. ‘And that would probably explain a lot about your country.’
Valérie let them carry on, amused at how venomous some of them seemed to be regarding the old man. He almost felt sorry for Walter. The poor old fool’s biggest crime was looking too much the part; old and ugly. Wasn’t that how people liked their perverts to look? It made it so much easier to tear them to pieces.
Valérie could see his women were unanimous in wanting an example made of him. That much was obvious. They wanted a pound of flesh for Natasha Bingham. Nothing less would satisfy them. The matter of Jennifer Sutherland, though, that had yet to be addressed.
He raised a hand. It was enough to quickly halt the heated debate. The women shushed each other until the mess was finally silent.
‘I believe there is nothing more sacred than the innocence of a child. And I do believe it was Walter. What he must have done to the poor girl on that boat . . .’ he shook his head. ‘I cannot forgive him that.’
He could hear the muted sob of Mrs Bingham and murmurs of agreement.
‘Walter will be cast out for that. And may God have mercy on his soul.’ He rubbed his bandaged hand unconsciously. ‘As for Jennifer, she is a person who has been through so very much. I do feel much sympathy for her. Not anger. She has lost all of her family. She lost that little girl. And she is angry at me because she believes I have stolen all of you away from her.’
‘She a fucking nut!’ shouted someone.
‘She had it coming, the fascist bitch!’
Valérie raised his good hand to quieten them down. ‘No, she is not a . . . nut. And I do not think she should share the same fate as her friend. But,’ he shrugged, ‘I cannot trust her not to try and attack me again.’
‘Kick her off!’
‘She’s got to go!’
He sighed. ‘It may well be. I shall pray and consider. However, tomorrow the old man must be dealt with. It would be unkind to him to delay.’
Tami turned to him. ‘No, you cannot do this!’
Valérie looked at her and smiled sadly. ‘The judgment is not just mine. God has made His will known through our mouths, through this discussion.’ He could