any red-blooded male wouldn’t refuse. Your mother defended you as best she could and tried to stand her ground, then after many minutes of shouting and swearing they decided to make sure you wouldn’t see each other again. How they would achieve that wasn’t clear at the time but over the coming days, a plan was made.” It appeared that Kevin’s mother had little say in the conspiracy that was hatched between her husband and Emma’s mother. She admitted that she wasn’t a “strong character,” and felt unable to stand up to the two of them. Her husband, who had always dominated her had worn her down over the years and made her feel that that she, “should know her place.”
The contents of the green suitcase had already revealed most of what their plan involved including the hidden letters, the change of telephone number and the sudden move by Kevin’s parents to St Albans. What was not clear was how they were going to deal with the fact a baby was on its way but as it transpired they didn’t have to.
In late October Kevin arrived with a birthday present for his mother. Everything was fine until Kevin started to talk about Emma and told them how upset he was that she didn’t want to see him any more. He told them about his phone call to Emma’s mother and how she said it was over between them and that it was time to move on. Talk of Emma made Kevin’s father angry but he managed to control it until Kevin announced that he intended to go to Durham to find her. That tipped the balance and he completely lost his temper. “In his usual manner,” said Kevin’s mother, “he shouted and swore and said things that he should never have said.”
When she started to tell them of the events of that October evening she clutched at the small gold chain and cross around her neck that Kevin had given to her as a birthday present. Then in order to compose herself before describing the unpleasantness of what happened, she paused a while and took a few deep breaths. “I had rarely seen my husband as angry as he was that night, I thought he was going to hit him,” she said woefully. “The things he came out with were terrible and mostly just lies that made things even worse. He said you were pregnant but you’d had an abortion. He told him you didn’t want his child so you got rid of it. He said you didn’t want to waste your life like your mother did. He said you never wanted to see him again. He went on and on at him and I could do nothing to stop it.” At that point she broke down in tears. Rachel reached out a comforting hand to Kevin’s mother and she was grateful. Between the tears and still holding tightly on to Rachel’s hand she described the last moments she saw her son. “With his father still shouting obscenities and threatening to hit him he kept backing away until he was by the front door where he had put his bag down when he arrived. Then, shouting louder than ever, my husband told him to get out and never come back. He said he had brought shame on the family and as far as he was concerned he was on his own and there would be no more money to fund him at university. Kevin never even tried to answer back but he looked to me for help and there was nothing I could do. I was helpless and as afraid as he was. I will never forget the look on his face as he picked up his bag and left. He hadn’t even known you had been pregnant and then all those other things that were said, the lies, the obscenities and the threats, whatever would he think? Then, about a week later, I got a letter from him to say he had left university and that he didn’t know what he was going to do. The only thing he was certain about was that he would never be coming home again. I have never seen him since that night almost five years ago although each year he sends me a card for my birthday. There is never any message other than a simple ‘happy birthday, love you mum’ and he has never given his address.”