News
“Have you seen the papers?” Kelly asked, her face quite serious again, and Meg felt her stomach tighten as her friend stared into her eyes.
“What papers?” Meg asked. “The ones about Titanic?’
“No, the ones about you,” she replied, her eyes flittering to Charlie.
“She hasn’t seen them,” he muttered, and Meg realized he must have read the newspapers himself.
“What do they say?” Meg asked, feeling a bit of panic rising in her throat, wondering if someone had discovered where she was or had decided she’d committed some sort of violent crime or other atrocity.
Kelly cleared her throat. “I have one. It’s weeks old, since it had to come across the Atlantic, and we all know how hazardous that can be.”
“May I see it?”
Kelly glanced at Charlie, who nodded at her, and then she crossed to her kitchen and returned in a moment with a well-worn newspaper. Meg pulled her hand away from Charlie’s and took it. The headline read, “Westmoreland Believed to be Dead.” She swallowed hard at a photograph of her uncle’s automobile slammed into the trunk of a tree.
“You can read it if you’d like,” Kelly said as she regained her chair. “Essentially, two days after Titanic sailed, Ezra showed up at your mother’s house, saying you’d stolen Bertram’s auto and forced him and Charlotte to go with you. He said he was finally able to get away from you, but Charlotte stayed, and he didn’t know where you were going. A few days later, they found the auto crashed into a tree near Exeter, and there was blood all over the front seat.”
Meg glimpsed the article briefly but didn’t read it word for word. “And no one knows where Charlotte is?”
“Not the last I heard,” Kelly said, shaking her head.
Meg looked to Charlie, and she could tell by the expression in his eyes he knew more. “What are they saying now?’
He cleared his throat and looked at the floor for a moment. “They think the blood is yours. Possibly Charlotte’s too. But right now, they’re saying she might have killed you and is now running from the law.”
Meg shook her head violently. “That can’t be. I mean—I know, obviously, you’re aware that she didn’t kill me. But Ezra and Charlotte left well before I did, and they took the motor coach.”
“They found your bag, and no one seemed to know the timeline exactly,” Kelly clarified.
That made sense. It was possible no one noticed Ezra and Charlotte left the night before Meg did. For that matter, her mother may have thought she managed to sneak out earlier than when Meg left with Kelly. “What about you?” Meg asked, scanning the article for mention of Kelly and her family.
“My mother told yours we had left for New York once she was certain we were gone. She didn’t tell her we were together. But it was enough that the police aren’t questioning our whereabouts.”
“Doesn’t it seem odd to anyone that this many people have gone missing from the same household in such a short amount of time?”
“Your uncle is under investigation for other reasons now as well,” Charlie explained. “Several women, including some socialites, have accused him of scandalous behavior. The banks are making cases against him for money laundering. So, yes, the police do find it odd that so many people left so quickly.”
Meg was discovering it was difficult to breathe. “Do you think… do you think Charlotte is all right?” She was looking at Kelly, but she would’ve taken an answer from anywhere.
“No,” Kelly said, her eyes flickering between Charlie and Meg.
Gulping for breath, Meg said, “Do you think it was an accident?’
“I honestly don’t know,” Kelly said, shrugging, though her eyes revealed she thought otherwise. “You knew Ezra better than anyone. Do you think he was capable of… hurting her?”
She hadn’t allowed herself to think about Ezra since she’d stepped foot on Titanic. The way he’d treated her had been unfathomable. She would’ve never thought he could use her the way that he did. And yet he had. Was he capable of harming Charlotte? She prayed not, but she didn’t know. “I hope not.” It was the only answer she could muster. “But as long as they assume the blood is mine, they won’t be looking for her properly.”
“That’s a possibility,” Charlie admitted.
“Then… that means I need to reveal my identity,” Meg said with a loud sigh.
“It’s probably for the best.” Charlie’s voice wasn’t as strong and reassuring as she would’ve liked, but she knew he was right. “Meg, you don’t need to worry, though. Nothing can happen to you now. You’re here. You don’t have to go back to Southampton to let everyone know you’re alive, and you’re with me.”
She turned to look at him, fighting back tears. “I do have to go back, Charlie,” she said, her voice shaking. “If others are coming forward and accusing Bertram, I should be there, too. I have more to accuse him of than anyone.”
“Meg,” Kelly interjected, “you can’t be serious. They would put you on a witness stand and make you relive all of those terrible experiences. In front of a crowd of strangers.”
She looked to Charlie, a question in her eyes.
“It’s quite possible,” he agreed. “I know you’re strong enough to do that, Meg, but are you sure it’s worth it? I mean, he’s likely to go to prison for a very long time based on the crimes he’s committed against the banks alone. He’s not a young man. He’ll likely die there.”
The idea of sitting in a room full of strangers and reliving the atrocities her uncle had committed against her made Meg feel like her stomach was caught in a vice. And yet, she couldn’t imagine having other women—ones she knew, ones she’d grown up with—testify to similar events and not stand up with them and speak the truth. “I need to go back.” Her voice was a whisper.
Charlie’s arm was around her shoulders, and he kissed her temple. “Let’s speak to the lawyers about it this afternoon, Meg. You don’t have to make a decision now.”
“Perhaps you can sign some sort of documentation and submit your testimony that way,” Kelly offered, though they all knew that likely wouldn’t be sufficient.
“I need to help Charlotte,” Meg reminded them.
“That you can do from here. We’ll decide how best to announce your presence, and then you can give everyone the true timeline so that Ezra can be questioned. Clearly, he’s made up a story, and the police will want to talk to him again after they know what he’s saying isn’t true.”
“I wonder how much time they’ve to devote to this now. You know we lost over five hundred men when Titanic sank?” Kelly asked, eyeing Meg.
Meg’s eyebrows shot up. “Five hundred? From Southampton?”
“Yes,” Kelly nodded. “Mostly crewmen.”
Meg hadn’t realized that, though it made sense. Her hometown was the last port of call for Titanic before the voyage, though they’d stopped briefly in Cherbourg. The vice grip had let go of her insides, but now she felt as if she might be ill all over Kelly’s pristine carpet.
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