Snippets

Evelyn

The laughter made Evelyn cough, after which she raised a reproachful finger and shook it at Olive. 'But what you really want to talk to me about is Ruth Ellis, admit it now.'

The old lady laughed heartily, a mixture of coughs and guffaws; her shoulders shook and Olive laughed with her, surreptitiously glancing at the director for guidance, and receiving a hand signal to carry on.

A small dribble of saliva appeared at the corner of Evelyn's mouth and before the nurse supervising Evelyn could reach her, Olive had swiftly taken a small, crocheted handkerchief from a pocket and tenderly wiped away the dribble, speaking with equal tenderness. 'No use trying to fool you is there Evelyn. Would you mind answering a few questions?'

Evelyn ignored the question, Olive's handkerchief totally absorbed her attention. She grasped the hankie in both hands, bringing it up to her nose for a closer examination. Olive waited in smiling patience for an answer, fearing Evelyn's mind was no longer as sharp as her eyes had professed.

'Such a lovely thing, you shouldn't spoil it on me. It's much too nice.'

Olive reached over and squeezed a hand holding the handkerchief. 'It's not too nice for you Evelyn, and I'd like you to have it for a small birthday present.'

'Really, do you mean it? It's lovely, thank you, thank you very much.' Evelyn pressed the small square to her lips for a few seconds, kissing its soft linen.

Olive shook her head at the director and silently mouthed, "I think she's lost it." The director grimaced and made rapid circular motions with his finger, silently mouthing, "Stay with it."

Evelyn surprised them both. In a firm voice she asked. 'What do you want to know about Ruth?'

Taken aback, Olive gasped and wriggled her bottom into a more comfortable sitting position to conduct the interview, glancing at the cameraman, asking for his "thumbs up" that she was still in shot. The gaffer lowered his woolly microphone over Evelyn's head and received his "thumbs up" from the cameraman. After receiving a final "thumbs up" from the cameraman that all was ready, the director called out, 'Silence please. ...Action.'

Olive turned her head to face the camera and opened the interview with an introduction. 'We are here in Shilbottle Hospice to celebrate the eighty fourth birthday of a very special lady – Evelyn Galilee.'

The cameraman moved in to take a close-up of Evelyn while the presenter continued speaking out of shot. '...And what is so special about Evelyn, apart from her long and interesting life, is her part in an important historical occasion. ...Back in the dark days of capital punishment, Evelyn served as a wardress in London's Holloway Prison, and she was on duty in the condemned cell the day murderess Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain met her fate.'

The cameraman moved backwards to bring Olive back into shot. Evelyn was shaking her head and wiping her eyes on the little handkerchief.

'She wasn't no murderess, not like what we think of murderers, bad people scheming to kill other people. It wasn't like what the papers wrote about her. She was just one frightened and confused young lady who was pushed beyond her reason by her love for a man who abused her.'

Olive interrupted with a counter argument. 'But she did go out with a gun to kill her lover and she did shoot him dead.'

Evelyn's lips spread in a thin smile. 'She had nobody on her side at the trial. She hadn't even been prepared for the first question from the prosecutor, Mr. Christmas Humphreys; it's a standard question in all murder trials. They ask, 'What did you expect to happen when you fired the gun?' She said, 'I expected him to die.' There it was, she condemned herself with her own words. She hadn't been prepared for the question and it took the jury twenty three minutes to convict her when they went out. Mr. Humphreys was appalled by the weakness of Ruth's defence and wrote about it afterwards: the poor dear, all alone she was, hurt and mixed up. Even the judge, Mr.Justice Havers – you might know his grandson, that blond actor in Chariots of Fire. ...Now that was a lovely picture, did you see it...?'