Stolen by Lesley Pearse Read Free Book Online

Jesus. I felt that if Jesus had been around that day he could have prevented the rape.’
    Bryan looked thoughtful. ‘How would you describe their attitude to Lotte?’
    Dale sucked in her cheeks. ‘Well, I’m a bit biased because I resented them not letting me in to see her and that. But it was like they owned her. It made me feel really uncomfortable around them. But then I felt bad thinking that way because I knew they were helping her, and if it hadn’t been for them she’d have been stuck in the sick bay without much TLC.’
    ‘And Lotte’s views?’
    ‘Oh, she thought they were her doctors, counsellors, friends, parents, all rolled into one. She wouldn’t have a word said against them.’
    ‘How long was she with them before she went back to work? She did go back, I assume?’
    Dale nodded. ‘Yes, a week later.’
    ‘Was she ready for that?’ Bryan sounded surprised.
    ‘She’d have got cabin fever without it, I think,’ Dale said. ‘Hairdressing was more than a job to Lotte, it was her passion; she needed the creativity and her clients. So she returned to share the cabin with me and we went back to most of the old stuff, going ashore, chatting into the night, her doing my hair, me doing her nails.’
    ‘Are you saying she was really over it?’
    ‘No, not at all. She made out she was, went about everything in the same old way, but I could sense her pain just below the surface. It was my opinion that she needed to tell me the details of what happened to truly get over it. By that I mean describing him, how he smelled, exactly what he did and said to her. But she wouldn’t. I think that was because she felt a great deal of shame, like it was her fault. Telling me would’ve done her more good than running up to the Ramsdens’ suite for a few prayers!’
    He grimaced, and Dale made a despairing gesture with her hands. ‘I wouldn’t have thought anything of her going off to the ship’s chapel, or saying a few silent prayers in bed. But she used to get on her knees in the cabin and say them out loud. It gave me the creeps.’
    ‘And the Ramsdens instigated all this?’
    ‘Completely. She never so much as mentioned God or Jesus until the rape.’
    ‘So she could well have stayed in contact with this couple after she left the ship?’
    ‘I’m sure she did, but they were Americans and going home, so the contact would’ve been limited to writing letters or phone calls. I mean, she couldn’t drop in on them for a cup of tea.’
    ‘Did this couple put her in touch with a religious group?’
    Dale stared at him in surprise. ‘You don’t think she was sucked into one of those crazy sects, do you?’
    Bryan smiled. ‘It’s a possibility we’ll be looking into, though I don’t know of one operating along the south coast. Was there anyone else on the ship she made friends with and might have gone to?’
    Dale thought hard for a couple of minutes. ‘No, there was only Scott and me. We were a little unit. She knew lots of other people, she exchanged phone numbers and addresses like we all did, but I can’t see her going off with anyone else.’
    ‘So you had absolutely no contact from the day you left the ship, the sixteenth of March 2002?’
    ‘That’s right,’ Dale agreed. ‘She never phoned or even texted me or Scott after we left the ship. I kept on and on leaving messages for her to ring, but after a bit the line seemed dead, like the battery had run out.’
    ‘How would you describe Lotte’s character and personality?’ he asked.
    ‘She was quiet. The kind that sits back and observes. A giver rather than a taker. A listener not a talker. Kind, sensitive to others’ needs, generous and warm.’
    ‘She sounds nice.’ Bryan smiled.
    ‘She was lovely. Is lovely,’ Dale quickly corrected herself. ‘She might look like a Barbie Doll, but she’s real and very organized. A bit gullible maybe – back then she took everyone at face value and I don’t think she had much idea of her own