visiting time was over and all were to take their leave. We had just said our goodbyes and Nerys was about to go when she remembered she hadn’t given me the document to sign for the solicitor.
‘The guard was really getting annoyed with the stragglers by now but I knew this couldn’t wait for another month . . . the business would be suffering without someone at the helm and Nerys needed money to live on. Not caring what trouble I’d get into, I ignored the guard and told Nerys to give me the document. She took it out of her bag, then from the envelope, and turned the pages over to the one I needed to put my signature on. After I had signed on the dotted line, I realised we’d need someone to witness my signature. Thankfully Nerys was able to use her charm on the guard and he obliged, if only so as to be rid of us so he could have his tea break. As I was being escorted out by him I turned and looked back into the visiting room. Nerys was at the exit door, gazing back at me. There was a look on her face . . . at the time I thought she was upset to be going off into the freedom of the world, leaving me shut up inside those high walls. But, thinking about it later, I realised how wrong I was. She was saying goodbye to me as she knew she’d never see me again.
‘When a week had passed and I hadn’t received any correspondence from Nerys and there was no answer when I telephoned her on my permitted weekly call, I was extremely concerned that either Lucy or she was ill. Another week passed and still there was no word by letter or telephone. I became very worried that something awful had happened to them, lots of different scenarios going through my head, none of them pleasant. I couldn’t sleep, eat, and was having difficulty concentrating on my job in the prison laundry. When visiting time came around again and Nerys did not appear or send any word to me, I became frantic.
‘It was bad enough dealing with the day-to-day living in that place, which was as bad as any stories I had heard, let alone worrying that something was wrong with my family while there was nothing I could do about it. The only thing I could do was write to my solicitor and ask him to find out what was going on. What an agonising wait to hear back from him that was! A week later, when I was pulled off my shift in the laundry as I had a visitor, I knew it had to be important for them to interrupt me at work. I really believed . . . prayed . . . it was Nerys who’d managed to get special dispensation from the governor to explain to me the reason for her silence. I was terrified it was something to do with my daughter but grateful that I’d be receiving some answers at last. My visitor wasn’t Nerys but my solicitor, Charles Gray. The grave expression on his face sent a chill through me.
‘He told me he that he was most surprised to receive my letter as he’d not been approached by my wife to have any papers drawn up concerning a power of attorney. After I’d been in touch by letter, he paid a visit to the house. A woman answered the door. When he announced who he was, she introduced herself to him as Nerys Thomas and seemed very surprised when he explained to her the reason for his visit. She told him that I must have had a brain seizure since the last time she had seen me. On her last but one visit I had informed her to contact a solicitor and have her given power of attorney so that she could take care of the business on my behalf and be able to access funds in my bank accounts to look after herself and my daughter. She showed him her copy of the document she’d had drawn up, which I’d signed.
‘Having handled not only my affairs but my father’s before him, Charles Gray knew my signature well enough to know this wasn’t faked. The firm Nerys had used to draw up the documentation and deal with the legalities was a very reputable one.
‘Charles then asked her why she hadn’t visited me since I’d assigned my affairs over to her and
‘The guard was really getting annoyed with the stragglers by now but I knew this couldn’t wait for another month . . . the business would be suffering without someone at the helm and Nerys needed money to live on. Not caring what trouble I’d get into, I ignored the guard and told Nerys to give me the document. She took it out of her bag, then from the envelope, and turned the pages over to the one I needed to put my signature on. After I had signed on the dotted line, I realised we’d need someone to witness my signature. Thankfully Nerys was able to use her charm on the guard and he obliged, if only so as to be rid of us so he could have his tea break. As I was being escorted out by him I turned and looked back into the visiting room. Nerys was at the exit door, gazing back at me. There was a look on her face . . . at the time I thought she was upset to be going off into the freedom of the world, leaving me shut up inside those high walls. But, thinking about it later, I realised how wrong I was. She was saying goodbye to me as she knew she’d never see me again.
‘When a week had passed and I hadn’t received any correspondence from Nerys and there was no answer when I telephoned her on my permitted weekly call, I was extremely concerned that either Lucy or she was ill. Another week passed and still there was no word by letter or telephone. I became very worried that something awful had happened to them, lots of different scenarios going through my head, none of them pleasant. I couldn’t sleep, eat, and was having difficulty concentrating on my job in the prison laundry. When visiting time came around again and Nerys did not appear or send any word to me, I became frantic.
‘It was bad enough dealing with the day-to-day living in that place, which was as bad as any stories I had heard, let alone worrying that something was wrong with my family while there was nothing I could do about it. The only thing I could do was write to my solicitor and ask him to find out what was going on. What an agonising wait to hear back from him that was! A week later, when I was pulled off my shift in the laundry as I had a visitor, I knew it had to be important for them to interrupt me at work. I really believed . . . prayed . . . it was Nerys who’d managed to get special dispensation from the governor to explain to me the reason for her silence. I was terrified it was something to do with my daughter but grateful that I’d be receiving some answers at last. My visitor wasn’t Nerys but my solicitor, Charles Gray. The grave expression on his face sent a chill through me.
‘He told me he that he was most surprised to receive my letter as he’d not been approached by my wife to have any papers drawn up concerning a power of attorney. After I’d been in touch by letter, he paid a visit to the house. A woman answered the door. When he announced who he was, she introduced herself to him as Nerys Thomas and seemed very surprised when he explained to her the reason for his visit. She told him that I must have had a brain seizure since the last time she had seen me. On her last but one visit I had informed her to contact a solicitor and have her given power of attorney so that she could take care of the business on my behalf and be able to access funds in my bank accounts to look after herself and my daughter. She showed him her copy of the document she’d had drawn up, which I’d signed.
‘Having handled not only my affairs but my father’s before him, Charles Gray knew my signature well enough to know this wasn’t faked. The firm Nerys had used to draw up the documentation and deal with the legalities was a very reputable one.
‘Charles then asked her why she hadn’t visited me since I’d assigned my affairs over to her and
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