The Changeling - Chapter Six

The Changeling

Chapter Six

After the bones had been taken away for analysis, the house became strangely silent.

There had been a few days of frenzied activity, checking the house and gardens for more evidence.

An item had been found with the bones – a metal box. The forensics team had said that it was almost as though the child had been holding it in its arms. John didn't know what the box had contained. He guessed that he would find out one day.

Like he guessed he would find out who he really was!

Blood had been taken for genetic analysis, to find out if he truly was Henry or not. He still couldn't get his head around what had happened. Still didn't know who he really was.

His childhood had been a little strange, but still, his parents loved him. Wrapped him up in cotton wool almost. They just didn't have it within them to kill their own child.

But even if they did, why would they take another Mother's son?

There were so many unanswered questions, so many uncertainties.

The newspapers had been full of the story of the skeleton in the garden, guessing as to its identity and what had caused the child's death. After a while, the newspapers lost interest in the story and stopped reporting on it.

The weeks passed and John began to feel calmer and stronger. He went back to work. To start with, his colleagues wanted to know all of the gory details, but as they only knew as much as John, they soon became bored and stopped asking.

**********

One month on, the phone rang. 'Hello, John Thompson speaking'

'Hello Sir, Chief Inspector Manning here, I have some news. May I come to see you?'

John and the Inspector sat in the lounge drinking tea. 'Well, Mr Thompson, we have some results to share with you. But maybe I should call you Mr Maxwell now, as the genetic testing has confirmed that is who you are.

I am pleased to say that your parents are still alive and would love to see you. Your Mother has always said that she believed you to be alive and well and she has finally been proved right!'

'The bones have been examined and they do appear to be those of John Thompson. The bones show numerous fractures, which coincide with John's hospital records'

'But how did he die?'

'I'm afraid that he met a violent end. His skull was badly fractured, and there is no doubt that that is how he died. As so much time has passed, there is really no way of knowing what caused the injury, but we suspect foul play. The coroner still has more tests to carry out, which will hopefully shed more light on the matter.'

'There is one more thing that I would like to share with you Sir,'

The inspector pulled the small metal box out of his bag. 'We found this buried alongside the body, and wondered if you knew anything about it.

He handed John the box. It was a small tin, the sort that used to contain biscuits. He opened it, and nestled carefully within it was a teddy bear. John looked at it in surprise.

'I've seen this bear somewhere before,' He said, trying to place where.

He got up and walked to the sideboard, taking out the photo album and flicking through the pages.

'Yes, here it is, he said – there's a picture of me, I mean him, holding the bear, but in the picture it has a ribbon around its neck. But the ribbon is missing now.

He looked at the bear, puzzled. Something was niggling at the back of his mind. The ribbon! Yes! The ribbon!

'Inspector, I know where that ribbon is! It was tied around the box with the newspaper clippings in!'

Sadly he realised that this small fact showed with certainty that his parents really did have something to do with this child's death, that they did bury him, along with his beloved teddy.

Why, why did his parents steal him, and why did John die. He would probably never know the truth now!