Hope to Die

But why didn’t Camilla tell the police all this? Especially when they asked her about possible coercion? Why come up with that wild story about Tim Baker or whatever his name was? If she’d been abused, the police would have been sympathetic. And they could have taken action against this man. As it is, he got off scot-free – assuming what you’re saying is true.

‘MANDY’

I think she was terrified of him. I think he had some sort of hold over her.

JOHN PENROSE

Did she ever tell you this man’s name?

‘MANDY’

No. Just that he was a friend of the family. That her father played golf with him. But with people like that, that probably doesn’t narrow it down very much, does it.

Cut to: panoramic drone shot over Shiphampton. Church, High Street, park, etc.

VOICEOVER – JOHN PENROSE

She’s not wrong. My own research has turned up several men in the Shiphampton area who played golf with Dick Rowan when Camilla was a child. Two are now dead, and my attempts to speak to some of the others have met with flat refusals, and in one case, a solicitor’s letter.

Cut to: exterior view of South Mercia Police HQ

I also contacted South Mercia CID, who likewise refused to speak to me, but did issue a statement saying that they had adhered scrupulously to the appropriate procedure when dealing with cases that might involve sexual abuse, that Ms Rowan had ‘never made any allegations of this kind’ even when explicitly questioned on the subject, and they would have investigated thoroughly had she done so. They also said they ‘had, and still have, no reason to believe this alleged abuser – or indeed any other third party – was involved in the disappearance and presumed death of Ms Rowan’s baby’, concluding, ‘should Ms Rowan make these allegations herself, we would, of course, take appropriate action’.

There was one person, however, we were able to talk to, and that was Sheila Ward. Remember her from episode one? She was Dick Rowan’s secretary for over two decades, and knew the family well when Camilla was growing up. We asked her about these allegations as part of our first and – as it turned out – only interview with her.

Cut to: Ward family sitting room, gas fire, Border terrier on sofa, potted plants, etc.

TITLE OVER: Sheila Ward, Dick Rowan’s secretary, 1971–1996

JOHN’S VOICE (off)

You knew the family back then – do you think it’s possible Camilla suffered abuse as a child? Abuse that may have affected her behaviour when she discovered she was pregnant?

SHEILA WARD

I don’t believe a word of it. It’s just another one of her lies. If that sort of thing was going on, she’d definitely have said something. She was that sort of girl.

JOHN’S VOICE (off)

But you said yourself she was good at keeping secrets.

SHEILA WARD

When it was in her own interests, yes. That’s a very different kettle of fish. If someone was doing something to her she didn’t like she wouldn’t have suffered in silence. She wouldn’t have let them get away with it.

JOHN’S VOICE (off)

Many abuse victims take years to get to the point where they feel able to speak out. Especially in cases where the abuser is a member of the family or a family friend.

SHEILA WARD

That’s as may be. I’m just telling you that I knew her back then and I simply don’t believe she’d have kept something like that to herself. She’s only coming out with it now because she thinks it will get her off the hook. The minute anyone gets arrested these days the first thing they say is that they’ve been abused – you see it all the time.

(puts on whiny voice)

It’s not my fault – I was a victim – poor little me -

You see it all the time.

JOHN’S VOICE (off)

Perhaps you see it all the time because so many people who find themselves in the criminal justice system have indeed been abused.

SHEILA WARD

I’m not in a position to judge those people. But I am in a position to judge Camilla Rowan, and I’m telling you, she’s a born liar. A pathological liar.

JOHN’S VOICE (off)

The psychiatrist who assessed her says not.

SHEILA WARD

Yes, and Camilla didn’t say anything to them about this so-called abuse either, did she? Doesn’t that tell you something?

JOHN’S VOICE (off)

Let’s assume for a moment that it did actually happen – that she was indeed abused as a child. Do you have any idea who it could have been?

SHEILA WARD

Of course not. The whole idea is ridiculous.

JOHN’S VOICE (off)

You were friends of the family yourself, weren’t you? You and Nigel, your husband?

SHEILA WARD

I was Dick’s secretary.

JOHN’S VOICE (off)

But you socialised with them as well, didn’t you?