Shape of Snakes

Letterfrom Libby Williams--formerly

of 21 Graham Road, Richmond-dated 1980

39a Templeton Road

Southampton

Hampshire

UK

May 20, 1980

M'dear!

You could have knocked me down with a feather when your letter came through my door. And what great news about the baby. Seven months old, eh? Conceived in England and born in Hong Kong. Has to be lucky! Of course we must remain friends. God knows, I didn't spend hours listening to your heartache in the wake of Annie's death to abandon you the minute you move abroad. I'm just so glad you got in touch because the way things are-i.e., Jock and I aren't speaking. AT ALL!-/ didn't know how to contact you. Of course I'll help you in any way I can, although I'm a little worried that your letter seems to imply Jock and Sam had a hand in Annie's death. Much as I loathe the two-timing maggot I married, I don't think he's vile enough to kill anyone and certainly not someone he hardly knew. As for Sam! Do me a favor!

Okay, so Sam got drunk one night and admitted they lied to the police about where they were and now refuses to have Annie's name mentioned. Well, trust me, sweetheart, I don't think you should read too much into it even if I do understand how angry you must feel. Sam had no business to lie for Jock however "good" the cause. Still, that's men for you. They stick to each other like glue, but cast off their women whenever it suits them!

Re your questions: 1) Did I tell the police that Jock had been with Sam? Yes. As you know, they started knocking on everyone's doors the day after the event, wanting to know if we'd seen or heard the accident. I said I'd been alone at home watching telly and hadn 't heard a thing, so they promptly asked me what my husband had been doing and I said, "Having a drink with Sam Ranelagh at number 5." 2) Did Jock volunteer the information when he got home or did I ask for it? I asked him the night of the 14th. The little toerag came rolling in half-cut as usual and I said, "Where the hell have you been?" "Round at Sam's having a beer," he came back quick as a flash. I should have known he was lying! He always used Sam as a way out of a crisis. 3) What time did Jock get home that night? Nine-fifteenish. Can't recall exactly. I'm sure the nine o'clock news was still on. 4) Have I any idea when Jock spoke to Sam in order to concoct the alibi? Knowing Jock, he would have phoned Sam at work the next morning and told him he was on the spot and had to think up a lie on the spur of the moment. "If anyone asks, I was with you. So don't let me down, will you? " That kind of thing.

In passing, I doubt very much if Jock had been gambling again, whatever he may have told Sam. He had a floozy in Graham Road, a bleached vampire called Sharon Percy, who was little better than a prostitute. He claims he was having an affair with her but my solicitor forced him to produce his bank statements and it looks as if he was making regular payments to her every Tuesday in return for sex. He's denying the payments at the moment (but not the affair-he seems quite proud of that!) but my solicitor's confident we can drag the truth out of him if he refuses to make a reasonable settlement and we end up in court.

Anyway, the point is, Annie died on a Tuesday and I suspect Jock was rogering Sharon rather than gambling! For all I know it may have been the first time because he never bothered to explain his lateness on a Tuesday again. Or any other day for that matter! You're right. The prospect of imminent divorce is a great relief and I have every intention of taking him to the cleaners if 1 possibly can. He only produces documents after my solicitor applies thumbscrews, and he explains his purchase of a house in Alveston Road (v. swank Ł70,000 five-bedroom job within spitting distance of Richmond Park-complete with live-in blonde bimbo!) as a "long-term, heavily mortgaged investment." This, on the back of the paltry Ł10,000 he took as his 50-percent share of 21 Graham Road. Do me a favor! Do the sums add up, or do they? The best I could afford was this two-room flat in Southampton.

Feel free to ask for any help I can give you. It would never occur to me for a minute that talking about Annie might bring on "a fit of the vapors" and how very old-fashioned of Sam to come up with such an expression. No woman I know goes in for such idiocies, and I doubt if they ever did. It was yet another invention of man to undermine the onward march of female supremacy. Yes, I'm bitter, and ... yes, the whole male sex can go fuck itself as far as I'm concerned ... I've taken a leaf out of your book and have come to Southampton to train for a career in teaching. Dammit, girl, if you can make money tutoring Chinamen in Hong Kong, I can surely make money tutoring brats over here!

Love, Libby

PS For purely selfish reasons, I'm glad you're not keen for Sam and Jock to know you're asking questions! My solicitor's warned me to stay mum about how much I already know about his shenanigans, otherwise he'll bury his assets in hidden accounts and I'll never get my fair share of the booty!