Mr. Big (26 page)

Once breakfast was out of the way, they headed down to Union Street toward the laundromat. The back seat of the car was piled high with garbage bags containing nearly every piece of clothes they owned.

As she put Nelson's new clothes into the wash, she took extra care to make sure they didn't get damaged. She fastened the buttons and turned everything inside out before putting them into a delicate cycle. As she filled the washer and looked at his new clothes, she wondered just where he had been. Why had these people chosen him? It seemed like he was being treated exceptionally well for someone who was only used to driving around quads and skidoos.

With so much clothes it didn't take long before the first washer had completed its cycle, and Jennifer began the process of transferring everything to the dryers.

She had just moved the last load of sopping wet clothes to the dryer when Nelson's phone rang.

Even through the tiny speaker pinned to Nelson's ear, she knew Steph's voice. Nelson was listening closely, his expression a mixture of fear and panic.

He hung up quickly. “We have to go now,” he said.

“The clothes are still wet!” said Jennifer.

“I don't care, this is important, and I need you to do what I say.”

They piled the clothes into the garbage bags, then stuffed them into the back seat of the Sunfire. Nelson pulled out of the parking lot in a hurry.

“We are going to Walmart,” he said. “When we get there, I want you to stand next to me in front of the camera by the main doors. We are going to stand there for at least three minutes, and don't move.”

Jennifer wondered if he was losing his mind. “Slow down!” she yelled. Nelson nearly ran a red light. As he swerved into the mall parking lot, he nearly struck another car.

Now Jennifer was getting really worried.

“Do you remember what I told you to do?” Nelson said.

“Why are we doing this?” she asked.

“Don't ask any questions, just do it,” he said. Nelson took her by the hand and nearly ran to the front doors of Walmart. As soon as they stepped inside, he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Look up,” he told Jennifer.

And she did. For the next three minutes, Nelson and Jennifer stood staring at the Walmart security camera.

92

Jennifer still couldn't understand what had happened, but Nelson was obviously under stress ever since the call from Steph at the laundromat.

He jumped when the phone rang suddenly.

“Hello,” he said.

Jennifer could hear Steph's voice coming through on the cellphone's tiny speaker.

“I got to go to Gander,” he said. “Give me your driver's licence. I've got to go to Gander Airport right away.”

“Why do you need my licence? You don't need a licence to buy a plane ticket,” Jennifer replied.

She instantly knew something was wrong. Suddenly, Jennifer had a very bad feeling about the way things were going down. Something was wrong.

Nelson left for the airport, and Jennifer figured she'd just go on and make supper like she'd planned.

She pulled out the frying pan and grabbed the salmon steaks out of the fridge. She'd been looking forward to the fish all day, but now her stomach was telling her that eating might not be the best idea. Yet she refused to give in. She heated up some oil on the stove and watched the pink meat as it sizzled in the pan.

She flipped over the first piece to see the golden crust, and suddenly her appetite returned with force.

But before she could turn over the next piece, there was a knock at the door.

It was the police.

“Jennifer Hart?” they asked.

“Yes.”

“We need to tell you that Nelson is at the police station in Gander. We have arrested your husband for the murder of your two daughters.”

Jennifer couldn't sit down, but she felt too light-headed to stand. She decided to just start walking around the apartment in circles. She tried to stop herself from throwing up, but it wasn't going to be easy.

She could hear Nelson's words:
I have something in the back of my mind that I'm going to take to my grave.

For what seemed like an eternity, her world had suddenly become a dream that she was watching from afar. It was the same feeling she experienced when she realized she wouldn't see her daughters again.

She watched helplessly as the officer walked into the apartment and turned off the stove for her. He then apologized for her loss, and the officers were on their way.

93

Jennifer could barely believe what was happening.

He had done it. Nelson had killed her girls. There were no more questions to be answered. The police had found out the truth.

She watched the familiar landmarks as the police officer drove toward the station in Grand Falls–Windsor.

How could he kill his own children? Jennifer had so many questions, but for now she chose to listen. She didn't know what to say anymore.

Suddenly, a familiar face appeared at the door of the tiny interview room at the police station. Jennifer remembered her name was Lori. She was from victim services.

“How are you doing?” she asked Jennifer. “Let's get ready. We're going to drive out to Gander. If you're feeling up to it, of course. That way you can get your car. It's at the detachment there.”

During the hour-long drive to Gander, Jennifer didn't have much to say. Instead, the trip brought her through a range of emotions. She was hurt. The wounds from losing her daughters felt fresh once again. She had always questioned whether her husband could actually kill Karen and Krista, and now she had her answers.

She felt guilt. Why didn't she leave him when they were babies? She had always known there was something wrong with Nelson. Why hadn't she acted on those gut instincts long ago? Perhaps her children would be alive now.

And she was mad. How could he hate his own children so much he would drown them?

“Nelson confessed,” Lori explained to her.

“What do you mean, confessed?” Jennifer asked.

“Jennifer, since the girls died three years ago, the RCMP have felt quite certain that Nelson's story didn't add up. You know they've suspected he killed the girls on purpose,” Lori explained. “Well, four months ago they launched a sting operation called Mr. Big. You know Steph and Pat? Well, they're actually undercover operators. They had convinced Nelson he was working for an organization like the mob. He was recently offered a big job that offered to pay him a lot of money, but before he got the job, they asked him to come clean on what happened to the girls.”

“What did he say?” Jennifer asked.

“He said he pushed the girls off the end of the wharf.”

The conversation continued to play itself over and over in her mind as she went through the steps of retrieving the car from the police compound. Unsure of what to do, she drove to Nelson's mother's.

“He said he did it,” Jennifer cried. “He told the police he planned it!”

“Calm down, Jennifer. You know Nelson was not capable of killing the girls. This is nothing but a set-up by the RCMP. They tricked him.”

“But he said it!” Jennifer was sobbing uncontrollably. She felt like she had been sobbing ever since the girls had died.

“Jennifer, he didn't do it. You know it, and I know it. This was a set-up to get him to confess, and I'm not going to stop until the truth is told. We will get him out of jail. You know he didn't do it. They trapped him.”

Nelson's mother showed strong determination when it came to her son's innocence. And the more Jennifer listened, the more she believed her mother-in-law.

Perhaps Nelson hadn't done it after all. Perhaps Nelson was innocent and it was the RCMP who deserved the blame.

With Nelson's mother, Jennifer felt like she still had some of her family left, and a little support. She stayed in Gander for a couple of days before heading back to Grand Falls. After two days, Nelson was transferred to the penitentiary in St. John's.

94

The tears streamed down her face as quickly as the rain beat off her windshield. Since the girls' deaths, driving past the sign reading “Little Harbour” had become nearly impossible without crying.

Today she longed for her girls even more as she drove back to Grand Falls–Windsor. Toward an empty apartment. A few years ago she had her own family, and today there was nothing. No husband, no children, and she didn't even know who to trust anymore.

As she struggled to keep the car on the road between the rivers of water on the pavement, she also struggled with her mind. Could the police have framed Nelson? But he had never really bonded with the girls, and she remembered how many times she felt as if Nelson didn't love them. He had even gone so far as to say he hated them.

It was all too much for her to comprehend. All she knew was that she had been through a lot in these past three years, and now she would have to relive it in a trial.

Jennifer opened the door to the apartment, and the sme
ll of fish was the first thing to strike her. She had left in such a hurry, the fish she had started to cook was still sitting in the pan on the stove.

From a deep place, she summoned the energy to clean up the mess. Every move she made felt as though she were just acting out a dream. Like none of this could be real.

Finally, she sat at the kitchen table, and all she could hear was the rain beating at the windows. There was nothing she wanted to do, nothing she cared about anymore.

She grabbed a quick shower and decided a nap might be the only thing she was really in the mood for. Even though it was still the middle of the afternoon, she put on her nightshirt and crawled onto the mattress on the floor.
This is a good place
, she thought. And as she lay down, she silently wished that she could just stay here forever. She could see no point in ever getting up again.

She must have dozed off, because the sound of the phone ringing sounded like it was miles away. She didn't move as she continued to listen to the ringing. Whoever it was didn't matter.

But in the back of her mind she could hear their little voices. It was Karen and Krista urging her to get up.

She stood up and went out into the kitchen to answer the phone.

It was a collect call from the prison. Nelson.

“I only have a half-hour to talk,” said Nelson. “But you and Mom have got to get me out of here!”

Jennifer could hear the panic in his voice as he told her about prison life. But there was also an urgency about what Jennifer was up to. He wanted to know where she had been, and whether or not she had cashed the welfare cheque.

He went on to tell her only to spend what she had to, and to send the rest to him.

The next day, Jennifer picked up a few groceries, set some money aside for gas, and sent the rest to the penitentiary.

95

Jennifer had just finished buying a new overnight bag for Nelson at the Bentley store. Then she had headed over to Walmart to do what Nelson wanted.

By the time Jennifer had finished the shopping trip, the overnight bag was full. There was everything from shaving cream to new jeans and T-shirts. She knew Nelson needed those things, but it left her with barely enough money to pay the rent.

And still Nelson had asked for more money. Money she didn't have.

The rent wasn't her only concern. Nelson was calling her collect every day. Some days he was calling two or three times to find out what she was doing. And there were other times he just wanted to talk about how badly he wanted to be out of the jail. But besides the emotional cost Jennifer was paying, she was also watching the phone bill climbing quickly. She knew the payments she was making to the phone company soon wouldn't be enough to offset the soaring costs.

Jennifer knew they were giving him a hard time. In one of his phone calls, he told her how he had been beaten up by the guards and left in isolation. His mother had gone so far as to call the prison to complain about the way Nelson was being treated. But even though he was spending a lot of his time in solitary confinement, Jennifer still had a hard time sympathizing with him. Despite supporting his mother outwardly, she had a nagging suspicion that it was possible Nelson was responsible for her losing the girls.

When he told her the guard had called him a baby killer, she wondered whether or not the guard was right.

96

With the trial set to begin in February, Jennifer began spending more time in Gander with Nelson's mother.

Each night she thought of the trial and the details that would come out. Nelson's mother, however, continued to reassure Jennifer that Nelson was indeed innocent. She believed he had been framed, and there was no way she was letting her son go to jail.

Together they did what they could for Nelson while he was in prison. Nelson's mother worked diligently to make sure he would be well represented in his trial. Derek Hogan, with the Legal Aid Commission, was chosen to represent him.