Car 3

97
Ms Karen Keown

Outward appearance

Pale woman about 29, wispy hair, fine features, all swamped by large spectacles. Her arms form a circle in front of her.

Inside information

Unemployed woman on her way to St Thomas' Hospital to steal a newborn baby. At home, there already is a nursery with a pram and toys. The neighbours know she is pregnant.

What she is doing or thinking

She is suffocated by a sense of being cheated, of people watching her in order to thwart her. In her arms, she can feel her beautiful baby. There are people everywhere who would deny it to her.

At Waterloo, police get onto the train. Karen refuses to look up, but sees the dark trousers, the blue shirt out of the corner of her eyes. Who betrayed her? Her mind races.

"Do you wish to make a complaint?" the policeman asks her. Yes, she answers him in her mind, yes I do, you people should be chasing real criminals. In her mind, she must also disguise her intention from him.

The train idles at Waterloo, doors open. If she gets off now, the police will know that she plans to go to St Thomas'. The doors trail shut as if cutting her baby in half.

"I can explain," the man next to her says. She thinks he is her boyfriend who will protect her. Conspiratorially, she avoids his gaze. At Lambeth North, he lures the police away. Grateful, she decides to make him the father. Karen shifts to make the baby more comfortable. She goes on to the Elephant.

That'll fool them.

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