The Running Grave, page 2
You further write:
Where does all the money go? Good question. Visitors to the church’s Chapman Farm ‘retreat’ will note that while ordinary members are ‘enjoying’ the experience of pre-mechanised farming, sleeping in unheated barns and swapping their collecting tins for hoes and horse-drawn ploughs, the accommodation offered to Principals and celebrity members is rather more comfortable.
The main farmhouse has been enlarged and renovated to a distinctly 21st-century standard, complete with swimming pool, jacuzzi, gym, sauna and private cinema. Most Principals drive brand new, top-of-the-range cars and the head of the church, Jonathan Wace (known to members as ‘Papa J’), is known to own property in Antigua. Visitors to the Central Temple in Rupert Court can also see the increasingly opulent fixtures and fittings, not to mention the gold-embroidered robes worn by Principals. ‘Simplicity, Humility and Charity’? Try ‘Venality, Duplicity and Vanity’.
Again, any reasonable reader of this post would understand it to mean that the Council of Principals is illegally appropriating funds donated for charity and redirecting it either into their own pockets, or into luxurious accommodation or clothing for themselves. This is entirely false and highly defamatory of the Council of Principals.
The True Position
It is a matter of public record that Mrs Margaret Cathcart-Bryce, a wealthy, long-standing church member, donated substantial funds to the church while alive to renovate Chapman Farm, and that when she died in 2004, the Council of Principals was the sole beneficiary of her will, enabling the church to purchase suitable properties in central London, Birmingham and Glasgow, for congregants to meet.
Your blog post contains several outright falsehoods. Chapman Farm contains neither a jacuzzi nor a swimming pool, and Mr Jonathan Wace does not own, nor has he ever owned, property in Antigua. All cars owned by the Church Principals were bought out of their own salaries. Your assertion that church members are required to collect one hundred pounds per day, or they will face the ‘wrath’ of Mr Taio Wace, is likewise wholly false.
The Church is open and transparent in all its financial dealings. No monies collected for charitable purposes were ever used to maintain or renovate Chapman Farm, or to purchase or upgrade the UHC headquarters in London, or to personally benefit the Principals in any way. Again, the suggestion that the UHC or its Council of Principals is ‘venal’, ‘duplicitous’ and ‘vain’ is highly defamatory both of the Church and its Council, and likely to cause serious reputational damage. This increases your liability.
Blog Post of 23 February 2013: ‘The Drowned Prophet’
On 23 February 2013, you published a post titled ‘The Drowned Prophet’, in which you made a series of defamatory and deeply hurtful assertions about the death by drowning in 1995 of Mr and Mrs Wace’s firstborn child, Daiyu, who is considered a prophet within the UHC.
UHC members are well aware that while all prophets are, theoretically, equal, one is far more equal than others. The Drowned Prophet has become central to the cult of the UHC, with her own rites and separate observances. Doubtless there was an initial desire on the part of Mazu Wace to keep her dead daughter [Daiyu Wace] ‘alive’ in some sense, but she milks and exploits her association with the Drowned Prophet at every available opportunity. Very few of the brainwashed are brave enough to ask (even in whispers) what made a drowned 7-year-old deserving of prophet status. Still fewer dare note the strange coincidence that Jonathan Wace’s first wife (always airbrushed out of UHC history) also drowned off Cromer beach.
The assertions and insinuations contained within this paragraph could hardly be more offensive, hurtful, or defamatory of Mr and Mrs Wace, or of the UHC as a whole.
The suggestion that Mrs Wace ‘milks’ or ‘exploits’ the tragic death of her young daughter is a vile slur and highly defamatory of Mrs Wace, both as a mother and as a Principal of the church.
Moreover, a reasonable reader is likely to conclude from your use of the phrase ‘strange coincidence’, when referring to the accidental drowning of Mrs Jennifer Wace, that there is something suspect, either about Mrs Jennifer Wace’s death, or about the fact that Daiyu Wace met her end in a tragically similar fashion.
The True Position
On 29 July 1995, 7-year-old Daiyu Wace drowned in the sea off Cromer beach. As is a matter of public record, and easily discoverable through court records and press coverage of the inquest into her death, Daiyu was taken to the beach in the early morning by a church member who hadn’t asked permission from Daiyu’s parents. Mr and Mrs Wace were devastated to hear their daughter had drowned while swimming unattended.
It is part of the belief system of the UHC that some deceased members of the church become ‘prophets’ after death. Religious belief is protected under English law.
A true account of Mrs Jennifer Wace’s tragic death is likewise available through court records and press accounts of the inquest. Mrs Jennifer Wace died on a Bank Holiday afternoon in May 1988. An epileptic, she suffered a grand mal seizure in the water and in spite of every attempt of nearby swimmers to save her, she drowned. Numerous witnesses gave evidence at the inquest that Mr Jonathan Wace was not in the sea at the time Mrs Wace drowned, and that he ran into the water upon realising what was happening, but was too late to save his wife. Mr Wace was distraught at his first wife’s untimely death, and far from wishing to ‘airbrush’ her out of his personal history, he has commented publicly on the fact that the tragedy deepened his burgeoning religious faith, to which he turned for solace. Any suggestion to the contrary is false, malicious and highly defamatory of Mr Jonathan Wace.
Furthermore, it is highly defamatory to describe the church as a ‘cult’ or to suggest that its members are ‘brainwashed’. All members of the UHC attend the church of their own free will and are able to leave at any time.
In conclusion…
Emails between ex-UHC member Mr Kevin Pirbright and Sir Colin Edensor
Kevin Pirbright
20 March 2013
Lawyer’s letter from UHC
To: Sir Colin Edensor
Dear Colin,
This morning I got a lawyer’s letter from the UHC ordering me to take down my blog or they’ll make me pay, take me to court etc etc, the usual thing they do to all ex-members. Good! I want this to get into court. But I haven’t got money for a lawyer so I wondered if you could help me as I don’t think you can get legal aid for defamation. I’m doing this for all the brainwashed, including Will. Light has to be shone on what these bastards are doing.
The book’s going really well. Plus, everything they’re doing against me right now is just adding new chapters!
Best,
Kevin
Sir Colin Edensor
20 March 2013
Re: Lawyer’s letter from UHC
To: Kevin Pirbright
Dear Kevin,
I’d be delighted to help with lawyers’ fees. I recommend my own lawyers, Rentons, who are already aware of the UHC’s nefarious activities with regards to our son. Keep me posted on developments and very good news that the book’s going well. I think it will make a big difference.
Sincerely,
Colin
An excerpt of an interview with actress Noli Seymour in Zeitgeist magazine, January 2014
I ask about the two small Chinese characters tattooed just beneath Seymour’s left ear: new additions to her already extensive collection of body art.
‘Oh, I got them done last month. They mean “Jïnzi”; “gold”, in English. It’s a reference to the Golden Prophet of the Universal Humanitarian Church.’
I’d been told that Seymour won’t be answering questions on her membership of the controversial UHC, but as she’s brought it up, I ask what she makes of persistent negative rumours about the church.
‘That isn’t something Noli wants to discuss,’ says Seymour’s PR man, but his client ignores him.
‘Oh, please,’ she says, rolling those dazzling baby blues. ‘There’s something SO sinister about wanting to help the homeless and give kids who’re carers a holiday, right? Seriously: do people not have better things to do than bash a place that does nothing but good?
‘Genuinely,’ she says, leaning towards me for the first time, looking earnest, ‘the Universal Humanitarian Church is, like, the most progressive religion of all time. It’s all integrated. It looks for universality, because that’s what life is, and humanity is: the search for oneness and wholeness. That’s one of the things that really attracts me about it. It’s like, there are fragments of truth in all religions, but until we get a synthesis, we won’t see it. So you get massive diversity there. We study every and any Holy Book. You should come to a meeting. Tons of people come out of curiosity and, like, never leave.’
Not entirely to my surprise, Seymour’s PR man intervenes at this point, reminding Noli that we’re here to discuss her latest movie.
Emails between Sir Colin Edensor and his lawyer David Renton
Sir Colin Edensor
27 May 2014
Will Edensor trust fund
To: David Renton
Dear David,
I apologise for becoming heated on our call this morning. As I know you appreciate, this whole situation is taking its toll, particularly in light of Sally’s recent diagnosis.
I fully appreciate that Will is over-age and that he’s refusing to submit to a further psychiatric assessment, but I’m frustrated by the chicken and egg situation in which we find ourselves. You say there are no grounds on which a judge would currently rule Will to be mentally unfit. He joined a dangerous cult and cut off all contact with family and former friends. Surely this, in and of itself, is proof that he’s unstable and provides grounds for a further assessment.
The mere fact that Dr Andy Zhou is a Principal in the UHC ought to disqualify him from treating or assessing members of the church. I appreciate that Zhou remains a practising psychologist, but one would think Zhou’s membership of the UHC represents at best a glaring conflict of interest when it comes to assessing the mental health of vulnerable church members in possession of large trust funds.
As you know, I was overruled at the meeting of Will’s trustees on Thursday, where the majority view was that there are no legal grounds on which to withhold funds from him. This brings the total sum of money that Will has taken out of his trust since joining the UHC to £95k. I don’t believe Will ever had any intention of putting a deposit on a house or buying a car, because he’s still living at Chapman Farm and there’s no evidence of him taking driving lessons.
As I told you on the phone, Kevin Pirbright is willing to testify in court that wealthy individuals such as Will are given template letters to copy out in their own handwriting when applying for funds. Nobody who knows Will could possibly believe he wrote the last two letters sent to the Board of Trustees himself. I also note that he doesn’t mention the Drowned Prophet when it’s a question of getting his hands on cash.
I’d appreciate any advice on how to break through the impasse in which we find ourselves. I believe Sally’s illness has been caused by the stress of the last two years and we both remain desperately concerned about our son.
Yours,
Colin
David Renton
27 May 2014
Re: Will Edensor trust fund
To: Sir Colin Edensor
Dear Colin,
Thank you for this. I completely understand that this is an immensely stressful situation for you and Sally, and you have my sincere sympathy, especially in the light of Sally’s recent diagnosis.
While you and I might have doubts and questions about the Universal Humanitarian Church, it is a legally registered entity and has never been successfully prosecuted.
Unfortunately, I have concerns about Kevin Pirbright’s credibility if we bring him before a judge. He’s already been forced to retract inaccuracies in his blog posts about the UHC, and some of his allegations about the church strain credulity, particularly his accounts of the Manifestation of Prophets, which he continues to attribute to supernatural causes.
If you know of any other ex-UHC members who could be persuaded to testify as to the use of coercive control, template letters and so forth, I think we might have a case, but I’m afraid I think your chances are very slim if you proceed with Kevin as your sole witness.
I’m sorry for this gloomy prognosis, Colin. If you can track down further ex-church members, I’ll be glad to rethink.
Best, David
An excerpt of an interview with author Giles Harmon, ClickLit magazine, February 2015
CL: Some readers have seen a really profound shift in your thinking on religion in this latest novel.
GH: It isn’t really a shift at all. It’s a development, an evolution. I’m merely a few steps further along the path than I was previously. All that’s happened is that I’ve stumbled upon a unique way of meeting what I feel is the universal need for the divine, which doesn’t bring in its wake any of the attendant evils of traditional religions.
CL: You’ll be donating all royalties from One Holy Dawn to the Universal Humanitarian Church?
GH: I will, yes. I’ve been deeply impressed by the change the UHC has made in the lives of many, many vulnerable people.
CL: There was an incident at your first reading, where an ex-member of the UHC was escorted from the venue. Can you comment on that?
GH: The police told me the poor man’s quite seriously mentally ill, but I don’t know any more than that.
CL: Are you aware of the public comments Sir Colin Edensor has made about the UHC? Specifically, that it’s a cult?
GH: That’s pure nonsense. I can hardly conceive of any group less like a cult. The place is littered with intelligent professional people – doctors, writers, teachers – and the whole ethos is to freely inquire into any and all philosophies and belief systems, including atheism. I’d encourage any open-minded, intelligent person disillusioned with traditional religion to drop in on a UHC meeting, because I think they might be very surprised by what they find there.
Emails between Sir Colin Edensor and Kevin Pirbright
Sir Colin Edensor
2 March 2015
Giles Harmon’s Reading
To: Kevin Pirbright
Dear Kevin,
I was extremely unhappy to read about your behaviour at Giles Harmon’s book reading. I’m mystified as to how you think it will help any of us for you to stand up in public and start hurling abuse at a respected author. Given that they also publish Harmon, I wouldn’t be surprised if Roper Chard terminated your contract.
Colin
Kevin Pirbright
20 March 2015
Re: Giles Harmon’s Reading
To: Sir Colin Edensor
If you’d been there you’d understand exactly why I stood up and told Harman what I thought of him. These fucking rich pricks like him and Noli Seymour never see what happens at Chapman Farm. They’re being used as recruitment tools and they’re too fucking dumb and arrogant to realise it.
The book’s stalled, so Roper Chard will probably drop me anyway. I’m dealing with a lot of stuff I think I repressed. There was a night when all the kids were given drinks that I now think must have been drugged. I’m having nightmares about the punishments. There are also big stretches of time where I can’t remember anything.
I can feel the presence of the Drowned Prophet all around me. If anything happens to me, she’ll have done it.
Kevin
Letters from Sir Colin and Lady Edensor to their son William
14 December 2015
Dear Will,
The doctors have now given Mum 3 months to live. I’m begging you to contact us. Mum’s tormented by the idea that she might never see you again.
Dad
14 December 2015
Darling Will,
I’m dying. Please, Will, let me see you. This is my dying wish. Please, Will. I can’t bear to leave this world without seeing you again. Will, I love you so very much and I always, always will. If I could hug you one more time I’d die happy.
Mum xxxxxxxxx
2 January 2016
Dear Will,
Mum died yesterday. The doctors thought she had longer. If you’re interested in attending her funeral, let me know.
Dad
PART ONE
Ching/The Well
THE WELL. The town may be changed,
But the well cannot be changed.
The I Ching or Book of Changes
1
… the superior man is careful of his words
And temperate in eating and drinking.
The I Ching or Book of Changes
February 2016
Private detective Cormoran Strike was standing in the corner of a small, stuffy, crowded marquee with a wailing baby in his arms. Heavy rain was falling onto the canvas above, its irregular drumbeat audible even over the chatter of guests and his newly baptised godson’s screams. The heater at Strike’s back was pumping out too much warmth, but he couldn’t move, because three blonde women, all of whom were around forty and holding plastic glasses of champagne, had him trapped while taking it in turns to shout questions about his most newsworthy cases. Strike had agreed to hold the baby ‘for a mo’ while the baby’s mother went to the bathroom, but she’d been gone for what felt like an hour.
‘When,’ asked the tallest of the blondes loudly, ‘did you realise it wasn’t suicide?’
‘Took a while,’ Strike shouted back, full of resentment that one of these women wasn’t offering to hold the baby. Surely they knew some arcane female trick that would soothe him? He tried gently bouncing the child up and down in his arms. It shrieked still more bitterly.
