USA

When Neil Rogers (a pseudonym given by investigator Cohn Gardner to protect the witness’s identity) arrived home one evening he discovered that his father, Alan, and mother, Annie, were not at home as they usually were. Exceptionally, the house was empty. The young man sat down and watched television, waiting for them to arrive, and some 30 minutes later a car pulled up and his mother got out. Neil’s father had had a heart attack that afternoon and had been rushed into hospital; Annie assured her son that it was not serious and that he would be home in a few days.

Talking to his father in hospital the next day, Neil was surprised and perhaps even angry with himself that he had not sensed his father’s anguish in any way. It seemed strange to him that he had felt nothing as he felt very close to his father. His father calmed his fears and told him that there was no need for him to worry, Annie had dealt with everything perfectly well. Neil’s father even joked that when the time came for him to die he would make sure he said a last goodbye to his son; in any case he did not plan to die yet as he wanted to see his grandchildren. At this time Neil was not yet married but a wedding was planned. In the years that followed Neil and his wife had a daughter, Katie, who was the apple of her grandfather’s eye. They enjoyed spending time together in the garden. When Katie was six years old Neil’s wife announced another pregnancy. Alan was appar ently very pleased but also rather distracted by the news that the child would be born that October. Later that day Alan took Katie into the garden where she had a small plot in which she was allowed to plant whatever she wanted to, Neil watched from a distance, not wanting to intrude, while Alan set out a similar plot of land which was to be for his new grandchild.

Alan asked Katie to make sure that she looked after it for her brother so that he could enjoy it for himself when he was old enough, and he told her to help her brother choose the right plants and so on. Neil therefore believed that for some reason his father did not expect to be alive when the baby was born in October; he was also surprised at his certainty that the child would be a boy. That summer Neil was in his office with his partner when he suddenly heard his father say, ‘Well, I guess that’s it, son. Kiss Katie for me, and you take good care now, goodbye.’ Neil turned and saw his father standing in the office dressed in old trousers and a short-sleeved checked shirt. He was holding a garden trowel in one hand and a bunch of marigolds in the other. It was very obvious that Neil’s partner had seen and heard nothing; without a word Neil rushed home.

On arriving home he ran straight into the garden. There he saw his father lying dead on the lawn, dressed exactly as he had seen him and holding a garden trowel in one hand and a hunch of marigolds in the other. On 3 October tie’s brother arricred. When Neil took Katie to the hospital to see her mother and new brother. Neil commented that he wished his father could see the new baby. Apparently Alan had more than kept his promise to say goodbye to his son, for Katie laughed and said, ‘But Daddy, Grandpa is here, standing beside Mummy. Can’t you see him?’

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