The Quest For Perfection (Is A Damn Fine Thing)

Part I: The Strangeness of Fredrick Street - Prologue & Chapter 1

Foreword from J.P. McNair

I've tried to tell this story the best I could. There are few people left alive to tell it and those that are don't want to put their names to paper, nor do they want to put their mind back where it once was. The story of The Fredrick Street Five, The Wells Foundation and the events that took place both close to home on a small Scottish and simultaneously far away are mostly unknown. Until now. What follows, is the truth, or as much of the truth as I could muster. Usually, when writing a story based on a real event involving real people, it's a lot easier. Survivors will talk to you. Information is, if not easy to find, at least it's there to find. Not this. For a story of this horror, tragedy and sheer human cruelty I would have hoped I wouldn't have to imagine it so much. I would have hoped I wouldn't have had to write so much. But the information was scant, those left alive even fewer. But I've done my best with the few interviews I managed to undertake, the slim writings on The Wells Foundation, newspaper clippings, extracts from essays and articles. But of course, much of the story appears as written like a book of fiction. I hope this doesn't detract from the truth too much. I had to fill in the blanks with the information I had. Events may not have played out exactly as this, but it will be as close as we will ever get to the truth of this quiet horror. And I hope you find the truth in here as I did.

J.P. McNair, Journalist and Author of The Fredrick Street Experiments

Transcript of Interview with Sarah Barr. August 25, 2015. Conducted by J.P. McNair.

I had approached Ms Barr several times for an interview to discuss what she remembers of Fredrick Street. Several times she rejected. The other survivor has all but fallen off the face of the earth. Without an interview with Ms Barr, the project is dead. Without her, I have nothing substantial and this may as well be a work of fiction – and will probably be seen as such.

I was persistent though and finally, she agreed to meet with me and tell not only her story, but the story of the others, as much as she could. None of the court records after the incident are public record. The record details everything from the Fredrick Street Five, Dr Tom and Isabel Archer, Ray Samson, Harold Wells & The Wells Foundation. If I want to piece together the events, and what happened, Sarah Barr is my only hope. I approachedthe interview with great caution. She lives alone, in a bungalow in a quiet and sleepy Scottish town, with views out onto the river that runs between here and Glasgow.

When I visit for the interview, one look at her tells me she's been through a lot; it looks like she's lived life twice over. Her hair is slightly frayed and her is skin taught, yellowing ever so slightly through years of misuse. Whether it be self-inflicted or as a result of what happened, I don't know. Not yet, at least. She offers me a cup of tea. The china jingles on the saucer as she brings it to me shakily. When she sits down, she tries hard to smile.

Are you nervous?

She nodded. "A little."

Don't be. I won't push you to tell me anything you don't want to.

"OK."

Can I start by asking why you finally agreed to meet me?

She thought for a minute before answering. "I guess, I hope, when I tell you the story of what happened, then it might help me to forget."

How much do you remember?

The question seems to elicit a shiver. "Of what happened to me? Everything. The rest, I know from what I read in the media coverage, after, and from what I heard during the trial. Will that be enough?"