‘For my part, I’ve been in touch with my mother, and she’s coming here next month to meet her grandchildren. I wonder how it’ll go? She’s no Maeve, with all that saintly patience and unswerving devotion, but she’s got her good points, and I’ve definitely missed her.
‘OK, I’ve rambled on long enough. I’m not sure why I wanted to be in touch; I guess I just needed to get everything off my chest – my own confession, if you like – but I’d be grateful if you’d erase this once you’ve listened to it. There’s trust for you. Please don’t make me live to regret it.’
As the recording stopped, Cristy sighed and opened her eyes. ‘OK, Clove, you can hit delete,’ she said. ‘We’re not in the business of taking mothers away from their children, and that’s how it could end up if this should fall into the wrong hands.’ She was watching Connor and how intently he was reading something on his phone. ‘Anything we need to know about?’ she asked.
Looking up, he quickly shook his head and put the phone down. ‘Nothing to do with this,’ he assured her. ‘And yes,good idea – let’s get rid of the voicemail now and start working out where we want to insert further description of Bryn Helyg.’
By six o’clock, the episode featuring more of Nicole’s and Meier’s first interviews, together with news coverage of his charges and bail, was ready for upload, and everyone was gathered, including Iz, who’d come down specially from London. Matthew had brought Judith Evans and her researcher, Yuri, who were following the case forThe News Agenda,and Aiden, who’d brought himself. Harry and Meena were also there. The only regulars missing were Jodi and the baby. And of course, David, who often came for important podcasts, but Cristy wasn’t going to dwell on that now, especially not when the mere thought of him sent her insides into freefall.
As always, everyone sipped their drinks while listening to the episode, treating it like a live transmission, as they usually did. For the next few weeks, maybe longer, they’d be dealing with feedback and media requests for interviews, with everyone keen to know if they had more insight to share on Nicole’s appeal and Meier’s plea hearing. It was possible they’d be able to provide some answers; much would depend on how forthcoming the lawyers – and the police – wanted to be over that time. Certainly, Cristy and Connor were going to try talking to someone from law enforcement about the failures of the first investigation. That alone should make interesting listening and give rise to plenty of public debate; however, they had yet to pin anyone down.
‘Well,’ Harry declared, as the playback ended, ‘a pretty sobering but fascinating story.’ He raised his glass. ‘You did good, guys.’
Iz said excitedly, ‘As soon as you’re able to officially conclude the series, I’m going to submit it for an award.’
Cristy attempted a smile, uncomfortable with the idea of gaining accolades off the back of someone’s misery. Howevershe knew Iz meant well, so she said, ‘Glad you think it’s worthy.’
‘My mother, head of the crack squad,’ Aiden declared, raising his beer.
Refilling glasses, Meena said, ‘I must confess I’m intrigued, fixated on the relationship between Meier and Nicole. I just keep thinking about it. They’re on another level, don’t you agree? All that commitment and love over so many years … It’s beautiful and surreal and … I’m not sure Harry would be in my corner the same way if I accidentally drowned our kids.’
‘Definitely not,’ he assured her, making everyone laugh.
‘The thing is,’ Meena continued, ‘I find myself really keen for them to end up together. Is that wrong? I guess so, but it’s how I feel.’
‘I expect we’ll get a lot of people saying the same,’ Cristy told her. ‘The world loves a love story, if they see it that way, but there’ll be a huge amount of condemnation too, all mixed up with death threats and outright lies. You know what social media’s like.’
‘Any idea what’s going to happen to the twins’ bodies now forensics have confirmed it’s them?’ Judith Evans asked. She was a stout, round-faced woman with stunning green eyes and short, wavy fair hair – an insightful, facts-based reporter with more integrity in her soul than the Terrier could ever muster.
‘I’ve heard they’ll be returned to the grave in Wales,’ Cristy replied. ‘I guess Meier will arrange for a different headstone, and he’ll probably have to spend a lot on security to ward off the crime tourists. It’ll be interesting to see if Bryn Helyg survives in its current form after all the publicity.’
‘It’ll be a shame if it doesn’t,’ Connor remarked, starting to pack up his things. ‘It does a lot of good work.’
‘Aren’t you joining us for dinner?’ Matthew asked. ‘I’ve booked the upstairs room at Piccolino.’
‘My choice,’ Aiden told them.
‘Sorry to miss the last supper.’ Connor grimaced. ‘Although it’s not, actually, is it? We’ve still got the final episode to do, and something’s come up last minute for Jodi and me.’
Watching him closely, Cristy said, ‘Is everything OK with you guys?’
‘All’s good,’ he assured her. ‘But don’t forget I’m off for the rest of the week, back Saturday.’
‘Going somewhere nice?’ Meena asked curiously.
‘To Jodi’s aunt in Devon. It’s her birthday on Thursday, and Jodi promised to spend it with her. Seems no reason for me not to be there too, given where we are with the series. So, have a great dinner everyone. Maybe do another after the final episode?’
After he’d gone, Cristy and Matthew exchanged glances. Something was wrong; they could sense it. In fact, it seemed everyone could, given the silence Connor had left in his wake.
‘Hope everything really is OK with him,’ Iz remarked, ‘because he has come over as a bit … off, lately.’
‘Isn’t he always like that with you?’ Meena countered.
Iz shrugged. ‘Yeah, I guess so, although I’m sure that deep down, he loves me really.’
As the others laughed, Cristy said quietly to Matthew, ‘I think Jodi might be pregnant again and maybe things aren’t going too well.’
Matthew’s concern showed. ‘She’s only with us one day a week so I can’t say I’ve noticed anything, but wouldn’t they confide in you if there was a problem?’
