Clove shook her head. ‘Still no official confirmation that there are leads on the whereabouts of the bodies,’ she replied. ‘I’ve been in touch with Julian Hargreaves’s office; his PA said they haven’t heard anything about it and advised that I shouldn’t believe everything I read online.’
‘Kind of her,’ Cristy retorted. ‘Is her boss still up for meeting on Thursday?’
‘Apparently yes.’
‘Great. Now, before we get into the delightful little sideshow you set up for us with Mervyn Wilson, you must surely have tracked down at least one of Maeve’s siblings by now?’
‘No actual phone details yet,’ Jacks replied, ‘but the sister – Bridget Hawkes – is over near Chippenham, so not millions of miles away, although not particularly close to the prison. No idea at this stage if Maeve and/or Nicole are there.’
‘But you’ve got an address?’
‘Sure, so we could – Clove and I – go stake the places out, see what’s going on and report back. Or we could—’
‘Put a couple of supersleuths to use,’ Iz interrupted excitedly, ‘and send them. We were just discussing it as you came in the door.’
Cristy turned to Connor. Although their back-up team of social media scrutineers, all of whom worked from home, were excellent at what they did, sending them out on field work was a different ask altogether. They weren’t journalists or detectives, or in any way trained for surveillance. However, the task could be time-consuming, and getting someone with the proper experience on board could take forever and a sizeable chunk of the budget.
Wouldn’t be a problem if they were being bankrolled by RK Media.
These sorts of rogue thoughts really weren’t helpful in spite of being true.
‘I reckon it’s such an obvious place for them to hide out,’ Connor said, ‘that they won’t be there, so no harm in sending a couple of supersleuths to check the place out.’
‘What we don’t want happening,’ Cristy said, ‘is Molly Terrance finding them first and signing them up for an exclusive. They don’t call her the Terrier for nothing, and she’ll have some big bucks to throw their way, so we need to stay focused on this.’
‘With the kind of sums the Terrier can call on,’ Clove said dubiously, ‘I don’t see how we can ever compete.’
Cristy sighed. ‘Then we definitely have to get there first, presuming we’re not already too late. You don’t need me to tell you that the Terrier is as loathsome as she is relentless, and no way can we let her snatch this from under our noses.’
‘She could have them holed up in luxury somewhere, even as we speak,’ Jacks pointed out.
‘God forbid,’ Connor growled, ‘but you’re right: money could already have changed hands, not only with Nicole but before that, with someone on the inside – a probation officer, maybe. Even her lawyers could have brokered a deal. We’re not frontline media – no one’s coming to us first.’
Would they, ifHindsighthad a wider reach and a globally recognized name? Could she achieve that with Kinsley and Rathour? It was possible.
Turning to Iz, Cristy said, ‘We might need to make a counteroffer to get an exclusive with Maeve and Nicole, so if I send you some figures, can you work on it?’
‘I’ll do my best,’ Iz promised, ‘but I should probably remind you that some of our regular sponsors have interests in the big media outlets, so it could be tricky.’
Clove said, ‘If worst comes to worst, we could always interview the Terrier after she runs her exclusive, if she has one.’
‘Bollocks to that,’ Connor scoffed.
‘If she already had Nicole on board,’ Cristy said, ‘she’d be crowing about it by now, getting everyone worked up for the big splash. So let’s carry on as if we’re in with a chance, at least until we know we’re not. Have you received any archive material from my TV coverage?’ she asked Jacks.
‘Not yet,’ he replied. ‘I messaged Matthew to ask him to chase it.’
‘He promised to do that before he left.’ She grimaced. ‘Now that he’s hobnobbing with the superrich in Switzerland, I don’t expect he’s giving us a second thought. I’ll put in a call myself and see how I get on. Are you OK?’ she asked Jodi, noticing her staring at the whiteboard, seemingly oblivious to what was going on around her.
Jodi nodded. Her eyes were fixed on the twins. ‘They’re more or less the same age as Aurora in these shots,’ she said soberly.
Turning to study them herself, Cristy felt an unsettling sensation inside. Their sweetness seemed to shine out of the images, and the tragedy of their lives once again pulled her back to that terrible time. They looked so happy in these photos, so healthy and full of life, but she knew only too well how deceptive a single captured moment could be. So, had they been loved and cherished … ? All the dreadful rumours that had swirled around their disappearance, the horror of what could have happened to them, had fuelled her postnatal derangement and was even seeming to unsteady her now …
‘I should be going,’ Jodi said, reaching for her coat. ‘Traffic could be bad, and I don’t want to be late.’ Going to drop a kiss on Aurora’s head and Connor’s lips, she added, ‘I should be back by nine, ten at the latest. Just tell me before I go, Cris – are you looking forward to the weekend?’
Cristy frowned, until, remembering her own birthday party, she broke into a smile. ‘Yes, I think so,’ she replied. ‘I’m just not sure whether or not to be worried about this so-called surprise. Are you up for giving me some clues?’
‘That would be a no,’ Jodi assured her. ‘When are you flying?’
