Wondering exactly what they were supposed to do to make that happen some time soon, Cristy said, ‘That might be easier to achieve if we could meet with her in person. But OK, I understand why that can’t happen. However, it would be good if Maeve or Nicole could tell us something about this Claude guy – such as, is his surname actually Major? What is his nationality, and do either of them know where he might be now?’
‘And has he been visiting her in prison?’ Connor added. ‘If so, how often and how recently?’
Making a note, Honey said, ‘Do you have a reason for thinking he might have been going to see her?’
‘To be frank,’ Cristy replied, ‘we’re wondering if he still has some kind of hold over her.’
Honey frowned. ‘Are you thinking he could have influenced her recent confession?’ she asked carefully.
‘Anything’s possible,’ Cristy responded, ‘but we won’t know for certain until you’ve asked her, or until we find him. If he does have some way of triggering her … Well, let’s take it a step at a time and find out first if they are still in touch.’
Honey returned to her notepad, only looking up again when Cristy said, ‘Please don’t take offence at this, but is it looking to you as though no one from Nicole’s defence team – i.e. your firm – tried to track this Claude down either before or after the police spoke to him? Presuming they did, and OK, I get that we only have Bridget’s word on that.’
‘At the moment, the name isn’t only missing from the CPS files,’ Honey replied evenly. ‘It’s not showing up on ours either. That might change as more comes to light. Meanwhile, I’m not here to make excuses for anyone; they’ll have to do that for themselves when – if – the time comes. What’s striking me about it most, right now, is that it’s taken you guys less than three weeks to get his name as a person of interest. So whyisn’tit all over the files? And what was the press doing at the time, given there doesn’t seem to be any mention of him there either?’
‘Bloody good question,’ Connor retorted with a sideways look at Cristy, a reminder that she’d been there at the time.
‘The only answer I can give,’ Cristy replied, annoyed at being made to feel responsible for the omission, ‘is that, as you well know, the press generally report what they get from the police, especially during early stages of an investigation. And let’s not forget there was a big distraction with the 7/7 bombings coming so soon after. For obvious reasons, it sucked the air out of everything else, so it seems that some pretty basic stuff was either overlooked or simply not followed up on.’
Nodding her understanding, Honey said, ‘OK, let’s go over what you’ve found out about this guy so that I have an idea of what to look or listen out for next time I speak to Nicole. Actually, first, what’s your current thinking onthe whacko a few doors down who told you about satanic gatherings in the woods?’
‘He’s still written off as a fantasist,’ Cristy told her. ‘However, something might have triggered him, so it could be useful to find out what it might have been. Leaving him aside for now, Lauren’s mother told us her daughter thought this Claude was something special. A bit different … Her exact words … ?’
Reading from his phone, Connor said, ‘“She thought the sun shone out of him, he could do no wrong, and everything about him was better than anything we could ever understand. He was special, different, someone to be looked up to.”’
Cristy said, ‘So we could say he was charismatic, charming, educated, persuasive, reassuring … essentially, all traits of a cult leader. Of course, there’s no definitive proof that there was a cult, but something we know about the men who lead them is how secretive they can be – and frighteningly influential. So, until we can rule out the possibility of Claude being a master manipulator of some sort, he very much remains a person of interest.’
Honey said carefully, ‘I guess you don’t need me to tell you the other typical characteristics of cult leaders?’
Rising to it, Cristy said, ‘They’re generally viewed to be exploitative, paranoid, messianic … Depending on their levels of self-aggrandizement and their need to control, they can also be psychopathic in their tendencies as well as their actions.’
Honey’s eyes remained fixed on hers.
They were all thinking of the twins.
‘So, what are you going to do next about finding him?’ Honey asked.
‘Well,you,’ Cristy replied, ‘are going to talk to Maeve, and through her, Nicole, while we do what we do best – and that’s put out a podcast.’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
On Tuesday evening, everyone was gathered at the office by six, excited for the first episode of a new series to drop. By now, Iz hadn’t only brought the worried sponsors back on board: she’d worked miracles whipping up last-minute publicity for the launch, not only with regular multi-platform announcements but with mainstream promos and down-the-line interviews.
Now, they all sat quietly listening to the first twenty minutes of the episode as if it were a live broadcast show – a ritual they’d always adhered to, in spite of technology making everything available at all times. Jodi, Connor’s wife, moved quietly about the room, topping up glasses with champagne while Jacks handed out nibbles. Matthew and Aiden were also there, not wanting to miss out on ‘the big event’, as Matthew had called it during his own news bulletin earlier. Even David had flown over to join in marking the occasion.
Playing now was the big scoop that had come their way only this morning, when Jacks had managed to get hold of Maeve’s 999 call to report the twins missing. Though the audio wasn’t always clear, he’d managed to clean up some of the more salient parts.
MAEVE: ‘… they’re my grandchildren. Twins. We don’t know where they are. My daughter came home, and they were—’
OPERATOR: ‘How old are they, Mrs Ivorson?’
MAEVE: ‘They’ll be one next month. They’re not even walking … Please, you have to help us find them.’
OPERATOR: ‘I’ve got your address. Someone will be right there. Can you tell me when you last saw them?’
MAEVE: ‘I – me? Early this morning. I went to my sister’s and got back ten minutes ago. We’ve looked everywhere. My daughter’s in a terrible state—’
OPERATOR: ‘Is she with you now?’
