CRISTY: ‘I can tell you’re extremely proud of your exclusive, Molly, and I can see what a great response you’ve had already, but tell me this: did you even stop to consider what you were doing to Nicole Ivorson? Did you actually see her as a person? Or was it all about making sure I didn’t get the story first?’
TERRANCE: ‘Oh, Cristy, you do make me laugh. The way you hold yourself up as some moral crusader, the greatinvestigative journalist who, by the way, is apparently happy to persuade a parolee to break the terms of her licence to get a good story. So, I’d say all responsibility for sending her back to prison lies with you, my friend.’
CRISTY: ‘Oh, don’t worry, I’m accepting my part in it, but what I also consider myself guilty of is failing to remember how low you will stoop to get a headline. Rather than heave yourself out of London to pursue a story in person, you used a PI or maybe a local stringer to do all the legwork for you, didn’t you? But all they’ve given you is a headline. There’s no substance to your piece. Yes, she broke the terms of her licence, and yes, she’s back behind bars, but what does that tell anyone about the actual case? Did you interview her? Have you made any attempt to dig into the detail of what really happened back in 2005?’
TERRANCE: ‘You’re making a lot of assumptions there, Cristy, we all know what happened …’
CRISTY: ‘So tell me how she killed them?’
TERRANCE: ‘Does it matter?’
CRISTY: ‘It does if they’re still alive.’
She had the immense satisfaction of watching Terrance’s eyes narrow with alarm and suspicion.
TERRANCE: ‘Are you saying theyare?’
CRISTY: ‘What I’m saying is: in your rush to get a headline, all you’ve actually achieved it sending her back to prison. And now, I won’t be at all surprised if I find my own words being quoted by you tomorrow, claiming that “a source close to Nicole” has told you the twins are still alive. That’s how you work. A grain oftruth whipped into a frenzy of fake news, when no one’s actually told you they’re alive at all.’
TERRANCE: ‘If they are, you realize you’re breaking the law by withholding information? So maybe my story will beCristy Ward’sHindsightTeam Refuses to Cooperate with Police Inquiries into the Nicole Ivorson Case?’
CRISTY: ‘Nice try, but there is no open investigation, so no requirement for us to cooperate with anyone. I don’t suppose it’ll stop you writing whatever suits your next narrative, but let me tell you this, Molly: if you go forHindsightagain, you’ll end up deeply regretting it.’
As the screen went dark and the recording stopped, Clove and Jacks cheered.
‘Talk about putting her in her place.’ Clove laughed. ‘She is such a POS.’
‘The most interesting part of it,’ Cristy said pensively, ‘is that she didn’t mention Meier.’
‘So does that mean,’ Connor said, ‘that as soon as she found out we were in touch with Nicole, she decided she had her story and called off her guy?’
‘We don’t know anything for certain,’ Cristy replied, ‘you know how sly she is – but let’s hope she hasn’t cottoned on to him yet, because the last thing we want to find out tomorrow is that we were followed to Bryn Helyg.’
She checked her phone as an email arrived and seeing who it was from, she had a sudden, horrible feeling about what it was going to say. She glanced up, trying to gauge whether it had been sent to anyone else, and felt a powerful sense of relief when it didn’t seem to have been.
Opening it, she read quickly:
Hey, Cristy, good talking to you. Just wondering if you’ve told your team about your fantastic job offeryet? You know, the one that leaves them in the lurch while you go and take over the podcasting world, making them look a bit small fry and you the goddess of all things Crime Time and beyond?
Happy to break the news for you, just say the word.
MT x
Feeling another intense urge to slap the woman, Cristy closed the email and debated quickly with herself. At least she’d already turned Kinsley’s offer down, but now wasn’t the right time to tell the team about it. Connor would know she’d lied to him about Vikram Rathour, and she really didn’t want that level of mistrust, or suspicion, finding its way between them now, right in the middle of a series. Obviously she would tell him at some point, but on her terms and in her own time – definitely not forced there by the Terrier.
So, unable to escape the wretched woman’s unsubtly sprung trap for the moment, she sent a quick email back saying:
What do you want?
It took next to no time for a response to land.
I know you interviewed Nicole – would be good to get some quotes.
Cristy’s heart sank, in spite of already having guessed it would be the condition.
Leave it with me, but be aware that if you trash her, we’ll be calling you out big-time.
The answer came back:
