‘All this really tells us,’ Jacks said, when the playback stopped, ‘is that she was in the woods that morning, as claimed, but this guy’s pretty vague, so I don’t see how it helps us much.’
Cristy was staring at the rain on the window.
‘Planet earth to Cristy,’ Connor prompted.
Looking at him, she smiled. ‘Sorry, I was just trying to work out how and where we can use these witnesses. Does Honey know about the tree-climbers?’
‘She does,’ Clove confirmed.
Stifling a yawn, Cristy went to pour herself a third coffee of the day. Another night tossing and turning, with way too little sleep, wasn’t conducive to thinking straight this morning. Maybe a supercharge of caffeine would help. ‘So tell me about Bryn Helyg,’ she said, returning to her desk. ‘How did you get on there?’
‘I already told you,’ Connor reminded her. ‘Maggi repeated what she told you—’
‘Sure, of course,’ Cristy interrupted, the conversation belatedly coming back to her. ‘What did you make of the place?’ she asked Clove.
Clove’s tone simmered with irony as she said, ‘Definitely in need of a mental health crisis so I can book myself in. Probably a pay rise as well. Anyway, we had better weather than you guys, so we had a proper look round … Did you know all the animals are pets? None of them go to slaughter or get their necks wrung or brains blown out – apart from mercy killings – and half of them actually come when they’re called. I felt like Dr Dolittle out there.’
‘There are now two newborn lambs known as Clove and Jacks,’ Jacks announced, with a roll of his eyes to hide his pride.
‘Good to hear you had a great time at the petting-zoo,’ Cristy remarked dryly, ‘but give me more on what you made of the staff.’
Clove shrugged. ‘Everyone was happy to talk, but Maggi was of course the most interesting. She didn’t want to go on the record, but when I asked her why she thought Nicole had killed the twins, she told me the question shouldn’t be why but how.’
Cristy’s eyes widened. ‘I should have thought both counted, but what answer did she give?’
‘Apparently Maggie had left Bristol for Australia by the time it happened, so she doesn’tknowwhat went down; she’s just certain that Nicole did it, and herguessis that she smothered them.’
Cristy pulled a face. ‘Based on what?’
‘I’m just repeating what she told me. She wouldn’t go any further than that, although she was keen to emphasize the fact that Meier was also overseas when it happened – we know that of course – and she says he’s already suffered enough, so we shouldn’t try to implicate him in any way. It’ll just cause more stress to no end.’
Cristy nodded thoughtfully as she took this in. ‘So very protective of him,’ she commented, wondering why, when she wasn’t surprised, it was sitting awkwardly with her.
Jacks said, ‘Bit of background on Magda Thomas. She was one of Meier’s Bristol students back in 2003 to 2005 until he returned to Switzerland. After she graduated in 2006, she worked for the NHS in various posts and trusts, right up until 2014, when she went to join Meier at Bryn Helyg.’
Clove said, ‘Honey checked the disclosure pack and was able to confirm that Magda Thomas was interviewed, by phone apparently, three days after the disappearance. It turns out she really was in Aus in 2005, from the beginning of June until the end of November, so nowhere near 42 Randall Lane.’
‘There’s also Johan,’ Jacks reminded them, ‘who was a fellow lecturer in Bristol the same time Meier was there. He was interviewed by the police, again by phone, two days after the disappearance, and it turns out he too was out of the country at the crucial time – at home in Germany in his case. Bear in mind the terrorist attacks in London happened the very next day, so could be why nothing was properly followed up or got pushed under a carpet, or whatever wasgoing on back then. We just know that the entire country was in shock, and undoubtedly every force was put on high alert to find the perpetrators and anyone who could be linked to them.’
Nodding her understanding, Cristy said, ‘So when did Johan Bauer leave Bristol?’
Checking, Jacks said, ‘June 2005, same as Meier. In his case, he returned to Germany, where he took up a post at the very prestigious Heidelberg University, which is where he remained until 2012, when he went to help Meier start the Bryn Helyg project.’
‘One last thing,’ Clove said. ‘For what it’s worth, no one we spoke to had a single bad word to say about Meier.’
Not in the least surprised by that, Cristy finished her coffee and checked the time. She kept wondering if Meier and Nicole were together now, in a prison visiting room, discussing the changes he’d mentioned when he and Cristy were in Vevey? What were they going to be? It simply wasn’t possible to know, unless Meier decided to open up when he eventually got in touch, and could they actually count on the fact that he would? Even after the short time she’d spent with him in Vevey, or maybe because of it, she was still no closer to feeling certain about trusting him. She wanted to, she knew that, and all her instincts seemed to be encouraging it. However, the skewed nature of her perception these days meant that she didn’t even know if she could trust herself.
‘OK,’ Connor said, opening up a new screen on his desktop, ‘we need to focus on the next episode and what we are and aren’t going to use. At the moment, the plan is to feature the two big interviews – Nicole and Meier – no reason not to, now everyone knows we’ve spoken to her and she gave the go ahead via Honey. So, looking like we’ll be pulling another all-weekender. Actually, I was wondering, Cris, when we set the scene for Meier’s interview, maybe we could go in for a bit of me ribbing you about how attractive you found him?’
Cristy scowled. ‘Will you see it as a sense of humour failure if I pass on that?’ she countered, thinking of how much she’d hate it.
He grimaced. ‘David. Of course. Sorry.’
‘Not only him. I’d rather Meier didn’t hear it either.’
‘Sure, bad idea. Consider it shelved. We’ll cut right to the great love story. Have you got the recordings ready to go?’ he asked Jacks.
Remembering her promise to the Terrier, that she’d provide some soundbites from Nicole’s interview, Cristy felt tempted to tell the team right now about Kinsley’s offer just to get Molly Terrance off her back. However, knowing it would send her stress levels spiralling if Connor took it badly – and why wouldn’t he? – she dismissed it. The last thing she needed right now, when her emotions were already in such turmoil, was a falling out with him especially not in front of the rest of the team who’d obviously feel just as angry and betrayed as he would that she hadn’t told them about it right away.
