CONNOR: ‘Are we talking about you now or Claude Meier?’
CRISTY: ‘You’re funny. So, here goes: Two counts of Assisting an Offender, which apparently includes helping Nicole to cover up the twins’ deaths, and their removal from 42 Randall Lane, which carries a maximum sentence of up to ten years.’
CONNOR: ‘Next: Perverting the Course of Justice, which can result in a life sentence all on its own.’
CRISTY: ‘Failure to Disclose Information – this covers his refusal to name those who helped him. For that, he could face up to five years.’
CONNOR: ‘There’s also Preventing the Lawful Burial of a Body – not codified in legislation, but could carry a custodial sentence of up to five years ’
CRISTY: ‘His lawyer was at pains to stress that, for the moment, everything is based on Nicole’s murder conviction; if that ends up being overturned or downgraded to involuntary manslaughter, a lot could change. Her legal team is currently trying to establish a case for the latter, and considering how little evidence was presented at the original trial to secure a guilty verdict, they are quietly confident of achieving a better result this time.’
CONNOR: ‘If they can, it’s possible Nicole will be released straightaway, considering how long she’s already served, but as we know, the wheels of justice turn slowly, so we’ll just have to wait to see what happens there.’
CRISTY: ‘Meanwhile, in spite of all the charges he’s facing, Jean-Claude Meier has been released on police bail. Apparently, he’s had to surrender his passport, and he’s due to be fitted with a security tag sometime in the next few weeks. We can confirm that he’s returned to his home in the Welsh mountains, where he’ll be staying until he’s summoned to court.’
CONNOR: ‘Or until the press who’ve found him have managed to drive him out.’
Cristy said, ‘Is this a good place to play in some further description of Bryn Helyg and what it’s all about?’
‘Possibly.’ Connor made a note. ‘Let’s take a decision when we’re done with this.’
CRISTY: ‘You’ll have seen news coverage of Noah and Abigail’s bodies being exhumed from a grave near Meier’s home. All we can add to that, at this time, is that forensic tests are still underway to establish that it really is them.’
CONNOR: ‘Unfortunately for us, both Meier and Nicole have been advised against engaging any further with the podcast. However, this is not an end to the series. We’ll continue monitoring the case and will bring you updates as and when we receive them, along with any interviews we are given permission to use.’
CRISTY: ‘Just a quick response to the rumours that have been flying: yes, we do have a recording of Meier’s full confession, but for obvious reasons, it’s in the hands of the lawyers. So, we’re sorry, it’s not likely we’ll be able to share it with you any time soon. In fact, with everything likely to be in a state of flux for at least the next couple of months, we’re going to take a pause afterthis episode and come back to you – as Connor said – with occasional updates when they happen, until such time as we can bring the series to an end.’
Stopping the recording, Connor sat back in his chair with a groan of frustration. ‘They’ll be getting everything from the news long before we receive the go-ahead to use Meier’s confession,’ he pointed out.
‘But ours will be the in-depth story,’ Jacks reminded him, ‘and something like this never passes its sell-by.’
‘Let’s be thankful for that,’ Clove said wryly, ‘or all of us sitting here would be out of a job.’
Cristy smiled at the truth of that, and since it reminded her of Kinsley’s offer, she thought fleetingly of the counteroffer she was considering putting his way. It could wait until it was fully formulated in her mind, and that wouldn’t happen until she’d had a few key conversations with the people who mattered.
Connor was saying, ‘… so it’s not likely we’ll ever be able to use her voice note.’
‘Who are we talking about?’ Cristy asked.
‘Lauren,’ Clove told her, ‘and the message she left at the weekend.’
‘I’ll lay money her lawyer knows nothing about it,’ Connor put in. ‘He’d never have sanctioned it if he did.’
‘Play it again,’ Cristy said. ‘Not that I think it’s usable, unless we want to turn the police on her, and what would be the point of that? I’d just like to hear it one more time before we erase it.’
Calling it up, Clove hit play, and Cristy closed her eyes to listen.
LAUREN:‘Hi, it’s Lauren Beagle here. I just wanted to say that I’m glad he kept his word and is now finally doing this for Nicole. He should have done it a longtime ago, of course, but I’m as much to blame for not speaking out myself, so it’s hardly my place to find fault with him. All I’ll say in my defence is that by the time I knew what had happened to the twins, I was greatly attached to his grandmother, Marie, and didn’t want to do anything to hurt her. She was an old lady with not much longer left to live, and would revealing the truth actually have got Nicole out of prison? I guess we’ll never know now.
‘After Marie died was another time I could have –shouldhave – acted, and believe me, I wanted to, but when Claude came to take over the farm … I just wanted to carry on being a part of that world, his world … He’d always made me feel safe,seen, if you like, as though I mattered … You’ve met him, so I’m sure you know how easy it is to fall under his spell. It happens all the time, to all sorts of people. I’m not sure he means to do it; it’s just how he is, and once you know him, you never want tounknowhim.
‘Anyway, meeting Ben changed a lot for me. I was more confident by then, mostly thanks to Claude’s therapy. I was ready to break free of my dependence on Claude and Bryn Helyg. So, Ben and I came here, to the States, where we set up home and started a family.
‘I continued to visit Nicole whenever we returned to Wales for short stays at Bryn Helyg. Each time I saw her, I tried to persuade her to admit what had really happened, but I could never seem to get through to her. She just kept saying it didn’t matter if it was an accident; no one was listening to her anyway, and besides, it was her fault they were dead, so she deserved to be where she was. I used to wonder if Claude was brainwashing her during his visits in order to keep himself out of prison, but I don’t know if I’m right about that.
‘One thing I am certain of is that he loves her, and maybe this confession of his finally proves how much. Do you see it that way? Does she? I’m not sure what I think any more, although I expect we can agree that all this has come very late in the day, especially for Nicole.
‘It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out from here. My lawyer thinks the most likely scenario is that she’ll eventually be released and he’ll be sentenced to a minimum of ten years. If he’s right, they still won’t be together, but she’ll visit him, just as he’s visited her all this time. They’re their own tragic tale of thwarted love.
