Page 85 of Don't Believe A Word

‘She’s afraid he’s feeling left out, and that I am too, but we are welcome to visit any time we like, for as long as we like, ohand will I agree to being Boo Boo Bear’s legal guardian should anything happen to her?’

Barking out a laugh, Connor urged her to continue.

‘I said we could discuss it some more the next time we speak,’ she told him, pushing open the studio door. ‘Honest to God, there’s no shaking that girl, I don’t know how Matthew stands it.’

‘By being here in England?’ Connor suggested, giving a wave to the technicians in their glass box. ‘When’s he planning to go over there again?’

‘No idea, and no interest. Now, let’s get this playacting over with so we can focus on last-minute edits for tomorrow’s drop. And we still need to make a decision as to whether we’re going to say more about Symmonds-Browne.’

‘You mean so we can get turned over again? Or worse? Great! Let’s do it.’

*

Much later in the day Cristy was in the office alone when Iz bounced in, all smiles and yogi bows as she declared the latest promo so convincing and effective it was sure to win awards.

Not asking which awards in particular, Cristy said, ‘I’m glad everyone’s happy with it, and I swear we won’t let on that we’ve never shopped in a Rapid Retail outlet in our lives.’

Iz laughed delightedly, bowed again and then, to Cristy’s surprise, went to close the door.

‘Is everything OK?’ Cristy asked, seeing how serious Iz suddenly looked.

Iz shook her head and pulled up a chair to sit close to Cristy. ‘I don’t know how you’re going to take this,’ she said quietly, ‘but you might remember I was going to find out if certain SLD directors with high-flying connections could open some doors to George Symmonds-Browne?’

Cristy nodded cautiously. She hadn’t actually expected Iz to come through, however if she had something to share …

‘One of them has got back to me,’ Iz whispered, ‘and he has been advised to advise me to advise you that Mr Symmonds-Browne – that’s what he called him, Mr Symmonds-Browne – cannot be a person of interest for you at this time.’

Cristy blinked. ‘Cannot?’ she repeated.

Iz shrugged. ‘That’s what he said.’

Cristy looked up as Connor came in, appearing startled to find the two of them in a huddle. ‘Something I should know about?’ he asked, going to his desk.

‘You’ll want to hear this,’ Cristy told him.

He listened as Iz repeated the message, his eyes widening with surprise. ‘And that was it?’ he asked when she’d finished. ‘That hecannotbe a person of interest. Remind me, how they get to decide any of this?’

‘I have no idea,’ Iz replied miserably. To Cristy she said, ‘I’m afraid I’ve upset Connor again.’

‘It’s not about upsetting me,’ he growled. ‘I just want to know how someone with as many connections to the criminal underworld as he has to the British establishmentcan’tbe a person of interest at any time, never mind this one?’ He looked at Cristy. ‘I think we just ignore it.’

Cristy had to agree. ‘I might just run it past Frances Rush, our friendly DSI who heads up Gloucestershire’s Organized Crime Unit,’ she said. ‘She couldn’t tell us Symmonds-Browne’s whereabouts the last time I was in touch, but maybe she’ll have something to say about this. Meantime, we need to continue being vigilant about locking up when no one’s here, and make sure everything’s regularly backed up to the cloud.’

Apparently approving of that, Iz said, ‘Do you think it had something to do with this Symmonds-Browne guy?’

Mindful of how keen Iz might be to put the answer in some sort of press package, Cristy said, ‘We have no idea what it was about. Probably just a random burglary attempt – and a wake-up call to us to take security more seriously. Jacks!’ she exclaimed as he came in the door carrying a giant takeout coffee and sticky bun. ‘We’re waiting for news on Natalie Irwin and if she knows where to find Lukas. Anything doing?’

‘Absolutely,’ he replied, returning to his desk. ‘I missed lunch,’ he explained, taking a bite from the bun.

Cristy waited, watching him chew as Iz signalled the need to catch a train and left.

Swallowing, Jacks said, ‘So, I contacted Hilary Stokes and she typed out a message to Natalie Irwin while I was talking to her. She also gave me Natalie’s email address and landline number, which could be out of date because they haven’t been in touch for ten years or more. Anyway, the phone number rang out when I tried it, and as yet Hilary hasn’t had a reply to her iMessage, however, it has been “seen”.’

‘So she’s read it,’ Cristy stated, ‘and knows we want to be in touch, but isn’t responding?’

‘She’d only have got the message an hour ago,’ he pointed out, ‘so give her a chance.’

Curbing her impatience, which actually had more to do with wanting things sorted in time to meet Robert for drinks later than it did with any real urgency regarding Natalie Irwin, Cristy said, ‘Did Hilary Stokes tell you anything useful about Natalie, other than the fact that she was friends with Lukas while they were at Butlin’s? Is she still in Canada, by the way?’