Page 95 of Don't Believe A Word

‘You mean you’d come over and be with me?’

‘If you like.’

After a moment, Sadie said, ‘I don’t know. Can I think about it?’

‘Of course.’

‘I’m probably getting worked up over nothing, but instinctively it’s feeling as though I should find out what’s in there before I decide whether or not I want to share it.’

*

‘That makes sense to me,’ David said later when they spoke on the phone. Cristy was taking a different route home this evening, along Cumberland Road to the top of Bathurst Parade where the Louisiana pub loomed like an old-fashioned steamboat next to the basin. ‘There’s no knowing what dark secrets Lottie could have stored in that safe, and there’s no doubt she had them.’

Grimacing, Cristy said, ‘I’m actually starting to feel nervous about it myself, so I’m glad Anna, at least, is going to be there once the safe-cracker has done his job.’

‘Indeed. And speaking of Chas – that’s the bloke’s name by the way – he told me something else when I was on the phone to him earlier. It turns out he knew the estate agent who sold Mia and Lottie the house. He doesn’t think he’ll be of as much interest to us as a “good mate” of his who did some work for the sisters back in the day.’

‘What sort of work?’

‘He doesn’t know, or won’t reveal details, but said mate, who apparently has a very respectable printworks based in the Home Counties, is also known in certain circles for being a master penman. I believe that’s an insider’s term for a forger.’

Cristy blinked. ‘Talk me through this,’ she said quietly.

‘I don’t know any more than that, but what I’m thinking, and I just know you’re on the same page, is birth certificates, passports, photographs of fake parents … It could be this guy fixed it all.’

‘Do we know where to find him?’

‘Chas, who’s actually a very good farrier in case you’re interested, isn’t prepared to go public with a name, or an exact location. However, he’s agreed to tell you himself as much as he told me.’

‘Of course we want to speak to him, it’s a dynamite piece of information even without the mate’s input. It kind of backs up what we’ve always known, that the sisters bought Sadie’s identity in order to pass her off as their niece.’

‘Exactly. I think I’m going to owe Chas a drink or two after this.’

Taking the iron footbridge over to the Ostrich pub, Cristy said, ‘You can put it on expenses if you like, given you’re practically one of the team now.’

He laughed. ‘I might just hold you to that. Now, before you ring off, I want to know if anyone’s been following you again, or tried to remove things from your office.’

‘Nothing to report on that front,’ she replied, deciding not to mention the text she’d received earlier advising her not to be afraid. It didn’t mean anything, she was certain of that. It was simply the sort of messing trolls went in for to unnerve or destabilize their victims, and God knew it was a whole lotbetter than the vicious or depraved sort of fantasies some sickos inflicted on her. Thankfully, they were mostly blocked by the supersleuths these days, with death threats being sent straight to the police. It was a shame, for the whole team, not just her, that one or two wise-guys still managed to get hold of their personal numbers, but they simply did as they’d been advised back in their TV days. They stored the messages in a designated file just in case they were ever needed for further investigation, then got on with their day.

*

It was Friday afternoon and everyone was working quietly on their computers – Jacks still trying to trace the Naples messenger, Clover reaching out to a Vilnius-based journalist to see if he could help find Audra, Cristy and Connor pulling together sound effects and a structure for the next episode. The rain outside was so heavy and persistent it was making them reluctant to leave for the day, so they were all still there just after six when Sadie FaceTimed.

Guessing the safe-cracker had done his job, Cristy alerted the others and quickly clicked on. The instant Sadie’s expression came into focus her insides tightened with unease.

‘What is it?’ Cristy asked. ‘What’s happened?’

Clearly agitated, Sadie said, ‘It’s full of cards and letters … I thought … They seemed sweet at first … Theyaresweet and passionate and not like anything I’ve read … He clearly loved her one hell of a lot and in her journals … Almost everything in them is about him. You need to read them. She was besotted with him; she talks about leaving me and Mia to be with him.’

‘Who is it?’ Cristy urged, already knowing it must be Symmonds-Browne.

‘She doesn’t call him by name, just says he’s her darling, her one true love, and that’s how he signs himself, but then I found photos of them together … Oh God, Cristy!’ she sobbed. ‘Anna’s just sent one for you to see …’

As it came up on the screen the others murmured their shock.

‘Shit!’ Connor swore. ‘This can’t be right.’

‘That’s what I thought,’ Sadie told him, her eyes desperate as they went to him. ‘It can’t, can it?’