Page 10

By Wednesday morning, thanks to an hour’s meditative yoga, followed by coffee with Jodi and baby Aurora, Cristy was feeling far more relaxed than she had for the past two days. Her conversation with David at the start of the week had left her angry with herself for caring about him and Juliette, disappointed with herself for being unable to stop thinking about him, and furious with Matthew simply for breathing.

Still, she was nice and chilled now – in both senses of the word – and ready to seize the day.

Connor looked up as she swept into the office, red-cheeked and windswept from her brisk walk to Spike Island. ‘I had an interesting call while you and my wife were downward-dogging at David Lloyd’s,’ he announced drolly.

‘Tell me,’ she encouraged, hanging her coat and going to pour herself a coffee. ‘Clove, did you send the edit of Sadie’s latest interview to her for feedback?’

‘Done,’ Clover confirmed. ‘No word yet, but the boyfriend got in touch this morning to ask why the first episode wasn’t dropped last night.’

‘And you told him?’

‘What you said, that we’re waiting to speak to Mia in case it impacts the story in some way.’

‘Great. And nothing from Mia yet, I take it?’ Without waiting for an answer, Cristy said, ‘Are we being honoured by Iz’s magnificent presence today, does anyone know?’

‘Apparently not,’ Jackson replied. ‘She said she has to be in London. I didn’t ask why, mostly because she’d have told me and life’s too short.’

With a laugh, Cristy said, ‘In which case, as it’s just us, I have a little announcement to make before we go any further. It’s probably best you all know – if you haven’t worked it out already – that David and I are no longer … together.’

‘What?’ Clover exclaimed in confusion. ‘But I thought you guys …’

‘No damage done,’ Cristy hastily assured her, ‘and there’s nothing more to discuss. It was just an FYI.’

‘But aren’t we hoping he’ll give us some insight into the aunts’ financials?’ Jackson asked worriedly.

‘I’m sure he’ll still come through, and I’ll leave it to you to chase him. That way he’ll know you’re taking on that aspect of the case.’

She watched both researchers look to Connor, as if seeking further explanation or guidance. Since this wasn’t news to him, he simply shrugged and said, ‘So, who wants to hear about the call I received earlier? The answer is, you all do, so fasten your seatbelts.’

Smiling, Cristy sank into her chair and automatically opened her inbox, not to see if there was anything from David – there obviously wouldn’t be – just because it was a habit she’d formed at the start of the working day.

Seeing Marley’s name on the list she quickly closed the screen. Her ex-husband’s crazy wife was someone she really didn’t need to deal with today – or any other, come to that.

‘Are you listening?’ Connor demanded testily.

‘All yours,’ she assured him.

‘OK, so when we go to Exmoor tomorrow we’re not only meeting with the old housekeeper, Gita Brinkley. We’re also meeting with her son, Robert, who got in touch this morning.’

Immediately interested, Cristy said, ‘Does he remember the aunts? How old is he?’

Dryly, Connor said, ‘Funnily enough, I didn’t ask his age, but he does remember them – he called them “the sisters” – and he thought it might be useful if he sat in on our chat with his mother.’

Cristy was frowning. ‘Did he sound controlling? As if he might try to edit or manage what she tells us?’

‘Actually, he came across as a pretty regular sort of bloke,’ Connor replied. ‘He’s got a bit of an accent – I’d say Aussie, maybe Kiwi, can’t tell the difference. Kind of cultured anyway, and definitely friendly. Apparently his mother loves to go out, so he’s taken the liberty of booking us into the Notley Arms for lunch before, or while we talk.’

Cristy lit up. ‘I hope you told him that’s fine by us,’ she responded, already picturing the warm and welcoming village pub where they’d always stopped for a meal when filming on Exmoor during their TV days. ‘God, we haven’t been there in too long,’ she sighed, choosing not to recall the times she’d stayed there with Matthew. Memories of him always complicated the picture, much as the reality of him made her head spin in ways too annoying to analyse.

‘… so I’ve contacted Simon and Caroline,’ Connor was saying, referring to the Notley’s owners, ‘and they’ve said they’ll put the heating on in the garden room just in case we want some privacy to record.’

‘They’re the best,’ she declared. ‘I take it you asked … What was the son’s name again?’

‘Robert.’

‘Robert, if … What’s her name again?’

‘Gita. She’s definitely of Indian origin, as mentioned in Lottie’s writings – and Harry’s already afraid she might be one of Meena’s family …’

Cristy laughed.

‘She’s been in this country for over fifty years and is more English than bacon.’

‘Which is mostly Danish,’ Jacks pointed out.

‘Semantics,’ Connor retorted. ‘Anyway, she told me that her husband, Robert’s father, was from Exmoor, which was how the family came to be living near Minehead at the time the sisters were renting their summer house, as Gita called it.’

‘Hang on, I thought you were speaking to the son,’ Jacks queried.

‘I was, but she kept calling out from the background. She also told me that they, the Brinkleys, lived in London before they moved back to the father’s roots in Somerset, but I didn’t get into where in London, or why they decamped when they did.’

‘Well, the story’s not about them, so why would you?’ Clover pointed out. ‘Did either of them say anything about a child called Sadie who was “living” with the sisters?’

‘They already know it’s what we want to discuss, and Robert says he can probably be of more help to us than his mother, which is why he’s going to join us.’

Cristy’s eyes rounded with intrigue, and grew even wider a second later as Iz waltzed in through the door, looking not unlike Noddy in a bright blue conical hat and crimson fluffy duffle coat. ‘I thought you were in London,’ she commented.

‘Sorry, am I interrupting something?’ Iz asked worriedly and seemed as though she might tiptoe out again.

‘No, not at all,’ Cristy assured her. ‘I just heard that you were …’

‘It got cancelled,’ Iz told her, ‘so I thought I’d drop by to see how you’re getting on here, and to ask if you’d heard the first promos yet? They’re on all the major radio stations, as of this morning. Never let it be said that our guys don’t know how to put a promotional package together.’

‘Which of course, we don’t,’ Connor retorted tightly.

Shooting him a quick warning look, Cristy said, ‘You’re amazing, all of you. I’ve no idea how we’d do this without you …’

‘Oh stop!’ Iz laughed modestly. ‘We’re just doing our bit. Horses for courses, and all that. Anyway, it means the first episode will have to drop next Tuesday come what may, but we’ve all listened to it and everyone agrees it’s a fantastic opener, especially the way the envelope comes through the door at the end. Phenomenal cliff-hanger. Any news yet on what was in it?’

‘Only guesses at this stage,’ Cristy told her, ‘but we think it was photographs …’

To Cristy’s relief, after Iz had refreshed her coffee, she took herself off upstairs to enjoy ‘a little chat’ with Meena.

Returning to her emails, Cristy read and replied to each of them, before finally opening the one from Marley.

Hi Cristy,

How are you?

I expect you’re wondering why you haven’t heard from me before now …

Cristy was immediately struck with guilt. Putting aside what Marley had done to her marriage, her entire life, actually, she was still a young woman who’d just given birth and was, as far as Cristy could make out, friendless. So she should have been in touch by now.

… but I’ve had so much to deal with. Baby Bear is an absolute joy, without a doubt the best thing that’s ever happened to me, although I have to confess I was afraid of him at first. He’s so tiny and wobbly and he really didn’t want me to touch him, or feed him, or so it seemed to me. I was very hurt by that, until the midwife explained that it often happens with newborns, and it soon turned out that I really needn’t have worried because we both quickly got the hang of things and now we’re inseparable.

I expect you’ve heard about Matthew being arrested. It was my fault, of course. You’re probably not surprised to hear that given my ability to cause mayhem without really trying. The problem was, I stopped him from seeing the baby, and nor would I speak to him myself. I got it into my head that he was going to try to snatch Baby Bear from me. He didn’t take kindly to that and ended up making an awful spectacle of himself.

Luckily, he’d calmed down by the time Baby Bear and I returned home, and with Daddy around to make sure Matthew behaved I wasn’t anxious any more. It’s so sweet the way Daddy and Matthew have bonded, I suppose them being quite close in age helps, although Daddy is a big charmer, as everyone knows.

I hope you’re happy to hear from me. Your friendship and our chats mean the world to me. I always feel I can be myself with you in a way I can’t with anyone else. There aren’t many people who’d be so generous in spirit as you have been considering the way we met. I sometimes think you mean more to me than Matthew, but please don’t tell him that, and anyway, I don’t know if it’s true.

I have no idea at this time how M and I are going to move forward in our marriage. One day I feel it’s better for it to end, the next I can’t bear the idea of letting him go. He’s a very complex and conflicted man, as you know, but he has so much beauty in his soul and kindness in his heart that he is impossible not to love. He is, of course, still very much in love with you – he doesn’t tell me this, but I can sense it – and I want you to know that I’m not jealous or insecure about it, because I love you too.

I wish you would consider coming here to visit for a while. The house is very big with plenty of rooms, and we have an extra car you can use if you’d like one. Daddy can also get VIP passes to Universal Studios and Disneyland, and I’m sure lots of premieres and things will be happening so you’ll be invited to them too.

Sorry if this message is going on too long. I’m so enjoying talking to you, I just wish you were here so I could see your lovely face as we share your memories of becoming a mother for the first time.

I hope you write back.

With love,

Marley

‘She’s clearly bonkers,’ Meena stated after reading the email later. ‘Why the heck would you want to go to Universal or Disneyland, for God’s sake? How old does she think you are?’

Cristy shot her a look.

‘OK, not the point, but honestly, the things she comes out with … She’s so … I don’t know how to describe her … Clueless!’

Cristy sighed. ‘She’s definitely not properly in touch with the world, or how people tick. Still, at least she’s not asking me to bring the baby up, the way she was a couple of months ago.’

‘Shame for him,’ Meena muttered, ‘at least then he’d get a proper name.’

Chuckling, Cristy picked up her wine and took a sip. They were still at the office, in Meena’s upstairs suite where a bio-fuel fire was burning in the old Georgian hearth and a cosy arrangement of sofas was making them too comfortable to move very far on this stormy evening.

‘She’s terribly lonely, isn’t she?’ Cristy reflected sadly.

Meena nodded. ‘It certainly comes across that way. Have you shown the email to Matthew?’

‘No, not yet. I’m in two minds about it. On the one hand he probably ought to see it, for any number of reasons, but on the other I’m trying not to initiate contact with him unless I have to.’

Seeming to understand that, Meena stared into the flames as she said, ‘Harry and I had dinner with him last night.’

Surprised, Cristy said, ‘That’s nice. How was he?’

‘Complex and conflicted,’ Meena quoted. ‘Clearly in a horrible dilemma over his new son, and worried about the older one …’

‘Why is he worried about Aiden?’

Meena shrugged. ‘Apparently he’s spending more time on building bands than he is on his studies, but, as we know, that’s typical of your lad. He’s always got something going on somewhere, and his schoolwork seems like a side issue until it comes time for exams – and he sails them.’

In spite of knowing this to be true, Cristy said, ‘He shouldn’t take it for granted that everything will just fall into place because he wants it to. One of these days he’ll get a rude awakening and I fear it’ll be when it comes to his A levels and getting into the university of his choice.’

‘If he goes to uni at all.’

Stalled by that, Cristy shook her head in despair, and said, ‘I guess we won’t know until the time comes. You never do with him. Anyway, back to Matthew …’

‘Actually, I was hoping we could talk about David.’

Cristy’s heart flipped as she frowned. ‘Why? There’s nothing to say apart from apparently it’s over, and, to paraphrase you, better sooner than later.’

Meena simply looked at her.

Cristy threw out her hands. ‘Sure it hurts,’ she admitted, ‘and I’m … disappointed. But we weren’t together for long, and I’ve dealt with worse, so let’s move on, shall we?’

Meena began shaking her head. ‘I’m still not convinced …’

‘Please, Meena. I don’t want to talk about him now …’

‘You struck up a lovely bond with his family.’

Not enjoying the reminder given how she was feeling the loss of them too, Cristy said, ‘I daresay I’ll stay in touch with them, for a while, but I’m certainly not going to use any attachment I might have to them to keep one going with him. Now, if it’s OK with you, why don’t we talk about the new series and Iz’s involvement …’

Meena’s hand shot up. ‘I know, I know, she’s driving you mad, she has the same effect on me, but I urge you to think of the money and everything else she’s bringing to the table. We’ve never had exposure like it before, and you guys deserve full recognition for the brilliant podcasters you are. You were hitting the top spot at the end of the last series, and there’s a lot of buzz out there already for Who’s That Girl . So, you have to admit, annoyingness aside, she’s good at what she does.’

With a smile, Cristy said, ‘She’s certainly that – although I have to say dubbing us the Dream Team during yesterday’s photoshoot made us all cringe.’

Laughing Mia said, ‘But you loved it really and the shots were fantastic. All four of you at work in the office, walking along the harbourside – I especially loved the one of you laughing at only you know what. She staged it really well, and she’ll have umpteen possibilities up her sleeve of where to run them and when.’

‘All with the logos of First Family Bank, Rapid Retail Initiative and Open Destiny Holidays in the background …’

‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘Nothing. I’m happy for it.’ Cristy gave herself a moment to choose her next words carefully. ‘It’s no one’s fault but mine,’ she continued, ‘that we weren’t properly prepared for this series. I should have been firmer about needing to know more about the story before we committed to the proposed timeline.’

‘But it’s shaping up to be a terrific—’

‘It’s shaping up, yes, but when it comes to execution and delivery … I’m worried about where we could end up – and I’m not only thinking egg-on-face, and public humiliation if the story comes to nothing … Actually I don’t think that’ll happen … I just keep getting the feeling we’re being played in some way.’

Clearly confused, Meena said, ‘By whom? Surely not Sadie?’

Cristy shook her head. ‘The dead aunt was once suggested to me.’

Meena’s eyes widened in astonishment. ‘You mean from the grave?’ she exclaimed.

Understanding how ridiculous it sounded, Cristy said, ‘I’m not saying she’s controlling us, our production, but Sadie, yes, and even her sister, although I’m sure Mia knows a lot more than she’s letting on.’

After sitting with that for a moment, Meena said, ‘Hasn’t Mia agreed to talk to you?’

‘She’s yet to commit and she doesn’t want to answer anything we send by email.’

Meena threw out her hands. ‘You just need to share your suspicions, or reservations, even the spooky bit … OK, maybe not that … with the listeners. They’ll lap it up.’

Knowing that to be true, Cristy said, ‘Connor and I have already laid something down on that score. I’m not sure yet where we’ll use it, a lot will depend on what we can uncover in the next couple of weeks, but it’s there as a kind of padding, if needed. There’s just no knowing if Lottie, through her writing, or in the chaos of stuff she left behind, has planted the truth of what really happened twenty-three years ago. Or if it’s all some kind of ruse to steer us in completely the wrong direction.’

After a beat, Meena said, tentatively, ‘Aren’t you going to Exmoor tomorrow?’

Surprised, Cristy said, ‘I had no idea you were so up to date with our schedule.’

‘Iz,’ Meena explained. ‘Anyway, I’m told you’re meeting the ex-housekeeper and her son who apparently remembers the sisters and the child. That’s got to be a good lead, something to give the story … stronger legs?’

Hoping so, Cristy said, ‘We’ve already googled Robert Brinkley and he’s …’

As she searched for the right word, Meena said, ‘Impressive?’

Cristy had to smile. ‘You’ve looked him up too?’

‘I had a spare few minutes earlier, and well, wow! Not what I was expecting, that’s for sure. Leading heart surgeon down under, regular assignments for Médecins Sans Frontières … And, I get this isn’t important, but you know me …’ Her eyes twinkled. ‘You have to admit, with those looks he could give Avan Jogia a run for his money.’

‘Who?’

Rolling her eyes, Meena said, ‘The Indian/English—’

‘Poet, yes, of course, who’s probably half Robert Brinkley’s age and isn’t he part Irish as well? But OK, I can see the similarity, especially around the eyes.’

‘Smouldering,’ Meena purred mischievously. ‘I was so mesmerized I was tempted to ask if I could tag along tomorrow, but I wouldn’t want to distract him.’

Laughing, Cristy said, ‘You are shameless, Meena Quinn.’

Meena grinned, and raised her glass. ‘What’s important,’ she said seriously, ‘is that I don’t think someone like Robert Brinkley would be giving you his time if he didn’t have something to say that matters.’