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It was a week into the new year and Cristy and Connor were at Quinns’ Podcast Studios on Bristol’s harbourside. They’d already been given clearance from the company’s owners, Harry and Meena, to move back into the once elegant and airy drawing room of a vast converted Georgian property at the heart of Spike Island, which was now a spacious ground-floor office reserved for prestigious productions. If Hindsight ’s success continued, it was possible they’d soon outgrow this, but for now they were more than happy to be here. With such illustrious neighbours as the world-renowned SS Great Britain , only yards from their front door in its restricted dry dock, and the internationally loved and highly acclaimed Aardman Animations, home of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep , just across the cobbled walkway outside their car park, it was a pretty desirable place to be.

CRISTY: ‘Hi, I’m Cristy Ward …’

CONNOR: ‘And I’m Connor Church. Welcome to a brand-new series of Hindsight. ’

CRISTY: ‘Before we get into the curious and compelling mystery we’ve chosen to investigate over the following weeks, we’d like to thank you all for the amazing support you gave our last series Nothing to See Here … ’

CONNOR: ‘Which, for those who haven’t yet heard it, can still be found wherever you get your podcasts. Also, all the usual extras – photographs, video and extended versions of interviews featured in the series – remain available on our website.’

CRISTY: ‘As our next story develops we’ll be posting a lot more for you to view or interact with, and you’ll soon understand what a vital role you might play in helping to solve this highly unusual case.’

CONNOR: ‘We’re going to begin by admitting that we aren’t yet sure what the crime is here – bear with us and you’ll see what we mean as the mystery unfolds. It begins with a written story, or an extract from one, that has its roots, we’re sure, in some pretty strange facts.’

CRISTY: ‘It was brought to us by a young woman called Sadie Winters who has no idea of who she really is, where she came from or what actually happened to her when she was just under two years old. But something certainly did.’

CONNOR: ‘It’s important to say now that so far we’ve found no reports of a missing child from around the time Sadie was found on a deserted beach on the west coast of England.’

CRISTY: ‘Obviously, we’ll be carrying out a much deeper dive into police files and missing persons registers as we move on with the investigation, and we’ll let you know what we find as more details come to light. For now, here is Sadie reading two extracts from the written story she found amongst her aunt’s papers after the aunt died suddenly in early 2020. Just keep in mind as you listen that the child she’s telling you about is almost certainly her.’

As they ended the series intro Cristy sat back in her chair to listen once again to the audio file Sadie had painstakingly recorded over the past couple of days. It included everything from the moment Mia had spotted a child on the beach, right through to Lottie’s suggestion that Mia should end her marriage if they wanted to keep the child they’d begun to call Sadie. There was now a third extract, found only yesterday, that was due to be recorded later today via a live link from Guernsey.

By the time they’d finished listening to Sadie’s earlier recording, Cristy had brewed a fresh pot of coffee in their corner kitchenette and Connor was standing back to survey the headshots he’d just lined up across the top of the whiteboard. Mia’s and Lottie’s had been taken from old photographs provided by Sadie, while the one of Sadie herself had been sent by Jasper this morning. Though she wasn’t smiling, it still managed to show just how lovely she was.

‘I don’t think Sadie should be between them,’ Cristy observed. ‘There are almost certainly going to be two separate backstories here, so the sisters should have one half of the board, and Sadie the other.’

Seeing the logic of that, Connor quickly rearranged the small gallery, giving space for two threads, before taking the coffee Cristy was passing him and returning to his desk.

‘So Harry and Meena are due back at the end of the week,’ he commented. ‘Which reminds me, have you contacted Clover and Jackson yet to get them on board for the duration? I reckon we’re going to need our crack research team at full throttle for this.’

‘I spoke to Clove at the weekend,’ she assured him, ‘and lucky for us neither she nor Jacks have any conflicting assignments, so they’re already familiarizing themselves with what we have so far. They’ll join officially as soon as we have a budget fixed.’

‘I say let’s pull them in right away. We’ll get what we want, no doubt about that, definitely enough to cover their contracts – and maybe to up our own a little? Have you crunched any numbers yet?’

‘I have. I’ll send my suggestions over so you’ll see that I’ve built in an increase for us all. What we don’t know yet, of course, is how much has to be greenlit by this new Sponsorship Liaison Group after consultation with the chosen sponsors. I’d say probably all of it.’

Connor was immediately hostile. ‘Bollocks to that,’ he grunted. ‘If kow-towing to idiots is what success brings then let’s live without it.’

‘Or let’s carry on the way we intend to right now. With any luck, by the time they make their minds up about anything, especially content, we’ll be too far down the road to change course. Now, back to Sadie and the aunts – does that sound like a pop group?’

‘A what? No one says that any more.’

Laughing, Cristy said, ‘Listen to you, pushing thirty and still getting down with the kids? You’re a father now, a grown-up producer and early-nighter …’

‘Your point being?’

‘I’m not sure, but those youthful good looks of yours could be under threat if your little darling starts depriving you of sleep. Then what will all your fans do?’

‘I expect move on to Superman, from whom I stole them in the first place.’

She laughed again, for Connor did indeed resemble a young Christopher Reeve with his inky dark hair, large black-rimmed glasses and devastating smile. Cristy checked the time and finished her coffee. ‘We’re due to connect to Sadie in the next ten minutes,’ she alerted him. ‘So, just to be clear, we’re definitely up for this in spite of having no idea where it might take us, or what kind of trouble it could end us, or anyone else, in?’

He grinned. ‘Isn’t not knowing the best part of it? And this latest extract she’s found has really got me going.’

‘Yeah, me too. I just hope she’s tracked down more by now, because it’s definitely raising more questions than it’s answering.’

‘Sorry to disappoint,’ Sadie grimaced when Cristy put the question to her a few minutes later, ‘but don’t worry, we’re still looking.’

‘There’s got to be at least another page,’ Connor declared, as if his determination could somehow make it appear.

On his screen Sadie grimaced helplessly.

‘OK,’ he said, ‘let’s go with what we have so far. Are you OK to read?’

Sadie nodded eagerly. ‘It’s so short I almost know it by heart.’

‘Excellent. There are a few rays of sunshine falling over your face, so if you could change angle slightly …’

As she adjusted, Cristy could tell that in spite of her bravado she was nervous, so she said gently, ‘Don’t worry if you stumble or lose your place, we can always do it again, just know that you have a great voice for podcasts.’

‘As opposed to face?’ Sadie quipped.

Cristy laughed. ‘The video’s only for the website, and we won’t use anything you’d rather we didn’t.’

Sadie nodded, and her eyes moved back to Connor as he released one ear from his headset and gave the thumbs up.

Before Cristy could speak Sadie said, ‘This is the first time I’ve actually seen you, Connor. Did anyone ever tell you you look like Clark Kent?’

As Cristy sniggered, Connor refrained from saying, Only about a million times , and peered meaningfully through his glasses. ‘Just don’t put me near a phone box,’ he cautioned.

‘Or he’ll get his knickers in a twist,’ Cristy explained.

Sadie burst out laughing and Cristy ducked as Connor aimed a pencil at her head.

‘OK, I’m going to disappear from the screen now,’ he told them, ‘it’s just you and Cristy, Sadie, and she’ll lead you in.’

After his habitual, though unnecessary, countdown Cristy began.

CRISTY: ‘So, Sadie, you’re going to read a third extract from what appears to be the same story, written by your aunt?’

SADIE: ‘That’s right. It’s another scene, or part of a chapter, set in the hillside house. It’s only a couple of pages that we found mixed in with other papers at the back of a drawer.’

To Connor, Cristy said, ‘We need to get some footage of Lottie’s rooms to put on the website so everyone can see just what a monumental task Sadie is facing. Is there any chance you can shoot that for us on your phone?’ she asked Sadie.

‘I should think so,’ Sadie agreed. ‘You might have to talk me through how to do it to make sure I get everything you need, but it shouldn’t be hard. Provided Mia isn’t watching.’

Cristy frowned at the reminder of what else she had to say during today’s call. ‘We’ll come on to that,’ she said. ‘For now let’s carry on with the reading. Are we still recording?’ she asked Connor.

He gave a nod and she said, ‘OK, in your own time, Sadie.’

SADIE: ‘It starts mid-sentence, and this is what it says: … when Mia came into the room and shook Lottie awake. “What time is it?” Lottie asked groggily, as she turned onto her back, blinking at the blaze of sunlight trying to stream through the curtains. “Just after seven,” Mia whispered. “Sadie’s still sleeping. Someone’s knocking at the door.”

‘Registering the words Lottie came suddenly awake. “Have you looked out to see who it is?” she asked worriedly.

‘“I didn’t want to risk being seen. No one ever comes here, apart from Mrs B and Pete, the gardener, and neither of them knock.”

‘Lottie reached for her robe. Her heartbeat was suddenly unnaturally fast, her limbs shaky, and she could see it was the same for Mia. Had someone come for Sadie? It had to be that, so what were they going to do? They should have left here already. What fools to have stayed this long.

‘They stood quietly in the semi-darkness, listening for more knocks and bracing themselves in case whoever it was refused to go away.

‘The silence ticked ominously on, smoothed by the distant wash of waves and haunting wail of seagulls.

‘“I think they might have gone,” Mia whispered.

‘Going out to the landing Lottie peered over the banister to the bottom of the stairs. No silhouette through the frosted pane in the front door, no muted crunch of footsteps on the gravel outside, or sound of a car engine. It was a long walk to get here on foot, but with the South West Coast Path not far away it was possible.

‘She glanced back at her sister, and went into the next room to check on Sadie. There was no reason to think anyone had broken in and taken her – Mia had already told her she was still sleeping – but Lottie just needed to see for herself.

‘She was there, beneath her new pink-frilled canopy and magic glow of fairy lights, all curled up around her teddy, eyes closed and mouth half-open as she breathed steadily, peacefully and so sweetly that Lottie’s heart seemed to fold around her.

‘“Lottie,” Mia whispered.

‘Leaving Sadie’s door ajar, the way she liked it, Lottie returned to the landing. Mia was at the top of the stairs staring down at something. Lottie followed her eyes and her own immediately widened with surprise and unease.

‘An envelope was lying on the mat, just inside the front door, large and brown and apparently unsealed.

‘Thinking immediately of blackmail, ransoms, all kinds of craziness, Lottie indicated for Mia to stay close to Sadie and started down the stairs. She had a horrible feeling that someone was watching her, but who on earth could be?

‘Everything outside remained silent as she stooped to pick up the envelope, almost afraid to touch it in case it was some sort of booby trap. It wasn’t addressed to anyone and not at all heavy, so she reached into it and pulled out the contents. At first she felt confused, until understanding dawned and she gasped in shock.

‘“What is it?” Mia cried, coming quickly down the stairs.

‘Lottie’s face was pale and frightened as she handed over the envelope’s contents and watched her sister register what had been delivered to their door.

‘“Oh my goodness,” Mia murmured, clasping a hand to her mouth. “Is there a note?”

‘Lottie checked and shook her head. “That’s all there is,” she said.’

As she finished reading Sadie looked up to the camera, waiting to be told what to do next.

Cristy said, ‘Well done, you read that very well. How do you feel?’

‘You mean apart from frustrated and mad keen to know more?’

Cristy smiled. She could see the girl was shaken.

‘It feels kind of sinister, don’t you think?’ Sadie said. ‘Two middle-aged women alone in a remote house with a child they seem to be in the process of abducting and suddenly, out of nowhere, something – God knows what – comes through the door.’

Cristy had to agree, it did feel sinister.

Sadie glanced up as someone, out of shot, handed her a mug.

‘Who’s with you?’ Cristy asked, not really thinking it would be Mia, but feeling the need to check anyway.

‘Just me,’ Anna answered, stooping to join Sadie in the shot. ‘Great stuff, isn’t it? But we have to find out what was in that envelope.’

‘Jasper’s down at the house now seeing if he can turn something up,’ Sadie informed them.

‘Shall I stop recording?’ Connor asked.

Cristy shook her head. ‘I’m just going to do a little spiel,’ she told Sadie, ‘and then we’ll get into the interview we discussed yesterday if that’s OK?’

‘Take it away,’ Sadie responded. She sipped her coffee as Cristy waited for Connor to bring the script to the screen, then began.

CRISTY: ‘I know, beyond frustrating that the latest extract ends where it does, but what we do get from it is that whatever was inside the envelope scared Lottie.’

CONNOR: ‘And Mia. What we don’t know from this though is how long Sadie had been with the sisters by then.’

CRISTY: ‘And it’s possible that other pages or chapters exist that detail events leading up to this scene.’

CONNOR: ‘In other words, there’s every chance Lottie’s story isn’t going to be revealed in order, which could end us up with answers before questions are asked, or pieces of the puzzle that could belong to another picture altogether.’

Though they were still recording, Cristy said, ‘We might have to cut that last bit. We could lose our audience if they think we’re just going to confuse them.’

‘It’s the truth though,’ Connor countered.

‘So maybe we record the whole series before going to air?’

‘I thought we were hoping for leads from the public, by posting the pods weekly?’ Sadie interjected.

‘Without them we might never actually have a story,’ he pointed out.

Aware of that, Cristy frowned as she said, ‘We’ve just got to be careful we don’t start irritating the listeners. Pods leap back and forth all the time, I know. But with this one there’s far more potential for getting things wrong either through misunderstanding, or just not knowing enough to make sense of where we’re at in the story.’ To Sadie, she said, ‘Let’s go ahead with the interview now and discuss this further when we’re done. Are you ready?’

‘As I’ll ever be,’ Sadie replied.

Cristy waited for Connor to register the timecode and began.

CRISTY: ‘Sadie, since you found this extract have you had any thoughts on what might have been in the envelope?’

SADIE: ‘Well, I think for me, the most obvious answer is some kind of blackmail threat, although Lottie herself kind of dismisses that … Not altogether, it’s true, but it wouldn’t be normal for her, a natural storyteller, to presage the truth in such a clumsy way.’

CRISTY: ‘For the benefit of our listeners, here’s a reminder of Lottie’s words: “Thinking immediately of blackmail, ransoms, all kinds of craziness …” But we can’t rule out blackmail?’

SADIE: ‘No, we can’t, and as I said, it is the most obvious answer.’

CONNOR: ‘Mia asked if there was a note, but it doesn’t seem that there was.’

SADIE: ‘That’s true. I was thinking, maybe it was a photograph of some kind. There wouldn’t have to be any words, the image could speak for itself.’

CRISTY: ‘You mean, for example, it could show Lottie taking the child from the beach?’

SADIE: ‘Something like that.’

CONNOR: ‘The fact the envelope arrived after Sadie had been with them for a while could suggest that someone had been waiting for the right time … Lottie says in the story that she felt as though someone might be watching.’

Cristy signalled for Connor to stop the recording while at her end Sadie waited, clearly not entirely sure what was expected of her now.

Eventually, Cristy said, ‘I can’t see how we can continue with this, Sadie, until you’ve spoken to your aunt. Even if she won’t tell you what was in the envelope, presuming she remembers – and I understand she might say she doesn’t when she does – it’s crazy to go ahead without at least trying to get her involved.’

Sadie’s eyes showed her unease. ‘If you’re saying you want to interview her, I really don’t think she’ll go for it.’

‘She already knows you’re looking into your past …’

‘Well, we haven’t actually discussed it.’

‘But she has to have guessed it’s why I was at the villa on New Year’s Day.’

‘Yes, I suppose so, but she hasn’t mentioned it since.’

‘OK,’ Connor said firmly, ‘let’s go back to what we do know. Tell us what she said when you first asked her why you couldn’t find any trace of her brother, your supposed father? When was that, exactly?’

‘A few years ago,’ Sadie replied, ‘and it was actually Lottie I asked.’

‘And she said?’

‘Before she got angry and all self-righteous on me, like I told you before, she kind of pulled a Mia on me, saying it was all a long time ago, and everything had probably been lost along the way.’

Cristy said, ‘Which tells you precisely nothing, apart from the fact that she was lying, or at least avoiding the truth. Sorry if that’s brutal, Sadie, but no one talks about their dead brother that way.’

‘I agree,’ Sadie responded, ‘I just didn’t know how to force anything out of her, any more than I know how to get it out of Mia now.’

Connor said, ‘I don’t suppose any memories have resurfaced for you of those early days on Exmoor?’

Sadie tilted her head as she said, ‘I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and there was someone: a man, tall, dark-haired, he wore sunglasses, and a hat. I think I remember liking it when he picked me up.’

‘Do you have any sense of where you might have been when you were with him?’ Cristy asked.

Sadie shook her head.

‘Did you call him anything? Such as Daddy?’

Sadie continued shaking her head. ‘I don’t think so. It’s not coming to me, anyway.’ Connor said, ‘Any chance it was Edwin, Mia’s husband?’

‘I’m not aware of ever meeting him,’ Sadie replied.

Wondering if they might end up putting her through some sort of regression session, Cristy said, ‘Anything else?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Sadie said defeatedly. ‘I realize it would all be a lot easier if I could remember more than I do, but I’m hopeful, as we continue going through Lottie’s things, that they’ll prompt more memories – or at least give us some better leads than we have right now.’