CHAPTER FIVE #2
‘“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.’