The Silent Appeal #5
Who’s been dialing an international number? Countless times.
9:15 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Not guilty.
9:16 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
The family phone bill is up by ￡277.83 this month.
9:16 a.m. Kevin wrote:
What?! It’s supposed to be capped!
9:17 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Unless you call an international mobile when it seems all caps are off.
9:20 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Harley, mate, did you call the entrepreneur who came to the school? I know you found him inspiring, but he shouldn’t have given you his number, and if he did, you shouldn’t have called him at all, let alone repeatedly.
9:23 a.m. Harley wrote:
Wasn’t me.
9:24 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Did you call one of your online gaming “friends”? You never know where in the world they are. Or how old they are.
9:24 a.m. Harley wrote:
NO
9:25 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Digging into the online account. Seconds away from finding out who the culprit is, so if they want to own up, now would be a good time.
9:26 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Is it a mistake? These things happen.
9:30 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Bloody Nicky-Rose still has her overseas phone!! ￡1.20 per text and ￡6 per minute.
9:30 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Shit.
9:31 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
I’ve called her a few times, but you’ve called her the most, Kevin. Several times daily and for twenty or thirty minutes at a time!
9:32 a.m. Kevin wrote:
To discuss the accounts and the play!
9:33 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
At least we’ve got to the bottom of it.
9:41 a.m. Harley wrote:
Sorry Harley for assuming you call random tech dudes and sketchy gamers.
9:42 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Sorry Harley.
9:42 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Sorry dude.
Message exchange between Carol Dearing and Kevin MacDonald on February 22, 2025:
10:23 a.m. Carol wrote:
I’m not speaking to Sarah-Jane, so please tell her NOT to call Nicky-Rose. Her phone is still registered in Barbados.
10:24 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Too late. We clocked up an eye-waterer this month.
10:30 a.m. Carol wrote:
Same here. I’ve told her to get a UK phone and fast. Says she’ll pick up a burner today, whatever that means.
10:39 a.m. Carol wrote:
Why do YOU speak to Nicky-Rose?
10:41 a.m. Kevin wrote:
She’s helping me in the office and is assistant director of the play.
10:43 a.m. Carol wrote:
You see her more than I do, so why do you need to call her?
10:44 a.m. Kevin wrote:
We have a lot to discuss.
10:45 a.m. Carol wrote:
While we’re texting, how is my eldest daughter?
10:51 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Busy with work: an artisan bakery, an AI mindfulness app, and a fizzy water called Bliss Bubbles. She’s not happy that Harley seems to develop a crucial engagement every Monday night when he agreed to babysit.
10:55 a.m. Carol wrote:
My lovely little man is growing into a big man one excuse at a time.
10:56 a.m. Carol wrote:
Send him a kiss from me.
Message from Isabel Beck to Nicky-Rose Dearing on February 22, 2025:
1:01 p.m. Issy wrote:
Hiya Nicky-Rose! I’m spending today learning my lines ready for Monday! How about you?
[Undelivered]
1:01 p.m. Admin wrote:
Your spend cap has been reached. To change it please reply with SPEND CAP and the amount.
Message exchange between Trina Neale and Nicky-Rose Dearing on February 23, 2025:
11:14 p.m. Trina wrote:
What’s going on with your phone?
11:16 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
You’ve considered my offer?
11:16 p.m. Trina wrote:
Move 500k to the UK? You’re asking for trouble.
11:17 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
No. Bring it yourself.
11:19 p.m. Trina wrote:
Now you’re fucking kidding.
11:21 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
Look at the London tube map. Find the Metropolitan Line. Follow it left to Lockwood. Last station on a branch line. A dead end.
11:25 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
Hand over the CASH and pick up the docs with your own hands. No fees, no commissions, no middlemen, no fraud alerts.
11:41 p.m. Trina wrote:
How will I get that much cash into the UK?
11:42 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
Ask around. Ask Ricardo. You’ll find a way.
11:45 p.m. Trina wrote:
This is 2025. Shit!
11:45 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
This is Metroland. Shit does not happen here.
11:46 p.m. Trina wrote:
What will you do over there with half a million Barbadian dollars?
11:47 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
Not your problem.
11:47 p.m. Trina wrote:
For fuck’s sake let me think about it.
Femi
Sorry, haven’t stopped all day.
Charlotte
Same, but just reached the bit where Issy and Nicky-Rose have coffee.
Femi
There’s not much more.
Charlotte
Ok, I’ve got to the end. Nicky-Rose suggests Trina brings cash in exchange for the documents.
Femi
Of course, it’s Barbadian dollars. Worth much less than US dollars.
Charlotte
￡180k.
Femi
Moving that around will invite scrutiny, as well as Forex fees, etc.
Charlotte
Unless you smuggle it in cash, but that’s not an easy option either. Does Nicky-Rose WANT Trina to get caught?
Femi
She’d get revenge, but not her money. She’d also risk Trina revealing whatever is in those documents and implicating her.
Charlotte
The documents that are in Kevin’s safe.
Femi
Kevin who is sleeping with Nicky-Rose.
Charlotte
I do NOT want to believe Kevin would do that.
Femi
On February 16 both Kevin and Nicky-Rose stay behind after set-building.
Femi
On February 18 the brief exchange between them screams affair.
Femi
Kevin has racked up a big phone bill calling her.
Charlotte
But surely Nicky-Rose isn’t so selfish as to start an affair with her brother-in-law?
Femi
She confides in Stuart, her ex, that she’s having a “torrid fling” with the “hot married” who sent her roses, just after admitting that success makes a man attractive. Look at her email on the same day.
Charlotte
NR isn’t that bad. She’s friendly to Issy when we know she’s one of those people others don’t warm to, even those unaware of her past.
Femi
NR is blackmailing her former colleague and using Issy to spy on the cast.
Charlotte
Or she’s a good leader who wants to know the “tea” so she can better manage the team.
Femi
We need more. I wonder if Sharon took Mr. Tanner’s laptop away.
To: Femi Hassan & Charlotte Holroyd
From: Roderick Tanner, KC
Date: September 7, 2025
Subject: Mr. Tanner
Dear Femi and Charlotte,
Mr. Tanner has asked me to let you know he will be in UCH for a week, but that shouldn’t stop you looking into the Lockwood case. He wants to see you both before he sends the next file of correspondence. Are you able to visit him tonight or tomorrow? Visiting hours are 6–8 p.m.
Thank you,
Sharon
Charlotte
Did you get the train ok?
Femi
Just.
Charlotte
He was so gray and small. I hope he really is having tests and it’s not anything more serious.
Femi
He’s as focused as ever.
Charlotte
But clearly been suffering health problems for a while. He doesn’t have the strength to examine this case himself.
Femi
I don’t miss the riddles he usually gives us, but I do miss his clear thinking.
Charlotte
This time, we have to do the clear thinking ourselves.
Lockwood Murder Case WhatsApp group, September 8, 2025:
Roderick Tanner, KC added Femi Hassan and Charlotte Holroyd to the group
Roderick Tanner, KC
Thank you for visiting me in my temporary office last night and for your thoughts on the case so far. Sharon, can you send the second folder to Femi and Charlotte, please?
Femi Hassan
She’s not in this WhatsApp group, Mr. Tanner.
Roderick Tanner, KC
Damn this blasted hospital! I’ll call her now.
Charlotte
Two hundred and ninety-nine megabytes.
Femi
At a quarter to midnight.
Charlotte
Have you noticed something?
Femi
Have to sleep. Will set alarm an hour early and read in the morning.
Charlotte
This correspondence is from two months AFTER Issy’s meeting with Nicky-Rose. The night of the Fairway Players’ charity sleep out.