The Silent Appeal #8
6:16 p.m. Carol wrote:
So, she’s living in a bedsit on the estate instead of her own place. The estate that’s a stone’s throw from Kevin’s office.
6:17 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
So?
6:18 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
Are you implying Kevin is having an affair with Fran?
6:18 p.m. Carol wrote:
NICKY-ROSE! You knew and didn’t even tell your sister!
6:19 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
NO! Mum, you’re barking up the wrong tree FFS.
6:19 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
For fuck’s sake.
6:22 p.m. Carol wrote:
How can you be so sure? Do you know why he might have been meeting Fran in secret in Lockley Bois Park?
6:25 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
No, I don’t. OMG it’s play week FFS. It’s YOUR play week at Mendhams too!
6:30 p.m. Carol wrote:
Exactly, it’s play week for all of us and that’s the only reason I’m not marching in there and having it out with him (and her if I could get my hands on her, the pious little snake).
6:34 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
Mum! AFTER THE PLAYS.
Message exchange between Nicky-Rose Dearing and Trina Neale on June 2, 2025:
6:36 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
Thursday. 6 p.m. Squires coffee shop. High Street, Lower Lockwood.
6:36 p.m. Trina wrote:
You’ll be there?
6:37 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
No, but my runner will be.
6:37 p.m. Trina wrote:
Your runner? WTF is that?
6:38 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
You’ll order a latte and sit with her. She’ll finish her drink, collect the cash, and hand over the docs. You’ll stay there for ten minutes, then leave.
6:40 p.m. Trina wrote:
Who is this runner? What the fuck does she know? Meet me yourself!
6:41 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
She’s no one and knows nothing. That’s the whole point. Your betrayal almost killed me and easily could have. I do not and never will forgive you. I vowed back in Bridgetown that I would never again be in the same room as you.
6:42 p.m. Trina wrote:
Don’t start this again. It’s all about money with you.
6:42 p.m. Nicky-Rose wrote:
It’s all about Thursday. Squires. 6 p.m.
To: Sally-Ann Taccuso
From: Fran Elroy-Jones
Date: June 2, 2025
Subject: Georgia
Dear Mrs. Taccuso,
You don’t know me, but your lovely daughter Georgia is currently staying in my flat and is helping out backstage at my amateur drama group.
I hope you don’t think I’m prying into your business, but I understand you asked her to leave the family home last Christmas.
Whatever she may tell you, I know she must be missing her mum terribly and I’m writing to you now to see if you might consider taking her back once the play is over (at the end of this week).
She is most distraught at being alone so close to the birth of her first baby. She needs her mother at a time like this, and I would hate for you to miss the chance to welcome your new grandchild personally.
I have counseling experience and am very happy to mediate between you. I won’t mention this email to Georgia, in case you do not wish to heal the rift between you, and it causes her further anguish.
Yours sincerely, Fran Elroy-Jones
Message exchange between Carol Dearing and Dustin Perez on June 2, 2025:
[Message retrieved from deleted cache]
6:44 p.m. Carol wrote:
This is Nicky-Rose, Carol’s daughter, using her phone.
6:45 p.m. Dustin wrote:
Is everything ok? Your mum seemed distracted when I spoke to her earlier.
6:47 p.m. Carol wrote:
Mum’s fine. Dustin, a guy I knew as an acquaintance in Bridgetown showed up here Saturday. He was pretty dodgy over there and he’s here to do business, if you know what I mean. No one likes the way Lockwood has become a county lines hub.
6:51 p.m. Dustin wrote:
If you were to say anything to me, no one would ever know where the info came from. You have my word.
6:55 p.m. Carol wrote:
He wanted me to do an exchange for him, talked about big deals he had lined up. His people have a thing going in Squires, the coffee shop.
6:56 p.m. Dustin wrote:
I know it. Typical. It’s the place you least expect.
7:13 p.m. Carol wrote:
I refused, but he kept on and I couldn’t walk away—didn’t want to make him angry. He mentioned a deal this Thursday: a Canadian national called Katrina Neale is the buyer and he’s got a local ex-con called Isabel Beck to do the drop.
7:15 p.m. Dustin wrote:
Ok.
7:22 p.m. Carol wrote:
I only remember the names because I know them both.
Please make sure they never find out I told you anything.
Isabel is easily controlled, she probably doesn’t even know what she’s doing.
Neale is super-shady. There were rumors in Bridgetown she was involved in the disappearance of a girl. Nasty stuff.
7:24 p.m. Dustin wrote:
Right. Do you know times, etc.?
7:25 p.m. Carol wrote:
6 p.m. this Thursday.
7:26 p.m. Dustin wrote:
I’ll send this in. Not working myself that night (got a few days off for the play), but if they think it sounds juicy then they may look into it.
7:26 p.m. Carol wrote:
Oh, it’s juicy. I’d recommend that they’re there.
7:27 p.m. Dustin wrote:
Thanks for letting us know, Nicky-Rose, and please delete this from Carol’s phone. I don’t want her worrying about anything during play week.