Chapter Seventeen
As it turned out, Paul Kinsley had to reschedule the call the next morning, so after putting together an email outlining everything she’d like to discuss when they did get to speak, Cristy headed to the office.
The focus now was on structuring Nicole’s backstory in a way to cover three half-hour episodes, the first launching next Tuesday.
She’d already drafted some proposals on how the three would break down, and knew that Connor had too, so the rest of the morning would be spent creating a comprehensive outline for everyone to work from.
‘Big news!’ Clove announced as soon as Cristy walked in, unravelling her scarf (hand-knitted by Rosie) and peeling off her gloves.
‘Well, potentially big,’ Clove modified, apparently realizing she might have oversold it.
‘Becky Rawlings has been in touch following the message I sent her last night. Here – I’ll play you the voicemail and record it into the system at the same time, so we’ll have it ready when we need it. ’
Gesturing for her to go ahead, Cristy went to pour herself a coffee, while listening to the tired, unmistakably West Country drawl of Nicole’s old friend from the Peck Lane flats.
BECKY: ‘Hey, Becky Rawlings here. I got your message about this Claude guy. So, I checked with some of the other girls we were friends with back then, and it turns out the name rang a bell for a few of them. Actually, after we chatted about it, I realized it kind of did for me too.
‘We were all agreed he was French, and he might have had a blue Ford Escort, because Kylie Clarke said she saw him picking Nicole up from number 42 or bringing her back quite a few times.
She also remembers seeing him and some woman – not Nicole, not Lauren either – lifting the twins out of the back of the car once and carrying them down the street into the house.
So, not stealing them, bringing them back from somewhere.
‘Oh, and we all remembered how much Lauren idolized Nicole, really looked up to her, but none of us are in touch with her now, so afraid we can’t help with where she might be.
‘Um, I think that’s it. If we come up with anything else, I’ll call you back. Hope this is helpful. See ya.’
Cristy looked at Connor, who’d arrived in time to hear the message. ‘Shame she didn’t give us a surname for Claude,’ she said, ‘but at least it’s further confirmation that someone of that name was on the scene back then.’
‘And yet he’s not appearing in any of the reports,’ Connor commented. ‘I’ll take one of those,’ he added, indicating the coffee as he made for his desk. ‘I guess no news from Honey about the archived files?’
Clove shook her head. ‘No court transcript yet, either,’ she said, ‘but Jacks has made some headway on the detectives who worked the case. We’ve got lots of names from the news reports, and apparently, he’s narrowed it down to a workable list. He should be here any minute.’
‘Great,’ Cristy responded. ‘Meanwhile, there’s a lot to get through if we’re going to drop the first episode on Tuesday.
Your main task today, Clove, will be to collate media coverage from the time the twins were first reported missing.
That means pre-arrest, pre-rumours even: just the alarm being raised and the search.
Once that’s sorted, you’ll need to work on copyright permissions.
Jacks, here you are. Clove informs us that you might have something to share about the detectives involved in Nicole’s case? ’
‘Good morning,’ he responded brightly. ‘Yes, I’d love a coffee, thanks, and by the time you’ve fixed it, I should have my computer ready to fire off darts of useful information.’
Amused, Cristy did the honours, and after turning on her own desktop while Connor did the same, she said, ‘I guess you guys realize we’re going to be working all weekend, so if any of you have plans to be elsewhere, now would be a good time to rearrange.’
‘Already done,’ Connor told her. ‘We need to know if Iz has alerted the supersleuths, and if so, one of us – probably you, Clove – should put some time aside tomorrow to brief them.’
‘OK, detectives!’ Jack announced. ‘After sifting through an amazing amount of shit, I can now cut straight to the chase. Our man – or woman I should say – is one Elizabeth Patten, ex-DC with Avon and Somerset circa 2005 to 2006. She was one of the arresting officers, and she gave evidence at the trial. She’s retired from the force now, so freer to speak to us than if she was still with them.
No guarantee she will, of course, but we’ll find out when we get hold of her. ’
‘So where is she?’ Cristy prompted.
‘If my information is correct and up to date, she now lives in Cumbria, where she runs a local Leisure Centre …’
‘I’m up for a trip to the Lake District,’ Clove hurriedly put in. ‘I’ve always wanted to go there.’
As Clove volunteered for all location assignments, near or far, Cristy simply said, ‘Let’s see how willing she is to share first. Go ahead and set up the contact, Jacks.’
‘Will do. Just a quick update first on facial recognition for the bloke with the girl who could be Lauren in your old TV footage – turns out, not enough to work with. However, I’ve passed it on to my team in the outstanding Creative Computing department at the University of the West of England, and they’re looking into it. ’
‘You need to listen to the message we received from Becky Rawlings,’ Cristy told him. ‘Clove, can you print out a shot of a blue Ford Escort from that time and put it on the whiteboard? No idea at this stage if it’s going to be helpful, but let’s have it all up there.’
‘Actually, we need to start colour-coding the board,’ Connor declared, getting to his feet. ‘Red for the backstory, black for where we are with the investigation.’
By the time he’d finished reorganizing, Jacks was ready to connect to ex-DC Elizabeth Patten.
‘OK, Clove, you should lead in gently with this,’ Cristy instructed. ‘If you manage to speak to her, simply say that we’re doing a podcast about the case as it unfolded back in the mid-Noughties, nothing about the investigation we’re conducting now.’
‘I know the drill,’ Clove reminded her, and as soon as Jacks had the number ringing, she sat forward, closer to the mic.
FEMALE VOICE: ‘Hi, you’ve reached Lizzie Patten’s mobile. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you when I can.’
CLOVE: ‘Hi, Ms Patten, my name’s Clover St Jean. I’m calling from the podcast Hindsight. Our presenters Cristy Ward and Connor Church would really appreciate having a chat with you about the Nicole Ivorson case, which I believe you worked while you were with Avon and Somerset Police.
‘I’ll text all our contact details to this number as soon as I ring off. Hope to hear from you soon. We’re around all weekend – weekdays too, obviously. Thanks. Once again, my name is Clover St Jean.’
They heard nothing back from Elizabeth Patten either that day or the next two, as they continued to script, brief, view, edit and research ready for Tuesday.
Meena brought in supplies both days and generally made herself useful, while Harry entertained himself with a deep dive into UK cults and Iz organized a video chat with the supersleuths for three o’clock on Sunday.
As soon as that particular briefing was over, Cristy and Connor drove to her flat to meet Honey Blackwell. It was still just about light when they got there, but the sky was low and grey, the air damp and unpleasantly warm for the time of year.
Almost as soon as Cristy had turned on the lights and they’d taken off their coats, the doorbell rang, announcing Honey’s arrival.
‘Thanks for meeting us here,’ Cristy said, leading her through to the sitting-room-cum-kitchen. ‘There’s a lot going on at the studios today … You got my WhatsApp about us starting uploads on the backstory this Tuesday?’
‘Yes, yes,’ Honey assured her, looking around admiringly. ‘I’ve always wondered what these places were like inside,’ she said, ‘and it turns out they’re much bigger and lighter than I expected.’
‘Even better when there’s some sun,’ Cristy said wryly.
‘Actually, meeting here saved me unlocking the office and putting the heating on,’ Honey said, settling comfortably at one end of a sofa. Noticing the recording equipment on the coffee table, she said worriedly, ‘If you’re planning to record this …’
‘Only if you’ve got something we can use,’ Cristy assured her. ‘Otherwise, ignore it – it’s just something we never go anywhere without.’
Seeming to accept that, Honey opened up her briefcase and pulled out a legal pad along with three sharpened pencils.
‘Have you had anything back from the archives yet?’ Cristy pressed, disappointed not to see some files.
‘Some,’ Honey replied. ‘I’m afraid I can’t hand anything over to you, but I can tell you that there’s nothing so far about Claude Major or anyone of similar name.’
Frustrated, Cristy said, ‘So are you saying he might not have been interviewed by the police?’
‘I still have a way to go, so it’s too early to be definitive. At the same time, we have to keep in mind that the CPS might not have handed everything over. It happens sometimes – actually more often than it should. Nevertheless, I’ll keep looking.’
‘Do you have any idea yet,’ Cristy asked, ‘when you’re next seeing, or speaking to Nicole?’
‘We don’t have anything in the diary at the moment,’ Honey confessed, ‘but Maeve has asked me to call her on Tuesday or Wednesday. She’s going to let me know what works best for her.’
‘Do you know if there’s anything in particular she wants to discuss?’ Cristy queried.
‘She probably wants an update on what you guys are doing – and I’ll take the opportunity to ask if she’ll speak to you directly.’