Chapter Twenty-Six
Over the next few days, right up until Tuesday’s drop at six, the team’s main focus was on pulling together episode three of the series, featuring Nicole’s trial.
Having now received a court transcript, they had plenty to work with, although nothing to suggest the jury had reached a wrong verdict.
It was surprising, that was for sure, given the lack of crucial evidence and the failure to produce any viable witnesses to the twins’ abuse or neglect.
It was the prosecuting barrister who’d won the day, with his brutal takedown of Nicole’s character and her inability to produce a convincing explanation of what did, or didn’t, happen that day.
Although Cristy hadn’t been at the trial every day, being on maternity leave, she could remember how closely she’d followed the case and how frustrated she’d felt over not being able to see it through herself.
The fact that neither the twins, nor their bodies, had been found by then, was what had disturbed her so much afterwards, making it hard for her, as a new mother, to think straight or rationally – or even at all, at times.
Demoralized and deeply worried by the thought of falling victim to hormonal imbalances again, Cristy vowed to keep a close watch on herself now, taking care not to overreact or read things into other people’s behaviour or words that simply wasn’t there.
It might have been simpler if David would just call or message or do something to reassure her that this wasn’t the end for them, but he’d made no contact since telling her they needed some time to think things through.
How long should she wait before calling him? Maybe he was just getting on with his life, satisfied he’d made the right decision to let her go and thankful that she wasn’t putting either of them through the excruciating awkwardness of her trying to persuade him to change his mind?
Realizing how close she was to the edge again, how desperate she was going to feel if she did end up losing him, she quickly pushed him from her mind and forced herself to focus on where she was now and what was happening with the series.
Episode three was due to be uploaded in an hour.
They were currently assessing the growing number of messages coming in regarding Claude Meier, which were fascinating and conflicting, and in some cases pretty disturbing …
‘What gets me just as much as the content,’ Clove declared, scanning the list they’d compiled between them, ‘are the sources: not just male, female, young, old, foreign, local, all the usual variants, but people clearly go to him in groups as well.’
Cristy said, ‘You’ve obviously finished curating the input, so why not play us the selected highlights?’
‘Sure. Just remember we’re not naming anyone, mainly because we’re not able to use it yet anyway. It’s all for later, but here goes:’
MALE (PLUMMY brITISH): ‘Giving myself over to Claude and his staff, becoming one with them for a while, has totally changed my life for the better. I think, dear Hindsight team, that you’ll find the same if you are fortunate enough to be chosen to spend time with him.’
FEMALE (POSSIBLY AUSTRALIAN): ‘Before I went, I was in a very bad place. By the time I left, I felt as though I was on a higher plane – do you know what I mean?’
FEMALE (MAYBE DUTCH): ‘After receiving the recommendation and subsequently being accepted, I approached everything with a lot of nervousness and doubt. I need not have worried. I came away feeling that I could fly if I tried.’
MALE: (AMERICAN): ‘… I can’t say it was for me.
My wife seemed to get a lot from it, and everything’s been great between us since, so maybe it was more for me than I realized …
I probably shouldn’t name anyone, not without their permission, but whoever he recommends for you, take it from me, you’ll be in safe hands. ’
MALE (IRISH): ‘… We’ll go again. Exceptional therapies, lots to do, all kinds of activities, and when you come away feeling this great, why wouldn’t you go again? Just hope we get accepted …’
FEMALE (brITISH): ‘I’m in love with Claude and everything about him.’
FEMALE (POSSIBLY GERMAN): ‘… They’re charlatans, the lot of them, and should terrify anyone who goes near them or especially near him.
He haunts me even now, and it’s been over seven years since I was there.
I’ve always kept quiet about it out of fear of retribution – that’s why I’m not giving my name now.
You don’t know what you’re messing with.
If you take my advice, you’ll stay away. ’
MALE (ITALIAN): ‘I end up shedding so many inhibitions when I am there that I discover I am a different man underneath, a better man, more confident and kinder …’
FEMALE (DANISH): ‘Beware! Go there and you’ll get hypnotized without your consent; I’m not sure even now what happened while I was under.’
MALE (AMERICAN): ‘We saw and heard things that we’d never seen or heard anywhere else in our lives. A real eye-opener. People are not all the same; a good lesson to bring away. We hope to go again, next time with blinkers off and hearts fully open …’
Hitting pause, Clove said, ‘There are more, obvs, and we’ve got more coming in, which is pretty amazing considering how little we’ve actually said about him.’
‘What I want to know,’ Cristy said, ‘is where these people have been to see him? The farm Elaine mentioned in Wales? Somewhere else entirely? Everyone is speaking highly of him, or mostly anyway, but no one is giving us any concrete details on where to find him.’
‘Interesting that no one’s mentioned anything about Nicole or the twins,’ Connor pointed out, ‘the actual reason for the series.’
‘Indeed,’ Cristy agreed, and checked her phone as a text arrived. Hating herself for feeling disappointed it was her son, not David, she decided to get back to Aiden later and said, ‘Let’s have a listen to Nicole’s selected highlights again. Have you got them handy?’
Finding them, Clove hit play.
NICOLE: ‘… Lauren and I could hardly take our eyes off him … There was something about him that made it hard not to stare … He was older than us, not by much, and the way he was standing there, at the end of the bar on his own …
‘No one really understood who we were, how we liked to live our lives, but it didn’t matter … What difference did it make who we slept with? …
‘We used to have parties in the woods … we never held onto much in the way of inhibitions – hah! Claude always used to say clothes were just shields hiding perfection, and why would any of us want to hide that?’
When the playback stopped, Jacks said, ‘Right there is where the perve neighbour got his inspiration. Must have been getting his rocks off watching them, and over time, he’s added his own set of mind trips – with horns.’
Not interested in the irritating neighbour, Cristy said, ‘Personally, I’m not having a problem seeing Meier as a gifted sociopath who’s probably been honing his talents over many years while building up a team of helpers, who could be called disciples if we’re open to the Jesus-Christ delusion.’
‘Works for me,’ Clove told her. ‘And there’s a chance we know where to find him now – Elaine’s sent through an address.’
‘And it chimes with Meier’s Welsh granny,’ Jacks put in, happily, ‘insofar as we’ve turned up a Marie Jones who was married to Gwyn Jones, a farmer of that particular part of Powys. He died back in 2005, and she continued to work the land before her time came back in 2012.’
‘Which coincides with when J.C. disappeared from Switzerland,’ Connor pointed out. ‘So, we’re guessing he left his brother to run the vineyard while he went to take over Granny’s farm – and set up whatever he’s got going on in the Welsh mountains now.’
‘You’d think,’ Cristy said, ‘after what happened to his parents, he’d have a seriously bad view of cults.’
‘I’m with you on that,’ Clove told her, ‘unless he was indoctrinated too. Anyway, from some of the feedback, you’d think it was a holiday camp he had going over there. Or a retreat of some sort.’
‘The fact that it has no internet presence when people are obviously coming and going quite a lot makes it weird,’ Connor stated.
‘It seems to be word of mouth recommendation,’ Cristy said, ‘which could make it cult-adjacent at the very least. On the other hand, I’m not getting the impression anyone is going there to live permanently – more to be with him and to enjoy the therapy facilities, whatever they might be.’
‘There’s one way to find out,’ Connor declared. ‘Let’s pay him a surprise visit.’
‘We’ve got a phone number,’ Clove reminded him.
‘Which would open us up to being knocked back. So, I say we go in carefully, see if we can get the lie of the land before knocking on the door.’
‘I agree,’ Cristy said, and from the way Connor looked at her, she immediately wondered if she’d sounded too enthusiastic and perhaps needed to tone down a bit.
‘But don’t let’s delude ourselves here,’ she continued, hoping she sounded normal.
‘I’m sure he already knows about the podcast; he’s probably seen our website, and if he is some sort of master-manipulator, there’s a good chance he’s been directing at least some of the feedback we’ve had so far. ’
After sitting with that for a moment, Connor said, ‘Even if he’s expecting us – and I guess that’s what you’re saying – he won’t know when we’re coming, so I still say we go.’
Not arguing, Cristy turned to Jacks. ‘It’s a shame we don’t have some images of him. Any luck with that yet?’
‘Still trying, but here’s a link to Google Maps showing the farm, or whatever it is now … Copyright is listed as 2025, but the image capture dates back to 2016. Still, it’s something to start with.’