Chapter Forty
It was past eight o’clock on Sunday evening by now, and they were all still at the office, pulling together the next episode, when an unknown US number appeared on Cristy’s mobile.
Guessing, hoping, it was Lauren Hawkes (now Lauren Beagle, according to Meier), she quickly alerted the others and clicked straight to speaker.
‘Cristy Ward speaking,’ she said, her eyes on Connor.
‘Hi, I think you might be expecting my call.’
‘If this is Lauren, then yes I am,’ Cristy told her.
‘I hope you’re not recording this. If you are …’
‘I’m not, but you must understand that if you reveal something the police need to know, I am legally bound to pass the information on.’
‘Naming me as the source?’
‘Possibly. Much will depend on what you tell me, but I can’t be party to covering up a crime – if one has been committed.’
Lauren’s laugh was dry and sad. ‘It has,’ she confirmed, ‘and more than one, but I’m guessing you already know that.’
Not prepared to admit to what she did or didn’t know, Cristy said, ‘What specific crimes are you referring to?’
Avoiding a direct answer, Lauren said, ‘Tell me this, has Claude seen Nicole yet?’
‘I believe he was there yesterday.’
‘And he hasn’t contacted you since?’
‘I’ve left messages, but so far, I haven’t heard from him.’
A low murmur of voices at the other end revealed that Lauren wasn’t alone. Cristy guessed a lawyer was advising her and nodded when Connor mouthed the same thought.
Coming back onto the line, Lauren said, ‘I hope he keeps to his word. If he doesn’t, I’ll … I guess I’ll speak to you again, but …’
Sensing she was about to end the call, Cristy said, ‘Is there something, anything, you can tell me now? Do you know what happened to the twins?’
When there was no response, Cristy felt a frisson of alarm go through her. ‘Are they still alive?’ she pressed.
There was another silence, before Lauren said, huskily, ‘I’m sorry. I’m only calling because Claude asked me to …’
‘But what did he want you to tell me?’
‘All he said was that I had to do what I thought was right, but I know he wants to speak to you himself, so I’m going to let him do that first. If you don’t hear from him by the end of the week, you have this number now; you can call me back.’
‘Can I ask why you aren’t in touch with your mother?’
‘You’ve spoken to her?’
‘We have.’
‘How is she?’
Cristy glanced at Connor as she said, ‘She’s worried about you …’
‘Did she tell you I send cards on her birthday and at Christmas?’ Lauren asked shakily.
‘But you never see her. She says she doesn’t even know where you are, if the cards are even actually coming from you.’
‘They are,’ Lauren assured her.
‘Does she know she has grandchildren?’
Lauren didn’t reply.
‘Why would you keep that from her?’ Cristy urged. ‘Why deprive them of a grandmother … ?’
Sounding close to tears, Lauren said, ‘I can’t see her. I can’t see any of them and pretend I don’t know …’
‘Don’t know what?’ Cristy prompted when she didn’t go on.
‘It’s all a lie,’ Lauren cried helplessly. ‘What they tell themselves, what they believe …’
‘You mean that the twins are dead – or still alive?’
‘I’m sorry, I want to help – really, I do – but not if I’m going to incriminate myself and end up in prison. I’m sorry … I … I need to ring off now.’
As the connection dropped, Cristy let go a breath and sat back in her chair, tense with frustration and bewilderment. ‘What the hell … ?’ she muttered, throwing down her pen.
After a beat, Connor said, ‘One of the stand-outs for me was that she seems to have got herself a lawyer.’
‘Which can only mean,’ Jacks volunteered, ‘that she is – or was – involved in the crimes she mentioned.’
Cristy went to take some wine from the fridge. ‘Tell me none of you made a sneak recording for reference,’ she warned, reaching for the glasses. ‘If you did, you need to destroy it now or it could jeopardize a police investigation going forward.’
‘If anyone finds out about it,’ Clove pointed out, ‘but promise, handwritten notes only.’
‘Same here,’ Connor and Jacks confirmed.
‘So,’ Cristy said, passing around the drinks, ‘what should we take from the call, apart from the fact that she was either involved in the twins’ disappearance or at least knows what happened and has kept it covered up all these years?’
‘When she said she can’t see her mother,’ Connor said, ‘or “any of them”, I’m presuming she’s including Maeve in that.
We know she doesn’t mean Nicole, because she’s visited her in prison.
She also said that she couldn’t pretend and that what “they” tell themselves is all a lie.
Who’s she talking about there? Maeve and Bridget? Meier and Nicole?’
‘Clove, what are you looking at?’ Cristy demanded.
Reading from the whiteboard, Clove said, ‘Just getting a timeline going. According to Meier, Lauren went to the farm in 2010, while his grandmother was still alive, so did she already know the old lady? And whether she did or didn’t, what made it the right place for her to go?
Her mother mentioned her depression, but the Bryn Helyg project wasn’t up and running then, so I’m asking myself, was Meier treating her, while keeping her close? ’
Seeing the potential logic of that, Cristy said, ‘We know she met her husband at the farm, and they left in 2014. Remind me how old her children are.’
‘Ten and seven,’ Clove provided.
Connor said, ‘Are you thinking the eldest might be Meier’s? I know I am. The dates kind of work, and if he’s let the boy go to the US with her and her husband, that gives him a pretty big hold over her.’
‘In that he could take him back at any time?’ Jacks asked.
Cristy nodded. ‘We know, thanks to Honey,’ she said, ‘that he did go to see Nicole yesterday, so let’s find out if Nicole, or Maeve, have contacted Honey since.’ She pressed in Honey’s number and was preparing to leave a message when Honey answered.
‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘Phone in the kitchen. I’m guessing you’ve heard from Meier?’
‘Not yet,’ Cristy confessed, ‘but the last time I tried Bryn Helyg, I was told he was there and would get back to me. How about you? Has Nicole been in touch since his visit?’
‘No. I only know it happened because someone at the prison told me. Something’s going on, I can feel it – just wish I knew what it was.’
Sharing the suspicion and frustration, Cristy said, ‘We’ve heard from Lauren.
I’ll talk you through it, but basically, she admitted that crimes have been committed – didn’t name any – and apparently Meier’s told her he wants to speak to us himself.
If he hasn’t by the end of the week, she says we can call her back.
No idea if that means she’ll give us frank answers then, but we got the impression she’s being advised by a lawyer, so I’m guessing she’ll eventually end up pleading the Fifth. ’
‘That doesn’t exist in UK law,’ Honey told her, ‘but I get your meaning. She’ll retain her right to silence.’
‘Here’s what I think,’ Connor said, ‘if we haven’t heard from Meier by the time we upload on Tuesday, we jump in the car and take a drive over to Wales.’