Chapter Forty-Nine
The following day, due to all the interest in attending the series finale, Meena ended up booking a hospitality suite on the SS Great Britain.
Although it saddened Cristy and Connor to know they’d quite probably already celebrated Hindsight’s last upload at the Georgian house without even realizing it, it made sense for everyone to get together in this bigger venue.
They were fourteen in all, including Paul Kinsley, who’d made a special trip from London, as had Iz.
David and one of the new investors had flown in from Guernsey; Matthew and Aiden, Jodi and Aurora, and of course the core team were all there.
Jacks, together with the great ship’s systems engineers, had organized the tech side of things, while the Harbourside Kitchen was providing the catering.
As soon as the signal was given to begin, everyone quickly found a seat at one of the many tables and listened in silence as recaps and soundbites from previous episodes led into Nicole and Meier’s recent interview at Bryn Helyg.
Seated between David and Connor, a glass of champagne in one hand, her phone in the other, Cristy found herself transported back to that remarkable day on the Welsh mountainside.
She wondered where Meier was now, this minute?
What he was doing? How was he feeling? Had he seen Nicole yet?
He must have spoken to her on the phone at the very least.
She couldn’t think why she was feeling their separation so acutely, almost as if she was a part of it, until she realized that actually, she was in a way.
She too was having to let go. She had no right or reason to continue using their lives or their heartache to search for answers that had now been found.
Next came the phone interview she and Connor had managed to snatch with Meier’s barrister only yesterday.
Although he wasn’t providing any new information, his take on the sentencing hearing was interesting, in that he too had been thrown by the judge’s sudden shift from condemnation to ‘quite an astonishing level of praise’.
To close the episode, they’d decided to use Nicole and Meier’s words about visiting their children’s graves …
NICOLE: ‘We go regularly. It makes us feel close to them. We take picnics and storybooks – I know they’d be older now, but we still think of them as babies so that’s how we speak to them.
They’ll always be babies, but sometimes we allow ourselves to imagine the kind of children and teenagers they might have grown into and who’d they be now.
‘I think Noah would be a doctor or a scientist, a rock climber and skier, a farmer and a terrible dancer like his father.
‘And I think Abigail would be nothing like me.’
MEIER: ‘In my mind, she is exactly like you – troublesome, beautiful, strong and vulnerable – and I wouldn’t want her any other way.’
NICOLE: ‘He’s only saying that because I’m sitting here. Really, he imagines her as a concert pianist, an astronaut, a gifted entrepreneur able to turn her hand to anything.’
MEIER: ‘And by the time she’s twenty-five, I expect her to have sorted out the world.’
There was the sound of Nicole’s laughter turning to sadness as the Hindsight theme tune began to play.
NICOLE: ‘We always know where they are, but at the same time, we don’t know at all, and that’s our greatest punishment.’
As Jacks faded out the end link, a sober, poignant silence followed, until Meena finally said, ‘They’d probably be together now if he’d named the accomplices. Do you know who they are? I mean, obviously you’re not going to say in the pod, but—’
‘We don’t know,’ Cristy interrupted. ‘Our first choices were both out of the country when it happened, so it’s possible it was people whose names we’ve never even heard.’
‘So not Maggi and Johan? I definitely thought it was them.’
‘Me too,’ Harry agreed.
‘Whoever it was,’ Connor said, ‘our task here is done. We know where the twins are, Nicole has been released, and Meier is now paying for his part in it all. I’m not saying we feel good about any of it – actually, we don’t – but that’s the trouble with truth: it’s not always the most welcome guest in the room. ’
In an effort to lift the moment, Harry raised his glass as he said, ‘But all of you are welcome here, and this is a special moment in the Hindsight story. So let’s get these drinks topped up, shall we?’
As soon as the champagne had gone round again, Kinsley rose to his feet.
‘I know I’m the newbie around here, so I shouldn’t speak unless spoken to …
’ He laughed as everyone cheered and whooped.
‘But I’d like to propose a toast to you guys, Cristy, Connor, Clove and Jacks.
I’m proud to be backing Hindsight Extra.
This wasn’t what I expected when I thought I was making Cristy an offer she couldn’t refuse – but hey, I know when I’ve met my match, and you’re definitely that, my old friend. ’
‘Not so much of the old,’ she protested with a laugh.
‘To Cristy!’ Connor declared, raising his glass. ‘Old, young, mother, partner, podcaster extraordinaire, wicked godmother and valued best friend. Let’s make sure that no one – not even you, Paul Kinsley – tries to come between us again.’
‘I’ll drink to that,’ she cheered, leaning into David as he slipped an arm around her. ‘And I’m also going to drink to our new offices at the Boat Shed, starting right after we’ve all had a lovely summer break.’
Getting a big cheer for that, she laughed and turned to David as he said, ‘Matthew took me to see the place earlier. Impressive.’
‘I think it will be once it’s properly set up,’ she agreed, ‘but I’m glad you like it.’
‘I’m also liking the idea of a lovely summer break. Any thoughts on where you might like to spend it? And don’t say Guernsey – I’m in need of getting away.’
She didn’t have to think for long. ‘My brother has already rented a place for the whole of August, and he’s invited us to join them if we fancy it.’
‘Sounding good so far. Where?’
‘Provence.’
‘Wow. Could definitely be up for that.’
‘He says it will be, and I quote, “an opportunity to bring some family skeletons out of the closet.”’
David’s eyes widened with intrigue. ‘Any idea what he’s referring to?’
‘Not really, but I confess I’m keen to find out. It would be good to spend some time with him and Serena anyway.’
Clearly having no problem with that, David said, ‘Comment pourrais-je ne pas vouloir passer du temps avec la femme que j’aime dans le pays le plus romantique du monde?’
The French made her think of Meier, and with a catch in her heart, she said, ‘Something about the woman you love in the most romantic country in the world?’
‘Exactly that, and why wouldn’t I want to spend time there with you?’
Still thinking of Meier and Nicole, Cristy kissed David and wondered how long it was going to take for her to stop thinking about them at all.
‘Excuse me interrupting,’ Connor said dryly, ‘but you’ll want to see this.’
Taking his phone, Cristy read the message, and was so thrown by the unexpectedness of it that it took her a moment to realize it had nothing to do with Meier or Nicole.
She looked at Connor as though he might have some sort of explanation, but all he said was, ‘It’s been sent to both of us, so it’ll be on your phone too. ’
‘Are you going to share?’ David prompted.
Cristy glanced at him, then read the message aloud:
You don’t know me, but maybe you will – if you can find me. Plenty have tried; no one has even come close. Can you change that? I look forward to finding out.
I am The Shadow Man, and this is the gauntlet.