Page 71 of Don't Believe A Word

Sighing over her nerves, Cristy said, ‘I’m not sure. Maybe it would be best for us to check into the Cobo Bay Hotel, Con. It’s close to where Corny lives and as nowhere is that far away on the island we’ll be fairly well placed for any other interviews we can fit in. Anyway, a lot will depend on what happens between now and then. If we can trace George Symmonds-Browne, or Hilary Stokes, the ex-bar manager at Butlin’s, they could be a priority. And we’re still keen to speak to the elusive Edwin Prosser.’

‘Frustrating that Jacks isn’t making any headway with him,’ Jodi commented. ‘Do you think he’s deliberately avoiding you?’

‘Highly possible,’ Cristy replied. ‘But is he likely to know where Janina is? There’s nothing to say he even knew she existed.’ She sighed and resettled the baby. ‘If someone, anyone, could steer us in the direction of where Janina might be, or even to a place that might ultimately lead to her, we’d be right there. I just can’t see it happening with the way things are right now.’

‘However, we know from experience,’ Connor said, stretching out his legs and exposing his hairy midriff, ‘that anything can change at any time and the next thing we know we’ll be charging off down avenues we never even knew existed, never mind didn’t see coming.’

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CRISTY: ‘… You have just been listening to our interviews with Robert and Gita Brinkley, followed by Gita’s reunion with Sadie Winters after twenty-three years. I think you’ll agree that it was very moving, and if we put ourselves in Sadie’s shoes for a moment, perhaps we can imagine how it must have felt to have this contact with Robert, who knew her mother.’

CONNOR: ‘It goes without saying that if any of you happen to know Janina Andris, or her brother Lukas, either from that time or later, we’d love to hear from you. There are photographs of them on our website, but do bear in mind that they were taken over two decades ago.

‘It’s possible Janina and Lukas returned to their homeland sometime in 2000 or maybe later, so this is a particular shout out to our overseas followers. If you guys have any information you think might help Sadie to reconnect with her family please get in touch through the usual channels.’

CRISTY: ‘We’re also keen to speak to Edwin Prosser, Mia Winters’ ex-husband – you’ll be hearing more about him in our next episode when Sadie reads out another chapter of her aunt’s story.’

CONNOR: ‘Someone else we’re trying to reach is Hilary Stokes who worked at Butlin’s in Minehead during the time Lukas Andris was there. As a reminder that was sometime in the late Nineties, early 2000s.’

CRISTY: ‘We also want to mention George Symmonds-Browne, who is thought to have been a key figure in Janina’s life back at that time. I’m sure someone out there must know him, and if so, please be in touch.’

CONNOR: ‘We’d like to thank everyone involved in the making of this podcast, our sponsors …’

Fading out the sound Connor looked across the room to Meena who was comfortably ensconced on the leather Chesterfield with Jodi and Aurora. Harry was perched on one arm, Clover on the other, while Cristy and Jacks were at their desks and Iz was busying herself filling glasses with champagne.

‘Terrific episode,’ Iz declared excitedly. ‘Everyone’s going to be looking for the missing people now so you’re bound to find them.’

‘The challenge,’ Jacks quickly put in, ‘will be sorting the nutters from the normal, and even the normals can be time-wasters or, worst of all, publicity seekers.’

Clearly taking this on board, Iz said decisively, ‘I think we need to bring someone in to help with the social media feedback. I know it takes up a lot of your time which I’m sure is better spent on following leads rather than trying to find them.’

Cristy was impressed. This was probably the first sensible suggestion she’d heard from Iz, her PR strategy notwithstanding.

‘Can we leave you to set that up?’ Cristy asked, smiling as Iz handed her a drink.

‘Indeed you can. There are specialists in the field who SLD have used in the past to great effect. I’ll get onto it first thing tomorrow.’

‘Cristy and Connor will still want to read their fan mail,’ Clover informed her dryly. ‘It’s what keeps them going, knowing all about the sexual fantasies they’re whipping up on a global level.’

‘You’re so funny,’ Cristy retorted. ‘Although I think it works for Connor.’

‘Yeah right,’ he grunted, ‘live for it, I do. Thanks,’ he said to Iz, almost smiling as she placed a glass on his desk and curtsied.

Glancing up from her adoration of the baby, Meena said,‘You didn’t mention anything about trafficking in this episode. I thought you might.’

‘We will, when the time is right,’ Cristy replied, ‘but there’s no way Symmonds-Browne will be in touch if he thinks we’re going to expose his connections to Albescu, which is why we haven’t run the interview with Catherine Shilling yet either.’

‘Who’s Catherine Shilling?’ Iz asked.

‘The ex-detective sergeant we interviewed last week. We need to find Symmonds-Browne before we put it out there that he was involved in bringing girls into the country illegally or we don’t stand a hope in hell of ever getting him to talk.’

‘We know,’ Connor continued, ‘that he’s related to aristocracy and we also know how they protect their own when scandal comes calling.’

‘What level of aristocracy are we talking?’ Harry asked.

‘Near the top,’ Cristy replied, ‘but Symmonds-Browne is a distant cousin with no direct claim on the title himself.’

‘Shame,’ Harry retorted. ‘That really would have been a killing if you could pin a duke-in-waiting or lowly prince to forced prostitution.’

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