Page 137 of Don't Believe A Word

‘But you did include a reminder that Lottie met with Janina and Gabe in a café, just prior to the so-called accident. Do you know who took those photos now?’

‘According to Lottie’s journal it was Mia, in an effort to thwart a blackmail attempt.’

Meena wrinkled her nose. ‘OK. Not seeing it, but from what you tell me about Mia she’s … different. So, as things stand we’re left with Lottie writing about being unable to live with herself if she denies Janina access to her daughter. That’s one hell of an early cut-off considering what comes next.’

‘It can’t be helped,’ Cristy responded. ‘Everything else is covered by the injunction.’

‘So are they just going to get away with it?’ Iz asked incredulously.

‘For now, yes,’ Cristy replied, sounding as frustrated as she felt. ‘Although anyone with half a brain can work out that there’s more, and that it very probably involves the sisters.’

‘Or Albescu,’ Jodi pointed out. ‘You’re kind of suggesting he might have caught up with Janina.’

‘It can be seen that way,’ Cristy agreed, always grateful to Connor’s wife for the way she pointed things out for clarity. ‘It was what Sadie wanted. Obviously we weren’t going to lay it at his door when we know it wasn’t him, but we decided we could include what Lottie had written about him.’

‘I take it Mia’s lawyers have had previous scrutiny of the pod,’ Harry said, side-eyeing Jodi’s nappy-changing process on the sofa next to him.

‘We sent it over at five,’ Connor told him, ‘and let them know at the same time that if we didn’t hear back by seven-thirty we’d be running it as is. So, I’m guessing they either had no problem with it, or they didn’t receive any instructions from their client.’

‘Or they’ve opened up a very big hole to bury you in,’ Harry grunted.

‘It’ll be great for the ratings if we are sued,’ Iz pointed out, eagerly. ‘Advertisers will be falling over themselves to get a spot in something sensational.’

Deciding to let her reflect on that in her own time, Cristy said to Meena, ‘David took Sadie, Gabe and Lukas to see Guernsey’s chief police officer earlier today. They thought it would be a good idea to give him a heads-up on what could be coming down the tracks. Apparently they left with the feeling that a prosecution, based on the journals, is unlikely.’

‘But if it’s written there in black and white,’ Jodi protested. ‘Lottie couldn’t have made it clearer …’

‘There’s no way of corroborating her story,’ Connor explained. ‘Even if what she’s said is true, it can’t be proved, especially not with Mia claiming it’s all lies.’

‘And according to our lawyers,’ Cristy continued, ‘if they go after Mia the case will be thrown out long before it gets to court, either due to her mental state, or because there are no witnesses to what happened so it can’t be proved it was her, and of course there’s no body.’

‘Didn’t Mia try at one point to say that it was Sadie who wrote the journals?’ Meena asked curiously.

‘It was Lottie,’ Cristy told her. ‘The handwriting, the syntax, the whole style matches her other works, and as you’ve already pointed out yourself, Mia doesn’t really knowwhatshe’s saying half the time.’

‘How’s Sadie feeling about everything?’ Jodi said, handing a lovely fresh baby Aurora to Harry while she packed up the changing mat. ‘It must be really hard for her trying to deal with it all.’

‘When we spoke to her earlier,’ Cristy replied, ‘she said that what really matters to her now is the fact that she’s found her real family and her mother is no longer forgotten, or not mentioned, or even denied, as has been the case for most of her life.’

‘Please don’t shoot me for saying this,’ Meena put in, ‘but lovely as that is, it’s not shaping up to be a particularly sensational end to the series?’

Hating hearing it, Cristy said, ‘We’ve established that Janina and Gabe are Sadie’s parents, that the sisters faked her identity and lied to her all these years, and that they knew Janina was on the island at the time she lost her life. We’ve even made it clear that Mia is not willing to be interviewed, which strongly suggests she knows more than she’s telling.’

‘It’s true, you’ve achieved a lot,’ Meena agreed, ‘but I feel we’re missing the big finale that gets everyone gasping and talking and, let’s face it, gagging for another series ofHindsight.’

Jumping in, Iz said, ‘I’ve already got a whole slew of possible sponsors lined up. That’s how well things have gone so far with this series. If you can properly wow us with the last episode – no pressure – we can probably double, even triple your buy-in rates next time around.’

Cristy looked at Connor, knowing he felt as irritated and frustrated by that as she did.

‘We can’t just ignore the law because it’s not working for us,’ he pointed out tightly. ‘It’s not a drama. It’s true-life, and sometimes life is just … shit.’

Cristy watched Jodi turn to him, the baby in her arms now, a surprised and worried look on her face. ‘Should I be taking that personally?’ she asked carefully.

‘No, of course not,’ he retorted. ‘None of this is about you. It’s about the fact that we’re sitting here feeling that we’ve backed the wrong horse because we can’t get it over the line the way everyone wants us to.’

‘But what were you actually expecting when you decided to take the case on?’ Harry asked. ‘It was always about finding out who the girl really was and what sort of crime had been committed by her aunts, or her parents, or some vile intermediary. You’ve done it, for God’s sake. Her mother was murdered by at least one, if not both of her aunts so the aunts could keep her. You might not be able to put it out there as plain as that, but people aren’t stupid. After tonight’s episode they’ll all be jumping to the same conclusion. I don’t think you’re helping here, Meena.’

Shrugging, Meena said, ‘Just voicing my opinion, that’s all.’

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