Page 92 of Don't Believe A Word

Disappointed, although relieved she wasn’t the one having to call off their drinks this time, she texted back,No problem. Just let me know when works for you. C.

‘There’s an iMessage here released by one of the supersleuths,’ Jacks said, reading from the feedback reports. ‘It could – at a stretch – lend some credence to Symmonds-Browne being in witness protection. It says, “Dear Hindsight Team, I believe George Symmonds-Browne is my neighbour here in Naples living under another name. He isn’t alone. If you want to know more please message me back.”’ He glanced up to find everyone looking at him.

‘Naples?’ Connor echoed. ‘Not the most obvious place to go if you’re trying to avoid mafia types. On the other hand, if you’re in bed with them, so to speak …’

‘“He isn’t alone” is another stand-out for me,’ Cristy said. ‘Message this person back, Jacks, and say we’d love to know more. Then get in touch with the supersleuths to find out what in particular made them release this one to us, and are there any more like it?’

By mid-afternoon they were still awaiting replies. However, Natalie Irwin had just connected, a sweet-faced woman in her late forties, with shiny black hair and large brown eyes, so all focus was now on her.

After introducing herself and Connor, and thanking her for agreeing to chat with them, Cristy said, ‘Would you mind if we start recording right away?’

‘Sure, I was expecting it,’ Natalie replied with a smile that revealed a pierced tongue and small white teeth. She had retained her native Yorkshire accent, albeit slightly uplifted by a Canadian twang. ‘Sorry I couldn’t do this sooner, kids and commitments, you know how it goes. Anyhow, I’ve had time to do some digging to remind myself of dates and places, that sort of thing, so with any luck I’ll be able to help you in some way. I know I couldn’t find Lukas when I tried, so I’m hoping you’ll be better at it than I am.’

Receiving a nod from Connor, Cristy asked Natalie to identifyherself for the recording, and began by taking her back to how she and Lukas had first met.

NATALIE: ‘Oh that’s easy, it were in Minehead. I was working at Butlin’s, the holiday camp, and I ran into him a couple of times on the beach or in town. We got talking, he told me he was looking for his sister who he thought was in the area. When I found out he had no money and was sleeping rough I started smuggling him into my quarters so he could get some decent sleep while I was working. I’d take him food as well, and then we managed to get him some shifts, and before too long he had his own room and a proper job. He was a great guy. He had a way with him that kind of cheered you up, if you know what I mean. Always positive, up for a laugh and joke, interested in what you had to say. I remember when he found his sister and how much he cried with happiness. He wanted me to meet her, and I was up for that, so we made it happen, only a few times, it has to be said. I saw her little girl more because Lukas would bring her into the camp. A proper little cutie, she were. And his sister, wow, she were a real looker, she were.

‘I always thought she had a housekeeping job further along the coast – I didn’t know about any of the “Russian bride” stuff until way later when it came out in the local paper. They was all long gone by then, but before that, whenever I saw her, I can’t say she ever seemed, you know, scared or anything, but then, like, one day she was, and so was he. I don’t know what happened, all he ever told me was that she was going to be moving on, and then a few weeks later, just like that, he’d gone too. I was proper upset, I can tell you. I never dreamt he’d take off without saying a word when we’d been such good friends, but that’s what happened.’

CRISTY: ‘During the times you saw Janina did she ever talk about having to leave Sasha, or being forced to give her up? Did Lukas ever mention anything like that?’

NATALIE: ‘Sasha – that was her name, I’ve been tryingto remember. Anyway, no way can I see Janina leaving her, they was bonded at the hip, and Sasha adored her uncle … You should have seen the pair of them together. He was like a big kid himself when he brought her into the camp, dead proud of her he was. No, if Janina ever gave her up – and I guess what you’re saying in your pods is that Sadie Winters is Sasha – I’d lay money that someone forced her to.’

CRISTY: ‘We posted some shots on our website last night of Lottie Winters with Janina and the man she was working for. Have you seen them?’

NATALIE: ‘I have, and if you’re asking do I recognize the other two, I can tell you I don’t remember seeing either of them before.’

CRISTY: ‘OK, going back to when Lukas disappeared, was that the last you heard from him?’

NATALIE: ‘No, actually. I got a postcard about six months later from somewhere in Lithuania – I can’t find it I’m afraid, chances are I didn’t keep it – but in it he said he was sorry about bailing the way he did, apparently the authorities caught up with him and he’d been deported. He was staying with his sister now until he could get back to England.’

CRISTY: ‘His sister being Janina?’

NATALIE: ‘That’s what I thought until he turned up in London one day a few years later, three or four, could even have been a bit longer than that. I was working front-of-house in a theatre at the time, so yeah, it would have been around 2005. It turned out he’d been with his older sister, Audra, since being shipped out, but now his country had joined the EU it was possible for him to get to England legally. So he was back to find Janina because they hadn’t heard from her since she’d left Minehead.’

CRISTY: ‘Did he tell you then why Janina had left Minehead?’

NATALIE: ‘Not that I recall. And I didn’t say anything aboutwhat I’d read in the paper. You just wouldn’t, would you, over something like that?’

CRISTY: ‘Do you know if he ever found her?’

NATALIE: ‘Not that I ever knew of. He went everywhere searching for her, and the bloke whose house she’d been staying at in Kylve, but he couldn’t find a trace of either of them anywhere. I remember him saying something about a couple of women who lived, or were staying on Exmoor, but he never knew their names and when he went to the house he thought was theirs they weren’t there any more. To be honest, I didn’t really know what that was about, but I could see he was ready to grasp at any straw. It was a horrible time for him. He was proper scared about what might have happened to his sister and niece, but it was like no one knew anything and the police, typically, weren’t interested. I reckon it was because he was foreign, they don’t admit that sort of thing, do they? They just said they had no record of his relatives ever being in the country so had no way of knowing if they were still there, or if they’d left again.’

CRISTY: ‘Do you know if he told them about George Symmonds-Browne?’

NATALIE: ‘I don’t, I’m afraid, although I guess he must have. I mean, why wouldn’t he? Even so nothing ever came of it. Lukas was drawing blanks everywhere and it carried on like that way after I left and moved here, to Canada. I felt really bad for him and wished there was more I could do, but I’d met Ian by then, my husband, and we had our own lives to be getting on with. I mean, I stayed in touch with Lukas, I didn’t just drop him. He’d write me a line – and then an email when we started sending them – a couple of times a year to ask how I was doing and to say where he was living and what he was doing. He was still in England, and had all sorts of jobs, delivery driver, hotel porter, builder, plumber’s mate, you name it, and he lived all over. I think he had a couple of long-term girlfriends, but the one who stands out for me was Evie. He was obviously really keen on her, andas far as I know he was still with her the last time I heard from him.’

CRISTY: ‘When was that?’

NATALIE: ‘August 2015. I’ve been trying to find the email, but I’ve changed provider since then, and moved house, but I remember he told me that he’d been contacted by George Symmonds-Browne. It took me a while to work out who that was. When I did I felt kind of excited for him, and worried, obviously, given what I knew about the bloke. Anyway, maybe it meant he was going to find out something about his sister at last, but then I read on and it was really weird, because it turned out this GSB had offered him an amazing job and he was going to take it.

‘And that was that. Nothing since. Obviously I emailed straight back to ask what was going on and what the hell sort of job was he talking about given GSB’s rep, but to this day he’s never answered.’

Needing a moment to assimilate, Cristy nodded for Connor to take over.

CONNOR: ‘Do you still have the address he emailed from?’

NATALIE: ‘Sure, I’ll send it to you, but it’s defunct now, just bounces back, and same goes for the old mobile number I had for him.’

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