Page 27 of A Game of Lies

‘We haven’t done them,’ George says. ‘Ryan’s wallet and phone are still here.’

‘Do we know if all the bank cards are accounted for?’

George reddens slightly. ‘No.’

‘Then we check, please. Ryan could have taken a card into camp with him.’ Leo scans the list he made while watching last night’s episode ofExposure. ‘Known associates?’

‘Jessica’s contacting all friends and family,’ George says. ‘We’re in touch with Ryan’s boss, who’s checking in with his colleagues.’

‘Good job.’ Leo snaps his book shut. ‘I want to speak to Miles Young, but call me if there are any developments. I’ve asked the press office to issue an appeal for anyone who’s been hiking around the area in the past day or two to check the background of any photos and videos they’ve taken, so we might have some lines of enquiry to follow up on this afternoon.’

Leo makes his way across the courtyard. He can’t hear the helicopter now – it’s gone back to base to refuel, perhaps, or been pulled away to another, more urgent job. The mountain summit is stark against the sky, and Leo takes a second to centre himself. His performance in the kitchen just now had been exactly that: a performance. Leo had felt the same soon after he’d been promoted to detective sergeant. He remembered the first briefing he led, and how his heart had thumped furiously from beneath his crisp white shirt and pinstripe jacket; how anxious he was about what the team thought.

‘Great job,’ his new DI had said afterwards, and Leo had found it extraordinary that his nerves hadn’t shown.

Over the course of his first year in post, Leo had grown in confidence. He no longer takes a deep breath before briefings, or practises in the car on his way to work. It isn’t that he no longer cares what the team thinks of him; he’s simply sure of his ability to do a good job.

But today Leo feels like a rookie again. His head is all over the place – one minute running through MisPer protocol, the next thinking how the curve of Ffion’s mouth is at once familiar and brand new. He feels under scrutiny. Is that because he’s come back as a sergeant? Or because Ffion is here? It’s because she snubbed him, because he wants to show her it doesn’t matter, that he’s too professional to care that the woman he once thought he was falling in love with has all but forgotten he exists.

A sharp trill cuts through Leo’s thoughts and he looks up to see a kestrel hovering above him, wings outstretched and black-tipped tail feathers fanned against the wind. Leo watches for a second, thinking how Harris would love this. They should get out into the countryside more. Six months ago, Allie bought Harris a pair of Le Chameau wellies, then told Leo,They cost eighty quid, so for God’s sake don’t let him get them dirty. But he could get another pair from Asda, and he and Harris could go off for a walk with a picnic and a book on birds. He laughs inwardly. Who’d have thought, a couple of years ago, that city-boy Brady would be dreaming of walking in the hills? That was Ffion’s influence, whether she knew it or not.I can’t breathe in cities, she’d said to him once, and Leo had laughed. But he feels it now, just as he felt it last time he was here. The expanse of sky, the endless stretches of mountainside, even the sun, already high overhead. Everything is so much bigger, so much more open.

The kestrel soars higher up the mountain and Leo focuses. He needs to speak to Miles Young. As the producer ofExposure, and the owner of Young Productions, Miles is responsible for the welfare of the seven contestants. If a lack of care results in Ryan’s death, Miles could be looking at a charge of corporate manslaughter.

‘Excuse me!’

Leo turns. Roxy Wilde is walking towards him. She’s fully made-up now and he sees a tiny microphone clipped to her jacket, the wire tucked out of view.

‘We’re heading up to camp for today’s challenge,’ Roxy says. ‘They’re doing an abseiling trust exercise – paired up, you know? Should be fun,’ she adds, but her expression disagrees.

‘Did you want to say something?’ Leo prompts, when it seems as though Roxy isn’t going to talk.

‘I—’ She glances towards number eight. ‘Ryan took the announcement really badly. I mean, all the contestants were shocked, but Ryan … I’ve never seen anyone behave like that. He went deathly pale, like a corpse, and he was totally still, like he was frozen with fear.’

‘I didn’t watch the first episode – was it—’

Roxy gives a humourless laugh. ‘You wouldn’t have seen Ryan’s reaction, even if you had. Miles used footage from earlier in the day, when the contestants were excited about the survival show they thought they were on. He edited that so it looked like it followed on from the announcement. That’s why it’s all close shots, and why they wear a camp uniform – so you can’t tell it’s from a different conversation. Everyone whooping and cheering, when the reality was the complete opposite.’

‘Is that …’ Leo doesn’t think he’s naïve, and he knows there must be an element of airbrushing about reality TV shows, but to manipulate the footage like that. ‘Is that normal?’

‘Welcome to reality TV.’ Roxy closes her eyes for a second and exhales. ‘The show’s ratings are through the roof, but I’ve had to come off Twitter – I can’t take the abuse any more.’

‘Abuse? From who?’

‘The #BeKind movement, mostly. Ironic, huh?’ Roxy hugs her arms around herself. ‘Thing is, I agree with everything they’re saying. Bar the death threats, obviously. The showiscruel. It’s bullying on steroids. If Miles hadn’t made my contract so watertight, I’d walk.’

‘Did Ryan say anything to you after the announcement?’

‘He could hardly speak, to be honest. The others looked after him, but I know he was in a bad way. He told me he … he said he’d rather be dead. I thought it was just a turn of phrase, but—’ Roxy’s eyes fill with tears.

Leo nods grimly.

‘Look, I’ve got to get on. I just needed you to know not to trust what you see on TV.’ Roxy puts a hand on Leo’s arm, her eyes large and unblinking. ‘The show’s all about exposing the contestants’ lies. But you should know: Miles is the biggest liar of them all.’

NINE

WEDNESDAY | KAT SHENTON | EPISODE THREE

Kat Shenton watches her husband Jason salivate over a woman young enough to be his daughter. The subtitles are on instead of the sound, and Kat’s finger is poised over the remote’s off button, because she has told Belle and Aimee-Leigh that Daddy isn’t doingExposureany more.

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