happening was well illuminated.’
‘Yeah, well, that were the point, really,’ Charlene said. ‘The audience, like.’
‘So, given that it was quite light you can give us descriptions of the people who were there.’
‘I suppose,’ Charlene said grudgingly. ‘Some, any road.’
‘And you can tell us who invited you up there in the first place.’
Charlene looked even more mutinous at that.
‘I mean it,’ Thackeray snapped. ‘You must realise that what was going on up there is illegal. What we decide to charge you with will depend very much on how cooperative you are today. I want a list of everyone you can remember, and whatever you can recall of the cars, with the dates they were there, if possible. We’ll ask your boyfriend to do the same. From the sound of it, neither of you want to be appearing in court tomorrow. It’s the sort of case which would be meat and drink to the newspapers. The Globe would be up here like a shot. Your friend Karen could have been abducted or even killed, remember. We need this information and we need it now.’
Charlene stared at him horrified, cigarette halfway to her mouth in a trembling hand. She licked dry lips.
‘I’ll see what I can remember,’ she whispered.
Bob Baker, the Gazette ’s crime reporter, was a dab hand at seizing Ted Grant’s attention. And this morning, this had been simply achieved by coming back from police HQ with his own interpretation, which was far from the official one, of the disappearance of Karen Bastable.
‘It’s bound to be the husband,’ he told Grant confidently. ‘They’ve started a massive search up on the Forestry Commission plantation on the Nelson road. Word is that she had a boyfriend, hubbie followed her up there when she went to meet him and bingo – she never came back. I wouldn’t be surprised if they find two bodies. The boyfriend probably copped it as well.’
‘So that’s the official line, is it?’ Grant asked.
‘Not yet, it isn’t,’ Baker confessed. ‘That’s from my ownsources. All they’re saying officially is that they’ve started a search, and the husband will give a press conference later today. Hankies out for that, of course, but we all know how good killers are at playing the grieving relative. We’ve seen enough of them. You can’t believe a word they say.’
Grant glanced at his computer screen thoughtfully.
‘You’ll only get a couple of paras in today. Tell the subs to make a bit of space on the front, give it a trail if you think it’s a serious runner. We’ll follow up big time tomorrow, by which time you’ll have the press conference to get your teeth into, and hopefully a body.’
‘Right,’ Baker said. ‘I’ll go and do a bit of doorstepping, see what the neighbours know about the Bastables. And there’s a couple of kids, apparently. And I’ll have a quiet word with Laura. She might have picked something up on that pillow grapevine she runs.’
‘You’ll be lucky getting anything out of Laura,’ Grant said, his expression sour. ‘She’s as tight as a Saudi virgin with information from that source.’ Baker grinned.
‘We’ll see,’ Baker said. ‘I get the feeling that liaison’s not as cuddly as it used to be. She may be susceptible to a bit of charm.’
But when he approached Laura, with a friendly hand on her shoulder, she looked at him with incomprehension.
‘Michael never mentioned a missing woman to me,’ she said sharply, removing the offending hand with a sharp shrug. ‘And if he had, I wouldn’t be telling you about it. You should know that by now.’
‘It’s the sort of story you should be interested in – missing mother of two, husband likely to be the prime suspect. After all that stuff you did about domestic violence recently, thislooks like it might be another instalment. Just thought you might like to know.’
‘Thanks,’ Laura said. ‘I’ll bear it in mind. Have they found a body, then?’
‘Not yet, but they’ve
‘Yeah, well, that were the point, really,’ Charlene said. ‘The audience, like.’
‘So, given that it was quite light you can give us descriptions of the people who were there.’
‘I suppose,’ Charlene said grudgingly. ‘Some, any road.’
‘And you can tell us who invited you up there in the first place.’
Charlene looked even more mutinous at that.
‘I mean it,’ Thackeray snapped. ‘You must realise that what was going on up there is illegal. What we decide to charge you with will depend very much on how cooperative you are today. I want a list of everyone you can remember, and whatever you can recall of the cars, with the dates they were there, if possible. We’ll ask your boyfriend to do the same. From the sound of it, neither of you want to be appearing in court tomorrow. It’s the sort of case which would be meat and drink to the newspapers. The Globe would be up here like a shot. Your friend Karen could have been abducted or even killed, remember. We need this information and we need it now.’
Charlene stared at him horrified, cigarette halfway to her mouth in a trembling hand. She licked dry lips.
‘I’ll see what I can remember,’ she whispered.
Bob Baker, the Gazette ’s crime reporter, was a dab hand at seizing Ted Grant’s attention. And this morning, this had been simply achieved by coming back from police HQ with his own interpretation, which was far from the official one, of the disappearance of Karen Bastable.
‘It’s bound to be the husband,’ he told Grant confidently. ‘They’ve started a massive search up on the Forestry Commission plantation on the Nelson road. Word is that she had a boyfriend, hubbie followed her up there when she went to meet him and bingo – she never came back. I wouldn’t be surprised if they find two bodies. The boyfriend probably copped it as well.’
‘So that’s the official line, is it?’ Grant asked.
‘Not yet, it isn’t,’ Baker confessed. ‘That’s from my ownsources. All they’re saying officially is that they’ve started a search, and the husband will give a press conference later today. Hankies out for that, of course, but we all know how good killers are at playing the grieving relative. We’ve seen enough of them. You can’t believe a word they say.’
Grant glanced at his computer screen thoughtfully.
‘You’ll only get a couple of paras in today. Tell the subs to make a bit of space on the front, give it a trail if you think it’s a serious runner. We’ll follow up big time tomorrow, by which time you’ll have the press conference to get your teeth into, and hopefully a body.’
‘Right,’ Baker said. ‘I’ll go and do a bit of doorstepping, see what the neighbours know about the Bastables. And there’s a couple of kids, apparently. And I’ll have a quiet word with Laura. She might have picked something up on that pillow grapevine she runs.’
‘You’ll be lucky getting anything out of Laura,’ Grant said, his expression sour. ‘She’s as tight as a Saudi virgin with information from that source.’ Baker grinned.
‘We’ll see,’ Baker said. ‘I get the feeling that liaison’s not as cuddly as it used to be. She may be susceptible to a bit of charm.’
But when he approached Laura, with a friendly hand on her shoulder, she looked at him with incomprehension.
‘Michael never mentioned a missing woman to me,’ she said sharply, removing the offending hand with a sharp shrug. ‘And if he had, I wouldn’t be telling you about it. You should know that by now.’
‘It’s the sort of story you should be interested in – missing mother of two, husband likely to be the prime suspect. After all that stuff you did about domestic violence recently, thislooks like it might be another instalment. Just thought you might like to know.’
‘Thanks,’ Laura said. ‘I’ll bear it in mind. Have they found a body, then?’
‘Not yet, but they’ve