he straightened his tie for the umpteenth time — ‘for whom that nightmare is reality? In a few moments we talk to Dr Richard Hulme. His seven-year-old son Josh disappeared after leaving a Christmas Eve party on the city’s Upper East Side. A body believed to be that of Josh’s au pair, Russian-born Natalya Verovsky, was found yesterday. But, as of this hour, there is no sign of little Josh. Tonight his father speaks about his son’s disappearance, and the role his work as chief research scientist for controversial company Meditech may have played in his abduction. That’s coming up, right after these messages.’
The teaser finished, and they cut to commercial. Carrie turned to Richard who was sitting beside her, ashen- faced.
‘I never agreed to speak about Meditech.’
‘Then just don’t answer those questions,’ she replied, a hint of steel in her voice.
‘But then I’ll look like someone who has something to hide.’
‘Well, do you?’ she challenged.
Richard looked away.
Carrie leaned in closer to him. ‘I’m here to help you find your son. But I also plan on getting to the bottom of this story. With or without you.’
Back from the commercial break, Carrie set about laying out the timeline of Josh’s disappearance, aware that as she did so Richard was doing his best not to break down, his face caught in a slowly creeping zoom. ‘Every morning I wake up and it’s like being underwater,’ he said, his voice cracking. Carrie nodded sympathetically. After the next break she planned on making her move, changing up a gear and moving on to Meditech and the animal rights people. Lock had given her a couple of questions that he wanted out there, like why had Meditech cut Richard loose? They both knew that Richard wouldn’t have the answers but by putting them out in the public domain they could rely on the rest of the media to broaden the focus.
As Carrie segued to the next break, she could hear her producer, Gail Reindl, in her ear: ‘I need to talk to you before we come back live. I’m on my way down.’
Carrie made sure that a production assistant refilled Richard’s glass of water as she headed to the back of the studio to meet Gail.
Gail pulled Carrie into a corner. ‘Lose the Meditech questions.’
‘Why?’
‘Don’t ask.’
‘This is total BS,’ Carrie said, breaking away. ‘I know, don’t tell me: one of their publicity people has been on the phone hollering about pulling their ads from the network. Damn flacks.’
Gail ignored the comment. ‘Listen, the emotional stuff is dynamite. We won’t be losing anything by not asking him about it.’
‘Apart from the truth, you mean?’
Gail snorted derisively. ‘You’re coming off like some first-year journalism grad student at Columbia.’
Carrie bristled. ‘No, I’m going after the story. How can we not mention that he worked for a company outside whose headquarters several people were just killed? It’ll make us look like idiots.’
‘OK, ref it when you come back, but move straight on.’
‘To what?’
‘You’ll think of something.’
And with that Gail was gone, in a swish of black cashmere and a trail of Chanel No. 5. Carrie had to speed- walk across the floor to make it back to her position in time.
The eyes of the nation back on her, Carrie didn’t miss a beat. ‘Richard, until a few weeks ago you used to work for the Meditech Corporation.’
‘Yes, yes I did.’
‘And how long did you work for them?’
‘In total, approximately six years.’
‘And what did your work involve?’
‘I was involved in a number of areas.’
‘Which involved testing on animals?’
Richard didn’t hesitate. ‘That’s correct. I believed that the benefits to mankind outweighed any suffering caused to the animals.’
‘But recently you left Meditech’s employ?’
‘A few weeks before Josh went missing, yes.’
She could hear Gail, out of breath from having run all the way back to the booth, in her earpiece: ‘OK, now back to the kid.’
‘What was the nature of the work you did for Meditech?’
‘That I can’t discuss in any detail. There are confidentiality issues.’
Gail again: ‘Back the hell off, Carrie.’
Carrie smiled evenly across at Richard, her next comments directed right back at Gail, and whatever asshole in a suit had decided to try to do her job for her. ‘I understand, and your loyalty is commendable, particularly in light of the fact that your previous employer won’t assist you in finding your son — isn’t that correct?’
Richard hesitated this time. ‘Yes. . that’s correct.’
As they went to the next break, Gail was back by Carrie’s side. Carrie braced herself for the onslaught. Gail Reindl in attack mode was a sight to behold.
Instead she studied the studio floor and said, ‘Wrap it up with Hulme.’
‘But we still have ten minutes.’
‘I do realize that, but we have a call. I want you to take it live on air.’
Carrie’s heart quickened. ‘We have a lead already?’
‘We have every crank from Long Island to Long Beach jamming the switchboards, but this one’s a bit different. The CEO of Meditech wants to clarify a few points.’
Carrie did her best to suppress a smile. Not at the thought of more ratings dynamite, more at the last thing Lock had said to her when he called to set up the interview with Richard Hulme.
From the very corner of her vision, Carrie could see Richard being led out by a production assistant. As the floor manager counted her back in with a silent folding of three fingers, she stared straight down the lens.
‘On the line now we have Nicholas Van Straten, majority shareholder and chief executive officer of Richard Hulme’s former employer Meditech. Mr Van Straten, thank you for getting in touch. Our viewers will certainly appreciate your perspective.’
Eighteen
There was no need for masks. There were no cameras inside the apartment, and the only witness was the person they’d come to kill. The taller man knocked first, while the smaller of the two men stood off to one side of the door.
No one answered at first. The men traded worried glances, but said nothing. The taller man knocked again. Maybe the TV was up too loud. Or she’d gone out. They were just about to leave when the door cracked open and the side of the woman’s face pressed between door and frame. It was that kind of neighbourhood.
The taller man smiled. ‘Mrs Parker?’ he asked.
‘I told you people already, I don’t know where they’re hiding.’
‘It’s not about that, Mrs Parker.’
‘Did someone complain about my cats?’
‘I’m sorry to disturb you, ma’am, but may I come in?’
He could see her thinking about this, taking in that he was polite, well dressed and, most important of all, white. She closed the door so she could slide back the chain, then opened it again and let him in. He stepped inside.
‘Let me get that for you,’ he said, closing the door, but not all the way.
