Now You See Her

by Paul J. Teague

  She paused for a moment, as if she was about to lean in and kiss him. Cory decided he'd accept it if that's what she intended; after all it was just a concerned kiss from a friend, not a betrayal of Nadia. But she evidently decided against it and left the room. Cory felt more disappointed than he ought to.

  He pulled out his phone and texted Bianca.

  Where are you? I'm clear now—can we meet back at the car? We've got a crime scene to attend.

  Cory checked in at the office, too. They'd already heard about the police scramble and had sent over a photographer.

  ‘Mitchell is mad as hell,’ Oliver Vasey said, laughing. ‘He can't make up his mind what to put on the front page. He's been walking around ranting that nothing ever happens in Shallow Falls, then we get a decade's worth of news in one week. Just pull in as much material as you can—I'm collating it all in the office. We're spoiled for choice this week; it'll all find a slot somewhere.’

  Cory jogged from the hospital back to Lacey's, eager to get going and not miss out on the action at the falls. If they'd located Poppy, it would be huge news. He hoped she'd be alive, but he knew the chances of that were slim. All he could think of were the faces of Reece, Megan, and Toni. He wanted to cry at the thought of them being told Poppy was not coming home.

  Bianca was waiting for him by the car, appearing completely recovered from her run-in with Dean Tarrant. They got into the vehicle, Cory feeling they were fast becoming like a couple of TV detectives, constantly screeching off to some incident or another.

  ‘How did you get on with your visit to the Town Hall?’ Cory asked. The car appeared to be behaving now. He shuddered, thinking how bad it would be if it had let him down on a serious job like the one they were about to attend.

  ‘I had a crazy idea,’ Bianca explained, obviously pleased with herself. ‘I have an old school friend who works in the planning department, so I paid her a visit.’

  ‘Oh, yes?’ Cory replied, intrigued now.

  ‘She let slip some information which I think you may find interesting,’ Bianca continued. ‘I think it relates to what you were investigating before Imogen Franklin died.’

  They both fell silent. Imogen had only just died and there he was falling out with a punk like Dean Tarrant; it seemed so insignificant in context. With Poppy still missing and the death of someone as much-loved as Imogen Franklin, they had bigger fish to fry than the chief's idiot son.

  ‘Did you know a grocery chain wants to build in this town?’ Bianca asked.

  ‘No,’ Cory replied, ‘it's not come up in planning meetings as far as I know.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Bianca said, as if she'd just made some scientific breakthrough. ‘That's because it's not generally known. Apparently, they've been looking for some time. It's all hush-hush, nothing formal yet. But they're looking for a substantial site away from the usual industrial areas. I imagine my dad might know about it, too—remember what he said about big deals and secrets when he was speaking to you?’

  They'd just driven past Reece Norman's trailer and were about to enter the tunnel-like entrance to the wooded area. He wondered if the police had told Reece a body had been found. Would she be sitting in that trailer in paralyzed fear, knowing what terrible news must surely follow?

  ‘And none of this is official yet? That's why I wouldn't have seen it in the minutes of planning meetings, right?’

  ‘Correct,’ Bianca replied. ‘My friend only knows about it because she listens in on all the conversations that the bigwigs have. They think she’s just a stupid teenage kid, and they don't know she's friends with me.’

  ‘I've gotta tell you, your instincts were spot on with this, Bianca—well done. Anything else you managed to pick up? This is great information.’

  ‘We're at the falls now. Pull the car over before I tell you. I don't want you losing concentration while we're on this section of road.’

  She had a point. Cory slowed down as he took the Shallow Falls corner and pulled across the road into the parking lot for tourists. It was now packed with police vehicles and secured with yellow crime scene tape. A TV satellite van was there already—it was a feeding frenzy.

  Cory found a place to park, stopped the car, and applied the brake.

  ‘So, what is it that might distract me so badly, driving round the bends at Shallow Falls?’

  Bianca was looking at the activity at the falls; so many people were buzzing about that it looked like someone had kicked a hornet's nest.

  ‘Guess who's been having meetings at the Town Hall? Who do you think is out there scouting for available land?’

  Cory had a think, but nobody came to mind. They needed to be moving on; it was probably Poppy's body that had been found.

  ‘It's only Spencer Jones, isn't it? The same Spencer Jones who's been bothering Xander Griffen about his land. The same creep who was bothering us in Lacey's the other night.’

  Chapter Thirty

  ‘Spencer Jones is becoming a bit of a bad penny around Shallow Falls,’ Cory said. ‘This is excellent intelligence, Bianca, but you know what I'm going to say, don't you?’

  ‘Yes, we have to verify it first. I'll see what I can find out from my dad. But there's a foul smell coming off our town, I'd say. I hope Dad isn't involved.’

  Cory looked at Bianca, then over to the activity by the falls.

  ‘Yes, we need to check this out. Careful who you speak to, though. If my near-miss at the junkyard is anything to go by, we're playing for high stakes here.’

  She nodded. ‘Do you think they're after Xander's and Reece's plots?’

  ‘Yes… yes, I do,’ Cory answered. ‘If what you say about the grocery chain is true, I think the vultures are moving in. That's residential land, mind you. It would take a lot of effort to build a store there.’

  ‘Yes, but if you leaned on the right people and had the right contacts, you could make it happen, couldn't you?’

  Cory thought it over, considering how matters like this progressed through legal and administrative processes. It was the less interesting side of working on the newspaper, but if you dug deep enough, you could discover some real nuggets of gold in planning committee minutes. He'd seen enough of how local councils operated to know that a word here, a great contact there, the occasional greased palm, and you could achieve virtually anything. Some councilors regarded planning regulations as a loose guideline—the sort a couple of kids might have in a game of hopscotch.

  Shallow Falls was a small enough community to be able to get away with stuff like that. And with land rights and property ownership going so many generations back, the rules could be easily bent into shape.

  ‘We need to get out there,’ Cory said, breaking away from his thoughts. ‘I hope it isn't Poppy out here; it's going to be a very dark day for Shallow Falls if it is.’

  ‘Hey, Cory, how's it going?’

  Another of the Tribune's freelance photographers—known only to Cory as Micky—was on the scene already. He had the biggest lens Cory had ever seen on his Nikon DSLR. Micky was young, not that long out of college.

  ‘You know it's serious when the telephotos come out,’ he grinned. ‘Who's this?’ he asked, beaming at Bianca.

  ‘Hi, I'm Bianca Williams,’ she replied, holding out her hand confidently. ‘I'm working as an intern with Cory. How about you?’

  ‘Micky Nolan. Pleased to meet you.’

  They shook hands and lingered just a second longer than they should have.

  Cory was pleased to learn Micky's surname now; it had become embarrassing after such a time not to know it. Micky was one of those guys who turned up on news stories every now and again. He didn't know him well, but they always chatted.

  ‘Do you two know each other?’ he asked.

  They drew their hands away.

  ‘No, we haven't met before,’ Micky replied. ‘It's nice to see someone around my age on the job. Most of you are dyed-in-the-wool news hacks. When you're my age, it's good to see a fresh face every once in a
while.’

  Cory had seen Louise working beyond the police tape in the area overlooking the falls. He couldn't catch her attention; she had her mind fully on the job.

  ‘What have you got to report?’ Cory asked.

  ‘Well, it's a body, we know that much.’ Micky replied. ‘They're staying tight-lipped about who it is. They got it all sealed off fast—the area’s already under cover. There's no way I'm getting any pictures from this distance, even with a lens this size.’

  ‘It may be Poppy,’ Cory conjectured. ‘If it’s a child's body, the police will move super-fast to get it covered up from telephotos and drones. Mind you, with this level of tree cover, even a drone is no use out here.’

  ‘Any idea who found the body?’ Bianca asked.

  ‘That's a dead end, too,’ Micky explained. ‘Most times it's a dog walker who finds the body. This time it was a couple of police officers, following up a lead about some campers being out here, or something like that.’

  ‘They must be following up on our lead,’ Bianca said. ‘I assumed they'd just ignore it because they were too busy.’

  ‘Louise must have succeeded in getting them to take it seriously. I wonder if the body might be a camper—or perhaps the hobo who lit that camp fire?’

  Cory wasn't even convincing himself. He just couldn't face the prospect of it being Poppy.

  There was a screech of tires behind them, and Chief Tarrant's car flew at great speed into the parking lot, squeezing into the last remaining space. As Tarrant got out of the car, a TV reporter ran up to him, followed by a camerawoman.

  ‘Five minutes,’ he shouted at them. ‘You'll get your interview—give me five minutes for a briefing from my team.’

  He rushed off. Cory thought he sounded like he was on a shorter fuse than usual, if that were even possible.

  ‘Maybe Dean had a word with him after all,’ Bianca said, her straight face turning to a smile.

  ‘Yeah, we haven't had much luck with the Tarrant family so far today. Are there any other family members we haven't fallen out with yet?’

  Micky had left them, ever alert to the next photo opportunity. He'd snapped Chief Tarrant getting out of his car, talking to the TV reporter, and now chatting to his officers inside the yellow tape. Cory wished he could catch Louise's attention, but he knew better than to compromise her at work.

  Two officers were crossing the tape to walk over to their cars.

  ‘The chief will speak to you in five,’ one of them said to the TV reporter, pre-empting their request.

  The TV station was based over at Westview and had a poor reputation in Shallow Falls because of their patchy coverage of local news stories. They were also struggling to regain their credibility after one of their reporters had sent out a tweet calling the town Shallow Minds. The rivalry between the two communities was historic, but it did the TV station no favors reminding everybody about it.

  Cory decided to cash in some goodwill. He was delighted to find out it was the two officers he'd bought coffee for in Lacey's earlier in the week.

  ‘This is why we oil the wheels,’ he murmured to Bianca. ‘Follow me, and let's see how much they enjoyed that coffee.’

  ‘Hey, officers, how's it going?’ Cory asked.

  ‘Hey, Cory, good to see you. It's not good news, I'm afraid. One body, recently deceased. The family have now been informed. We still need a formal identification before we release the name; that should come later today.’

  ‘Is it Poppy Norman?’ Cory asked.

  ‘Come on, Cory, you know I can't tell you that. Under normal circumstances, I would. But we have to remain tight-lipped on this one, in case it compromises a different investigation.’

  ‘That all sounds very cryptic, but a man has to try.’ Cory grinned.

  ‘The chief is going to brief the press in a couple of minutes. I suggest you make sure you're around for that.’

  The officers made it clear there was no more information coming from their lips. They made their way back to their vehicle and drove out of the parking lot, turning back to Shallow Falls.

  ‘What do you think?’ Cory asked Bianca. ‘Poppy or not?’

  ‘They didn't give any clues,’ she said. ‘Would a couple of hardened cops show it on their faces if it was a child down there?’

  Cory thought not; most seasoned police officers would have seen every horror that life could throw at them after a couple of years in the job.

  He started walking over toward the falls area, where the TV crew was. It provided an ideal backdrop for their interview with the chief.

  There was a huddle of police officers and forensics staff just beyond the tape, above the shelf of rock that he and Bianca had been looking at the previous day. The water was still crashing down at the base of the falls. The place where they'd eaten their lunch was now cordoned off, the white tent positioned on the other side of the river from where they'd been sitting and chatting.

  Had Poppy's body been there all the time? Had they been casually talking only yards from where Reece Norman's dead daughter lay? Cory shuddered at the thought.

  Bianca was off chatting to Micky; the two of them had hit it off right away. It hadn't occurred to Cory that he and his colleagues must all seem like seniors to a woman as young as Bianca. Meeting someone just a couple of years older than her was probably a blessed relief, especially as Micky was a good kid. He was nothing like that Dean Tarrant jerk.

  Right on cue, Chief Tarrant stepped over the police tape just as Cory was considering his son. The TV crew went straight to him, setting up the shot and moving him into position. Cory knew how it worked in the media pecking order: TV first, radio next—if they were even there—then, finally, the papers.

  The TV reporter cut straight to the chase, asking Tarrant the question that was on everybody's lips.

  ‘So, Chief Tarrant, have you found the body of Poppy Norman?’

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Cory couldn't recall when he first realized Bianca was missing. There was such a huddle around the chief as he gave his briefing that it was difficult to keep track of who was where.

  ‘I can confirm that there has been a fatality at Shallow Falls overnight. We are informing the family as I speak and there will need to be a formal identification process before we release the name of the deceased.’

  ‘Can you confirm if it's the body of a child?’ the TV reporter asked. Cory hadn't seen her before; he knew most of the local press, but it looked like the big guns had been dispatched.

  ‘I can't confirm the age or gender of the deceased before we have completed the formal identification process. I hope you'll appreciate that with Poppy Norman missing at the moment, it's important that the press do not get ahead of themselves. You must await a formal confirmation of the tragedy that's occurred here. We also need to be mindful of the recent tragic death of a well-loved librarian in Shallow Falls—Imogen Franklin. I would urge you not to jump to conclusions. This is a complex police investigation which will be impeded if the press starts the process of idle speculation.’

  Micky's camera could be heard clicking away as he captured the scene from every angle. Once upon a time, there would have been at least three newspapers in attendance. These days, it was just the Tribune. It was more cost-effective for the other newspaper outlets to pay Mitchell Kane to syndicate his news copy than to dispatch a reporter to the job. With two murders and a missing child, Cory had a feeling the nationals would be descending on them in no time.

  ‘Do you have any leads in the case of Poppy Norman? Do you believe her disappearance is connected to the death of Imogen Franklin?’

  The TV reporter was getting all the important questions in. That suited Cory fine because he figured the chief wouldn't have much time for the Tribune after their run-in at Lacey's. He took detailed notes in shorthand; things were moving so fast there was no way they'd be able to avoid a bumper edition of the paper.

  ‘We do not believe at present that the two deaths are connected. I
cannot comment on any links to the disappearance of Poppy Norman because I can't risk the press rushing to the wrong conclusions. Until we get a formal identification, you should continue to treat these sad events in isolation. However, I can confirm that at present we do not believe this death and the death of Imogen Franklin are linked. It is possible that Imogen Franklin's death was a tragic accident, but a full and thorough investigation by Shallow Falls police will confirm if that is the case or not.’

  ‘How true is it that Shallow Falls police are dragging their feet with the investigation into Poppy Norman's disappearance? It's been four days and you still don't have any leads.’

  Cory watched as Chief Tarrant's face turned beet red. He was riled again.

  ‘That's it for now,’ Tarrant declared. ‘I'll call another press briefing as soon as we have any more information.’

  With that, he stormed through the small crowd that had gathered around him like a bulldozer smashing through a brick wall. Tarrant walked over to his car, got in, and drove off. That was it, the short press briefing was over.

  ‘What do you think?’ Cory asked Micky. ‘Is it Poppy?’

  ‘Can't tell,’ Micky replied. ‘He's got a good poker face, Chief Tarrant—his facial expression bears no relation to the words coming out of his mouth. It's like a badly dubbed foreign film—the words don't quite match what you're looking at.’

  Cory laughed.

  ‘It's going to be a devil to write up for the newspaper,’ he said. ‘A story like this one, with so many twists and turns—it's likely to change the moment we go to print.’

  ‘Well, I've got hundreds of pictures, and Mitchell is getting lots of syndication requests, so if one of my images makes it to the nationals, it'll be a great payday for me this month.’

  Cory had noted on several occasions the incongruence of the press benefiting so much from human misery. Personal tragedies like Poppy and Imogen were a feasting time for the press. Circulation would be up, newspaper editors would see a glimmer of hope that the medium wasn't quite dead yet, and people like Micky could build their careers on one lucky snap.