76 #Contact

Connor wasted no time following Schroeder, then sending him a direct message:

Connor Presley @ElvisTheWriter

I’m a reporter from Scotland in Baltimore. I’m told you may be able to help me with info on Bryce Horrigan murder?

Geoffrey Schroeder @GeoffreySchroeder

Who said I could help? The police?

Connor knew Schroeder would be twitchy as hell. He tried to reassure him as best he could.

Connor Presley @ElvisTheWriter

Not police. A friend. I haven’t spoken to police – or anyone – about you.

Geoffrey Schroeder @GeoffreySchroeder

You tell me who your friend is and we’ll talk. I’ll give you a story. Might not be what you want to hear though.

Connor Presley @ElvisTheWriter

You know a reporter NEVER reveals their sources.

Geoffrey Schroeder @GeoffreySchroeder

No name. No deal. No more contact until I know who your friend is. Don’t make it up, I’ll know.

Connor was perplexed. He hadn’t expected a response at all, never mind this one. Schroeder was behaving like a hunted animal, which he no doubt was. He even read Connor’s thoughts about making up the name of an imaginary friend.

‘You’re up to your tits in this,’ Connor thought out loud. But what difference would it make even if he did give him the name Tom O’Neill? They were from different worlds.

Connor was in a dilemma. He wanted to interview Schroeder so badly. He just knew he held the key to everything. Besides, until now, he had got next-to-nothing on this trip. But he couldn’t hand the name of a fellow journalist over to a suspected killer just for a story, could he?

Connor typed out another DM before looking at the screen for several minutes.

‘Fuck it,’ he said, and pressed ‘Send’.

Moments later he got the response:

Geoffrey Schroeder @GeoffreySchroeder

Okay. Let’s talk.

Schroeder’s next tweet was a set of directions:

Geoffrey Schroeder @GeoffreySchroeder

Head up state. I-83 to Maryland border. Turn off on Old York Road. 2nd left into industrial park. Alone.

He finished by sending an ominous warning:

Geoffrey Schroeder @GeoffreySchroeder

I’ll be watching.

***

Geoffrey Schroeder searched for Tom O’Neill’s name on Twitter. It didn’t take him long to find the one he was looking for, with a profile that read, Derry dude, living in New York. Journalist, lover, not a fighter, and deputy to @BryceTripleB – my views are definitely not HIS.

Geoffrey scrolled through O’Neill’s timeline. He wasn’t as prolific at tweeting as Horrigan had been, but he was still a heavy user. Schroeder decided to abandon any plans to cross the Canadian border once and for all. There was a good chance he would never make it anyway.

Instead, he stared at O’Neill’s avatar picture and decided he needed to make his last stand in Maryland. And he would start with Connor Presley.