Lisa held Jenny’s hand as she waited on the phone. It was a beautiful day. The sunlight sprang through the window, bouncing off the ceramic tiled floor, and birds sang songs that floated through the open kitchen window.
‘Yes. Hello. Can I speak with Anne Palmer please?’ Lisa suddenly looked very confused and flustered. ‘Are you sure? I know that she works there. Maybe she hasn’t come in yet?’
Lisa pulled her hand from Jenny’s and it put over the phone and looked at Kathy. Her blue eyes were wide open. Lisa started talking very fast and neither Kathy or Jenny could understand what she was saying. She had to take a deep breath before speaking again, ‘The operator says there is no one at the Gleaner by that name,’ Lisa whispered hoarsely.
For a moment Kathy was unsettled. ‘Ask for the Sport’s Desk, and then ask for Anne when someone answers,’ she said hurriedly. Lisa followed the advice and waited.
‘Hello. Yes, Anne Palmer please? OK. Thank you.’ A relieved dimpled smile came over Lisa’s face, and she nodded at Kathy. ‘Hello, Anne? At last. I have someone who wants to speak with you. Hold on.’ Lisa handed the handset to Kathy.
‘Hi Anne, it’s Kathy. Don’t say my name! I don’t want anyone to know that you are speaking with me.’
‘OK Miss …’
‘Don’t call my name, Anne!’
‘Yes. Sorry.’
‘I don’t mean to frighten you, but it is very important that no one knows that you are speaking to me. Also, do not tell anyone that we have spoken. Do you understand?’
‘Yes. I do, and I think I know why.’
‘Really? What is happening?’
‘The police have been here repeatedly since the shooting of Mr. Tymson. There is a lot of scaremongering going on. Mr. Bishop has had numerous staff meetings, trying to encourage the staff and assure them that this is a case of the police overstepping their authority. A lot of people are scared.’
‘I can assure you that I have not been involved in anything illegal.’
‘I have never doubted that fact.’
‘Good. I need your help as I try and investigate this. Are you up to helping me?’
There was a pause on the line. ‘What do you want me to do?’
‘Nothing illegal or dangerous. I need some information from the server to be moved to my computer so I can access it remotely. Do you think you can do that for me?’
‘Doesn’t sound too hard. I guess I can do that.’
‘Great. Give me your cell number and I will text you the instructions. Text me back when you have completed the instructions. Make sure you delete the texts when you are finished. OK?’
No one smiled. Kathy held tightly on to Marshall’s arm. Kenneth was pensive. Sean ruminative. Jenny and Lisa were close to tears. Mr. and Mrs. Martin sat quietly with Janet. The silence was heavy in the room.
‘Are you sure?’ Jenny blurted out suddenly.
‘No, but I don’t see any other way of us getting to the bottom of this,’ Kathy muttered.
‘There has to be another way,’ Marshall offered firmly, as he thumped his thigh with his fist.
Kathy looked into his eyes. ‘Can you think of one?’
Marshall could not maintain her gaze and looked down at his lap. ‘No, I can’t, but there has to be another way,’ he said through gritted teeth.
‘Stop saying that!’ Kathy sobbed. “I wish there was one, but there isn’t!’ Jenny and Lisa walked over and hugged her, nudging Marshall out of the way. Marshall wrung his hands as he watched the scene. Kenneth and Sean looked at each. Sean shrugged his shoulders, his palms turned upwards. Kenneth nodded slowly.
‘Kathy is right. We don’t really have any other option. We’ve all spent the whole day trying to find something in the Gleaner reports that will help us,’ Kenneth said in a resigned tone. ‘The only way we can all go home and feel safe is to get to the bottom of this. We don’t know who we can trust until we understand how far this goes, and what it is all about.’
‘Unfortunately, that is the only logical conclusion, so I have to concur,’ Sean said softly. Everyone exchanged glances. Marshall shuffled over to the other end of the sofa so that Lisa and Jenny could sit comfortably with Kathy.
‘So when do we do this?’ Kathy asked matter-of-factly. She accepted a handkerchief from Jenny and wiped her eyes.
‘There isn’t really anything to be gained by delaying. Busha George is still looking for us, and time is on his side, unless we find out what is going on. We might as well plan to go tomorrow or the day after,’ Kenneth said pointedly.
‘OK. Let’s do it,’ Kathy said stoically, as she rose from the sofa and walked out the room. Marshall stood and looked around the room apologetically, and then quickly followed her.