“Or Mark has her.”
Miriam didn’t dismiss the possibility.
We reported the message and waited while investigators attempted to establish whether it was genuine.
Late that afternoon, Vanessa appeared at Miriam’s office.
She looked exhausted.
There were dark circles beneath her eyes, and she kept checking the windows.
I stood so quickly my chair scraped across the floor.
“Where have you been?”
“Trying to keep someone safe.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
“My father.”
I stared at her.
“Your father?”
“He’s elderly.
Mark knows where he lives.
He threatened to make trouble for him if I kept talking.”
Miriam asked her to explain.
Vanessa described receiving photographs of her father’s home and messages warning that her investigation would have consequences.
She had gone to stay with him.
She’d also made arrangements to preserve additional documents.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
I asked.
“I was frightened.
And I didn’t want him pulled into something he doesn’t understand.”
