Picture Perfect 63
“Okay.” Baxter said. “Now that we are on the subject of the contract, it was agreed that you would freely share any relevant information you discovered in photo or document examination, or in your interrogations, I mean, interviews of the subjects as we arranged them.” He was reading directly from the contract as it appeared on everyone’s monitor screens.
“You have all the footage. I haven’t held anything back.”
“What about this.” It was a clip from his interview with Teresa. The point were camera was trying to get a close up of the photograph she had given Dan
“This is me not wanting to get sued for libel. I am to do reasonable diligence with any evidence I find. I’ll be doing more research on this Monday. You heard the conversation leading up to it didn’t you?”
“Of course that’s why we needed to get that photo on camera. It could be … a person of interest …”
“Baxter you watch too many of your own TV shows.” Dan said. “You know as well as I do, that if this is truly crucial you’ll be told and if it isn’t I can’t let you spin it to implicate someone with rumours from decades ago.”
“He’s right.” Stephanie said. “If this is of importance someone alive now may be harmed greatly if it isn’t handled correctly.”
“What do …” Baxter stopped. “This is what you .. see.”
“Yes.” Jennifer replied. “Mr. Baxter I realize I am just a … nod for your ratings. But you don’t need to believe in me for my abilities to work.” She left the war room.
“I guess I’ve been told.” Baxter said. “Inspector Warszawa perhaps you have some … warmer news from your end of things.”
“Warmer?” War said. “I don’t know about that. I do have to concur with Dan though about ascertaining the relevance of evidence. If you want what you’re doing to be taken seriously by the local law enforcement branches do what they would do as much as possible.”
“If we did what they did we’d have nothing to report on.”
“Point taken but trust Dan on his experience in the field. It’ll make your series that much more believable and powerful. Now that the cases have been officially reopened a task force has been put together to examine the information we already have. They expect Quintex’s full& open cooperation.”
“Even if what we discover doesn’t show them in a positive light.”
“Let’s face it.” Dan said. “They can’t afford to look any worse in the public eye. It’s the best way for them to rebuild public trust. I know investigative abilities have changed greatly over the past decades.”
“Being called a faggot by an angry cop is still the same.” Baxter said. “And that happened to you less than a week ago.”
“He called me an asshole. But he did refer to you as a queer.”
“Captain MacKillop will be heading the task force. I’ve met with him and he’s on the ball.”
“We’ll get access to the RCMP files?” Stephanie asked.
“When they unearth them” Warszawa said. “MacKillop was surprised to find out how well they had been buried. Cases involving children are handled with greater attention these days. He’s also looking into that.”
“Once again the RCMP investigates itself.” Stephanie said.
“You can keep statements like that to yourself if you expect them to be at all cooperative.” Warszawa said. “Agreed?”
“Whatever.” Stephanie replied.
“I think we’re done here for today?” She looked to Baxter.
“Yes.”
Jennifer Devereaux was waiting beside Dan’s car. Cameron walked over the car. “I’ll be with you again today. Not that we have many others to choose from.” He joked.
“Remote unit has gone ahead to Truro. This’ll be Helen Davis.” He glanced at his phone. “David McPherson’s aunt. Coordinated have been programmed into your cell already Captain Kirk.”
“Okay. Pile in.” Dan got behind the wheel.
Jennifer sat in the front beside him. Cameron in the back seat.
“You knew Glaucia?” Dan asked.
“Yes. She had come to my mother many years ago.”
“Your mother?” Dan said.
“Jane Poitier.”
“From the Wickham?” Dan asked. “I though you looked familiar. Sarah must be your sister.”
“Yes, she the ordinary one. There’s a history of second sight in our family that goes back generations in various forms. It has never been the same in subsequent generations but it has always been. With each generation the need to hide has decreased. My mother was called to help others with their talents.”
“Glaucia came to your mother?’
“Yes, to be guided.”
“Like Hogwarts?” Cameron said.
“Nothing that spectacular.” Jennifer laughed. “My mother was more like a guidance councillor than a teacher. Which was what Glaucia was to me.”
“Why not your mother?”
“No, that would never work. Doctors don’t treat their own children, or least they shouldn’t. It is the same with sensitives. It is best when someone who isn’t blood encourages you. They prove be less … invested.”
“How much control do you have over your abilities?”
“It can vary. There are times when an … energy will hit me. There are times when I need to close my eyes and focus on what is around me. I know that if I see nothing it is because there is nothing to see, not that I am not trying hard enough.”
“I hate these set interviews.” Dan said.
“Set?” Jennifer asked. “Aren’t we talking to her in her home?”
“Yes and no. Baxter Bit stylists set the stage for us. Furniture gets moved around. Back grounds become crucial for ambience. When possible they like to help the guests look good too. Hair gets done.”
“What?”
“Oh yes. That’s why my interview with Teresa Dunlop was so good, for me. She called Stephanie in the morning to say where and there was no time to fix things beyond warning the diner we’d be there.”
“That explains the idiotic fringe purse!” Jennifer said.
“You watched it?”
“Some of it. Mr. Baxter said I should observe your style. Didn’t seem to be much style on your part. More like old friends meeting after years.”
“Which in a way it was.”
“What are you going to do about your sister and Kevin?”
“That’s not relevant, is it? Or did you sense something I didn’t.”
“Tread carefully. By the way I have to admire the way you totally ignored her calling you Danny Boy.”
“You picked up on that? She used to do that when I was a kid. Drove me crazy angry.”
“The MacPherson’s came across as fairly ordinary folk.” She tapped the folder of notes on her lap. “So does the Aunt.”
“So far they all have. The abductions were the major crisis in their lives. The fact that they went unconnected is the what makes them unique in an … entertaining way.”
“You’re not doing this for the entertainment value.”
“Oh no, the pay check isn’t bad.”
“There’s more to than that. More like seeking Dad’s approval.”
“You not seeking your Mom’s approval?”
“Excellent reversal. I didn’t see that coming.”
“That’ll put you in the frame of mind of the people we’ll be seeing. None of them saw what happened to them coming.”
They drove in silence for several miles.
When they got to the location Cameron got out first to follow them as they walked up to the house.
“Jennifer.” He stopped her at the bottom of front steps. “Stay focused on these people, on these cases. Our private lives are just that.”
“Sorry. It’s hard for me to block out everyone. If your father had anything to do with these cases I can’t help it.”
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