Dead Mercy by Noelle Holten

Author:Noelle Holten [Holten, Noelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008383695
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Chapter Forty-Six

By the time they returned to the office, Maggie was exhausted. She had no time to think about that though, as Nathan shouted for her and Kate to join him in his office. He pinched the bridge of his nose and Maggie got the impression that he had something serious to discuss. Something that might put her in a mood. When she spotted Julie Noble in the room, she knew she was right.

‘OK, spit it out. You’ve obviously got something on your mind.’ Maggie leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms – she didn’t like to be blindsided.

Kate sat down beside her.

‘Before you jump down my throat, hear me out. What do you think about bringing Ms Noble in at this time? Get her to run a story – maybe anger the killer – force him out into the open, so to speak. How we do that is the part I’m struggling with and why I asked you both here. We don’t want to place anyone else at risk, but it’s a strategy that has been used successfully in the past. Any thoughts?’

‘Can I just jump in here?’ Julie addressed the room. ‘What would my angle be?’

‘Forgive me, Nathan, and Julie… I don’t mean to interrupt, but you mentioned anger, and I don’t think we want to pursue that angle. If we want to encourage the killer to come out, I think we need to be showing empathy. The story has to sound like we understand why this is happening…’ The Doc was talking sense, in Maggie’s opinion. Although she didn’t particularly like the idea of having Julie involved at this time, it seemed the decision was a done deal, and for once she wouldn’t kick up a fuss. At least not while everyone was in the room.

‘I agree.’ Maggie considered her words carefully before proceeding. ‘We don’t want the guy so riled up that his initial reaction is to run out and kill the next person on his list.’

‘Sounds quite risky though. Not sure I like any of this.’ Julie crossed her legs.

Trust Julie to throw a spanner in the works.

‘How so?’ Maggie looked directly at the journalist, challenging her.

‘Uh, public outrage for one. I know it might please some…’ the journalist shot Maggie a look, ‘but I don’t want my head on the chopping block any more than it already is.’

Maggie bit her tongue and held back. She’d let the Doc take the lead – after all, this was her area of expertise.

‘I don’t think anyone here wants that, Julie. The wording would have to be carefully chosen.’

‘What do you suggest then, Doctor? How do we get the balance so we don’t have the whole of Staffordshire outside my building with pitchforks and flaming torches?’

Maggie felt uneasy and noticed that Nathan wasn’t adding much at this time. What did he have up his sleeve?

The Doc leaned forward. ‘What if we get Julie to do an article on past abuse in children’s care homes? Make a point of being disappointed that it seemed like investigations were brushed under the rug.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.