Hide and Seek by M.J. Arlidge

Author:M.J. Arlidge [Arlidge, M.j.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2017-10-10T00:00:00+00:00

71

The newspaper fell onto the desk as Celia Bassett collapsed into her chair. It had been a grueling day—anxious inmates, mutinous staff and endless questions, questions, questions. The fact that Leah Smith had been in the early stages of pregnancy changed everything, putting her own officers squarely in the frame. She had to support the PPS investigation, while sticking up for her staff. It was a fine line to tread and Celia was unsure what to do for the best. Every which way she cut it, it was a no-win situation.

The Evening Standard led with the news of Leah’s brutal murder. Celia wasn’t surprised to see Emilia Garanita’s name on the byline. She had already proved to be a thorn in Celia’s side, trying on numerous occasions to breach the prison’s security. The drone had been her most imaginative effort, though she had never admitted responsibility for it of course. Wasn’t that journalists all over? Now she was all over the Leah Smith murder and had also found time to concoct an arresting centerfold spread focusing on Helen Grace, complete with an authentic photo of the badly beaten inmate resting in the prison infirmary. Put together, the stories painted a picture of Holloway as a lawless, dangerous place—which was no doubt the intention.

Celia had already fielded an anxious phone call from the Home Office and had promised a full internal inquiry into the leaking of the photo. Though what this would achieve she wasn’t sure. It could have been an infirmary nurse, a prison officer or even a fellow inmate. Whatever precautions they took, phones seemed to find their way into the prison, and Celia knew that the culprit would be impossible to find. Still, she had to go through the motions.

She flicked through the newspaper, taking in Garanita’s latest offering. The description of Leah’s mutilation wasn’t accurate, which would give the media liaison team something to work with, and the journalist didn’t seem to know that the unfortunate inmate was pregnant when she died. But how long could they hold this information close? And what would happen when it did finally leak?

Her best hope was that the PPS would now make a quick arrest, bringing the whole incident to a close before things could escalate, but how likely was that? The staff interviews seemed to have achieved little, apart from fostering mutual hostility, and Proud had looked stressed and dissatisfied when he left her office tonight. How long would this nightmare go on for? More important, where would it end?

Celia had no husband to go home to. No partner to vent to. Which was why she was there, holed up in her office late at night, reading Garanita’s ill-informed but devastating critique of her prison. Her one friend, if you could call it that, was nestling in the desk drawer in front of her.

It had been the hardest of days, so Celia now removed the bottle of Jameson’s from her desk drawer and filled her glass to the brim.

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