The Survivors(68)

Liam was not there, Kieran could tell simply from the atmosphere. Sean had come though, as had Julian. They stood together in the far corner, their backs against the wall and arms folded across their chests. The weather-beaten man to Julian’s left was leaning towards him confidentially, chatting away while stabbing at the air with his folded sunglasses to make a point. The next couple along were looking anywhere else as they pretended not to have noticed either Julian or Sean.

Julian seemed to be trying his best to ignore everyone, staring straight ahead with a fixed gaze and nodding only occasionally as the man rambled on. Sean had his head down as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Kieran tried to make eye contact, but Sean didn’t look up. The room was too busy for Kieran to fight his way over and, to his shame, he felt a faint stirring of relief that he didn’t have to make the choice.

Kieran noticed movement and saw Ash raising a hand to him through the crowd. He was seated in the second row, his other arm slung over the back of Olivia’s chair, rubbing her shoulder blade with his thumb. Olivia’s mum Trish sat on her other side, her back perfectly straight. They watched silently as a camera crew set up near the lectern.

‘Hey, guess what? I finally met G.R. Barlin,’ Mia whispered as she slid in next to Kieran. ‘I caught him signing his own books in the recent returns section. We both pretended he wasn’t, though.’

Kieran smiled. ‘I’m sure you were very tactful.’

‘I went for gushingly complimentary. I meant to say I loved his books and accidentally said I loved him. He was very gracious.’ Mia looked around the room herself for the first time, her smile fading now. ‘No Liam?’

‘No.’

Kieran could see Lyn sitting a few rows over. Her eyes flicked to Julian, then she leaned over and murmured something to the woman sitting beside her, who looked similar enough to be a sister. The second woman’s face tightened.

Kieran heard a voice behind him.

‘Sorry. Could I –?’

He turned to see George Barlin squeezing in and took a step sideways to make room.

‘Thanks.’ George looked grateful. He was wearing yet another chunky cardigan. Kieran wondered exactly how many he owned. George smiled at Mia. ‘And hello again.’

If he was at all embarrassed, he hid it better than she did. George took stock of the rows of chairs filled with people packed shoulder to shoulder.

‘Be here or be square, hey?’ George said, without humour. ‘At least people are more civil to each other in real life than they are online.’

Kieran nodded. ‘I see that community forum’s been taking off.’

‘It really has.’ George’s face was serious. ‘People need to watch themselves, actually. A lot of defamatory comments are being hurled around in there. Especially as no-one’s been charged yet.’ He glanced towards Sean and Julian, who had barely moved.

‘Is anyone moderating it?’ Mia asked, reaching out to take Audrey from Kieran as the baby started to grizzle.

‘There used to be a couple of people. Volunteers, I’m guessing, but that was back when it was mostly rates and rubbish complaints. If anyone’s doing it now, they’re overwhelmed. There’ve been posts on there for days that should never have been allowed up in the first place.’

‘About Liam?’ Mia asked.

‘Some,’ George said. ‘Not all –’

He broke off, taking a step back as Detective Inspector Pendlebury attempted to edge her way in through the door.

‘Excuse me,’ she said, her words suddenly very audible as a hush of anticipation fell over the room.

Pendlebury ignored it and threaded her way through the crowd to where Olivia was seated. She stepped in and leaned over Ash’s chair, bending in close to murmur something to Olivia. Kieran watched, along with the rest of the room, as Pendlebury tilted her head towards the waiting stage and then the door, possibly explaining procedure as a courtesy to Bronte’s housemate. Olivia sat very still while she listened, as did Ash next to her. It was interesting, Kieran thought, how no-one seemed particularly comfortable being seen by their friends and neighbours helping the police with their inquiries, no matter how innocent the exchange. Kieran looked over to Sean, who was watching them like everyone else.

‘The police are monitoring it now, though,’ George said quietly, his eyes on Pendlebury.

‘The forum?’ Kieran said.

‘Yeah. I think so. Occasionally a post will just disappear. But there’s a mountain of libellous stuff left up there, so my guess is they’re focusing on pulling things they think have some connection with the investigation.’

‘Stuff they don’t want people to know?’ Kieran said.

‘Or talk about, maybe?’ George shrugged. ‘Who knows? I’ve been trying to keep an eye on it. Work out what’s getting deleted, but it’s moving too fast for me to keep up.’

Kieran pulled out his phone, unable to help himself, and saw Mia do the same. Welcome to EBOCH! Drop in for a virtual cuppa and a chat!

People were doing a lot more than that, Kieran could see. An argument over whether or not to boycott the Surf and Turf ran over three pages. Kieran looked up and saw Julian’s eyes trained on Pendlebury. The Surf and Turf would survive, surely, he thought. People needed somewhere to eat or, more crucially, drink. Still, the fact that anyone was even suggesting avoiding the place was troubling. Kieran turned back to his screen.