‘What do you mean?’
‘Don’t you remember her?’ Barbara sounded surprised. ‘I thought she’d made an indelible impression on you at her interview.’
‘What interview?’
‘You tore her to shreds when we were interviewing for a features writer. Not that you weren’t justified in doing so. She arrived late and hadn’t a clue about the magazine.’
He cast his mind back to the interviews that had taken place two years previously. He had no memory of interviewing her, nor had her name meant anything to him, yet, as Barbara described the encounter, he vaguely remembered meeting her.
She had been heavier then, her chunky figure in too-tight clothes, her feet squashed into too-high shoes. Had she been wearing glasses, her black hair cropped tight? That would explain why he hadn’t recognised her. He recalled how ill-prepared she had been, half-answering his questions and giving the impression that she thought Hitz was a downmarket musical version of Hello! A point of view that had infuriated him. From the brief glance he had taken at her published clippings, he knew she could write, but it was her attitude, her lacklustre answers that had annoyed him and made him terminate the interview early.
He entered a newsagents on Grafton Street and checked the shelves. Did Missing Teen Have Link to Secret Cult? The headline tore across the front page of Capital Eye. He paid for the tabloid and crossed over to St Stephen’s Green. The sky had darkened, bruised charcoal clouds heavy with rain. No one in the park seemed to notice. Children threw bread at the ducks, mothers pushed buggies along the tree-lined paths. People laughed. A leaflet fluttered before a gust of wind and dropped into the duck pond. Constance… Constance floating on the water… lost.
He sat down on a bench and unfolded the tabloid.
A dark cloud hangs over Cherrywood Terrace. Until three days ago it was a place where parents were happy to rear their children in a safe and free environment. But all has changed since Connie Lawson disappeared.
Rumours abound in this close-knit community. It’s been alleged that Connie had become involved with a cult where secret rituals were carried out during a member’s initiation. These rituals were continued afterwards and were seen as evidence of the member’s loyalty to the cult. It is also alleged that Connie’s uncle, Karl Lawson, 35, controversial editor of the magazine Hitz, learned about this cult from his missing niece but failed to warn her parents until the teenager’s disappearance.
Gardaí investigating this possibility have searched her phone and laptop. They have been unable to find any information to back up Lawson’s assertion but are keeping an open mind about this sensational claim.
Connie’s friends deny the existence of such a cult. ‘What Connie loves most is being in her room with her fluffy toys and her music,’ said Tracey Broome. ‘I never heard her mention anything about a secret cult.’
In the meantime the heartbreaking search continues. Connie’s brother, Matthew, 8, and sister, Lara, 4, had been staying with Karl Lawson and his New York wife, Nicole, 33, since their sister’s disappearance. Nicole Lawson has now moved with them and her daughter, Sasha, 5, to a secret location.
Gardaí are still hopeful of finding Connie alive. Her parents will make a televised appeal for her safe return tomorrow if there is no news of the missing teenager by then.
Profile on Karl Lawson on page 6.
Karl stared dully at his photograph. He looked threatening and aggressive, his finger jabbing the air as he stood in his doorway, while Constance’s photograph, the one used on the poster campaign, was framed in a small circle beside it.
The journalist must have a source within the police. The coverage in the other papers, broadsheets and tabloids alike, and the regular news broadcasts, never mentioned Karl’s connection to his niece. Instead, the reporting focused on the search and appeals to the public for information. Was Amanda Bowe using her pen as a weapon to seek revenge for the Hitz interview? It seemed preposterous, yet the ground beneath him felt insecure as he turned the pages of the tabloid. He had only ever felt that way once before. Selina Lee… Arizona… He tried to blank the memory as he began to read his profile but the sensation of being caught in a trap, boxed in on all sides, was, once again, frighteningly familiar.
Provocative Editor no Stranger to Controversy
Hitz is a well-known magazine in music circles. Young bands know its power to make or break them. Seasoned musicians, eager to promote their new albums, are only too well aware that a review in Hitz means an instant spike in sales but a negative review is the kiss of death. Karl Lawson, 35, the magazine’s editor, cut his teeth on the famous New York music magazine, Cannonade, where he worked as their music critic. Before then, he spent time in Arizona, working in construction. Five years ago he returned to Ireland with his New York wife, Nicole, and their baby daughter, having been headhunted by Lar Richardson, the ebullient magazine mogul, property developer and owner of LR1.
Shortly afterwards, Larson interviewed the members of the infamous Manchester rock band, Blasted Glass, whose ex-drummer, Ed Stone, had abused an underage fan. Despite denials from band members, it is alleged that they turned a blind eye to Stone’s activities. After Stone was found guilty of the charge and imprisoned, Lawson gave the band space to refute the allegation that they had been involved in a cover-up.
Two months later, a letter written by Stone was published in Hitz. The convicted paedophile attempted to exonerate himself from his crime. The Hitz offices were picketed and windows broken when a crowd of protestors attempted to storm the building. Lawson strenuously upheld his right to publish the letter by Stone, insisting it was an attempt by the paedophile to atone for the hurt he had caused his young victim. Stone later committed suicide in his cell.
Now, once again, Lawson is in the public gaze. This time it is more personal and closer to home. Uncle to missing schoolgirl Connie Lawson, 13, he enjoys a close relationship with his niece, and has been actively involved in the search for her…