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"I'd like to speak to a Ms. Amy Norton, please."
She breathed a huge sigh of relief. It didn't sound like Roger's voice. The caller had a cockney accent.
"You found her."
"Oh, hi, I'm phoning from the set of Ghost Hunter."
She tensed again.
"My name is Jake. I'm the soundman. I understand you are the journalist writing up the story of Quentin's disappearance."
She relaxed.
"That's right." Amy had to force out the little white lie. She hadn't yet secured permission to pursue the feature. She still had to convince her father how serious she was about it at the meeting later that morning, but she wasn't about to put off a potential lead in the meantime.
"Well, I'm an old friend of Quentin's and…I'm concerned."
"Inevitably so, Mr.?"
"Brent, Jake Brent, but call me Jake, please."
"Okay, Jake, did you have something you felt our readers would like to know about Quentin?" Amy reached for her notebook and pen. She had planned to begin her investigations at the filming studios, but after the dreadful mix-up with Roger, that starting point had gone out of the window. If all went well with her father later that morning, she could begin with Jake's story instead.
"Possibly… "
"But you're concerned about privacy?"
"It's not that, it's well…it's awkward."
Amy's sensors focused. The man obviously had information.
"I believe Quentin got a bit too involved in some of the more esoteric aspects of the show here."
"Esoteric?"
"I mean things like the occult." He paused, as if to measure her response.
Amy swallowed. The occult? What sort of a can of worms was she opening up here? "I see," she said, wishing she didn't. "Can you give me any specific examples?"
"I know he took a particular interest in one of the houses we filmed at. It's said to have been built on the site of a witches' coven in the sixteenth century. Ever since then he was kind of different. Preoccupied, moody."
"Perhaps you could give me the details of this place and I'll make a note of it." She began to scribble, thanking him and asking him to get back in touch if he heard any other news.
All the time her internal voice kept reminding her to be professional. She wished it didn’t sound creepy. Occult or no occult, it was a good lead.
* * * *
"Trixie, love, come in." Richard Norton stood up from his desk when Alison, his secretary, showed Amy in to his office.
Amy gave her Father a warning glance as she took her seat. Trixie was his pet name for her and he knew she'd long since grown out of it. She settled down, placing her notepad on the arm of the chair and folding her hands loosely in her lap. She had worn one of her favorite office outfits, a smart but feminine tailored trouser suit in cream. It helped her feel every bit as cool and assured as she needed to appear. She noticed her father's tie was at half-mast. Even as a little girl she remembered her Mother would sort his tie out every morning and as soon as he stepped outside, he would loosen it.
It was her father's shining career as an investigative journalist that had inspired Amy to go into journalism herself. He was a grass roots reporter at heart and his more recent office-bound senior editor post chafed. Like father like daughter, she wanted to be out in the thick of it too. Amy loved interviewing people, capturing their enthusiasm for their particular field. Ideally she would like to bring more of that into the Women's Page, but it was traditionally based on tidbits pulled together from press releases and product launches.
"It's a good proposal." He toyed with her memo regarding the Ghost Hunter feature. "Popular media figure in trouble, large readership interest."
"And..?" She was itching to get on with it. She knew she'd put together a good proposal, but she hadn't approached him for a job like this before.
"And…I don't know why you want to take it on. Your work for the Women's Page is respe
