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He said nothing, just watched her, and she knew that she'd have to do her best to read him as she spoke. Adjusting her story on the fly wasn't going to be the easiest, but she had to hit his hot buttons.
She had to make this man want to give her the information and to be scared that the consequences of not giving it were worse.
"Her family doesn't have money, but they have influence with the media," she said. "There's a cousin, somebody who's high up in one of the TV and news networks, who wants to take this further, to start digging, to find out the truth. They want to know what happened. They want closure."
"Go on?" he said. He sounded suspicious, but Cora thought he'd bought her story so far.
"The parents don't want that," she said. "The immediate family just want answers. They want to know what happened to her and if she has died, I’m sure they want to know why. Doesn’t everyone deserve that?"
It was very difficult to read his face now. He'd closed up. She wasn't sure if she was making headway or even if this was the argument that would unlock the truth. But, committed to her course of action now, she had to push on.
She paused, listening out, because she needed to know if she was going to be ambushed here. She might just end up being cornered. Wheels could already have been set in motion.
So far, she heard nothing outside. Perhaps a murmur of voices that hadn't been there earlier? The acolytes were growing restless. She was sure this was taking longer than usual. Just now, one of them might panic and decide something was wrong and call the guard at the door. If that happened, then the latch on the door wouldn’t be enough. They could force it.
She might end up being a martyr to her own cause, dragged outside in view of the crowds so he could show his power. So she needed to give him a very compelling and confident argument. Gathering her thoughts, wishing he was giving her more feedback, she continued.
"As you can see, we have a choice," she said. "I'm here, representing the close family. They asked me to take this on, to find out the truth. I'm not media. I'm not someone who's going to expose your operation. I'm a private investigator, and I have one job, which is to provide the family with answers. They know where I am. If I don’t come back, then you can expect media hell to descend on you.”
He nodded ever so slightly.
“If we don’t get answers, then those people, the ones who will home in on your setup and dig down and expose you, they are coming. They will be ruthless. It’ll be a great story for them, and they'll stop at nothing. They'll do whatever it takes to bring you down because they will be very, very angry. At the moment, the media family member is respecting the family's wishes. They would like to close the door on this. But they are willing to burst it wide open if they have to. So, tell me what you know, or you won't like what's coming."
She'd won or lost. She didn't know which. It was one of the two.
She watched his face. Still no sign. She waited.
And then, the worst happened, the thing she'd been dreading.
There was a commotion outside from the main hall where the acolytes were waiting. Voices were raised, cries of consternation resounded in the silence.
Something had happened out there.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It was too late. Cora knew it with a clench of her stomach. She heard it in the raised voices, the anxious cries that resounded from out there. She'd blown it. She'd had her chance.
But the one thing she wasn't going to do was let him through that door. Not until she had taken this all the way down to the wire, and if shooting her way out was what it took, then that was what she would do.
But to her surprise, he ignored the furor from outside.
"That is just the flame," he said, glancing at the door. "If one of the candles goes out, it is regarded as a sign." He paused, staring at her thoughtfully. "I don't want trouble. I don't know if I fully believe your story. We research our candidates carefully. We look at their connections. But perhaps we were not careful enough with her. For now, I will accept that what you say is true. I am going to show you trust by speaking to you very frankly. But I do not trust you. Let me make that clear."
She'd had no more than a stay of execution, Cora knew, but it would have to be enough. The mistrust was mutual, that was for sure.
"Also, I want to know what is happening because I believe someone is working against us," he said. “And the police are not providing us with answers quickly enough.”
Cora thought that was hypocritical. He wanted answers, fast. What about all the parents wanting the truth, feeling confused and bereft, mourning the loss of their kids who’d been brainwashed into wearing white robes and never calling home? It seemed likely that many people would want to work against the cult. However, she couldn't see that any of them would choose to do so by killing acolytes. So straight off the bat, she was going to surmise that there was something else at play. This wasn’t just an angry relative getting payback. Not when someone’s daughters had been killed.
"How did they die?" she asked.
The hubbub from outside had died down. Cora still wasn't sure if the story about the candle had been the truth or just an invention to explain away the arrival of guards. She didn't know if this man was trying to double-cross her or if he was being straight with her.
He stared at her for a second as if deciding what to say. "Heidi died during a ritual," he finally replied."She was accepted into our family. She bathed in the water, she sipped it, and then, she collapsed and she died."
"Just like that?" Cora asked, frowning. He nodded.
"It was very sudden. At first, I thought she had just fainted, but then I realized there was no pulse."
