The Price of Blood

Chapter 20

Harriet's house is situated in a small cul-de-sac, and yes, it is a house, not a flat.  It is actually a topsy-turvy house, with her bedroom and en-suite, study, her dad Ian's study and the master bedroom and en-suite downstairs and the kitchen/living/dining room upstairs.  However, above that is Harriet's real room, the loft, which is where she sleeps if she has friends over.  When I arrive on her road, I see her frantically waving at me from the first house on the right and I sprint down the pavement.  It is still only 7 o'clock in the evening, so plenty of time to gossip before we have to go to bed.  We do not speak until we have climbed up the ladder through the trapdoor above the main sofa into her loft.  The room has three beds in it, one of which has Jamie sitting on, frantically scribbling on a piece of paper, before muttering under his breath.  There is also a huge, L-shaped games sofa and, towards the left, a bookcase filled with newspapers, magazines and one-off pamphlets.  Harriet calls Jamie, who stops scribbling, and comes to sit with us on the sofa.

No-one says anything for a moment.  Then, Harriet squeezes my hand.  I don't realize that I am crying, but I am.  Only a little, but enough.  The news of the day, first discovering that Mr Grieg was the murderer, and next, the lackluster report, had drained me of happiness.  I feel crap.           "So..." Jamie breaks the silence, and everything suddenly becomes more comfortable, "I have worked out that the Fox News Report was not a real Fox report.  It was a fake."                                       "What?" Harriet says, bewildered at this revelation, "How?  That is impossible!"                                    "No, it isn't." Jamie says, observing my stunned face, "The news was not on at the correct time that is meant to be, the presenter had not appeared on any other episode of Fox, the entire news reel was dedicated to this story, even though there had been a attempted mass shooting in Barbados about 10 minutes before in which 25 people were injured and the gunman was killed.  That would be more concerning for world news, as Fox is, rather than a serial killer case in Manhattan.  Furthermore," Jamie continues, to our awaiting ears, "The reel aired at 6:30 tonight was the correct presenter and they did not mention the case at all.  Sounds fishy."         "Hold up!" I yell, "That is impossible!  Do you have any material evidence to back this up?"           "Yes I do actually," Jamie says, as if he is prepared for this statement, "Fox has a huge online coded database, which is actually really basic to hack, and it features all the news information that they have ever broadcast.  I'll show you."  He reaches into his rucksack which was next to him and pulled out his Surface laptop.  He types a few things on the keys, and then a huge wall of code appears.  He presses another few keys, and then the page transforms.

Instead of jumbled up letters or words, it is a catalog of information about the news reel and Jamie scrolls down to one of the newest entries in the list, which discusses the major headlines of the 6:30 news report.  It does not once mention the case described on the 4:00 news reel.           "Scroll down," Harriet says impatiently, almost angry, "Check out the 4:00 data!"                                "There is no 4:00 broadcast listed on the coded sheet, see" Jamie explains triumphantly, "This proves that the news reel was a lie, I could find any report from this year on their.  It was a fake."   "I can't believe this..." Harriet says, aghast, "How, why, when and who?  Who would lie about this?"  We all exchange dark looks, not wanting to think of what could have happened.                     "So..." I say, to break the silence again, "Surely we can bring this evidence to court?"                           Jamie shakes his head and explains that Mr Greig's charge is three life sentences and one murder is one life sentence, which would still mean he would be in prison his entire life, which isn't good.  I feel sick,  and yet I know deep inside that Mr Greig is innocent.  He must be.  He was one of the most genuine and kind people I have ever known, never afraid to speak out against troublemakers, hard-working.  Sure, he may get confused with the facts sometimes, but its hardly surprising, considering its the first year Rocky Green has offered US History and Government as a subject.  My stomach does a back flip.  Something just doesn't feel right.