Burning Bright

Chapter 4

I caught up with Manish outside the court. ‘How’s the case looking?’ I asked.

He shook his head. ‘If only it wasn’t the Chief of Police he’d shot . . . I’m sure we could have done a deal.’

I wasn’t allowed to visit Eoin in the prison over the weekend, so I busied myself contacting his mother and agent to update them, and agreeing another press release. I then opened twitter, stared at the screen for a few minutes trying to think up a user name, settled on “Raisondetre” (Curran – Currant – Raison) and then searched for Eoin. “#FreeEoinMacken” was, according to several people on twitter, “trending” (whatever that meant), although posts were being added to the campaign faster than I could refresh the page. I found a retweet of a message by Moira which included the link to the web campaign. The information was at least accurate, which was helpful, and didn’t contain details of the alleged crime, which was good for us as it didn’t prejudice the case, but not so good for the million fans that seemed to be following Eoin’s predicament who were accusing the Embassy of incompetence in not getting him released.

I sat back and stared at the new messages being added by the second. Wow. I’d heard of the power of twitter, but in terms of mobilising a campaign such as this . . . it was incredible.

Moira had given me her home number for the weekend and I called it.

‘I’ve just been on twitter,’ I said.

‘Yes, #FreeEoinMacken is trending already,’ she replied.

‘What does that actually mean?’

‘That it’s a very popular topic. I’m afraid you’re coming in for a bit of flack, though. Well, not you, personally.’

‘I know. I’m used to it. But we just have to take it one step at a time. Getting him bail is going to be tough given the nature of the crime.’

‘Shit. Really?’

‘If the Chief of Police opposes it, then it won’t be granted.’

‘Kate, is there anything we can do to help? Use twitter? Anything?’

‘I honestly don’t know. This is India. There’s an awful lot of pride and reputation at stake, and I’m not sure a million people on a website would have much effect except . . . Listen Moira, I’d not heard of Eoin until I went out to the jail to meet him. What’s his background regarding the tigers?’

‘Avid and vocal supporter of the WWF, uses twitter to raise money for them, particularly keen on tigers. He wasn’t out there for any work-related event, so I’m not quite sure of the details except that he was recording footage for a documentary.’

‘He was here officially?’

‘Not for the WWF. But he writes and produces his own films, so was working solo. As it’s nothing specifically to do with his career, I’m not really up to speed on the whole story. Kate, is there anything else we can put out? Anything that would stop my agency and your Embassy getting swamped with calls?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Listen, Kate, do you know how to Skype?’

‘Well kind of. A friend set up for me to speak to my parents and sister. I’m not sure how to add you.’

‘I’ll talk you through it.’

Twenty painful minutes later, Moira and I were grinning at each other on our laptops. She had fabulous hair, dark twisted ringlets, and a broad smile.

‘So, what are we going to do about Eoin?’ she asked. ‘How bad is it?’

‘Between you and me, Moira, pretty bad. If the charge of attempted murder sticks, then he’s looking at life imprisonment in a place where you wouldn’t want to send a cockroach.’