Knight in Amour

Into enemy lands

16/02/2008 1:30PM M4 heading west.

Kirsty Morgan and Warren Dartmouth leave the London flat shortly after what Kirsty describes as a 'comfortably late breakfast' but War would class as lunch. They head out of the city along the motorway, the Austin Martin purring happily. They take it in turns to pick radio stations, each go lasting until the station plays a track that the other finds objectionable. The radio changes a lot.

Kirsty spend the drive reviewing the information she has gathered so far on the alleged cult, reading out particular highlights she feels War should be aware of.

"Officially the woman in charge of Women Alive is Stacey Broadton, but she's a bit wet in my opinion. Easily influenced."

"Name rings a bell." War says as they shift into the outer lane to pass a slower moving truck.

"Her husband was Neil Broadton." Kirsty prompts, "She killed him in self defence about four years ago. Made the papers at the time."

"Yeah, her defence was that he'd been abusing her for years." War recalls. "She got off."

"Well she was given a suspended sentence, then her story was bought up by the red tops, went on talk shows, she was quite a media sensation for a while, there was even a film." Kirsty continues. "It was the money from that that allowed her to set up Women Alive. A support group for survivors of abuse."

"But there is a power behind the throne." War guesses.

"Anoushka Dream. Known to her friends as Nou. She is the name that made analysis sit up. Now she is a forced to be reckoned with, both personality and power wise. She describes herself as a White witch, but just based on the little I've heard so far she's a distinctly grubby grey at best. One of the other women was very keen to tell me about a potion Anoushka made for her to give to her ex-husband. She claimed it would put him of women for life."

War glances across at her. "What did she mean by that?"

"She didn't exactly say."

"Did she use it?"

"Well she said he has not bothered her since. I checked out police and hospital records but there was nothing there, so what ever it was wasn't fatal." Kirsty shrugs. "It's in investigations pending file at the moment, but its not seen as a high priority, and they are a bit short staffed."

"We are all short staffed." War points out. "What's your gut say?"

"It says be bloody careful around Nou." Kirsty replies. "The thing is, for a vocal feminist, she keeps an awful lot of men around her. We had an evening session at her town house in Chelsea, all her staff are male and she keeps them well under the thumb. There's one guy, her personal assist, massive bloke, built like you."

War grins.

"When she was in the room he couldn't do enough for her, totally attentive, all doe eyed, but I helped him take the glasses down to the kitchen on my way out and once she wasn't there he was all seething hatred and resentment. Scared the life out of me."

War grimaces. "So could be dangerous then."

"God yes." Kirsty responds. "I'm trying to remember his name, she just called him boy all the time. Brian I think." she shudders.

"It's not my field but could it be some kind of spell."

"I'm at a lost to see what else it could be." Kirsty says. "But that's the sort of thing I want you to keep your eye open for. I'm hoping to use the week to get a handle on the power plays involved in the group. Work out who is in charge and who are sheep."