LITMIR.BIZ

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farms and abattoirs. That’s when Violet started doing the videos. To piss them off. Her mum’s vegetarian.’

      ‘She made the videos to annoy her parents?’

      ‘At first, yeah. We were messing around, having a barbecue. Violet had bought steak to irritate her mum, and I videoed her cooking it in a bikini. We uploaded it, for a laugh. And it went crazy. Thousands of views and all these people saying how hot she was. She didn’t realise it would get nasty, and part of her liked it. As for pissing her parents off – she hit the jackpot. Plus she’s making money now, you know, from adverts. And then some burger company paid her to eat their stuff and put photos on Instagram. But it’s not like she was ever a massive meat-eater. So she’s being a bit of a hypocrite. Before she was, like, the face of steak, she had a go at some lad at our school about eating factory-farmed meat. Said it was like rape.’

      ‘What did she say exactly?’ Jai asked.

      ‘This boy had said the usual thing about bacon, like, Oh but it tastes so good. Like the fact he enjoyed eating it meant it was okay, no matter how hideous a life the animal had had. And Violet said, And that’s enough reason? That it tastes good? Would you rape someone, if it felt good to you? It was harsh, but her reasoning kind of made sense in a Violet sort of way. It got a bit heated.’

      That sounded more like the Violet who had the feminist books on her shelves. ‘So it’s a bit of a turnaround, then, doing what she does with the videos?’

      ‘Yeah, I suppose … But, like I said, she wanted to annoy her parents. She got a kick out of people going on about her and saying she’s hot. Violet’s … well, she’s complicated.’ Izzy’s face crumpled briefly before she regained control.

      ‘What’s it been like for you, Izzy?’ I asked. ‘With Violet suddenly becoming so well known?’

      For a second she looked like she was about to cry. She shoved a strand of hair into her mouth, caught herself, and took it out again. ‘It’s okay, I suppose.’

      It clearly wasn’t okay.

      ‘Is Violet in a relationship?’ Jai asked.

      Izzy’s eyes widened. ‘No. No, she isn’t.’

      ‘Anything casual? Anyone she hooks up with?’

      She blinked. ‘No. I’m pretty sure there’s no one.’

      I made a note to follow that up. I didn’t trust Izzy’s answers.

      ‘Have you visited Violet in Gritton?’ I asked.

      Izzy reddened. ‘Once. We went out for a drink with some people she knew.’

      ‘Oh? Who was there?’

      ‘The people from her work.’

      ‘How did Violet get along with her colleagues?’

      Izzy swallowed. ‘Same as Violet always does. Being the centre of attention. That guy Daniel was mooning over her.’

      That was interesting. Daniel had told us that Gary was the one doing the mooning.

      ‘What did Violet think of Daniel?’

      ‘Not much. I’m not sure she even noticed him. He’s like really old.’

      ‘Did Violet talk about anyone else she’d met?’ I asked.

      Izzy shook her head.

      ‘Did she mention anyone she’d fallen out with?’

      Another shake. ‘No. But … I think she’s in trouble. She’s …’

      ‘What, Izzy?’

      Izzy swallowed. ‘She’s my friend, so … I like her despite this, but she does get on the wrong side of people. I mean, she deliberately winds people up, and the threats were getting worse and worse. I think she might have pushed it too far and those awful Animal Vigilantes in the meat suits have hurt her.’

      Jai had gone to investigate Violet’s parentage while I mulled over progress so far. Violet’s parents were still on their way home from the other side of the planet. At least we could rule them out. The obvious candidates for hurting Violet were the Animal Vigilantes, but then again all her colleagues were a bit dodgy, and we’d want to take a close look at the biological father if we could find him. Plus I couldn’t let go of my hunch that there was a relationship in the background. Relationships were always interesting, especially ones that people wanted to hide.

      I browsed the comments posted on Violet’s videos, getting a strong gag-reaction from reading both the enthusiasts (‘We want to spit-roast you, Violet’) and the haters (‘You deserve to spend your life locked up in a cage and then get your throat cut’). I highlighted anything particularly virulent from both sides.

      I looked up to see Jai approaching with two cups of coffee. He placed one on my desk. ‘We’ve got her adoption papers. As Izzy said, the mother is Rebecca Smith. No father listed, but we’re investigating. You look stressed.’

      ‘Thanks.’ I gulped the coffee down. ‘Doesn’t get any better, does it? I keep hoping one day I’ll come in and a rich benefactor will have bought us an espresso machine.’

      ‘Vivid imagination you have.’

      ‘Not as vivid as the people commenting on Violet’s videos,’ I said. ‘Have you seen this stuff?’

      ‘I had a quick look. Pretty dispiriting.’ Jai perched on my desk and flipped a knee up so his calf was across his thigh.

      I recoiled. ‘Christ, Jai. Is that some kind of primitive display ritual? Imagine if I did that on your desk.’

      ‘It’s a flimsy desk, Meg – British workmanship. I wouldn’t risk it.’

      I tried not to smile. Clearly Jai and I were getting back on track, but I vowed to avoid mentioning his girlfriend and her conflicted attitude to his children. ‘Sit on the bloody chair, with your legs reasonably close together, and shut up.’

      Jai hoicked himself off the table and sat unwillingly in my guest chair.

      ‘Right,’ I said. ‘These comments on Violet’s videos – loads have appeared today saying she’s been killed, but we’re obviously more interested in the ones from before her disappearance was made public. Even the ones who like her turn potentially homicidal if she doesn’t respond to their pitiful observations.’

      ‘Yeah, and it’s not like they even start subtle. But whether they’d harm her in real life, I don’t know.’

      ‘Rejected men do have that tendency, Jai. Although I agree, the online ones usually stay there, where nobody can see how pathetic they are.’

      ‘I’m not sure why the pro-animal ones hate her so much. What has she actually done? She’s not drowning puppies.’

      ‘She’s making meat look sexy,’ I said.

      ‘But it’s not enough for someone to harm her, surely?’

      ‘Izzy said she deliberately winds people up, and there are so many people at the moment who are permanently furious, maybe she pushed one of them over the edge and they came to the abattoir to confront her. Anything on the biological father yet?’

      ‘No,’ Jai said. ‘But we’re carrying on with the house-to-house. Hoping someone in the village had told Violet her dad’s name. Or maybe we’ll find a lead on her laptop. You reckon she might be with him?’

      ‘Maybe,’ I said. ‘Kids can be remarkably forgiving of some bloke that shot his load two decades ago, as opposed to the poor sods who slaved to bring them up.’

      ‘But why leave the car and go missing in the middle of the night? Why not contact Izzy?’

      Fiona poked her head around the door. ‘I think we’ve found out where Violet was between eight and ten last night. Results from the house-to-house. Someone saw

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