A Wayward Game Read Online Free Page A

is
www.whathappenedtodiane.org, where new hypotheses are propounded
with startling regularity.
    I am one of the
regular posters here, one of those spectral people who are
spellbound by this case. In another feature of the internet age, we
have become something of a community. Geographically, we are widely
dispersed, and we have little else in common, and yet we have come
together in a bizarre simulacrum of unity. We have our community
leaders, those unofficial chiefs who gain their positions through a
process of natural selection, almost; we have the vast body of the
people, from nobles to peasants. We have occasional visitors, who
pass through and spend time with us; we have those who fly through
without stopping, on their way to somewhere else. We both know one
another and are complete strangers. It is a strange echo of
intimacy, a reminder of village mentality for the twenty-first
century.
    I wake early
this morning, as I often do. As another grey dawn breaks over
London, I sit down at the computer and sign into the forum with my
username, Kittyminx. It has been a busy night, I find, as might be
expected on the anniversary of Diane’s disappearance, and there are
dozens of new posts. I notice the names and avatars of my fellow
posters: Matryoshka, Valley Girl, Lovelornlass, Northern Boy,
Dreamsnatcher, Lookwest. I methodically click on each new thread,
anxious not to overlook any fresh information or opinions. For the
most part, though, there is nothing very interesting, only the
rehashing of the same old ideas and arguments. There’s a news
article, copied from the website of a national newspaper, which
says very little of any substance and contains no new facts.
There’s a discussion about the geography of Bucklock Wood,
involving speculation about its possible use by occult groups after
dark.
    Scrolling down
the page, I find a new thread about an incident that took place two
years or so after Diane’s disappearance, when a young journalist,
Katherine Argyle, wrote a story about the case. The article, which
obliquely cast doubt on Sallow’s version of events, was duly
published by her paper, a national broadsheet. There the matter
might have rested, had not Sallow’s lawyers judged the article to
be libellous and threatened Argyle’s editor with legal action.
Shortly thereafter, coincidentally or not, Argyle was made
redundant. Those who believe in Sallow’s guilt – of whom there are
many on this forum – have always been quick to point to this as
evidence of a conspiracy theory. I read the comments.
     
    Valley Girl :
Does anyone know what Katherine Argyle is doing these days? Is she
still working in journalism, even? It seems odd that someone who
was once judged to be a promising young reporter, employed by a
major broadsheet, should have flown off the radar so
completely.
    Dreamsnatcher :
Frankly, I’m amazed that she hasn’t disappeared altogether.
    Lookwest : She’s
still around, but in a professional sense she’s in limbo. She
writes articles about celebrity diets and reality TV shows these
days. That’s probably a very effective way of shutting her up –
just deny her the chance to say anything meaningful, and portray
her as another vacuous tabloid hack.
    Dreamsnatcher :
KA has sometimes been portrayed as a loose cannon junior reporter
who spun stories from speculation, and without bothering to check
either the facts or the legal ramifications. In fact, Argyle was
one of the brightest and best young journalists in the country. If
you ask me, she got too close to the truth for comfort. Her
punishment is to spend a lifetime writing about cellulite and red
carpet fashion disasters. As you say, Lookwest, it’s a very
effective way of shutting her up, but probably pretty mild compared
to what might have happened.
     
    I click on the
“Reply” button, and begin to type:
     
    Argyle’s bosses were
cowards, and allowed themselves to be threatened – by Sallow and
his lawyers, obviously, but also