“Hi , you must be Sally Walker, thanks for coming to talk with me.” I smiled as we shook hands before sitting down.

“I’m intrigued Jo, Jim Marshall did not tell me much about what you want me to do, other than the fact that you need some confidential investigative work done. The main thing that intrigues me is why use a reporter like me rather than a private investigator?”

“When I tell you the problem and a bit more about me I think you’ll appreciate that it is as much about limiting publicity about me as much as finding out about someone else, and it’s the sort of story that newspapers, particularly the ‘red top daily rags’ would love to get their claws into. Let’s order some drinks and I will then give you all the details. Jim told me that I can trust you to keep this confidential, although as a journalist I think that you might find it difficult.”

“Unless you are doing anything criminal this will go no further, although if whatever this is about becomes public knowledge, putting on my journalist hat, I want exclusive rights to your story, is that agreed?”

Although Sally already knew who I was from the vlogs and the tv appearances, that was all she knew, so I related my story about impersonating my sister Josie, starting work at the museum and on site at Ostia, and that now, for personal reasons, someone was threatening to reveal that I was not who I was presenting myself to be and severely damage, if not totally ruin, my career.”

“So, what is the big deal with that, if your employers are happy that the matter is now out in the open and resolved, what is the problem?”

“The big problem is that not only did I pretend to be Josie and take on her identity, but I also pretended to be female, I am in fact Josie’s brother Joey. Although I have now officially changed my name along with my appearance and lifestyle, as you have seen on my vlogs and tv appearances, I am still physically male.”

Sally went silent for a few seconds that seemed like minutes, looking me over and considering how to respond. Before breaking into the conversation again and patting me on the hand.

“Wow, that’s a bit of a shocker, I’d never have guessed and I know some trans-women who are not nearly as passable as you.You won’t be the first tv presenter or high profile person to come out as transgender, and someone being gay hardly even makes news nowadays. After a one-day-wonder splash in the papers it will soon be yesterday’s news and most people will just look on you as the talented attractive woman you have become.”

“I understand what you are saying, but at the moment I would much rather keep it under wraps.
The problem is that my sister’s mother-in-law has for some reason violently taken offence at her son Jack marrying Josie and is determined to split them up, nobody knows why or what is going on in her head, but it is something we all have had to live with. She has had someone do a bit of digging trying to find something she can use against Josie, but when that was unsuccessful they turned their attention to our family and have found out about me. At present all she knows is that there is no cousin Josie and there is no trace of my background, she doesn’t yet seem to know that I am, or was, Joey. She is now saying that unless Josie and Jack break up that she will tell my story to the papers. I don’t think it will take the papers long to get beyond my false identity, find out who I really am, and then they will have a field day. ”

“You’re right, the newshound will very quickly get to the bottom of it, and any attempts at secrecy or outright denial will just encourage them even more. What exactly do you want from me?”

“I want some scandal, personal or professional, about her, her husband, or their families that she would rather the world did not know about, that I can use to counter her blackmail. The husband, Jeremy, is a high-profile businessman in the town, they move in the right social circles, Rotary, Golf Club, on the committees of local charities, and such like, they consider themselves to be amongst the elite of the area and would not like their reputations and status to be shattered. I don’t want them to be ruined, I just want something to make them back off and leave Josie and Jack to get on with their lives.”

“You do realise, don’t you, that even if she agrees to keep quiet, that there is no guarantee that she will not change her mind in the future? Whatever I find out about them, if anything at all, can be better concealed or dealt with given time and your hold over her weakened. I have dealt with investigations where witnesses are bribed to change their story, or financial accounts are laundered to conceal wrongdoings.”

“What do you suggest I do then? I need to do something to stop the blackmail.”

“As I said earlier you would not be the first public figure to come out as gay or transgender, why not be honest and open about your background.”

“Personally I could probably learn to live with that, but it could be extremely embarrassing for the museum and the County authorities. Let’s see what you can find out about Jack’s parents first and we will take it from there.”

“Tell me a bit more about them, let me get off the starting blocks running.”

For the next couple of hours we chatted about Jack’s parents and I told her what little I knew before suggesting that I would ask Jack if he would meet her to provide a lot more details. Sally enthralled me with some of the exposé stories she had uncovered involving sex scandals of leading politicians and famous figures, corruption scandals involving hifi profile business figures, and miscarriages of justice . For someone so young and relatively inexperienced she seemed to have a nose for sniffing out corruption of all sorts and had a well-deserved reputation among her fellow journalists. She had a pleasant easy-going manner which belied her shrewd mind and it was easy to see how she could get people to open up and give her leads for her investigations.

We parted with a hug and a promise to meet in a week, to give me time to talk to Jack to see if he would help, and so that Sally could do some preliminary investigations.

When I got home I told Josie and Jack what I had been up to and had agreed with Sally. Josie thought it was a brilliant idea and the best way to deal with monster-in-law, but Jack had more reservations.

“I know that Mum is being a bitch about all this and that she is trying to control my life and break up Josie and me, but she is still my mother and I don’t want to see her get badly hurt. I’m not sure if I can agree to help by giving away family secrets to your reporter.”

“Look Jack, if I have any choice in the matter I don’t intend to air your family’s dirty linen in public, I just want to use anything we find out as a lever to get her to back off from threatening you, Josie, and me. Unless there is anything seriously criminal, I promise that it will go no further. I know that you and her are not really speaking at the moment, but have a word with your father to get him to try to keep her quiet for the moment until we see what Sally comes up with. Will you meet up with Sally to give her more family background information?

“I’m still not happy, but I suppose that it the best way forward, what does she want to know?”

“To be honest I have no idea where she is going on this, but she is very experienced and adept at turning over stones and discovering things underneath. I know that this will be difficult for you, but before we meet with her in a few days time please try to think of anything that will help, the more she is told the quicker she will be able to dig deeper and hopefully find out something useful.”

For the rest of the week I threw myself into my work on site and tried to put my personal problems to the back of my mind, my change of employment status from Josie to Joanne had gone through without any problems, nobody was aware of what had gone on and I was just treated as I had been before.

There was a lot of activity on site but no exciting new discoveries, so my vlogs were just updates on previous reports.

The sarcophagus had been removed from site for further forensic analysis but buried beneath it a short battle sword with gem-encrusted haft had been found indicating that the grave was that of a high-ranking leader but there was nothing to confirm or deny that this was indeed the grave of Boudicca. More and more of the villa was now being exposed, but as a lot of artefacts were being found and the extent and quality of the floor mosaics were being exposed, progress was extremely careful and slow, but was promising to be of such value and interest that the timescales were less important that the quality of the investigations. The one positive finding had been the the extent of the jetty uncovered or predicted showed that even at the lowest neap tide there was still adequate depth alongside to take the deepest draught cargo ships that were used at the time, reinforcing the theory that Ostia was a major trading post. Whilst Professor Carter and the archaeological team were still very excited at the extent of the finds, there was not a lot to interest the general public on my vlog, so I focussed on the lives of the soldiers and traders who would have lived or been stationed there, which would be more appealing to the likes of my neighbour Maggie and her friends.

Friday evening Sally Walker came round to the house to talk things through with Jack, Josie and me, mainly to try to get more background information from Jack.

“Jack, if this is going to work I need whatever family background history you can give me, not just about your parents, but also any skeletons in the cupboard from way back. Remember that I am working for you, not for a newspaper or magazine, anything I discover will not be made public without your permission, so please do not hold back.” Sally tried to get Jack to open up.

“My father is, or was, a Chartered Accountant dealing with the finances of several mid-range companies, generally in the manufacture of specialist engineering equipment for the construction industry. Over the years, when those companies fell into difficult times and went into receivership or had major cash-flow problems, he bought them out on the cheap and soon built up a substantial business empire. When all put together he became one of the largest private employers in the area.. He is a shrewd sharp businessman and has taken advantage of opportunities as they have come up, and has left several disgruntled former business owners in his wake, but as far as I am aware, he has not been involved in anything illegal.

Before they met and got married, my mother worked as a secretary, but once they got together she gave all that up. Soon after they were married, I came along and since then she has not worked, not even for Dad’s businesses, but has involved herself with all sorts of local charities, and mixing with the ‘county-set’. Again, as you have all seen, she does like to be in control of things and has put a few noses out of joint, figuratively not physically, edging people out of positions they had held for a long time.”

“Make a note of all the companies that your father owns or controls, and all the committees and charities that your mother is involved with and I will see if there is anything unusual going on. What about grandparents and further back?”

“Mum has carried out a lot of research into family history on the ancestry sites and has traced some relatives back as far as the 1600s on her side and 1700s on Dad’s side. Most of it is pretty boring and nondescript. There have been a few instances of cattle or sheep rustling, one of my ancestors was involved with the Luddites* in the early 1800s, another was a leading light in the suffragette movement**. My great-grandfather was a conscientious objector in the Great War(WW1), there is a lot of detail on my mothers account.”

“That might unearth something, give me the account name and password and I’ll have a look into it. Most of those sites offer basic DNA tests and links to close family several generations back, do you know if any of you have been tested ?”

“I know that they have both been tested as this has helped them link to others to trace the family history, as I was only in my teens at the time, they didn’t bother to get me tested.”

H’mm, just for the records I’ll set up an account for you and arrange for a test for both you and Josie. That and the information about the activities of your mother and father should should give me enough to get a flying start. Leave it with me for a while and I’ll see what I can come up with.”

After Jack prepared a list of the information Sally wanted she left us to talk it through amongst the three of us.”

“That wasn’t too bad, was it Jack.” I asked, “On one hand I want her to find something to keep your mother quiet, but I don’t want her to find something that would be too awkward or embarrassing for you.”

“Let’s see what, if anything, she comes up with, we’ll deal with it as it happens. All I know is that I want her to accept Josie and me together.”

I was down on my knees at Ostia working away in a trench to scrape the earth from a section of the main villa floor when I felt a tap on my shoulder and was surprised when I turned around to find a smiling Darren looking down at me.

“Hi Jo, it looks like you’re having fun doing the hard basic work, should I join you down there or do you fancy having a break and going to the site hut for a coffee?”

“A coffee sounds good, give me a hand up, I’ll brush of the dust and we’ll go for a sit down.”

“It’s a while since I’ve seen you, do you fancy going out for a meal and a drink somewhere later in the week, if you’re free anytime?”

I was wary of getting too close to him as sooner or later he would find out the truth about me and it could only lead to a lot of bother for both of us. However he was a nice good-looking young man and I was flattered that he was interested in me.

“I’d love to go out sometime, but I have to warn you that it will only be as friends, I have a lot of issues going on in my life at the moment and until they are sorted out, serious relationships are off the agenda.”

“Fine by me, I enjoy your company, and it’s not as if I am getting bowled over in the rush of other attractive, funny, intelligent, and sort of famous young women fighting for my attention.”

“I’m not sure that that is the best chat-up line I’ve heard but I will take it as a compliment. I’m a bit busy this week, how about Saturday, an early meal followed by a visit to the theatre or cinema. I’ve kicked it off, I’ll now leave to you to sort it out.”

“Are you sure that you want to go through with this.” Josie asked as she sat and watched me putting on my makeup and putting waves into my hair? “You said the other day that you didn’t want to lead Darren on, and here you are, prettying yourself up to go out on a date with him.”

“ I told him when I agreed to go out tonight that it would be as a friend, and that I’m not looking for any romantic relationships at the moment, but he is a lovely lad and I enjoy his company.”

“As long as it is just friends and not ‘friends with benefits’, and he accepts that, everything will be fine, but be careful of letting him go too far.”

“No fear of that, apart from anything else I still would prefer a relationship with a girl, but who would want me as I am now.”

“Careful, you don’t want tears streaking your mascara. Get yourself dressed, he will be here soon.”

Darren was a perfect partner the whole evening, holding doors open for me, remaining standing until I sat and settled, chatting away over dinner, and holding hands as we watched the theatre show. It was a shame when the evening ended and he took me home. As we said goodnight he took me in a clinch and kissed me passionately making my head spin and I found myself responding holding him tight and pressing my hips into his, feeling his excitement, until I came out of my daydream and pulled away, feeling flushed, before quickly going back into the house and waving him goodbye.

“That didn’t sound like just friends to me.” barked Josie as I sat down with her. “You need to make your mind up, either cool it off or tell him all about yourself, it’s not fair on him to string him along like that.”

I went off to bed, sleeping fitfully, trying to rationalise my thoughts about where I wanted my life to go.

I was surprised the following morning to get a call from Jim at Anglia East. “Sorry to disturb your weekend, but can you pop over to see me tomorrow sometime, there is something we would like to talk to you about but it’s not something to discuss on the phone, but don’t worry it is nothing bad.”

Monday morning before going to the Ostia site to prepare my daily vlog, I called in at the TV studios to see what Jim wanted from me, and found him to be accompanied by someone I had not met before.

“Hi Jo, let me introduce you to Charles Mathieson, the regional director of the National Trust, who has come to us with a proposal which may interest you.”

“Jo, I have been following with interest your features on the various cultural and historic sites around Norfolk and have to say that I have been very impressed by the easy-going friendly manner in which you put across the features of interest on your visits. We have quite extensive information on our websites for all the properties we administer, but our market research has fed back to us that for many members of the public the information is seen as a bit dry. As you have shown on your vlogs and on the Anglia East documentaries, you have built-up a lot of interest amongst people who would not normally be interested in taking in all the information.

We are living in a very visual age, with YouTube and similar sites, and realise that if we offer an information package in a format similar to what you have done that it would have a much wider appeal. In a nutshell we would like you to front a series of individual video reviews of all of our properties in the region, not just Norfolk, but Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, all the way from The Wash down to the outskirts of London.”

“The Board at Anglia East have offered to sponsor the production of the videos, using our production team and editing facilities on the proviso that we have broadcast rights of selected edits.” Added Jim. “You would be working with the same crew members that have accompanied you on your visits for us, so it should be a relatively seamless step for you to take. We are also in discussion with national broadcasters to produce a travelogue series, using a nationally known personality as presenter visiting the sites with local media or artistic celebrities, talking to staff members and visitors, interwoven with extracts from the videos. It will however involve significant involvement from you and will impact on how much time you can commit to the Ostia project. Are you up for it, it could be the making of you as a tv presenter?”

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. It does sound a fantastic opportunity, but I am reluctant to give up my involvement at Ostia and do not want to let down the museum who have really brought me along the path to this. I need to have a talk with Jacqui at the museum and her bosses to see if we can work out something.”

“I’m glad you said that,” replied Charles Mathieson, “your loyalty and commitment is to be admired, most people would just grab at the opportunity for advancement and jump ship at the first opportunity.”

“Leave it with me, I need to have a think about whether it is a direction I want my life and career to take, and then go to see Jacqui. I promise to come back to you within a couple of days, if that is ok.”

I spent the rest of the day on site at Ostia updating my vlog and the website, but my mind was constantly drifting to the proposal that had been made to me.

I could hardly wait to get home and talk it through with Josie and Jack, but before I could start Josie had some news of her own.

“We got our DNA test kits today and have already done them and sent them off, the sooner Sally gets going, the sooner it will be that we can sort things out with Jack’s mother.”

“I've got news for you too, I went in to see Jim at the TV station and he made a proposal to me, let me tell you about it.”

When I had finished telling them of the offers made to be, they were silent for a few moments before grinning back at me.

“What is there to think about?” Josie jumped straight in. “It’s an amazing opportunity. I’m sure that it will be a lot better paid than your work at the museum and what you currently do on TV, you will still be involved with historic architecture and artefacts which you are interested in, it all sounds ever so exciting.”

“That’s the problem, the excitement is letting my head run away, while my heart is telling me that I have a wonderful job, or jobs, at the moment doing what a few months ago I considered to be my dream career. Besides, and I know it sounds daft, but I feel that I will be letting down the museum, Jacqui and the county authorities if I just upped and left.”

“That’s easily sorted, I know that the baby is due soon and that will totally change my life, but I am sure that with the help of Emma and Jane, and you looking over our shoulders, that we could carry on your work at Ostia and release you to do the filming.”

“But what about the baby, you don’t want to miss out on all the joys of raising your child do you, and you don’t want to over-exert yourself?”

“Don’t forget it will be several months for the researchers and scriptwriters to get their act together, , and get a window in the lead presenter’s schedule. If you can delay your detailed involvement in the project for a while, I should be recovered enough to do three or four days a week on the vlog, you could do an overview slot on Fridays letting me have a day at home. Don’t forget that the job you are doing is my dream job too and if you go off to do greater things then I could be involved with the setting up and running of the Ostia Experience instead of you. Jack mainly works from home anyway and I’m sure that he could chip in with the childcare. Honestly, with the help of a daycare nanny we will manage, Go for it or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“Remember that I also have decisions to make about my future personal life as Joanne or Joey and going higher profile will meAn that someone is likely to do a bit of digging into my background. I’ll sleep on it and go to talk it through with Jacqui tomorrow.”

To be continued.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

**https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsJX10bKz...