The Inquest: Part 19

June 12, 2023·58 min·4 clips

Counsel asks Rick Blum if he only revealed Marion Barter's family estrangement claim because he 'let down his guard.'

Day 2's afternoon session continues at Lismore. The three-day coronial hearing returns to evidence tied to Ghislaine Dubois-Danlois and the disappearance of Marion Barter. Mr Bloom rejects the points put to him. Asked about marriage in Bali in 2006, a new life in Australia, and a claim about withdrawing 60,000 euros, he answers hesitantly in a way the transcript does not really smooth over. The exchange turns to an agence. A question about an agence becomes a careful attempt to work out whether it was a currency exchange bureau, a share agent, or something else. He says cash was not involved. He leans on banking records, VAT numbers, and European regulation, while counsel keeps pressing on why he went there with Ghislaine at all. The account keeps shifting. He says he stayed at her house for roughly a fortnight, then says he was at the university and only visited for a few days. Counsel stays with the small details. If he only went along for coffee or an errand, why did she ask him to go? Damien and Sons comes up. He does not remember the name, and he denies persuading her to exchange shares for cash, returning to the claim that it could not be done. Then comes the driver's license. He rejects the suggestion that he advised Ghislaine to apply for an international driver's license before moving to Australia with him. The hosts end on skepticism. They do not overplay it; they weigh the chance that multiple women would independently lie against their sense that those women seemed decent. Marion stays at the center. The episode closes by sending listeners back to the search for information, the coroner's awaited response, and the long-running request for someone to come forward.

As heard by us

A tense inquest episode built on disputed money, repeated denials, and the slow testing of credibility.

The Lady Vanishes returns to Lismore for the afternoon of Day 2 in the latest coronial inquest hearing into Marion Barter's disappearance. This instalment centres on Ghislaine Dubois-Danlois and Mr Bloom, whose evidence is marked by repeated denials: no Bali marriage plan, no…

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Why you'd press play

You want the pressure of cross-examination inside the coronial inquest into Marion Barter's disappearance, with a daughter's search still running underneath.

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