 The Daily Mail had meanwhile discovered Bessell's whereabouts in California, and on 3 February 1976 carried a long interview with the former MP. Bessell's story that he had been blackmailed by Scott provided Thorpe with temporary cover. On 6 March newspapers reported Holmes's purchase of Scott's dossier from Gleadle, and a few days later David Steel discovered from Dinshaw, a personal friend, that £ 20,000 of funds intended for the party had been diverted to Holmes and were unaccounted for. Steel told Thorpe that he should resign, but he refused. In an attempt to reassure his wavering parliamentary colleagues, on 14 March Thorpe provided The Sunday Times's "Insight" team with a detailed rebuttal of Scott's charges, under the heading "The Lies of Norman Scott".
