Virtually Scared To Death (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 1) (4 page)

I
was busy with work for the next few days and I didn’t have much time to think
about Mark, although I was hoping that DI Clarke would be making progress.

It
was late on Tuesday night when the inspector called at my house. I was
surprised to see that he had two uniformed officers with him.

I
opened my front door wide and invited them in.

DI
Clarke looked grim. He said, “Julia Blake, I have reason to believe that you
were involved in the death of Mark Castle. I’d like you to accompany us to the
police station to help us with our enquiries.”

I
was so shocked that I actually collapsed onto the floor.

DI
Clarke rushed forward and helped me to my feet. He had a concerned look in his
eyes and softly said, “I hope this is all a misunderstanding but we have strong
evidence to link you to Mr Castle’s death. Please put your coat on.”

I
did so in a daze. The uniformed officers guided me towards a police car. I got
in, noticing the curtains moving at my neighbours’ windows.

I
was still in shock when we arrived at the police station. A man at the
reception desk took my name and other details and then DI Clarke led me into a
windowless room. The uniformed officers came with us. DI Clarke instructed one
of them to get me a drink of water.

“Ms
Blake, we are about to conduct an official interview. Do you need to have a
solicitor present? We can arrange for one on your behalf if needed,” he asked.

I
shook my head and tried to smile. “I’ve nothing to hide.”

The
uniformed officer came back with my drink and a thick file that he handed to DI
Clarke.

DI
Clarke opened the file and took out some papers.

“Do
you remember when we spoke a few days ago and we found out that Mr Castle had a
special group of testers who would look at his game for him?”

I
nodded. I was finding it hard to talk.

“We
traced them. There are six people in various countries, all computer experts.
We’ve worked out that Mr Castle sent a different portion of a new game to each
of them. Each person would not get the game in full. He also sent different
codes that each person had to work out before they could open the game. Are you
following me, Ms Blake?”

Another
nod from me.

“Have
you heard of call forwarding?” DI Clarke asked.

“Yes,
I use it to forward my calls to my dad’s telephone number so that he can take
my messages,” I managed to say.

“Exactly.
Well, our computer experts have found out that the six people Mark worked with
on his latest game are actually one person. And this one person very cleverly
managed to forward all the emails that Mark sent to their own email account. So
this means that this person had the full game and that when the portions of the
game were returned to Mr Castle they had the opportunity to add the subliminal
programme.”

I
was just about following, “So who is this one person?”

DI
Clarke looked at me sadly. “We’ve traced the forwarded email account to you, Ms
Blake.”

“That’s
impossible!” I finally managed to say. “I would have seen any peculiar emails,
wouldn’t I?”

“We
discovered that the emails were deleted within seconds of them arriving in your
inbox. Do you ever check your deleted emails?”

“Does
anybody?” I asked.

“Aside
from the emails, we have been advised that you have a spare set of keys to Mr
Castle’s apartment. Is that true?” DI Clarke said.

“Yes,
I have spare keys to most of my clients’ homes. They give them to me for when
they go on holiday, so that I can still clean for them. I keep them in a locked
drawer at home. Who told you about the keys?”

DI
Clarke continued, “We further understand that you had access to Mr Castle’s
medication. He kept bottles in the bathroom and his bedroom, is that right?”

I
nodded. “But that doesn’t mean I switched the bottles. Wouldn’t I have to get a
prescription from the doctor to do that?”

“The
tablets that Mr Castle took just before he died are available over the
internet, not legal of course. We’re trying to trace the supplier. Can you tell
us who it is?” DI Clarke gave me a searching look.

I
withered under his stare. I was beginning to feel guilty even though I’d done
nothing wrong.

“I
don’t know what to say. I didn’t kill Mark, and I certainly didn’t put secret
pictures on his game. I wouldn’t know how to. Mark had my email address on his
computer. Someone could easily have seen it,” I asked.

“We
know that Mr Castle died on Wednesday evening. Whoever was responsible for his
death must have been in his home shortly after he died because the sales
transaction of Mr Castle’s game took place the same evening. Where were you on
Wednesday night?” DI Clarke asked me.

I
said quietly, “At home, on my own. No witnesses.”

“The
signing fee of two million pounds was wired to several bank accounts. The money
from those accounts was then immediately transferred to one hundred more. It
looks like the person who sold Mr Castle’s game was trying to cover their
tracks. We will trace the money but it will take a bit of time. But whether we
trace it before it’s all withdrawn is another matter. Do you recognise any of
these account numbers?” DI Clarke pushed some papers towards me.

I
had several bank accounts and I knew the numbers off by heart. I scanned the
list of numbers. My bank account digits were not on the list.

Then
something caught my eye. My heart almost stopped as I recognised something.

I
looked up at DI Clarke. “I think I’ve been set up. And I’ve got an awful
feeling that I know who killed Mark Castle.”

Early
the next morning I was back at Canal View Court.

I
called on Steve in his office. “I’m going to give Mark’s apartment a final
clean.”

He
stood up, “Do you want me to open the apartment, or have you got your spare key
on you?” he asked.

“I’ve
got my key.” I smiled back at him.

Inside
Mark’s apartment I was giving the balcony doors a good scrub when I heard the front
door open.

Steve
came in. “Do you need a hand with anything? Can I make you a cup of tea?”

“No,
it’s okay, thanks,” I said and I carried on cleaning.

Steve
hesitated, “Did the police get any further with looking into Mark’s death?”

I
stopped cleaning and turned to face Steve. “They’re going to have a word with
Annabel Castle. She signed for Mark’s tablets just before he died so they think
she could have swapped them for the stronger type.”

Steve
nodded. “She probably did.”

I
clutched my cleaning cloth a bit tighter and said, “It seems that you can get
those tablets on the internet, if you know what you’re looking for. Is that
what you did, Steve?”

Steve
looked straight at me. “What do you mean?”

“You
knew what kind to order, you said your granddad had the same kind,” I went on.

Steve
took a step closer to me.“What are you trying to say, Julia?”

I
moved back a bit and said, “I think you killed Mark. And that you sold his
game.”

“I
can’t believe you’re saying this. What proof do you have?” Steve moved even
closer.

“When
we were outside Mark’s door, just before we found him, you said, ‘So he is away
with his fairies’. Why would you mention fairies unless you knew what Mark’s
game was about?”

Steve
shrugged. “It’s just a saying.”

“And
that business about losing the master key, I don’t think you lost it at all. I
think it was just to throw suspicion off you,” I said. I twisted the cleaning
cloth as if it could give me the strength to carry on. “The police showed me a
list of the bank accounts that the game money had been sent to. I recognised
your number from when I’ve sent you money for recommending me to new clients.”

Steve
looked at the floor as if he was considering something. Then he leapt towards
me and plunged his hand down my shirt.

“A
recording device, Julia? That won’t help you now,” he sneered and he ripped the
device off me and threw it on the floor. He crushed it under his boot.

Then
he turned back to me and gave me a little smile. “Well, you’ve turned into a
right little Miss Marple, haven’t you? Yes, I did kill him. It took me months
to redirect all those email addresses so that I was the only one in the select
group that Mark sent his game to. I gave him lots of feedback but he never even
said thank you!”

Steve
began to move even closer to me. I tried to move backwards but I was already right
up against the balcony doors.

“It
didn’t seem fair that he should make all the money when I was giving him ideas.
It used to get on my nerves seeing how he lived while I was stuck in that dingy
office downstairs. It was me who was the computer genius, not him! Well, I
proved it when I put those scary photos and sounds in his game,” Steve boasted.

He
was so close now that I could feel his breath on my face. He had a nasty
 
look on his face. I was terrified.

Steve
unlocked the balcony door behind me.

“Using
my own bank number was a stupid mistake though. I’d set up all the other
accounts but I wanted a bit of ready cash immediately. My escape money. It’s a
shame you worked it out Julia, now I’ll have to get rid of you,” Steve said and
he grabbed my arm. “How about a trip into the canal. You’d be amazed how deep
it us, you won’t survive from this height.”

I
called out, “DI Clarke!”

Steve
snorted, “Don’t bother calling for backup. I saw the inspector’s car on my CCTV
feed. I knew what you were up to, get me to confess and then the police would come
rushing in. Unfortunately, the inspector and his men are now stuck in the lift.
They’ll be pressing the bell for help – but help won’t come, for them or
you.”

Steve
pulled me out onto the balcony and towards the edge. I looked down at the
canal. It seemed a long way down. My legs felt wobbly and I felt like crying.

Steve
laughed. “There’s no point struggling, Julia. I’ve killed once and I’m not
bothered about killing again.”

I
was still clutching my cleaning cloth. I suddenly remembered my cleaning spray
that I kept in my apron pocket.

I
dropped the cloth, whipped out the spray and squirted a stream of the liquid
into Steve’s face.

He
screamed, his hands flew to his face, “You’ve blinded me!”

I
ran from the balcony and into the apartment. I turned around and locked the
balcony door. Steve probably had a key so I stood ready with my cleaning fluid
held up like a gun, ready to fire.

“Put
your weapon down!” a voice called behind me.

It
was DI Clarke.

“It’s
not a weapon! It’s lemon juice!” I called back. I turned my head to look at the
inspector. His coat was torn. “What happened to you?”

“We’ve
had to crawl through a hole in the lift,” he said. “Lower your lemon juice,
we’ll take over from here.”

“Did
you hear everything? Did you get all you needed?” I asked.

I
suddenly felt faint and slithered to the floor. DI Clarke ran over. He helped
me up and took me over to a chair. The uniformed men that came in with him were
now arresting Steve.

“I’ve
never been wired up before. Did I do it right?” I said.

“Perfect.
Good thinking of yours to have two wires. You can take the existing one off
yourself.”

I
blushed a little. The location of the second device was between me and my
underwear. Literally.

“
We’ll be able to charge him with murder. Are you feeling okay, Ms Blake?” the
inspector looked concerned.

I
smiled. “I’m not used to such excitement! I’ll be alright in a while.”

DI
Clarke and his men took Steve away. I couldn’t look at Steve, not after what
he’d done.

I
told DI Clarke that I’d lock the apartment up. The inspector checked me again
before he left to see if I was okay.

When
I was alone I looked around Mark’s home. He really was a good man and didn’t
deserve to die.

I
looked at my watch. I had plenty of time before my next cleaning job.

I’d
only given Mark’s apartment half a clean, that wouldn’t do at all. I held up my
trusty cleaning spray and then headed towards the kitchen.

As
I worked I thought I’d buy one of Mark’s games on the way home. I might
surprise myself and become a games expert.

I’d
also be buying myself a bottle of wine. Solving a murder mystery had done
nothing for my nerves.

But
I knew that I would do it again – if I had to.