Virtually Scared To Death (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 1) (3 page)

They
were in it together!

I
ducked into a nearby shop doorway, which was a mistake as a group of teenage
girls were coming out. They rudely pushed into me and forced me back into the
street.

I
discreetly turned my back on Annabel and Jasper and walked down the street a
little way.

I
dug out DI Clarke’s card and phoned him.

“I’m
not able to get to the phone right now. Please leave a message.”

I
quickly left a message saying that I’d seen Annabel and Jasper together. Then I
paused. It sounded like I was just gossiping. I ended the call. I didn’t know
what DI Clarke would make of that message.

I
decided to take some photos. Then I could prove that they were sitting
together, and that Jasper wasn’t in London as he claimed.

It’s
hard not to look suspicious when you’re taking photos on your own. A man
stopped at my side as I raised my phone and aimed it towards the couple. He
looked over to where I was looking. I glanced at him and gave him an annoyed
look, but he didn’t move.

Then
a woman stood next to him and looked over at Annabel and Jasper too.

“Who
are they? Are they famous?” she asked. “They look famous.”

I
ignored her and took a couple of shots.

Then
the woman took her phone out and started taking pictures of the couple as well.
“I don’t want to miss anything.”

 
A second later the man did the same
thing.

“Can
you stop that!” I hissed. “I’m trying to take secret photos.”

“Are
you the press?” the woman asked, her eyes wide at the thought of seeing famous
people in Leeds.

Within
twenty seconds a small crowd had appeared at my side, all holding their phones
up and taking photos.

I
turned to the crowd and said as forcibly as I could, “Go away!”

They
didn’t move.

I
looked towards Annabel and Jasper. They had noticed the crowd, and they had
noticed me.

Jasper
looked furious. He stood up and began walking towards me.

I
did the sensible thing. I ran away.

DI
Clarke never phoned me back. I was worried that Jasper would phone him and make
a claim of harassment. I wasn’t looking forward to explaining myself to DI
Clarke.

At
home that night I spoke to my dad and took the messages that he’d kindly taken
for me during the day.

“I’ve
emailed you a job advert that I put together, for someone to help with your cleaning.
See what you think. If it’s alright I’ll get it online tomorrow,” Dad said.

“Thanks
Dad, you didn’t have to go to so much trouble, I really appreciate it,” I said.

When
I’d finished talking to Dad I switched on my computer. It made a funny noise as
it started up.

I
pointed at it and said, “Don’t start messing about again or I’ll get a new one!”

I
made a cup of tea while the computer decided to warm up. I logged onto my
emails and read the job advert that Dad had written. It looked perfect. I
emailed a reply back to him. I wrote ‘thank you’ about ten times.

Then
I saw Mark’s email that he’d sent me the other day. A huge feeling of sadness
washed over me. It was a peculiar feeling to read an email from someone who was
now dead.

With
a small sigh, I opened the email and read Mark’s message.

‘Hi
Julia, thanks so much for agreeing to look at my game! I’m sure you’ll enjoy
it! It’s almost ready to be sold but I just wanted one last pair of eyes to
scan it over. I trust your judgement – and your honesty. See you soon,
Mark.’

I
felt tears brimming up in my eyes.

I
really didn’t feel like playing a game but felt like I owed it to Mark to at
least give it a try.

There
was a link at the bottom of the email. I clicked on it and then downloaded the
game.

It
took me a few minutes to get into the game and I wasn’t sure I was doing
everything right.

Then
my computer started making a chugging sort of noise.

“No!
Not now!” I shouted at it.

I
knew what was going to happen next. The annoying computer was going to freeze
on me.

And
it did. Sometimes it sorted itself out, and sometimes I had to reboot it. All I
could do was wait.

I
went into the kitchen to make another cup of tea. When I came back in I saw
that my computer was still in frozen mode.

When
I saw the image it had frozen on, I screamed and dropped my cup.

Twenty
minutes later I was letting DI Clarke into my house.

“What’s
the emergency? Have you found another dead body?” he asked.

I
led him into my front room where my computer was. I prayed that it hadn’t
become unfrozen on its own.

It
hadn’t.

I
pointed to the screen and told the inspector that the image had come from
Mark’s game.

“That’s
a sick looking game. I hope there’s an age limit on it,” DI Clarke said.

“This
isn’t the game that I was playing at Mark’s apartment. That one had fairies and
goblins. This image was definitely not part of the game,” I explained.

We
looked at the image. It was of a young girl, a girl that had been mutilated
somehow. Her face looked out helplessly, her lips open as if she was saying
something.

“Do
you think she’s supposed to look like a child that worked at a mill? One that’s
been injured?” I asked.

“That’s
a peculiar thing to say.”

“When
I was last at Mark’s he mentioned believing in ghosts. He said he kept hearing
things, like a young girl crying and the sound of machinery. ” I looked at the
inspector expectedly.

“Go
on,” he said.

“I
remember reading something about subliminal messages that had been broadcast at
a cinema during the showing of a film. It showed images of a certain drink that
could only be seen if the film was slowed down considerably. And then, after
the film, people would go and buy the drink, and they didn’t know why.”

DI
Clarke nodded, “Yes, I’ve heard about that but what’s it got to do with Mark
Castle?”

“I
think someone has put subliminal images, and maybe sounds, on Mark’s game. When
he’s been working on it the images have been playing constantly. And when we
found his body the game was on a continual loop. Do you think the images would
be strong enough to scare him to death?” I asked.

DI
Clarke looked deep in thought. After a while he said, “It’s possible. He could
have been terrified by the background images so much that he needed his
tablets.”

I
nodded, “Yes! Of Course! Have you had the tablets tested yet?”

“Yes,
they were four times the dose that Mr Castle takes,” DI Clarke admitted.

“Do
you think Mark was murdered?”

“It’s
staring to look that way. I’ll have to take your computer and get the game
analysed.”

“It
runs quite slow,” I warned him.

“Lucky
for us that it does,” DI Clarke grimaced as he came closer to the image on the
screen. “That really is quite disturbing.”

Whilst
I helped the inspector unplug my computer I mentioned that I’d seen Jasper
Parker in Leeds with Annabel Castle.

“Yes,
he came into the station to complain about you. I’ll have to check the copy of
Mr Castle’s game that he’s got.”

“Why
would he have a copy?” I asked.

“Mark
Castle gave him a copy shortly before he died so that he could sell it on his
behalf,” DI Clarke said. “Jasper Parker claims he had a company ready to buy
it.”

I
stopped moving and asked, “Did he mention which company?”

“I
can’t quite remember the name. It was some big Japanese name.”

I
shook my head furiously. “No! That can’t be. Mark said he would never sell to a
company like that. I think that Jasper Parker stole the game and somehow, he
and Annabel Castle killed Mark!”

The
inspector warned me not to make such wild accusations. He left with my computer
and said he’d be in touch soon.

It
all made sense to me now.

Annabel
switched the pills so that when Mark needed them he would end up taking a dose
that was fatally too strong for him. Jasper had got a copy of the game and put
subliminal messages and sounds on them. Mark could have been subjected to them
for months and not known.

It
took me a while to get to sleep that night. It wasn’t just the thought that
Mark had been murdered, it was the image of the mutilated girl that kept
flashing into my mind.

I
was called into the police station the next day. I hoped it was to witness the
arrest of Jasper and Annabel.

I
was shown into DI Clarke’s office.

He
invited me to sit down.

“We’ve
had the game analysed and found many brutal images of that same girl and other
children. If it’s any consolation they are computer generated images and not
actual photographs. We found sounds as well. I won’t play them to you, they’re
too disturbing.”

“Can
you tell me what kind of sounds they are?” I asked.

“Like
you’d image a factory to make. You know, like machinery moving. There’s also
the sounds of children screaming and a little girl asking for help. If Mr
Castle was subjected to this for a sustained period of time ... well, I’m
surprised he didn’t go insane.” DI Clarke shook his head sadly.

“Who
do you think put the images there? Jasper Parker?” I said.

“Mr
Parker said he never saw the game until Mr Castle gave it to him recently. Mr
Parker sent us a copy of the game that he received so that we could test it.
There were no subliminal messages. Also, I mentioned your surprise about Mr
Castle agreeing to sell the game to a Japanese company. Mr Parker was surprised
too when he got Mr Castle’s email to confirm the sale.”

“Email?
I though they had meetings via video call,” I said.

“Apparently
they usually do, but this communication came through email,” DI Clarke replied.

“That
means anyone could have sent it,” I pointed out. “Someone could have been
waiting for Mark to die, and then hacked into his emails and sold the game to
Jasper Parker.”

DI
Clarke gave a little smile, “You’ve got an active imagination, Ms Blake. I
thought of that too. I asked Mr Parker to give me the account number of where
he transferred the two million pounds to.”

“Two
million pounds! What was that for?” I said a little too loudly.

“That
was just the signing fee for the sale of the game. Mr Parker was due to send
another ten million once the deal had gone through. I advised him not to take
the deal any further. He wasn’t happy about that,” DI Clarke said.

We
were both quiet for a while as we thought about the amount of money involved.

“Oh!
I’ve remembered something that Mark told me. I told you that he asked me to
look at the game, didn’t I? He said he usually has someone else to look at his
games. I got the impression that he didn’t trust his usual contact anymore.
Perhaps Mark suspected someone was trying to steal his game.”

“That’s
interesting. If someone had access to the game, or to his computer, they could
have put the subliminal text and audio in without Mr Castle suspecting. We’ll
have to look into that. Thank you, Ms Blake, you’ve been most helpful,” DI
Clarke said. He got to his feet and opened the office door for me.

A
furious looking Jasper Parker was on the other side.

He
glared at me and said, “I want a word with you! You interfering witch!”

Jasper
launched into a full verbal attack.

“I’ve
heard that you’ve been accusing me of murdering Mark Castle! How dare you? I
could sue you for that. And what’s this about putting evil pictures and sounds
inside his game? First of all, I wouldn’t even know how to do that. And
secondly, Mark never showed his game to anyone whilst he was still working on
it, only those few in his precious testing group!”

I
stood back a little, Jasper was practically spitting venom on me.

“And
furthermore ...”

“That’s
enough, Mr Parker,” DI Clarke stepped forward. “Ms Blake was just acting like a
concerned citizen, I’m sure she didn’t mean you any harm.”

I
did mean him some harm, I thought to myself.

Jasper
wasn’t finished, “I caught her taking photos of me in the middle of Leeds.
Can’t you charge her for that?”

“You
were supposed to be in London! And what were you doing meeting Annabel Castle?”
I interrupted.

Jasper
folded his arms and said, “I don’t have to answer that.”

DI
Clarke studied him for a moment and then said, “Actually, I’d like to know the
answer to that.”

“I’ve
a good mind to phone my solicitor!” Jasper threatened.

DI
Clarke replied, “Go ahead, we’ll wait.”

Jasper
gave a resigned sigh. “Alright, I’ve been in Leeds for the last week, not
London. I was trying to persuade Mark to sell his game to one of the companies
I’d lined up. He kept refusing so I thought I’d move closer and try to persuade
him personally. I was planning to turn up on his doorstep, before he got
himself killed.”

“And
what about Annabel Castle? How well do you know her?” I asked.

DI
Clarke frowned at me. “I’m respectfully asking you to be quiet, Ms Blake.”

“I’d
spoken to Annabel on the phone after she found out about Mark’s death. She told
me that she would likely be the beneficiary of Mark’s will so I ... well ...
this is a bit embarrassing.”

“You
thought you’d get on her good side so that she’d sell Mark’s game to you?” I
suggested.

Jasper
looked at the floor and muttered, “A man’s got to make a living.”

DI
Clarke looked at me, “Does that satisfy you?”

“For
now,” I said. I still didn’t trust Jasper Parker.

The
inspector turned to Jasper and said, “You mentioned the testing group that Mr
Castle used, do you know how we could find them? We’d like to question them.”

Jasper
shrugged, “I think those computer geeks were scattered around the World. I’m
sure there will be something on Mark’s computer.”

“We’ve
got people working on his computer now. Did you want to speak to me, Mr Parker?
Or did you just come here to shout at Ms Blake?”

Jasper
looked uncomfortable. “No, I’ll be on my way now.”

He
turned and walked away.

DI
Clarke warned me, “Watch out for men like him, he’s the kind to sue you for
everything and anything at the drop of a hat. You should keep your opinions to
yourself.”

“I’ll
try,” I said. But I wasn’t going to stop until I’d found out who was
responsible for Mark’s death.