Glitter, Greed and Gatecrashers

by Emily Selby

  'The note on the board was made by Rob, wasn't it?'

  'Probably, although it might have been Trish. Thanks for catching it,' he replied still not looking at her and typing furiously, but her heart made a little flip.

  "What's the connection?' she pushed on, encouraged by his reaction.

  'There was a bitcoin transaction made from an account set up on Trish's PC to Jeff's account last year.'

  Katie's jaw dropped. 'It was Trish's PC?' Katie sucked in air. Her face was burning. She didn't like when people lied to her...

  'According to the data we've recovered.'

  Katie's heart ached like a stubbed toe. 'She told me it was Rob's...' she let out a sigh, making the sentence sound a little too much like a whine.

  'People say all sorts of things. That's why I don't trust anyone.'

  'Even your friends?'

  The piercing screech of a chair on the linoleum broke the silence. Jack jumped up and strode to the printer to pick up a document it spat out.

  'Sorry, Katie, I can't talk much. I've got a job to do,' he said.

  Katie hunched and wiped the moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes. Jack slid back into his chair. The clacking of the keyboard filled in the room.

  Celia breezed into the room. 'Good morning, sir,' she chirped.

  'Morning,' he replied, barely audible.

  'Hello Celia,' Katie called out in the friendliest of tones she should muster.

  'Oh, hi Katie,' Celia replied and shot her a look that could split wood. She trotted to Jack's desk.

  'Ah, I see you're busy,' she said, leaning over his shoulder a little too close for Katie's comfort.

  Katie gulped.

  'Yeah, looking at some of the data we retrieved last night,' he replied, moving away from her.

  Katie felt strangely encouraged by his action.

  Celia shrugged, poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at her computer.

  'Jack,' Katie ventured. 'I have a quick question.'

  'Is this to do with the murder?' he asked, still typing away.

  'No, it's not directly related. I suppose, it can wait.'

  'Thanks. I really can't do anything for you right now,' he said and jumped to his feet. He slammed the laptop closed and yanked his jacket off the chair. He tossed it over his shoulder and grabbed the laptop.

  'Got to go!' he called. The door closed softly behind him.

  "That's a police officer for you,' Celia threw from her desk. 'You never know when he'll be called out. And you may not be as important to him as you think.'

  What a cheek, that girl!

  A wave of anger flushed through Katie's body. She curled her fingers into fists.

  'I know,' she said as calmly as possible, a growl building up at the back of her throat. 'I was married to one for over ten years. '

  Celia jumped in her chair. Her head jerked up.

  'Sorry, Katie,' she said in a tense voice. 'I wasn't referring to you.'

  Katie glared at her. Celia's face was as pale as she’d ever seen it, her lips were parted and trembling. 'I'm sorry. I was... I thought about an argument I had with my boyfriend last night. He's not happy I'm a cop.'

  But Katie didn't listen. She didn't want to. Whether or not Celia was telling the truth, she didn't want to think about the comment at all. Not now. It hit a little too close to home.

  Instead, she retreated to her office and focused on her work.

  After work, she went home, feeling deflated. She stopped at the bakery and bought another slice of yummy cheesecake to cheer herself up. She thought of inviting Dorothy for a cup of tea, but when she rang, Dorothy was on her way to a swimming session – part of her rehab. She should have talked to someone about Trish's concerns by now, but she just didn't want to have anything to do with Trish. All the confusing news related to the PC belonging to Trish rather than Rob; the mysterious transaction in-what did Jack say it was?-bitcoin done from Trish's account to Jeff's. Maybe there was a simple, innocent explanation for everything, but Katie wasn't ready to deal with it. Not today. She needed time to process it all. And even more, to decide how and who to trust.

  She needed to talk to Chris. She would pop back to the station to see if he was around. He should be on this afternoon.

  She pulled her phone to ring the station and check if he was in. She didn't fancy bumping into Celia again.

  A message appeared on her screen.

  'How did it go with Mrs Weatherspoon?'

  Ah, she’d forgotten to tell Michelle about her new cleaning gig! A chat with Michelle would take her mind off all her trust issues.

  Katie texted her friend back suggesting she could call to Styles and Smiles later that afternoon, to help with whatever she could and update Michelle.

  Back at the station, Chris arrived, holding a steaming box.

  'Lunch?" Katie asked.

  'Wanna share it?' Chris replied throwing his jacket on the chair.

  'No, I'm fine. But you can have some of my cake,'

  Chris wiggled his bushy eyebrows. A smile appeared on his freckled face. 'I never say "no" to a piece of cake. What is it?'

  Katie showed him the contents of the box she was holding. Chris nodded approvingly. She went to the staffroom and waited for him.

  'That's a bribe, right?' he said and plopped into the chair.

  Katie's ears burned. But why now?

  'It could be. Any news as to progress in the enquiry?'

  Chris put a forkful of chips into his mouth and made a "so-so" sign with the free hand.

  'Okay. I have a question. I wasn't sure what to do with it. I tried talking to Jack, but he was too busy.'

  Chris swallowed the food in his mouth. 'Yep, he's real busy today. What's your problem, lass?'

  'Not really mine, but I'm worried about Trish. She's in fear for her life...'

  Chris eyes open wide and almost popped out of their sockets.

  'What you mean? How come?'

  'She thinks Rob might be after her.'

  Katie gave him a brief summary of her conversation with Trish the night before. Chris listened, with his eyebrows raised, chewing his lunch.

  'What do you suggest she does with this?'

  Chris stopped chewing and stared at her with hesitation in his face. 'We need to call Heaton.'

  'But he's so busy... Do you think it's that serious? That she's in danger?'

  'He's just gone to get a warrant to arrest her.'

  'What?' Katie's heart stopped for a brief moment. Her head spun. One minute, Trish was a police informant, another, there was something suspicious on her computer, but getting arrested? Where did it all come from?

  'How come? All you had on her was the thing on her computer. Is it enough evidence to arrest her?'

  Chris sighed. He crossed the room to Katie and put his hand on her shoulder. 'I'm sorry, lass. I know you've been friends with Trish, but we’ve found a lot of evidence over the last few hours.'

  Katie step back pulling away from Chris. Her heart was hammering. She swallowed hard. 'What's happened? I only know about the PC...'

  'Someone assaulted Trish's aunt who lives in the Scottish Borders. That was probably on Monday. The woman is in hospital, unconscious. The local police have discovered that apparently Trish had been recently in touch with the woman.'

  'But that's her aunt. Why wouldn't she?'

  Chris pushed the box with his lunch away and heaved a sigh. 'I had a chat with their investigating officer last night. It's a weird story. But in a nutshell, the elderly lady was expecting Trish. She'd received a package for her and was going to pass it onto Trish. Instead, she was assaulted. The package can’t be found. Someone must have collected it.'

  'Trish was here on Monday!'

  'Did you see her? Because she can't find anyone to confirm it. Her studio was closed all day.'

  'Hang on, didn't she talk to you guys on Monday?'

  'She called us late afternoon, she was in her car. I remember, because it was me who took the call and
I could hear the engine running. So, I reminded her that driving and talking even on the speakerphone is dangerous. You know how fast she likes to drive.'

  Katie nodded, gasping for air.

  'We wanted to talk to her, but she said she couldn't come until that evening. She's saying she went for a ride to calm her nerves and wanted some time to freshen up as she'd been crying a lot. But no one can confirm her whereabouts during the day on Monday. With her car she could have easily driven up to the Borders, grabbed the packet with the money and whacked auntie Helen over the head.'

  Gosh...

  'How do you know what was in the packet?'

  'Because the post reported there are a few more stuffed envelopes waiting to be collected by Auntie Helen from her new PO Box.'

  'A PO Box?' This was so confusing, Katie's head felt like a boiling caldron.

  Chris chuckled. 'I see I've got your attention, eh?' he shook his head. 'I couldn't believe it myself. This is how the story unfolded. The Post Office called Auntie Helen's daughter to tell her the PO Box was getting full. The daughter got angry because the elderly lady was in the hospital. She couldn't find the key to open it, so she wanted to talk to the postmaster, surprised her mum had opened a PO Box. They had a look, decided it was suspicious and called the police. The cops came in, seized and opened the envelopes. There were plenty of banknotes inside each one.'

  'Cash?' Questions swirled in the hot soup of Katie's mind. She didn't even know where to start. 'Why would anyone send money by post?'

  'This is something you might need to talk to Heaton about. He's your specialist on new cybercrime.'

  'How does Trish fit into it?'

  'Sorry, Katie I don't understand it either. It's something to do with that new fancy currency bitcoin or whatever it's called. Apparently, you can buy and sell it using cash and sending money to PO boxes.'

  'Hang on, how did they associate Trish with the money?'

  'The local postman remembers dropping off a thick envelope to Auntie Helen, I'm not sure of her full name. They keep calling her that. Anyway, there was a letter addressed to Trish Bollard, care of the elderly lady on Monday morning. Poor woman apparently mentioned to her daughter she was expecting Trish later that day. But when the daughter visited on Tuesday, she found-'

  'Okay, no gory details, please,' Katie covered her mouth. 'Poor woman...' she whispered and leaned against the nearest wall. Her throat was tight, and her mouth was as dry as a piece of wood.

  'I can believe Trish might have done it...'

  The world spun.

  26

  It took Katie a while to pull herself back into a state where she could drive safely. She sat in her car breathing steadily, trying to come up with things to think about instead of focusing on what she had just heard from Chris.

  Money sent in envelopes to pay for-what was it? Bitcoin? Wasn't it the same thing Jack mentioned in the morning? She pulled her notebook out of her handbag and made a note to check it.

  This murder case was turning out to be much more complicated than she'd ever thought. It was way above Sunnyvale. It was no longer good ol' gossip and people's secrets. It was guns, money and mind-boggling cybercrime.

  Her chest was tight, and a hot wave was pushing its way through it, making her feel like she was going to explode. She rubbed her eyes. Crying wouldn't help.

  But what, for Pete's sake, should she do? Her intuition shrank and shut down, leaving a gaping, cold hole somewhere beneath her stomach. She couldn't blame it. It needed a good reboot - it'd been behaving like a virus-infected computer, sending her error messages.

  Gee! Wasn't she thinking like a computer nerd herself? Where did this come from?

  She gulped. She probably knew where it came from, but she preferred not to think about it at this stage. Jeff Livermore's murder investigation was still unresolved, with stranger and stranger links being discovered. She'd lost the ability to judge even her friends, and what was worse, if the previous cases were anything to go by, it was time for another body to appear.

  Katie shuddered. She slapped the notebook closed and hurled it on the passenger seat. There had to be a way forward, even though she couldn't see it now. Maybe, if she slept on it.

  She drove to Styles and Smiles and parked in front of the building. She rushed to the stairs and pushed the door. Michelle was talking to Olivia.

  Katie opened her mouth to greet them, but they seemed too busy to notice her.

  'Are you absolutely sure, Michelle?' Olivia was leaning on the desk, her face red and tense.

  'I told you, I don't think I've got it. I can check again at home, but not now. I’ll do it before our meeting in the evening. He's waited for it a week, he can wait a few hours longer.'

  'But can you please, please promise me is you will do it as soon as you get home?' A note of desperation bled into Olivia's voice. Michelle crossed her arms.

  'I told you, I will do it. I'm sorry Olivia, but I have to get on with my work. I've got people waiting for me.'

  Olivia pushed herself away from the desk. Her shoulders hunched.

  'Please, ring me as soon as you find it,' she said to Michelle and walked past Katie without even acknowledging her. She was out in a flash.

  'Hello Michelle,' Katie greeted her. 'Anything I can help you with?'

  Michelle rolled her eyes. 'Yes, thanks. Just need to recover. Honestly, she's lost her sense of priorities.' Michelle pointed her chin at the door. 'By the way, maybe you'll remember. On Saturday night, when I brought her that darn envelope, do you remember how many items were inside?'

  'I never looked inside. Did you?'

  'Nope, but I'm pretty sure it looked like there was only one USB stick.'

  'What's this about?'

  'Apparently that dandy husband of hers has lost a USB drive with his favourite music. Apparently, he can't exercise without it. He's getting more and more down,' Michelle said probably a little too loud as the lady for sitting under the giant hair dryer glanced at her.

  Michelle cringed. 'Sorry, I'll be with you in a second,' she called out to the lady and blew out a breath. 'I'm getting increasingly annoyed with Olivia. She just dances to whatever tune he's playing. At first, I thought this was just a little glitch, but the more time I spend with her, the more I can see she is not a reliable business partner. I can't see this beauty and confidence project work.' She shook her head.

  'At least you've got your laptop back now.'

  'Yeah. I've got to a lot to catch up on, bring my systems up-to-date with what's happened over the past few days.'

  'Can I help you with anything?'

  'No, I'll be fine, hun. Will you pop in tonight, though? The girls wanted me to remind you they are having a play date with Julia. And I'd love to have you around when I'm talking to Olivia... I don't want to do anything stupid.'

  Katie opened her mouth to ask what Michelle meant by "stupid", but the buzzer on the giant dryer beeped off and Michelle rushed to her client.

  Katie walked out of the salon.

  Back in her car her mind slipped back into the mushy soup of information overload. It was strange. Unlike with the other crimes, there was suddenly so much information, the circle of suspects had been quite tight, yet it all seemed to be going around and around. Like soup in a giant pot. If only she could run it past someone... She hadn't learnt anything new that could be useful to the investigation, but maybe tonight at Michelle's, with Olivia there? A while ago, Jack had asked her to put out some feelers on Alex. Maybe he had specific questions he wanted her to ask Alex? Or was she stretching it a bit too hard, trying to find an excuse to hear his voice? Particularly after he’d given her the cold shoulder this morning.

  Oh, what the heck.

  She rummaged through her handbag and pulled out her phone. Her fingers trembled as she fumbled though the contacts. She pushed the green button and waited. He answered quite quickly.

  'Hi Katie! Are you okay?' A hot, tingling wave spread over her face when she heard his silky baritone. T
here was a noise in the background.

  'Sorry to bother you, just wanted to double-check something with you. Can you talk now?'

  'Sort of, quickly. I've pulled off the road but I'm driving.'

  'Oh, where are you going?'

  'Up north, Scottish Borders, to Melrose hospital.'

  'Hospital? Are you okay?''

  'Yes, I'm fine. I'm hoping to interview Helen Mackenzie.'

  'Trish's aunt? Is she conscious?'

  'Yes and no. But I'm going to try to talk to the other people involved. I want to see the envelopes, anything I can get my hands on. Maybe I'll pop in to see some old friends of mine and call in some favours.'

  'It's good to hear the inquiry is progressing.' she said trying to sound hopeful. Maybe it was progressing for him...

  'Thanks, Katie.' His laugh rattled in the car. It sounded hollow. 'It is not progressing at all I'm afraid. Do you have any of your famous hunches?'

  'No, not yet, but I may have some news later tonight on Olivia and maybe Alex.'

  'To be honest, Katie,' his voice hardened, 'I don't think you'd be able to sniff anything around them.'

  'Why not?'

  'I've interviewed the two of them back and forth and found absolutely nothing. His alibi is ironclad. People have seen his car around in the Peak District. We had our technical experts examine the car inside out, including checking the mud on the tires! That car hasn’t been anywhere near the Scottish Borders. Your friend Trish, on the other hand...'

  Katie sucked in air.

  'Please, don't tell me you have even more evidence against her...'

  'I’m afraid we have plenty.'

  'This might have been a set-up. I think it's more likely to be Rob then her. I've not managed to tell you, but she's scared for her life. She suspects Rob may come after her, because of what she'd said to the police.'

  There was a silent pause on the other end of the line.

  'Hello, are you still there?' Katie asked anxiously.

  'Yes,' he replied promptly. There was a tired edge to his voice. 'I know you like listening to your hunches, and I've seen it work in the past, but this is a different case. We're dealing with situations, where the newest technology can't find evidence. Katie, I'm really sorry, I think-'