Glitter, Greed and Gatecrashers

by Emily Selby

  'You think it's beyond me? You think I'm punching way above my weight?' A pang of anger clenched her stomach. The heat spilled in her chest and over her face. 'You think my little strategies are not smart enough for your fancy investigation?'

  'No, Katie... that's not what I wanted to say.'

  Her jaw was trembling, she had to prop it on her hand.

  'So, what did you want to say?' she drawled. 'Go on. Don't hide behind politeness and good manners. Isn't it what you've just said? All I can bring is just gossip and people's secrets and this is not good enough. Isn't it? Isn't this what you've just said?'

  She spluttered out and sat there with her mouth open. Her jaw was still trembling, but the heat had subsided, followed by a wave of tiredness and bitter taste at the back of her mouth.

  Another silence filled the other end of the line. She could hear the constant buzzing of what she guessed to be the traffic.

  'Katie,' he said heavily and sighed. 'I'm sorry it came out that way. I always appreciate your insights, but this time around, it's different. We need to let the technology lead us. I know you're upset and stressed because your friends are involved, but maybe it's the time to-'

  Her body jerked detecting the familiar 'keep-out-of-it' tone.

  'Step back?' she snapped. 'I don't think so, Inspector Heaton. You go and investigate with your hi-tech methods, I'll carry on with my little old spade, digging dirt and raking up secrets. This is a murder and, as you've said, my friends have been dragged into it. I won't give up doing whatever I can to help resolve it. I don't want an innocent person to wind up in jail only because technology said so.'

  'Not giving up, as always,' he said huskily. 'I've learnt by now I can't really stop you from doing what you want to do, but please stay safe, Katie. Okay?'

  'I've promised you long time ago. And I've kept it so far.'

  'Can I take it as a yes?' he asked.

  She was still too angry to reply. 'Drive safely, Jack. I hope you find something useful up there,' she said instead and disconnected.

  She dropped the phone on the passenger seat and covered her face with her hands. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Release of anger... Hurt pride... desire to prove him wrong... all of it was stirring in her head and her chest like a giant twister. She breathed slowly and deeply, fighting the pull to jump up and scream.

  After about twenty breaths, her body started to rock, the gentle motion dissolving the tension in her muscles and clearing the fog in her head.

  She was going to prove him wrong. And she was going to do it in the calmest, classiest way she could come up with.

  27

  Getting back home and into the role of mum helped her. Katie went through the chores: picking up Julia from her after-school activities, helping her with homework, preparing something to snack before the trip to Michelle.

  By the time she parked her Nissan Micra in front of Michelle and Kevin's house, she was back in her usual state of mind: calm, positive and motivated to get what she was after - more useful information.

  Julia ran upstairs screaming the moment the entrance door opened. Two more excited voices joined the scream and Katie was relieved when Kevin promptly ushered her to the kitchen.

  'I'll be upstairs, discreetly monitoring the situation and the level of noise. You, ladies, get on with the business while you can.'

  He sneaked out and closed the door behind him.

  Katie joined Michelle and Olivia at the kitchen table. Michelle greeted her with a smile, which Katie interpreted as a mixture of pain and relief.

  'We're just about to start talking. I'm sorry about this,' Michele said to Katie. 'We'll keep it as short as possible, won't we, Olivia?' she addressed the other woman. 'I don't want to bore Katie with details.'

  Ah, so this was why Michelle insisted Katie came earlier. She didn't want to talk with Olivia beforehand. Oh, sneaky Michelle. Katie definitely needed to have an honest chat about it with Michelle. If her friend didn't want to get involved in this business, why couldn't she just say it to Olivia openly?

  'I'd be happy to learn a little about an Internet-based business,' Katie replied. 'I've been wondering about setting up something myself. I like cleaning, but I'd rather earn money doing something I really love, like arts and crafts.'

  'That's a great idea, Katie,' Olivia exclaimed.

  She was beaming. She must have dyed her hair recently, because it had a nice shiny tint to it. Her broad, freckled face was perfectly made up. She’d even added a hint of lipstick.

  'If you follow your dreams and believe in yourself,' Olivia said, 'you can achieve anything you like. It's all in the power of your heart. With this, you create positive energy to carry you forward and help overcome any adversity. You just need to keep going.'

  Katie blinked. If it only was this easy. 'It's hard to keep going, if you have to count money constantly,' Katie said. 'It's even harder if you have a child and you're on your own,' she said. 'It's great if you can follow your passion, but when you're struggling to make ends meet, it's a different thing altogether.'

  'Oh, yes, of course,' Olivia replied and smiled apologetically. 'I'm sorry, I can get a bit too dreamy. That's why I need someone pragmatic and business-minded, like Michelle, to keep it all realistic.'

  Michelle smiled, but her eyes glinted with anxiety.

  'So where have you got with this project?' Katie asked.

  'Well...' Michelle said and paused, reluctance creeping onto her face. 'Olivia, can you give Katie a brief overview, please?'

  Olivia smiled. She opened the laptop in front of her.

  'I am quite confident our idea has a great chance to succeed, but we need some investment. We absolutely have to have our own app, which is the best way to scale up the business. It's good to start with face-to-face consultations as we've done so far, but this is not sustainable,' Olivia rattled off and looked at Michelle.

  Michelle's face tensed. She flicked her golden-brown locks over her shoulder and clasped her hands together.

  'I enjoy working with people face-to-face, but doing it over the Internet, I find it really hard to relate. Plus, we would need a lot of investment to create a decent app. I'm not really sure I'm up for it.'

  'Michelle, I think you're being too negative about it,' Olivia retorted. 'Don't worry about the money side of things. I'm sure we'll find something. We just need to stay positive and believe in it. You have a great talent, Michelle. This idea is about making an even bigger use of it, bringing happiness to many more women than you can with face-to-face consultations. You just need to stop thinking about it as an internet-based business and start looking at it as a much better way to help many more people.'

  Michelle gulped. She pressed her hands together so much her tendons trembled.

  'Olivia, I admire your vision,' Michelle replied, her voice brimming with tension. 'I'm open to new technologies, and I'm keen to learn and try new things, but I don't think I can work with this level of disconnect from my clients.'

  Olivia flinched. 'But Michelle. You haven't given it a good chance. Just think about the positive impact we'd create.'

  Michelle bit her lip. Her forehead furrowed. She shook her head.

  Katie said back and crossed her arms. Ah, so this was what it must have been for Michelle... Now, Katie could see why her best friend had been so reluctant not only to continue with the business venture, but even to collaborate or talk with Olivia. No doubt, Olivia was a passionate woman on a mission, but Katie had just seen the flip side of that. And she wasn't sure she liked it.

  The ringing doorbell cut through the tense silence. Michelle rushed to open the door and a minute later she returned with Alex Gibson. Katie couldn't help noticing he was wearing a new jacket and a pair of smart dark trousers. A big change from the way she remembered him. The baggy, greyish tracksuit was gone. His face looked better too. He was clean-shaven, his hair was trimmed and clean. To top it all, he was smiling.

  'Good evening, ladies. How’s my wonderful wife?
'

  Olivia beamed. 'We've had a really good discussion, Alex.'

  Katie blinked. Had they?

  'And what's the verdict?'

  The corners of Olivia's mouth dropped. 'I think we may need to do some more talking. Maybe I'll have a look around to see if there's anybody else who could help. I think Michelle is not convinced.'

  'If you ever need any help with technology,' Alex said 'you don't have to look too far.'

  Katie felt a pang of doubt in her chest. Did he sound insincere or was it, again, Katie's suspiciousness?

  Michelle shuffled towards the kettle.

  'Would you like a cuppa, Alex?'

  'I wouldn't mind,' he replied. 'Milk, two sugars.'

  'By the way,' Michelle added, pulling a mug from the cupboard above her head. 'Kev wondered if you could give him a hand upstairs. I think he’s got something heavy to shift.'

  Alex rolled up his sleeves and curled his fingers into a fist. 'No problem at all. Here comes Alex The Strong,' he laughed. 'I'll check with him.' He marched out of the kitchen.

  Olivia gave a rattling laugh. 'Sorry, he's been a bit silly. But it's great to see him smiling and happy. The trip down south really helped him. He returned a different man. He is hopeful, more positive about himself, and he wears fresh clothes every day. I tell you, I used to be so embarrassed by his old tracksuit and that green jumper. I was so happy when he finally dumped it.'

  'That was on the day when we came to...' Katie paused because she realised the context of the visit.

  'Oh, yes,' Olivia said. 'That was the same day he disappeared, and the day the police came to interview me for the first time. I was really a bag of nerves back then. Thank you for coming and supporting me. I know it's weird and probably quite awful to say so, but this murder incident has really brought Alex and I closer together.'

  'I can see that,' Michelle said sitting at the table again. 'It's good to see you both happy.'

  Olivia took a deep breath. 'Yes, it's good...' she hesitated. 'I wasn't really sure. Just before he disappeared I was really questioning if we were well suited together. But he's been so caring, so supportive of me now. I think he feels guilty for disappearing when I needed him most.'

  'Yeah, I thought it was a little selfish,' Michelle said quietly. 'He should have returned as soon as the trouble started.'

  'Don't say that, Michelle,' Olivia protested. 'He needed the time to himself. And he did come back as soon as he received my message. And he’s a different man now.'

  Michelle curved her lips upwards, but there was no smile in her eyes. 'So, what is he planning to do now?'

  'He's looking for a job. But on the other hand, he started talking about moving back to Nottingham or the Peak District. He says he needs to be closer to nature.' Olivia paused and looked away. 'He says that being in the middle of nowhere really helped him to reconnect with himself and find positive energy. He wants to buy a house somewhere in the middle of nowhere and try self-sufficient living.'

  'Do you want this?' Katie asked simply.

  She watched Olivia staring into the window without a word. When she turned her face to look at Katie, tears filled her eyes.

  'I'm a city girl,' Olivia said, her voice trembling. 'I've been struggling here in this small town. My head is full of big projects. I really need to live in a larger place. Sunnyvale is a beautiful town, and I love it, and I love the sense of community here. But I feel stifled professionally.'

  'Told you so,' Michelle said and shook her head again.

  'I know you told me. But I've really tried hard. I don't know what to do,' Olivia replied.

  They sat in silence for a while, sipping drinks. Olivia blew her nose and closed her laptop. She jumped to her feet. 'Okay, it's time to go. I'll give Alex a shout, assuming he's already finished helping Kevin.'

  Michelle stood up, too. 'I'll go fetch him.'

  She disappeared and returned after a short while with Alex in tow.

  'Yep, job done,' he said and showed him thumbs up. 'Let's go my beautiful wife. He put his arm around Olivia's shoulders and let her to the door. Michelle followed them. Katie listened for the door to open and close. Michelle reappeared moments later.

  'What do you think?' Michelle asked.

  'About what? The business idea? I can see why you don't want to be part of it.'

  'Thank you,' Michelle said, adding a thin smile.

  'What about those two?' Michelle pointed at the door with her chin.

  'They seem like a happy couple.'

  'Yes, at long last. She deserves to be loved and cherished. She's such a great person, setting all that dreamy stuff aside. I'm glad to see he's treating her better, but I'm also confused and don't know what to think of it.'

  'I think he has returned a different man. Don't know if I trust it. Having said that,' Katie paused and chewed on her lip. 'Having said that I've been quite suspicious of everything and everybody lately.'

  'That's the bad influence of the dishy inspector.'

  Katie opened her mouth to comment, but Michelle raised her hand to stop her.

  'Don't argue, Katie, hun. I've seen the way you look at him.'

  'You haven’t.'

  'I have. At the police station. I also saw the way he looked at you.' She touched her nose. 'And my nose is telling me—'

  'Don't say anything,' Katie cut in.

  'Why are you protesting? What's wrong with a little bit of romance at work? Don't you want to be a happy couple again? Like those two lovebirds.'

  'I want to be in a truly happy relationship again, but I wouldn't necessarily want to be the same as those two lovebirds. They give me the creeps.'

  'Why so?'

  'No reason, just a hunch.'

  'You have become quite suspicious, I must say.'

  'I've had a lot of reasons for that.' Katie sighed. 'Did you ever think Trish would get arrested?'

  'Maybe for speeding, but not a murder.' Michelle ran her hand through her locks. 'What an awful thing to have happened. Do you know anything about it?'

  'Even if I did, I couldn't tell you much. Have you heard anything on the grapevine?'

  'A little. Something about an old computer and an elderly lady hit over the head with a hammer.'

  'Do you think she might have done it?'

  'Trish? I don't really like her, but to be honest, I can't imagine her hurting anyone with anything other than her tongue. She's a bit of a mystery though.'

  'Do you see her often? Did you see her this week? Monday maybe?' Katie probed.

  'No, I don't recall so. This week's been crazy with the missing laptop. It cost me so much time. I hate him for it,' she added with a growing annoyance in her voice.

  'Alex?'

  'Yes. He should have checked the car boot before leaving. It gave me a lot of stress, I tell you.'

  'I can imagine that. Well, I've got to go,' Katie said, climbing to her feet. 'It's late. I still have to cook dinner.'

  It was getting late but more importantly, Katie needed some time on her own to reassess the situation and pull her thoughts together.

  So far, the evening hadn’t gone according to plan. The whole investigation was not going the way she expected it to.

  She had to try something new.

  But what?

  28

  Back at home, with a ready-made shepherd's pie in the oven and Julia doing her homework in her bedroom, Katie prepared herself a cup of Earl Grey tea - to clear her thoughts. She sat at the kitchen table, with the steaming mug and her notebook beside her and thought back to what she had learnt today. There was so much she'd learnt, and at the same time, she felt she'd missed something important. Jack was right, however much her most recent conversation with him hurt her. This murder definitely appeared different from the previous ones. It was very modern. Jack had made several comments about the difficulty in tracing the criminal, because he or she hadn't left a trail. It was a cybercrime. It was a gun crime. It was out of her league. She didn't have enough skills and know
ledge to help solve it.

  But, she had already decided she was going to do whatever she could to find the killer. Because lives of her friends and acquaintances dependent on it.

  She opened the notebook on the page with the timeline. She'd start with making a list of suspects.

  She flicked the page and scribbled:

  Trish

  Rob

  Alex

  Olivia

  It was a narrow circle. Two couples. And two very different couples.

  Were they?

  Trish wanted to get out of town. She often talked about going big with her business. In many ways she was like Olivia. But no matter how much Katie try to avoid thinking about it, Olivia had a mission to help other people, while Trish had always struck her as someone ambitious and quite self-centred. To move back to London, Trish would need a lot of money. She had complained about Rob not being able to earn more. Had she said something about him being not ambitious enough? If this were the case, then Trish teasing Rob about it, might have pushed him to... What was it? Some sort of illegal business online? Maybe the computer games Trish talked about were not entirely legal? Maybe Livermore paid Rob in bitcoin? No, the only bitcoin payment discovered was made by Rob to Livermore. Maybe Rob, like Michelle had lent money to the dead man?

  The more she thought about the whole situation, the more confused she grew. Trish had been arrested, but was she the killer? She was blunt and direct, and she’d certainly hurt a lot of people, but she was not a murdering type. Rob, on the other hand... Katie sighed in exasperation. No, she should stop believing anyone and just rely on evidence.

  Again!

  According to the evidence she'd collected, Rob had a gun, could shoot and was capable of killing animals. But the murderer was someone far more clever than the local opinion thought of Rob. Having said that, if he'd joined forces with someone smart, like Trish, it would make sense.