‘Of course you do, Bill, dear. Now, don’t worry.’ Turning to Phil she said, ‘Your usual, Phil?’ Then turning her smile on Zak once more she said, ‘And I know you’d like a gin and tonic, wouldn’t you, dear?’
‘Shall I get them?’ Zak said.
‘No, you just sit and talk to our guests while I do it.’ With that, and gently humming to herself, she went across to the cocktail cabinet and began pouring drinks. It was then, out of sight of the men that she surreptitiously slipped a small phial of chloral hydrate into Bill’s drink. She had just prepared the classic Mickey Finn.
Five minutes later, Bill was snoring soundly on the sofa next to Zak. When Zak went to shake him awake, Phil said sharply, ‘Let him sleep, Zak. He’s got a long, tiring journey ahead of him. It’ll do him good to sleep for a while.’
Zak shrugged. ‘Ok. So, while he sleeps, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?’
Jenny smiled and walking across to the armchair where Phil was relaxing, she sat down on the arm and leaned against him. Zak was astonished at such a brazen display and his eyes opened in surprise.
Mistaking his expression, Jenny said, ‘So you really didn’t know that Phil and I have been seeing each other for the past year?’ Then, with a sneer she added, ‘I always knew you were a bit of an idiot but I never realized until the last few weeks what a complete fool I married.’
Zak flushed red at this painful barb but was determined to remain calm. ‘Is it so foolish for a husband to trust his wife, Jenny?’ he replied.
It was her turn to flush, while Phil gave a scarcely suppressed chuckle.
‘You must admit, Zachary,’ he said in his easy manner, ‘you’ve been acting pretty strangely these last few weeks. I don’t know what game you’ve been playing or what you hoped to achieve by pretending to know nothing about your business, but whatever it was, that’s all academic now. It’s time for us to put the final part of our plan into effect.’
‘I wish you’d tell me what’s going on?’ Zak repeated.
Phil looked up at Jenny. ‘I don’t suppose it would do any harm, would it, sweetheart?’
‘Why bother? I don’t think we should waste any more time,’ she said. ‘We don’t want anything to go wrong at the last minute, do we? Not after all this planning. I say we stick to our original plan and get on with it.’
‘Righto, Jen luv. I suppose your right,’ Phil nodded.
Playing for time, Zak said, ‘At least tell me about the photographs.’
Phil and Jenny looked at each other for a moment before Jenny decided that her plan really was too good not to share. Smiling at him she said, ‘Why else do you think Bill was prepared to sell us his business at such an attractive price, dear?’ Then, with a hard edge to her voice she continued. ‘The fact is, we’ve got some highly incriminating photographs of him and his young niece that he definitely doesn’t want made public. By the way, we never did tell you that Phil used to be Bill’s brother-in-law before his sister divorced the old goat, did we? That’s how Phil managed to get hold of the photographs.’
‘The stupid sod kept them at the back of his desk and didn’t have the sense to keep the drawer locked when he was out of the office,’ Phil said without the least trace of shame for what he had done.
Zak cast an anxious glance to where Bill was slumped on the sofa next to him.
Noticing the look, Jenny said, ‘Don’t worry about Bill. He won’t come around for a few hours yet.’
Light finally began to dawn. ‘You’ve drugged him,’ Zak choked out. ‘But why?’
‘It’s all part of the plan, old boy,’ Phil said airily.
‘What plan?’ Zak said nervously. If the pair were willing to go this far, they were probably prepared to go further still and whether he liked it or not, he was now involved in whatever else they were planning.
Jenny and Phil once again looked at each other and smiled. They really were enjoying themselves. ‘I think you might call it a takeover,’ Jenny said.
Grinning broadly, Phil added, ‘You might even call it a palace revolution.’
Zak began to stand up, suddenly frightened.
With a single movement, Phil leapt up and pushed Zak back into the deep sofa, At the same time he took a solid looking cosh out of his pocket.
‘Stay where you are,’ he threatened, standing over Zak to make sure he was obeyed.
Deep in the comfortable folds of the sofa, Zak’s movements were seriously hampered. There was little he could do in a hurry. Too late he realized how useful it would have been had he spent time in his youth becoming a martial arts expert but sadly he had not. Added to which, Phil was at least two stones heavier than he was, as well as being five years younger.
‘What are you going to do?’ Zak said, not even embarrassed to hear the fear in his voice.
‘There’s going to be a little accident, dear,’ Jenny explained, as if to a baby. ‘After coming all this way to get his photographs, it seems Bill became rather annoyed when you failed to hold up your end of the bargain.’
‘What bargain?’ Zak said, now playing for time. His mind was still racing madly trying to make sense of what was happening.
‘Don’t you remember,’ Jenny teased. ‘When Phil showed you those dreadful photographs he’d accidentally come across and said he was going to hand them over to the police, you said you had a better use for them. Have you forgotten how you thought you could use them to acquire Bill’s business at a bargain-basement price?’
Zak went cold. Had all this happened before he had arrived in the dimension? Had he really been part of the conspiracy? He decided to play dumb, a not too difficult feat in the circumstance. ‘What are you talking about?’ he blustered. ‘I’ve never seen any of Bill Wragg’s photographs.’
With a sneer on his handsome face, Phil turned to Jenny and said, ‘I told you, he’s got a screw loose, or something.’ Turning back to Zak, she said, ‘What’s got into you? You haven’t been the same since you came back from Carlisle. Did they give you a brain transplant or something when you were down there?’
Zak’s brain was in overdrive. He was convinced that if he genuinely was part of the scam, someone would surely have mentioned the photographs before now. Therefore, because of the strange way the pair was behaving and because neither had mentioned the matter before, he was probably as much a victim of the scam as Bill was. Indeed, from what he had so far gleaned from Phil and Jenny, the end result might well prove even worse for him than it was likely to be for Bill. Hadn’t Jenny mentioned something about him suffering some sort of accident? As if a burst of light had illuminated his brain, he guessed what they were about to do.
While Bill was still drugged and unconscious, it was their intention to kill the one man who stood between them and their goal. With his elimination, all they had to do was make sure that Bill’s prints were all over the murder weapon and that his, Zak’s blood was splattered all over Bill’s clothes. Then, before Bill recovered consciousness, they would drive him back to Carlisle where they would leave him in some convenient lay-by or side street. To explain why she and Phil were not present at the time, Jenny would pretend that she and her fancy man had gone on to the restaurant while he, Zak, had stayed back to settle some private business with Bill. When neither he nor Bill showed up, the worried pair would claim to have returned to the house where they had discovered Zak’s murdered body. The photographs would be placed somewhere where they would easily be discovered and after some none too subtle hints; the police would put two and two together and go off in search of poor old Bill. The evidence against him would be overwhelming, and despite his protests of innocence, he would eventually be convicted of murder. By which time Jenny would own both her late husband’s business as well as Bill’s. It was all so devious and well calculated.
Zak realized that his life hung by a thread. He had to think quickly if he hoped to survive.
Chapter 17
Zak
Zak was in desperate and imminent danger
and could only hope that while he kept Phil and Jenny talking, a reprieve or an opportunity to escape might present itself. He desperately wracked his brain for an idea and suddenly, something Phil had said moments earlier triggered a response. It was something about him having had a brain transplant and, when all was said and done, wasn’t that exactly what had happened to him? All right, perhaps he had really had a whole body transplant, but wasn’t that much the same as having a brain transplant? This might be one time when the truth, because it was so fantastic, would give him a chance to talk his way out of his predicament.
Sensing Phil might be the easier of the two to convince, he looked his Financial Director in the eyes, took a deep breath and began.
‘You’ve been wondering what happened to me when I went down to Carlisle, haven’t you?’He was pleased when he saw a glint of interest in Phil’s eyes. Not waiting for a denial, Zak hurried on.
‘You may remember I almost told you about it a week or so ago just after Jenny threw me out of the house. I stopped then before I got too far into the explanation because I realized it wasn’t the best time.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Phil said, shaking his head.
‘I teased you about losing my marbles and said you probably saw it as an opportunity to take over my business. Don’t you remember?’ He was pleased to see the light of remembrance go on in Phil’s eyes.
‘I thought you’d remember that. The point is, I had an accident in my motel room when I was down in Carlisle. The television was faulty and when I touched it, I got a massive shock that threw me across the room. I know you’ll find it difficult to believe, but in the process my memories became mixed up with those of the Zachary Storie you know. The person inside this body that used to belong to Zachary Story is actually another version of the person you knew. I know it’s hard to believe. I can hardly believe it myself but the truth is, I’m from a parallel dimension.’
As he looked from Phil to Jenny and back again, it was clear from the incredulous expressions on their faces that they firmly believed he was spinning them a wild cock and bull story. He pressed on, hardly taking the time to draw breath. It was crucial that they believed him.
‘I really am someone else inside this body. At one time in the past the Zachary you know and the Zak I am were one and the same person but as has also been happening to both of you, though you don’t know it, at some time we went different ways. Don’t ask me to explain how it happened because I can’t. All I know is that while he became successful, I didn’t. I’m just a poor bloke who happens to have landed up in the body of someone more successful than I was.'
Addressing himself to Phil, he said, 'As you’ve already discovered, Phil, I know very little about cars, and what I do know is only about cars in my own dimension, which are slightly different from yours. I left school when I was sixteen; I never went to university; I’ve never been successful at anything except that I married a really nice girl called Jeannie Granger and I live down in Croydon.’
Then, taking a huge chance, he added, ‘If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ring the manager of the motel I was staying in. He’ll tell you how strangely I acted after the accident. If you kill me, you won’t be solving your little problem because you’ll have killed the wrong bloke.’
He could see from their expressions that he had at least planted the germ of a doubt in their minds but it was far too soon to relax.
Jenny was the first to speak. With a sneer that quite spoilt her good looks she said, ‘What a load of rubbish! If you think we’re going to fall for something as farfetched as that, you’ve got another think coming. Do you really think I don’t know my own husband, even if you have been acting like an imbecile over these past few weeks?’
‘But that’s my whole point,’ Zak butted in, trying hard to keep the desperation from his voice. ‘You recognise your husband’s body, which, of course, this is. What I’m telling you is that while this is your husband’s body, someone else who isn’t your husband is inside controlling it.’ Taking a chance he added, ‘and don’t tell me you haven’t found the way I make love different and interesting. You couldn’t get enough of it, could you?’
At this Jenny flushed scarlet while Phil looked scandalised.
‘I thought you said you and Zak had stopped making love?’ he said, accusation in his voice.
‘It’s only been since you told me to invite him back into the house and to act naturally,’ she whimpered, clearly afraid of upsetting her lover.
Phil looked hard at Jenny as if seeing her in her true colours for the first time. Zak was encouraged. Had he found a way to push a wedge between the pair? He decided to press home his advantage, slight as it was.
‘Come on Jenny. Don’t try to pretend you only did it out of a sense of duty. If that was the case, why did you insist on doing it three and four times each and every night? My god, there were some mornings when I could hardly get out of bed, I was so exhausted.’
Deciding to go onto the offensive, Jenny rounded on Zak. ‘You’re being quite disgusting!’ Then turning again to Phil, she appealed to him. ‘Don’t believe a word he’s saying. He’s making it all up. Can’t you see what he’s trying to do? He’s trying to wriggle out of the inevitable? Sure, I allowed him to make love to me once or twice but that was only for forms sake. What he’s suggesting is quite gross and insulting. In any case, we haven’t got time for any of this rubbish. I say we stick to our plan as well as to our time table. As far as I’m concerned and as far as anyone else who knows him is concerned, the person sitting on the sofa in front of me is Zachary Storie. Now, let’s get on with it.’
‘Hang on a minute, Jen. There’s no rush for a few more minutes so let’s try to be certain. I agree that on the face of it, he’s probably spinning us a load of bull but there’s no getting away from the fact that he’s been like a different person these past few weeks. Even you commented on it, and more than once, I recall. What if he really is telling the truth?’
‘Come on; wake up, Phil. Can’t you see he’s just playing for time?’
‘If that’s all I’ve been doing, Phil,’ Zak said, ‘don’t you think I’d have thought up a more believable story than the one I’ve just told you?’
‘Just wait a minute,’ Jenny ordered, once more taking command of the situation. ‘Let me finish.’
‘Go on,’ Phil muttered, gently smashing the brutal looking cosh into his hand as he did so.
‘Even if he is telling the truth, does it matter?’ Jenny quietly argued. ‘The police are going to find the dead body of Zachary Storie when they arrive and it’s only the body of Zachary they’ll be interested in. They’re not going to examine his mind, even if they could get into it.’
Then turning back to her husband, she smiled her sweetest smile and said, ‘Sorry, Zachary dear, or whoever you are, but Phil and I have spent far too long planning this scheme to let a stupid electric shock spoil it for us. In any case, far too much money is involved. I never thought I’d say this but I shall really miss you, dear.’
Out of the corner of his eye, Zak saw Phil, who finally appeared to be in full agreement with Jenny, raise the cosh high above his head. Zak braced himself for the blow, but before the cosh smashed into his head, a loud ring from the front door bell sounded out, which immediately threw the would-be assassins into a state of consternation.
‘Who’s that? Phil said to no one in particular while Jenny with a quick movement went across to the window and cautiously pulled back the curtain.
‘Blast,’ she said. ‘It’s Naomi. I didn’t expect to see her here again. What the hell does she want?’
As he heard the name, Zak’s heart gave a leap. Surely, they wouldn’t kill him with Naomi standing outside the front door.
‘If we ignore her, perhaps she’ll go away,’ Phil said hopefully.
As if to give the lie to the suggestion, Naomi rang the bell again and this time kept her finger firmly on the button. All three in the sitting r
oom held their breath as the bell rang without stopping. It was almost as if time stood still.
Eventually, with a sigh, Jenny moved to the door. ‘I’d better go and let her in before she attracts the attention of the neighbours,’ she said.
Zak ’s optimism surged forward even more when he heard the voices of the two women rise in an angry confrontation on the doorstep. Suddenly the door of the sitting room burst open to reveal a flushed Naomi standing there. She looked angry and her ample bosom heaved with pent up emotion.
Her eyes swept over the room taking in the slumped body of Bill Wragg and Phil who still stood threateningly over Zak.
‘What’s going on?’ she demanded.
Jenny and Phil exchanged glances but before either could speak, Zak acted. With all the speed and force he could muster, he leapt out of the sofa, taking Phil completely by surprise. Fortunately for Zak, Phil was still looking at Jenny and wondering how they would reply to Naomi’s question when Zak’s head thudded into the man’s midriff causing him to expel a great gout of air from his lungs. At the same time, he was sent staggering backwards. Zak would normally have been no physical match for his Finance Director, but the sheer force and suddenness of his action was all the advantage he needed; that and the leg of an armchair which got in Phil’s way as he staggered back, tripping him. There is a saying that the bigger they are, the harder they fall and so it was when Phil went sprawling backwards. Coming down from such a height, he hit the ground with tremendous force and while his body came to a shuddering halt, his head continued on down striking the corner of the fireplace a thudding blow that knocked him senseless.
Not even waiting to check on Phil’s condition, Zak turned to Naomi and yelled, ‘They’ve already drugged Bill Wragg and they were going to kill me and make it look like he did it. Quick, get out and call the police.’
Jenny’s reactions had been slightly quicker than Phil’s and as Zak leapt out of the sofa, so she had started forwards to assist her lover, which left Naomi standing just inside the doorway. She had a heaven-sent opportunity to make good her escape but instead of running she came right into the room and went across to where Phil was lying.
SWITCHED: The man who lost his body but kept his mind. Page 29
