Ugly Duckling

by Malcolm Allen

  'OK John I'm on it.'

  'And Ian will you stop calling me John, you only do that when you’re trying to be nice, or want some money. It’s J.D. to you.'

  Ian smiled and left.

  As Ian left the building he noticed on the other side of the road a figure taking photographs of the police station, he was about to cross and ask what they were up to, but as soon as he stepped towards them they jumped into a car and were away. Bit odd he thought but probably just Japanese tourists, Bournemouth's full of them at this time of year.

  Chapter 4

  The front door opened and she entered the apartment, a large holdall type bag over one shoulder and a laptop case in the other hand, she closed the door crossed to the kitchen put the bags down and went to the cupboard to pour herself some breakfast cereal. It was lunch time but Jenni wasn’t big on lunch, she couldn’t afford it for one thing, it wasn't the cost in financial terms, it was the cost in calories that bothered her. She was a freelance journalist but apart from the odd piece in women’s magazines she was still waiting for the big story that would make her name. Fortunately, in the meantime, her trust fund provided enough for her to live quite comfortably. At 29 she was still single. Men seemed to find her incredibly attractive and when she looked in a mirror she could see why, she knew she had great legs and boobs and her figure was very trim, she worked hard on it at the gym, she thought her nose was all wrong and those ears! But she could always have those rectified later but in the meantime she did her best to cover her ears with her hair, which was long, healthy and shiny, in her mind her hair was her best feature. She had her fair share of male attention but they seemed to get bored waiting to get her into bed but she wouldn’t give any man that privilege easily although she had no problem with “heavy petting”. On the occasions she did go the whole way they seemed to turn on her almost immediately and ultimately they vanished from her life. 'Men are bastards' she thought.

  She took another mouthful of cereal and opened the laptop, it had been a busy morning down at the Pier, she’d been taking notes and photographs of the police activity there and had already sent them to the Bournemouth Mail “Body found in mysterious circumstances at the Pier” she'd written, and “A source confirmed that the police are baffled by the cause of death despite the horrendous injuries inflicted on the victim in what appears to be a motiveless attack.”

  Her laptop sprang into action and almost immediately someone was Skyping her, it was “Wheeler49.” She had been in touch with him for a while now but never met him, it was one of those “friend requests” from strangers that she normally clicks “decline” on, but on this occasion she had clicked “accept” in error and never removed it. They had started by texting online, the chats via the video link came later and over time the rapport had built and she had divulged just about everything about herself to him. Now it had developed into a strange kind of relationship, he was the one man that had stuck with her when all the others had left.

  'Hello Jenni, did you have a nice morning at the beach?'

  'Have you been spying on me again? Your turning into a stalker.'

  'Just like to make sure you're OK.'

  'But I never see you, I've only ever seen your face on the monitor, are we ever going to meet face to face?'

  'Maybe one day we will, but why spoil a good thing? Your happy with our little arrangement aren’t you?'

  'I suppose so, at least you don’t leave a mess or outstay your welcome, I don’t have to cook you breakfast in the morning and as a bonus I can always turn you off.'

  'Ah yes, but you always turn me on first don't you my little kitten?'

  Jenni knew the signal, 'just wait a moment' she said 'I'm going to move you into the bedroom.'

  'I'll wait for that no problem' came the expected reply. 'But don't take too long, I'm ready for you now.'

  Jenni unplugged the laptop and took it through to the bedroom where she placed it onto the bed and plugged it into the bedside socket then she plugged in the USB web cam, the built in one was fine but with the USB one she could show the whole of the bed, she looked at the monitor to see that the picture was OK then sat on the bed with her back propped against the pillow, her legs resting comfortably on the bed and clicked reconnect.

  He answered immediately, 'Ah there you are' he said 'that took you no time at all, what a good girl you are.'

  'I get lots of practice don’t I?' she said smiling

  'But you know you like it as much as I do' he was grinning from ear to ear.

  'Maybe, maybe not.'

  'Oh you little tease. Do you want me to make a mess in my trousers?' he paused, then 'What colour are you wearing today?'

  She smiled, this whole situation was quite odd but it did turn her on.

  'Well now, who said I was wearing any?' Jenni gave a coy look into the camera lens.

  'Oh you really are playful today aren’t you? Show me!' Wheeler demanded.

  She could only ever see his face from his webcam but she could tell he was already getting excited, she raised her skirt up to reveal the tops of her hold ups.

  'Ooh stocking tops, you know I love stocking tops' he was almost shouting with excitement, licking his lips with shallow fast breaths he said 'higher move it higher.'

  She smiled and did as requested, slowly raising her skirt further to reveal red satin panties.

  'Oh, I knew you’d be wearing some, you are a little prick teaser.'

  'But I got these especially for you,' she said 'would you like to see the rest?'

  'Hmm Yes please' Wheeler licked his lips and moved closer to his computer to get a better look.

  She gracefully got to her knees and undid the zip at the back of her skirt, laying back down on the bed she gently moved the skirt down over her long legs bending them at the knees so the skirt and stockings could be removed in one long single sweeping movement, she glanced at the monitor and could see that Wheeler was obviously approving of the show. Then she got back to her knees and turned her back to the camera revealing a small G string, firm shapely buttocks and her long hair trailing down her back, she leaned forward and run her finger gently between her legs.

  'Hmm, oh yes lovely' Wheeler grinned.

  As she undid and removed her blouse and bra, still with her back to the camera, she reached and pulled her hair over her shoulder so it fell and covered one breast but revealed her entire back and long slender neck to the camera.

  'Oh god, you are beautiful.'

  She glanced, smiling, at the camera where she noticed on the monitor his head “bobbing” slightly, she knew he had started masturbating, the thought of him doing that while watching her turned her on even more.

  She turned to face the camera and placed one hand on her uncovered breast,

  'God! my breasts are so firm and my nipples are so hard, can you imagine how they feel?’

  'Oh yes, yes, tell me more.'

  'But down here' her other hand reached between her legs gently stoking the satin with her index finger ' it’s so warm, soft and welcoming.'

  'Yes, Yes my little darling, show me more!'

  With this she moved her hand inside her panties, arched her back and fell backwards onto the bed.

  'Oh my god, it feels so good down here, I wish you could try it.'

  'I'm enjoying this as it is' he said, his head bobbing faster and faster.

  She removed her panties, completely naked now her body was firm and completely hairless, her hand went back to between her legs and her index finger started probing and stroking, she bent her knees and opened her legs slightly more so that the camera could get a good view as she continued to caress herself, enjoying the pleasure she got from that and the effect it had on Wheeler.

  'Oh my god, yes, yes,YES,' Wheeler was enjoying the show.

  Jenni slowly reached into her bedside drawer and took the dildo and some lubricants, after slowly spreading the gel both on her and her “friend” as she called it, she placed her friend between her legs just gently rubbi
ng around the labia at first then full penetration.

  'Oh, I can just imagine this is how you would feel inside me, oh my god, Wheeler will you be this good, I bet you'll be so much better. Oh God Wheeler I can imagine this being you!'

  She could see from the monitor that he was climaxing, she simultaneously curved her back and let out a cry of pleasure, 'yes that’s it' yes yes!' she cried.

  Then silence.

  She lay there for a few minutes, neither of them said anything, then she pulled over a pillow and laid it on top of her, partially covering herself. She looked at the monitor again and could see that he had lit a cigarette, something he always did and equally something that always made her smile.

  'How was it for you?' she asked.

  'One of the best' came the reply as he took a long drag of his cigarette 'So Jenni, what are you up to later on?'

  'I don’t know yet, why?'

  'Are you seeing anyone at the moment?'

  'No, but you have to understand that as much as I enjoy my time with you nothing beats actual physical contact with someone, its been so long since I felt a real man inside me, and you keep refusing to meet me.'

  'Maybe one day we'll meet, but I'm happy at the moment. I'm glad I've got you all to myself, not having to share you with anybody is just wonderful, and I know how upset you get when your boyfriends find out your little secret, as they always seem to do.'

  She hated him when he started on this, he didn’t actually want her but didn’t want her to meet anyone else either.

  'Stop going on about that, it’s no big deal.'

  'Maybe not to you or me but other people are not so understanding about these little things my dear.'

  'As it happens I am meeting someone tonight and if I bring him back here that’s up to me' she wasn’t actually meeting anybody special tonight just an old boyfriend that had asked to see her, 'definitely not to get back together but I need to talk a few things over with you.' he had told her, probably missing a few CDs and blaming her for it, but he would never be allowed to set foot in her apartment again. She just needed to put Wheeler in his place, wanted to make him a little bit jealous, and you never know, she might get lucky with someone else tonight.

  'Well, just be careful my dear, I would so hate for another one to dump you, I'll only have to pick up all the broken little pieces again, I'll be watching you.'

  'What did you say?'

  'I'll be watching out for you' he corrected, 'I must go now, see you soon.' And with that the connection was dropped.

  Jenni went for a shower 'watching me' she thought' he definitely said watching me.'

  Chapter 5

  Driving to the mortuary to speak with Elizabeth John had at last calmed down and was focussing more fully on the case and less on his personal tragedy, he had always thrown himself into his work, it gave him something else to think about and took his mind off of other things, perhaps psychologically it wasn’t the correct thing to do, but it worked for him. Ian, who sat next to him, was just glad to see the old J.D. coming back.

  'So Ian, this is what we've got, a dead man on the beach savagely slashed but we're not sure if that’s what killed him, no weapon as yet and apparently no motive for the attack. The victim moved here from Luton only three months ago and seemed to keep himself to himself. Any news on his relatives yet?'

  'Not too much really J.D., his wife died with his sister in a house fire while she was visiting Florida, the police there don’t think it was anything untoward and just put it down to an accident caused by a faulty gas regulator, there was one other body in the fire which was never properly identified but, the belief is that this was Jeremy's son who had gone to stay there for a while, that theory is backed up by the fact that there’s been no trace of him since and our victim officially reported his son missing three weeks after the fire, so it seems pretty solid. As far as we know at the moment they were the only relatives, doesn’t seem to be anyone else surviving, but we're still looking.'

  'What about CCTV at the Pier?'

  'Out of action last night, probably for the next two nights, something about upgrading.'

  'Just our luck, couldn’t they do upgrades when there wasn’t a murder, inconsiderate sods.'

  'Ah, so we are going down the murder route?' Ian said with a smile on his face.

  'You can wipe that smile off your face, I know you enjoy a good murder but we've got to hear what Liz says. Lets be honest though, it looks and feels like a murder to me.'

  Still smiling Ian said, 'and thinking it’s a murder has nothing to do with your improvement in mood?'

  'Oh shut up, we’re nearly there now.'

  As they entered the public mortuary Elizabeth Collingsworth was there to greet them, she was wearing her white lab coat, John had often wondered what was underneath it and had fantasised about finding out.

  'Good afternoon gentlemen, I was wondering when you’d drop by.'

  'Hello Liz, what you got for us?'

  She led them through to where the body was still lying in what looked almost like an operating theatre, except there was no need for anaesthesia here.

  'I've done the preliminary examination, removed the brain and other organs to take a better look, usual stuff. And I've cleaned him up a bit as you can see.'

  It was true that he did look a little better than he did last time John had seen him, but John really didn’t like looking at bodies after a post-mortem, they never looked quite real to him, he theorised that as all the organs were removed the soul actually went too, it was just an empty shell now didn’t even look human. Thankfully though this one was almost covered although he could still see where the skull had been opened to remove the brain.

  'Feeling a bit squeamish John?' Liz asked, noticing the expression on his face.

  'No, not really Liz, but by the same token that doesn’t mean I feel like eating a three course meal either.'

  Liz smiled 'well after my preliminary examination I can tell you the adrenalin levels in his blood were sky high and that his heart was scarred and damaged. There will, of course, need to be further examination and an inquest but it’s my belief that this man died from myocardial infarction. Heart attack to you and me.'

  'I just don’t get it' John was thinking out loud 'He died from a heart attack, it was probably being threatened with a knife that bought it on, so if he dropped down dead because his heart gave up why go through all this and butcher the poor sod, was it a robbery? Hate crime? Or a fight maybe?'

  'Crime of passion?' Liz said

  John spun to look at Liz 'Christ Liz, remind me never to get passionate with you.'

  'I wish you would' she replied in an off the cuff sort of way.

  John laughed 'We never seem to have the opportunity Liz.'

  'You know these tables are much more comfortable than they look' Liz joked.

  'Yeh, but it’s my back you see, you’d have to go on top.'

  'I'm sure I could manage that if you promised not to hurt me.'

  'For Gods sake, will you two get a room' Ian interjected.

  Liz and John both laughed. Liz blushed.

  'OK Liz, if that’s what you found that’s what we'll have to accept, if you do find anything else let us know won’t you?'

  'Oh and Liz' Ian said 'we're both going to the Laughing Pig tonight, just for a couple, its the opening night, we'll be there about eight if you fancy dropping in for one,' then winking 'I'm sure J.D. would buy you a drink.'

  'Thanks Ian, I might just do that.'

  They walked to the car. John didn’t say anything. Ian thought he was deeply considering the case, he had a tendency to go into a trance like state at times when he was deep in thought but as they approached the car John blurted out 'you are a little stirrer aren’t you? Inviting Liz tonight, I know what you’re trying to do but it won’t work, we've known each other a long time and it’s never lead to anything yet, I still love my wife. And don’t really fancy Liz that much.'

  Ian grinned 'what me? No, no J.D
. I wasn’t thinking anything like that. Is that what you think? Oh no, J.D. I wouldn’t try to set you up like that. But now you mention it, you were obviously thinking about it and she does fancy you. After the way you two were carrying on in there she probably would do you the power of good and I've got to leave early tonight, promised Jane we'd have a night in together.'

  'God you're a devious little sod! I bet you’ve painted a blue square in your garden to make people on Google earth think you’ve got a pool.'

  'You taught me everything I know J.D. Worth thinking about though. Wouldn’t you like to know what’s under that lab coat?'

  It was Johns turn to blush.

  Chapter 6

  The Rose Public house in Bournemouth had been a ramshackle run down old pub that literally had sawdust as a floor covering and spittoons in the corner, the chairs and stools would stick to you when you got up because of the amount of stale beer that had been left to dry in the cushions and if you sat anywhere near a curtain you could smell decades of old smoke with a trace of puke thrown in for good measure, Phil had bought the place six months earlier and kept it running over the busy Christmas and New Year period but then, as soon as he could, had closed it down for a refit. Now the pub had a completely new outside fascia, big new windows, bright lighting and a new name, “The Laughing Pig” the name was a reference to the final words his ex-wife had spoken to him at the divorce hearing. She had money, and lots of it, thanks to a Family inheritance she got long before she met Phil, when they met he had nothing. They married, but after a succession of affairs by Phil, she finally had enough and asked for a divorce.

  'Everything split 50/50' was Phil's only reaction. After rounds of legal warfare that’s what he finally got. As he left the courtroom he was smiling from ear to ear,