by Emily Selby
'They're looking for a lawyer. But the gun used to kill Jeff was found in the car, up north.'
'And you're only telling me about it now?'
'Because you've just asked!'
She sipped her tea, pulling herself from the brink of exploding and collecting her thoughts. 'Is this the same one as the bullet found under Alex's sofa?'
'Hard to prove 100%, but the same calibre.'
'It looks like it may be very hard for him to wriggle out of the charges.'
'Indeed.'
He reached for his mug, and they sat in silence for a while.
'Why did he do that? Why did he kill Livermore? What was it all about?' she asked.
'Money. A lot of money. Bitcoin's value has been growing incredibly fast. And they have a lot of it. They've been mining for a while. Knowing Jeff Livermore, I guess he introduced Alex to bitcoin mining. And he was smart enough to learn about erasing his own tracks. I wonder if Livermore came back to ask for his share of the bounty.'
'What bounty?'
'Remember that strange internet activity I told you about?'
Katie wrinkled her nose. It reminded her she should discuss the password and laptop security with Miriam. She wasn't looking forward to this particular conversation. 'Yes, what about it?'
'We have evidence to believe Jeff Livermore might have been the distributor of the sneaky bitcoin mining software. He passed it to various hackers around the country, and probably also abroad, with the intention of them inserting these pieces of code into popular websites.'
'For innocent people to let their computers be used unwittingly to earn money for Jeff Livermore?'
'That's the idea.'
'What a wicked person he was!'
Jack nodded. 'I thought you would have known that from your friend.'
'Yeah.' Katie paused. 'So, this was Rob and Alex's new project? They've used the community centre and our laptop?'
'Very likely. We recovered some evidence from the club’s laptop. It's hard to entirely wipe traces of electronic activity without physically damaging the hardware.'
'It was all down to greed, then? What about killing Rob? His best friend?'
'Definitely greed. Money goes into people's heads. I think with Rob, it would have been greed and fear. Rob had become a liability. It was Rob's job to kill Helen Mackenzie, and he botched it. Alex was petrified Rob might make more mistakes and blow their cover.'
'Horrible.' Katie shuddered. 'Alex must have had his guts full of being unemployed and failing at one thing after another,' Katie said slowly, thinking back to all the snippets of conversations she'd heard over the previous few days. 'The frustration and hurt pride. However much I might disagree with her, I think Olivia was right, guessing that her success and independence got under Alex’s skin. He had to prove himself and everyone around him that he was a man again.'
Jack shook his head. 'I think he's a little darker than you paint him. A lot darker, actually. I agree, this crime was born out of frustration and desire to have more and more, but don't forget he planned it so well. Just look at all the track-covering!'
Katie sighed. 'You're right. I can see it, indeed. Was Olivia aware of it all?'
'I don't think so. But she has covered for him a little. But now, she realised how wicked he's been, I don't think this is going to last.'
'Has she changed any of her statements?'
'Yes, wanna guess which one?' he winked at her.
'Why not? I bet it was something about the envelope with the USB in it. Was there even any USB?'
'According to her, yes. And I've seen it. But that phone call she couldn't find on her phone, remember?'
'Ah, yes! What about it?'
'We couldn't find it on her phone, but it showed up on her tablet. I think these two hadn't synched or something. I suspect he made the call from her account to his account.'
'Building a backstory?'
'Exactly. He had no reason to be around the community centre.'
'So that's why he insisted on showing the call to Michelle. He really planned it. In cold blood. What a horrible man.' Katie paused and shuddered. 'To be honest'–she glanced at him–'this is something I can't get right in my head. I am a rather trusting person, who assumes everyone has a positive side to them, and that generally people mean well, but made a mistake, might have been misguided, or whatever else excuse I can find for their behaviour. But this time, I've been struggling to trust people, even my friends! How do you deal with that? How do you find a balance between trust and suspicion?'
He gazed at her, his eyes serious. 'That's a tough one, Katie. I still struggle with it, and get it wrong at times. But the bottom line is that I don't trust or distrust anyone. I gather evidence and manage risk.'
Katie tucked the rogue strand of hair behind her ear and started to twirl it. 'I don't know how to even get to the point of trusting the evidence I collect...'
He stretched his arm and brushed her hand. A jolt of hot energy sprang from his warm fingers and rushed up her arm.
'I'm sure you'll get there one day. You'll be a great investigator, Katie.'
'I don't think I can get there by myself,' she said.
His glinting eyes swept over her face, in a long, warm gaze. 'I can help you, if you want.'
'That'd be awesome,' she croaked.
'And, 'he said and paused, his fingers touched her hand again, 'I'd love to get to know you a little more as a person if you don't mind.'
'Not at all,' she said, her voice husky, her chest trembling. 'That'd be nice, too.'
'And let me be clear here, I'm asking you out on a date.'
Katie's eyelashes fluttered. Her heart broke into a gallop. The butterflies spread all over her chest again. 'Ah, so if it's a date, 'she said, forcing the air through the tight throat, ‘then I definitely say yes.'
Also by Emily Selby
Did you enjoy The Paper Crafts Club Mysteries book 1-3? Can’t wait to find out what happens next?
If yes, then you absolutely have to read the next books:
Book 4: Journals, Jealousy and Jilted Sweethearts.
Remember Katie’s new cleaning gig for Jane and Keith Starr? Good, because Katie finds one of them dead. Which one? Why? And why it’s the wrong spouse?
And, most of all, whodunnit…
Murder, old secrets, new gossip, a little romance - the usual Sunnyvale stuff. Click here to read it now.
Book 5: Blades, Betrayals and Broken Ties
Katie finds another body in the old, derelict house behind her workshop. Is this really Mrs Weatherspoon's missing lodger? What was he doing there and why was there an accident?
Or maybe, as Katie thinks, it was a murder?
Find out who and why might have wanted Archie Blackburn dead, and, of course, snoop a little on Katie and Jack. Murder, old secrets, new gossip, a little romance - the usual Sunnyvale stuff ;-)
Click here to read it now!
Book 6: Scissors, Siblings and Surprises
This is the last day to decide what she wants to do with the inherited workshop, so Katie is desperate to have some peace and quiet to make up her mind. But instead, she finds a friend's husband holding a pair of blood-stained scissors and standing over a stabbed body of his brother.
Is he the murderer, an important witness, or just an unfortunate victim of a clever, multi-layer set-up?
As usual, Katie and Jack embark on the mission to untangle a web of lies, secrets and local gossip.
click here to make sure you to start reading!
Book 7: Origami, Odium and Old Sins
Katie finds the body of her co-worker, Amanda, shot. Everyone assumes it’s a suicide until Katie discovers a note disguised as an origami animal left by the victim, suggesting this was a murder. More notes are found, all “coded in origami” but Katie can’t do origami!
On top of that, Jack is asked to return to his previous job and Katie is torn what to do with their relationship.
Will Katie finally learn how to
do origami, help Jack discover the truth about Amanda’s death and will they take their relationship to the next level?
Don’t miss out - click here to make sure you get your copy of the book when it’s released!
