The Untimely Death Box Set

by James Kipling

  “You’re wasting your time—it probably was her.”

  “If you look at it mathematically, Miss, you will see that it was probably not her. There are six established suspects. Therefore, statistically speaking, the chances of Tammy Williams being the killer are one in six.”

  “Well, one in five to me, because I know that I didn’t do it, and I know that Tracy didn’t do it, so it’s down to a one in four chance to me”.

  “You say that Tracy didn’t do it because she was with you, but what about her alibi?”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “Who gives you an alibi? Tracy. Who gives Tracy an alibi? You. This is a traditional conspiracy technique, although it is not a very good one. Your alibi is not the most watertight, and you are still a suspect in my eyes”.

  “Alright, you’ve made your point, but you still can’t prove it was me!” Bethy replied, grinning.

  Coarse knew that she was right. He could not prove it...yet. He had a very similar conversation with Tracy, and her responses were very similar to Bethy’s, as if it were a scripted performance. However, Coarse continued on to the brother of Bethy, William.

  William claimed that he was sitting at a table with Linda. In order to prove or disprove this statement, Coarse looked at the CCTV, which was now available. Unfortunately, the results proved to be inconclusive, because as usual, on the screen, not much can be seen but a few blobs and black and white static. It was like looking at a baby scan. No real information could be retrieved, although Coarse thought that he had seen two people sat at the table where William said they were seated, but he could not identify them.

  “So, you claim to be seated there?” said Coarse.

  “I was there,” William replied.

  “But you might not have been,” said Coarse. “You could have actually been outside. Nobody would have noticed you. You could be the killer.”

  “But you can’t prove it,” said William, rather smugly.

  Linda had said exactly the same thing.

  Joseph was the final one of the five to be interviewed. He did not say much, which made Coarse even more suspicious of him. His simple reply was, “you can’t prove it.”

  That seemed rather strange to Coarse—were they all in it together? It certainly appeared that way, and if only one person had planned it all, it seemed to him that there was a conspiracy of silence between the five of them. They were not about to give any information away, so Coarse was left to struggle with it.

  Chapter 45

  While Coarse was trying his best to identify the real killer of Barry Scott… and failing, I sat alone in my cell, wondering what my fate would be. I had two and a half months to wait until the trial, which was a very long time. Still, I knew that I was going to get sent down anyway, unless Coarse saved me. Nobody else would listen to me, so Coarse was me only hope. I had thought about it myself, long and hard, but found I was too tired and focused on surviving in prison, so I could not think about it in too much depth.

  It was still my first official day of being in prison, when a guard opened the door to inform me that I was allowed out for one hour to exercise. This terrified me—having to face psychopaths, with barely anybody there to help if there was trouble. I knew that I might as well get it over with. I would have to face it sooner or later.

  I left the cell, and walked over to a scruffy looking table, where nobody was seated. I didn’t want to sit near anyone, and I hoped that nobody would bother to notice me. A woman approached me, and she looked rather violent.

  “What are you in for, then?” she said, taking a seat.

  “Murder,” I quietly replied.

  “So you’re a lifer then?” the woman asked in a rather friendly tone of voice.

  “I’m waiting for my trial yet,” I said, rather frightened, but trying to sound self-assured.

  “Oh, right,” replied the woman. “Well, it’s not as bad as you think here. They’re alright— we’re on the nice wing, even though it’s full of murderers.”

  “Are they really alright?” I asked.

  “Well, you are, aren’t you? And I am, and I killed someone!”

  The woman then proceeded to ask me about the circumstances of Scott’s death, and I told her, although I purposely failed to mention the fact that I was a police officer—knowing if I did, I would probably die.

  “She was a police officer,” a voice said, in the background.

  I froze for a second. I had no idea who said that. As I looked across the room, and the penny dropped—of all people, Libby was in the same wing as me. Libby. She was a psychotic serial killer who I had arrested only a couple of months before.

  “She was the one who got me arrested for the murders!” screamed Libby, “if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here!”

  “You what?!” screamed the seemingly nice woman who had conversed so nicely with me earlier.

  “I don’t know what she’s talking about,” cried Tammy, desperately, “she’s crazy!”

  “I’m not!” cried Libby, “I told you, Laura, about the one who had me arrested. Her name was Tammy Williams, and she was a young woman!”

  “She did,” replied Laura.

  Several large woman circled around me. There was no hope for me by then. One of them jumped on me, and the rest followed. The rest was blank, but I remembered being pulled out of the pile of women by one of the guards. I was then escorted to another quiet room, and left in there.

  Later that day, at dinner time, I was allowed out again, but separately from the others, given the circumstances. I could still see the women who attacked me through the bars, though; including Libby. Then, Libby made a surprising move. She approached me.

  “How’ve you been?” asked Libby.

  “How do you think I’ve been?” I replied, “I’ve been charged with a murder I didn’t commit and just gotten my ass kicked because you ratted me out. Why do you even want to talk to me anyway?”

  “Because I have nobody else to talk to. Deep down, I really admire you for what you did. I am now starting to realize that what I did was wrong. I’ve had time to think about it. I was...still am crazy. I appreciate the fact that you want to do good for the community.”

  “Well, Libby,” I said, rather at a loss for words, “what you have to say does not really interest me right now, because I have other priorities. I kind of have my hands full at the moment.”

  “I was a vet, you know,” said Libby. “Can’t you see, Tammy? We are similar!”

  “Except I didn’t kill anyone!” I protested.

  “That’s what they all say,” said Libby. “You did, really.”

  “No, I didn’t actually. What, are you wearing a wire?” I asked.

  “No,” replied Libby, “and I’m not trying to get you to confess. The point is, we need each other in a place like this. Now that the truth about you has come out, you have no way of going back. You are going to be tortured. You will suffer for the rest of your life. It’s happening to me, now. I don’t want to come out of my cell because a big gang of them usually bully me. I hate my life so much and I would do anything to kill myself, but they have me on suicide watch all the time. I can’t cope in here, and the same thing will happen to you. So, why don’t we just talk to each other about our problems, and we might get somewhere—who knows?”

  What Libby said frightened me. Was this really the end of the road? Was I going to suffer non-stop? I shook my head alert, realizing I was just off balance because a complete loon like Libby was sounding like the voice of reason.

  “You got what you deserved,” I argued, “so you might just be truly realizing that what you did was wrong.”

  I then got up and returned to my cell, more determined than ever to get out of the place.

  Chapter 46

  Coarse paid a visit to Tammy the following day. In the visiting room, a few of the women glared at her. She tried to ignore it, but it was no use. Coarse entered the room, and he t
old her about his news.

  “It’s early yet, Tammy,” he said to her, trying to comfort her.

  Tammy still felt let down.

  “But I want to get out of here now!” she cried helplessly, impatiently.

  “I will get to the bottom of this!” he told her firmly, determined to solve the murder before the end. “But there is one thing that you can do to help me—can you go through the entire night with me, remembering every single last detail?”

  Tammy explained everything that she could remember about that night. Every detail was mentioned, including what had happened after the murder. It had gone through her mind several times before, so she did a good job of remembering everything.

  After that, it was time to go. Coarse left the building, thinking through what Tammy had said. Just then, an idea came into his head—was this the moment of truth? Had he figured out the killer? It was doubtful, but perhaps one thing, one tiny thing, could solve the case.

  First, he needed to visit the police station. He quickly visited a few police officers downstairs to talk to them about a specific thing that they had witnessed on the night of the murder—it was minor, but important. Coarse then had a quick discussion with the rest of the team. He talked to Miranda first.

  “Do you really think she did it?” asked Coarse.

  “I think it’s certainly possible,” replied Miranda, grinning slightly. “I did not really like Tammy that much, anyway, so I hope she gets sent down for life if she gets found guilty.”

  “And what about you...Pam?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” Pam replied, “I don’t know what to think.”

  Coarse then went on to ask them one thing.

  “Later, I would like to ask you to gather round, while I explain something to you. I just want to hear your thoughts.”

  “Why not now?” asked Pam.

  “Later,” Coarse replied, rather firmly.

  He rushed out, thanking the police officers who had helped him identify something.

  His final journey was to a woman’s house. Coarse knew this woman from before, and he asked her if he could go into her bathroom, explaining everything. He then went into her bathroom, and found what he was looking for—he had solved the murder.

  Chapter 47

  He rushed back to the police station to deliver the important news, carrying the evidence with him. He now knew without a doubt who the killer was, and he had the evidence he needed. He was ready to explain how and why the murderer did what they did.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” begun Coarse.

  Miranda was quick to interrupt. “Here we go, another one of Tammy’s master revelations!” she said, jokingly.

  “Please, hush!” he said seriously. “I am here to announce the identity of the real killer of Barry Scott. I missed it, and surprisingly, so did Tammy. I bet the thought had not crossed her mind, for once. Anyway, I am not going to make things tense. The murderer is in this very room. Isn’t that right, Miranda?”

  Everyone looked at Miranda.

  “You must be mad!” she cried.

  “No, I am not mad. In fact, you are the one who is mad, isn’t that right?”

  “Hang on a minute!” cried the boss.

  “Allow me to explain everything,” said Coarse. “Let’s think back to the night of the murder, shall we? On the night of the murder, Miranda had asked Angela what perfume she was wearing. Angela replied with the name of her perfume. I have Angela’s signature to prove that. Anyway, now that Miranda had Angela’s perfume, all that she needed to do was mix Tammy’s with it. Miranda knew what perfume Tammy used because she had previously asked her. Now, Miranda had mixed Angela’s perfume with Tammy’s behind Angela’s back, while Angela was busy flirting with Barry, and of course, and then Miranda also mixed Angela’s perfume with Tammy’s. When Angela approached Barry Scott and kissed him, her scent would travel on to him, yes? But then when he was murdered, the police would identify a certain smell. This was exactly the same as the contents of Tammy’s perfume bottle, which had been mixed with Angela’s. This gave the police the impression that Tammy had been extremely close to Barry.”

  “I am so confused!” said Mitchell.

  “Take one moment to think over what I said, and it will become clear to you. Next, one of the murder weapons, a metal crowbar, was found in Tammy’s car. Confusion was created because she had left her keys on a table for five minutes when she went to the bathroom. However, nobody left the table, although they had all seen the keys. Actually, Miranda had stolen Tammy’s keys after the murder, when everyone was distracted staring at the body. Therefore, Miranda was able to make it look impossible that anybody else could have taken the keys besides Tammy,”

  “You’re crazy!” Miranda protested.

  Coarse continued. “Miranda said she found a murder weapon in Tammy’s back garden, in a flower pot. Miranda put gloves on. Actually, she had the sharp knife concealed in her sleeve, so when it came to picking it out of the pot, there were no fingerprints of hers on the knife. Nobody had gone to Tammy’s house in between the murder and the discovery of the knife, so nobody else could have possibly put the knife there, other than the murderer. It is easy to see that this murderer was Miranda.”

  The others looked around at Miranda, who was shaking.

  “You hated Tammy, didn’t you?” asked Coarse.

  Miranda nodded, before breaking down. Coarse thought that getting her to confess had been easier than he expected.

  “I can’t believe this!” screamed Pam.

  “But you believed that Tammy could have done this. When she is released later today, you owe her one big apology.”

  Pam nodded, before taking Miranda into custody.

  An hour later, Tammy returned to the police station a free woman. She wanted to see Miranda being taken away for good.

  Miranda left the station in handcuffs.

  “You bitch! I hate you!” she cried to Tammy, before being escorted into the police van. “You won’t get away with this! You will live to regret this, Tammy Williams!”

  Tammy still had one more person to thank—Coarse. As they left the station, they had a little chat.

  “I still can’t believe she had not crossed my mind,” said Tammy. “It was screaming at me right in the face the whole time.”

  “Well, it’s all over now,” said Coarse. “Are you going back to work here?”

  “No,” Tammy abruptly replied. “I can’t work here after what happened. I can find somewhere else, somewhere new.”

  Before they parted company, they took a second to look at each other. They then did something completely unexpected by both of them… they kissed.

  But Tammy stopped. “Goodbye, George,” she said, “and I’ll make sure the papers remember you for what you did for me.”

  Those were Tammy’s last words to Coarse before she departed into the sunset, not knowing what her next adventure would be.

  Book 9: Players

  Chapter 1

  The office that contained a team of gamers, testers, programmers and all of the other tech brains needed to keep ahead of the game in Silicon Valley, was in full swing. It looked nothing like the standard view of an office and a workplace. The employees were an assortment of men and women. They were mostly in their twenties, mostly graduates from university with compute science in their blood. Their dress was as varied as the games they played for a living and ranged from someone dressed completely in black to man with cut off trousers in wildly bright shades. There was nothing conventional about this workplace at all. Lily, Ottie and Karl had a separate area to themselves as between them they decided which way the company would progress and how they would do it.

  The members of the firm all had one thing in common. They were crazy about computers and even crazier about gaming. Having said that, they were also a pretty brainy bunch and got on with each other fairly well.

  Lily De Line eased her back and flexed her finger
s. She loved the new game she was testing. Technology was so advanced that the characters in the story were almost real. In fact, to her, they sometimes were more real than real life. Her friend, Ottie, called across. “Coffee?” And Lily answered with a yes please and stood up to stretch. She moved over to where Ottie was playing with the coffee machine. “This new game is going to be a major player.” She observed. “The detail is phenomenal.” Ottie agreed and handed her a mug of latte.

  “When can you blog about it?” She asked because the new game was still under wraps.

  “A couple of weeks maybe. We’ve more or less ironed out all the snags and the company have made a video trailer.” Lily answered and sipped at the coffee. “I have got to say the trailer grabs you instantly. It’ll be a hit.”

  “Well you’re the blogging expert. It’ll be interesting to see if you’re right. Is the blog still getting you those nasty answers?” Ottie always had a niggling worry about her friend’s main job and the way that just writing your opinion on something caused so much hatred. It frightened her. Lily said that it went with the job and blogging had made her famous. “I guess it goes with the territory. Sticks and stones and all that. It’s not real life really.”

  “Just the same.” Ottie told her. “Don’t go too far overboard. Too many nasty men out there.” Lily finished the coffee and collected her stuff. She was done for the day with the testing and had a blog to write. Lily slung her bag over her shoulder and made for the parking lot. She had the trappings of a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur and enjoyed them but gaming could hook her in and take her away from anything else.

  The thing that had bugged her more than anything was the fact that women were not on an equal footing with men in the general run of games. The woman was often just there to be a sexy background or to be rescued from a fate worse than death. Traditionally they did not play a leading role and that she found frustrating and insulting. Lily De Line was outspoken, clever and motivated. So she had started to blog about the annoying side of gaming that ignored women as players. She was certainly as good as most men out there. Blogging as ‘fembloggirl’ she made her views known and stirred up a lot of resentment from men out there in internet land. She shrugged it off. It was only words on a screen and went on to start her crowdfunding. Amazingly the amount of people that were prepared to put in a little money to be part of new venture, made her a millionaire.