Cut to the Bone

by Alex Caan

  ‘How long ago?’

  James calculated in his head. ‘We met years ago – online, I mean. Think I was seventeen, eighteen. We didn’t start dating until 2010, though.’

  ‘That’s very precise.’

  ‘We brought in the new decade together, I remember that. New Year’s Eve, 2010. We were together then.’

  ‘Describe your relationship with her.’

  ‘It was normal; we loved each other. I was her first boyfriend. It was good. Really good. We had been mates for ages, online, sending messages to each other. When Ruby started her own vlog, I helped her out. Simple stuff like how to register and all that, how to upload videos.’

  ‘Did she feel an obligation towards you?’

  ‘In a way. But we were dating, it didn’t matter.’

  ‘You were already dating when she started her vlogs?’

  ‘Yeah. She got the idea from me, I reckon. It’s normal.’

  ‘Did you meet a lot of your fans?’

  ‘No, not really. Although I went through a phase when I did. I was a horny teenager, so yeah, I guess I did. Girls would message me, desperately in love with me. I met a few. Ruby was my first proper girlfriend, though – from online, I mean.’

  ‘When Ruby started her own channel, how did that affect the relationship?’

  ‘It made it better. We started posting videos together. Stupid stuff, but people loved it. Thought we were so cute together.’

  ‘And what about Karl Rourke? When did you meet him?’

  James bristled, turned his cap so it faced forward, hunkered down into the sofa. Protective body language, the sharp end of the cap facing towards Kate. A shield, a weapon, a spear ready to pierce.

  ‘Do we have to talk about that bastard?’ he said.

  Chapter Forty-four

  Kate checked her phone, giving James some time to compose himself. To calm the anger that had flashed through him at the mention of Rourke.

  ‘Not a fan of Karl, then?’ she said gently.

  ‘He’s a piece of shit,’ said James. ‘He owes me. I was the first one to sign up to him, when he was nothing. I showed him the potential of vloggers, how much we earn, how much he could earn. What we need. I was his gimmick, like that dog in the insurance ads? I would turn up to meetings, and nod and grin, get others comfortable and persuade them to sign with him.’

  ‘Things turned sour?’

  ‘Yeah. He got others, with more . . . whatever, you know, subscribers and shit. So he started to pay less attention to me. I didn’t get him enough revenue.’

  ‘What were you doing by then? On your vlog? Surely not nostril hairs still?’

  ‘It was a comedy thing by then. I would play pranks on my mates, slap their faces with shaving foam, jump out at them and scare them. Then I started reviewing films, taking the piss out of them.’

  ‘Why did you stop?’

  ‘Lots of reasons.’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘Karl sold out. His clients got bought by this company, MINDNET. They were going to take us places, said they’d get us millions of fans, make us global.’

  ‘Sounds like a good deal.’

  ‘It was all bullshit. Karl didn’t include me in the final deal. Said MINDNET couldn’t work out how to market me, how to sell me. They wanted Ruby and some of his other clients instead. And when he sold his list to them, Karl let me go. Said he wanted a fresh set of vloggers. It hit me pretty hard, being dropped. And I just thought, I’m nearly twenty-five, I’m getting old, I need to do something else.’

  Kate fixed a smile on her face. She was looking back at forty, and he was claiming twenty-five was old?

  ‘You blame Karl for how things turned out then?’

  ‘Yeah, I do. Greedy fucker. He just wanted the money MINDNET offered him, didn’t give a fuck about any of his clients. And when they said I wasn’t good enough, he lost interest as well. Got scared. Forget all the money I’d made for him, all the clients I’d got for him. I mean Ruby, for fuck’s sake. She was only on his books because of me, and she was the one that really got him the deal. It was her they were after.’

  ‘How did Ruby feel? About you not being included? And about Karl dropping you?’

  ‘She was angry, had a go at MINDNET. Threatened them, said she’d walk unless they signed me. I persuaded her to stay. There was no point her leaving them. She was their star, they were going to turn her into Miley Cyrus, or some such bullshit. Karl, though, he should have had some loyalty, but he didn’t. Chased the big fat corporate pound sign, didn’t care what he did to me.’

  ‘It must have been tough for Ruby, working with them. Did she stop making videos with you?’

  ‘It was. She had so many arguments with them all. I had to calm her down, tell her not to get mad, said it wasn’t worth it. We had to stop. It was in her contract, a clause she didn’t read properly. They got to say what videos she could and couldn’t make. It takes away the revolution, the freedom. I was glad in the end, not to be some corporate whore.’

  ‘Ruby was, though?’

  ‘Ruby did what she had to do. I didn’t blame her. I loved her.’

  ‘Is that what caused your relationship to suffer? Her career?’

  ‘No. I’m not some jealous halfwit. Ruby was my world. She was separate to the arseholes she worked with.’

  ‘You were both happy, then?’

  ‘Yes. Very.’

  ‘So what happened? Her parents seem to love you, so did Ruby. Why did you break up?’

  ‘Yeah, her parents are cool, good people. Me and Ruby, we were fine, happy. It wasn’t what they wanted, though. MINDNET. They wanted Ruby to have a boyfriend they chose. I wasn’t good enough for them.’

  ‘What did you do afterwards? What do you do now?’

  ‘I use my IT skills, provide computer support. Small companies, people that can’t afford to have in-house IT. I learned it all while I was vlogging. Plus I have some cash set aside from the vlogging. I do OK. I can’t afford to live in central London, but I’m happy.’

  His mouth smiled, the smile that must have melted teenage girls, but his eyes were moist. Kate lowered her voice, almost whispered her next question. ‘So tell me, why did things go so wrong between you and Ruby?’ she said.

  Chapter Forty-five

  James turned his cap back around, pulled his jeans up. He spread his hands on the sofa.

  ‘I was set up,’ he said. ‘Ruby was told I cheated on her. Someone gave her evidence, all these emails between me and some girl. They claimed I was cheating on her for ages.’

  ‘Were you?’

  ‘No. It was all bullshit and made up. She never said, but I know it was MINDNET. And she just wouldn’t believe me, said she had the messages. Anyone can fake emails. But she wouldn’t listen. They must have been there, picking away at her, telling her I wasn’t to be trusted.’

  ‘So she ended the relationship? How did that make you feel?’

  ‘I was devastated. She stopped all communication – no more emails, texts. Blocked me. I got depressed. I even tried to see her. Her parents let me into the flat, but she went ballistic. Started throwing things at me, screaming at her mum and dad. I ended up on pills for a bit. From my GP, not illegal stuff.’

  ‘How did you get out of that phase?’

  ‘Met my current girlfriend. Rachel. She was nothing to do with the vlogger world, just ordinary. Goes to uni, normal stuff. We live together now, and she pulled me out of it all. Saved me, if you like.’

  ‘Is she home?’

  ‘No, she’s gone to meet a friend. Gave us the place to ourselves.’

  ‘Why do you think MINDNET did that? Lied to Ruby?’

  James laughed, scratching his scalp through his hat. ‘It’s obvious. They wanted Ruby to be with that twat, Dan. They wanted a love story they had put together, so they had to get me out of the way.’

  ‘Sounds mercenary.’

  ‘They are. It’s all about money with those guys.’

  ‘You don’t
like Dan?’

  ‘No. He’s fucking mental. The way he treated Ruby.’

  ‘How would you know? I thought she stopped all contact with you?’

  James looked caught out, unable to meet her eyes. He pulled his legs up onto the sofa under him.

  ‘Ruby got in touch again, a few weeks ago. A couple of months, maybe. She said she’d made a mistake, that she knew now that what she’d been told was a lie. Said she loved me, wanted me back.’

  James had a glow as he spoke.

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘I told her about Rach, said I’d moved on. I still love her, though. When I saw the videos today, it killed me. Rach, though, she saved me. I could never walk away from her. Not even for Ruby.’

  Caught between a game of Rs, thought Kate.

  ‘How did Ruby take that?’

  James looked uncomfortable.

  ‘Look, I don’t want you to think I’m making myself up to be something. I’m not like that. Ruby was determined, though, kept calling me, sending me messages. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. I ended up speaking to her parents, said I was worried.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘She wasn’t herself. Ruby isn’t some desperate girl; she wouldn’t chase me like that. Not the Ruby I knew. I was worried about her, and I didn’t want Rach to find out, get paranoid. Think I might be going back to Ruby.’

  ‘What did you think was wrong with Ruby?’

  ‘I think she was battered. Dan wrecked her confidence, made her like that.’

  ‘Battered?’

  ‘Not physically, but mentally. Her mother agreed, said Dan was a mind fuck. I think Ruby had no self-worth left. He made her feel like nothing. And he turned her into the desperate girl who was trying to get back with me.’

  ‘You were worried about her mental state, then? You think she was vulnerable?’

  James looked into her, through her. Kate shivered.

  ‘Yes. I think she was. Ruby was badly bullied at school, she was always an outsider. I don’t think she was thinking straight, because of Dan. I think she would have behaved in ways she normally wouldn’t. If someone approached her online, or something, maybe gave her some comfort. I don’t know, I think she might have become naive, because she was so unhappy.’

  A stranger that used her vulnerability and lured her away into a dangerous situation. One she had no control over, and which led to her apparent death.

  ‘When did you last see her?’

  ‘A little while back. We met for coffee a couple of weeks ago. We messaged yesterday, though, just normal stuff. She was asking me how I was. I always kept my messages neutral, in case she read anything into them.’

  ‘No indication she may have met someone?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Do you have any idea who the message on the video referred to? The threat at the end? You’re next?’

  ‘No, sorry.’

  ‘Do you personally feel threatened by it?’ said Kate.

  ‘Why should I?’

  She didn’t answer him. The message was personal. Someone reading it knew it referred to them. If James was scared, he wasn’t showing it. He looked distracted, then pulled his phone out. He scrolled through his messages, handed the phone to Kate. It was a message from Ruby, sent over WhatsApp.

  U kno we need 2 sort this.

  I’m not giving up on u. It’s not right.

  I need 2 spk 2 u

  ‘That’s how I know she hadn’t met anyone else. You can see, nothing had changed. She was still determined.’

  It was sent at seven-fifteen the evening she disappeared.

  The car was freezing when Kate got in. She turned the heating up. It was 9 p.m. Tiredness crept in, filtered behind her eyelids, into her shoulders and back. She needed to eat something. The home-cooking smells from James Fogg’s house clung to her.

  She was about to pull away, ready to head back to Victoria, when Stevie Brennan called.

  ‘It’s Dan. He’s awake,’ she said.

  Chapter Forty-six

  Forensics occupied a basement floor of University College London, in Bloomsbury. It was part of the UCL Hospital, used to train future specialists, and a refuge for medical professionals who wanted to spend their lives in research. Perish the thought that they would want live patients.

  Dr Kavita Mehta was the forensic pathologist assigned to the PCC, although Zain had met her before in his old life. She was in her early thirties, attractive, and way too happy to be dealing with rotting bodies. Her team of scientists ranged from morgue assistants to fingerprint specialists, and even included an expert on putting together shredded documents.

  ‘He’s a PhD student,’ she explained over the phone to Zain. ‘Very committed, keen to impress, which is why he didn’t mind doing such a painstaking job.’

  ‘I appreciate it, anyway,’ said Zain. ‘Time is precious; anything that might help us catch this sick killer. Before they strike again.’

  ‘It’s difficult not being able to give you anything concrete – forensically, I mean. I don’t think there will be much from Ruby’s apartment. CSIs have checked for blood, but only minute traces have been found.’

  ‘You’re not worried, then?’

  ‘If I searched your flat, or anyone’s, I’d find the same traces, I’m sure. Could be nosebleeds, menstrual, paper cuts. It all adds up.’

  ‘Any foreign DNA?’

  ‘We’re checking her bed, but the sheets are clean, so unless anything has seeped through to her mattress, I can’t say. When we have the body, we can kick ourselves into gear.’

  Zain didn’t like to think of Ruby dead somewhere, her body being disposed of, hidden.

  ‘You got the document with you?’

  ‘Yes. It’s a contract. I’m surprised how people think shredding something, then keeping the shreds in one place, will protect them or destroy evidence. Burning is the best way, in my opinion.’

  Zain laughed. Mehta would know how to commit the perfect crime and get away with it. ‘What does it say?’

  ‘It’s between Ruby Day and MINDNET. A contract for royalties.’

  ‘Can you email it?’

  ‘Yes, I’ll get it scanned. Wanted to let you know as soon as I had it, though.’

  ‘I appreciate it.’

  ‘I saw your mother, by the way,’ said Mehta gingerly.

  Zain did a double take. His mother wasn’t in town; he would know.

  ‘She was in Society magazine, at an opening in Mumbai for something or another. Says she’s getting married again.’

  Of course. His mother, the socialite.

  ‘I’m surprised you read such magazines, doctor,’ said Zain.

  ‘I have to escape somehow. Bollywood and gossip magazines are all I have.’

  The reconstituted document came through five minutes later. Zain read it carefully, looking for the relevant sections. He did a double take, and re read key parts of it. He highlighted those.

  ‘Greedy fuckers,’ he said.

  Michelle Cable grimaced as soon as she saw Zain. Bit harsh, he thought; he wasn’t going to attack her.

  ‘I got the shredded document through,’ he said, sitting down in an empty chair next to her. He pulled Ruby’s laptop towards him, entered the password he had hit on earlier. The golden ratio.

  Michelle ignored him, busy with Ruby’s desktop computer. Zain saw she was running scans on relevant search terms, checking for files that had been permanently deleted.

  ‘They were screwing her over,’ he said in a friendly tone, remembering Riley’s admonition.

  ‘How?’ Michelle responded without looking at him, but curious all the same.

  ‘They wanted seventy per cent of her royalties, anything she earned from her videos or endorsements. Proper avarice. No wonder she shredded it. If indeed she did. How far are you getting with her computer?’

  ‘Nothing so far. There are thousands of documents, videos, pictures. I haven’t started on her online profile yet, nor her emails and histo
ry. Still mining her hard drive.’

  ‘Anything she deleted that looks suspect?’

  ‘No hits so far, but I’m still recovering a lot of it. She’s had this for eight months, so there’s a lot to go through.’

  Zain opened a command window on Ruby’s laptop. He typed in code to get him into the back end, but it revealed very little. Her internet history was clean, deleted recently. Right before she’d left home, from what he could see.

  He plugged in a USB stick, downloaded a software programme. Someone had dubbed it Grave Digger. It checked for her deleted files, pulling them out of memory spaces not yet overwritten. Lines of alphanumeric data flittered across his command window, so he let it run. The software would try and make sense of them. It wasn’t always clean, read like a book full of spelling mistakes, or words the software assumed should be there.

  ‘You want Grave? It will get through the deleted online stuff quickly.’

  ‘No, I have my own programmes. Official programmes from NCA.’ The National Crime Agency.

  ‘Mine are official, too. Well, developed on company time, anyway. NCA only share the stuff they’ve beta tested.’

  Michelle tapped some keys angrily, probably wishing it was his head. Zain was used to working with people who welcomed any assistance, any correction. If you let people behave in ways that weren’t cutting edge, you risked lives, risked operations. He couldn’t deal with egos and domains. Kate had told him to learn.

  Ruby’s laptop beeped. Grave had finished its job.

  ‘Let’s see what you just dug up for me, then,’ he said.

  Chapter Forty-seven

  Ruby’s erased files opened up in Notebook. Zain copied them into Word, saved them to his USB stick. Included in the list were her email account details. She had Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. Yahoo seemed to be the one she used most – it had the most hits – so he tried to work out the password.

  He tried the golden ratio again, but it didn’t work this time.

  ‘You have any password-cracking software?’ he asked Michelle.

  ‘Yes, from the NCA. It will take a while, though, Yahoo’s encryption isn’t easy to break. Even for us.’