Virtual Justice (8 page)

“No! How?”

“They’re not sure yet. Katy’s going to call me later. Her body was found in the river.”

Tony threw himself down on the sofa next to her and flung an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t even go there, hon.”

“If only we had been able to get into that damn computer. There’s no chance of that happening now.”

“You can’t blame yourself. I won’t let you. Do they know how long she’s been dead?”

“Not yet, not until the post has been carried out. It doesn’t stop me from wondering, though.”

“I know. It’s human nature. I doubt if you could have made a difference on this one, sweetheart. Maybe she was already dead before Stacy even got in touch with us.”

“And maybe she wasn’t,” Lorne replied sadly. She leaned against his chest, and he kissed her forehead. “Katy had Roberts hanging around, so she couldn’t speak for long. She said she’ll ring back later—” The phone rang, and she grabbed it. “Hello.”

“It’s me. Just a quick call. It looks like Karen was into Internet dating. Gotta fly.”

Lorne stared at the phone in bemusement.

“Who was that?” Tony asked, frowning.

“Katy. She must be on her way to a meeting.”

“Well, what did she say?”

Lorne shook her head. “She said that Karen was into Internet dating. Forensics must have picked it up. I think I’ll take a ride out to see Stacy, you know, to offer my condolences. She is still our client.”

“Hmm…‌I know that look.” He wagged his finger at her. “Now don’t go sticking your nose into where it’s not wanted. It’s now a murder enquiry, remember?”

Lorne placed a hand on her chest. “Who? Me? Now would I?”

Tony stood up. Lorne followed him to the kitchen. “Can we at least have lunch before we venture out across the streets of London?”

“Yep. We’ll have lunch, then I’ll ring Stacy to see if it’s convenient to drop by.”

•\ \ \ \ \ •\ \ \ \ \ •

Two hours later, they were in the midst of a traffic jam. “I knew we should’ve waited until this evening.”

“Stop moaning and take a chill pill.” Lorne giggled when she voiced Charlie’s current favourite saying. “We’re only ten minutes away.”

“Ten minutes! More like an hour if this queue is anything to go by.”

The journey ended up taking them another thirty minutes. “Park here.” Lorne pointed at a gap between parked cars. It would be a tight squeeze, but she had faith in her husband’s driving abilities. Tony parked the car, and they walked across the road to Stacy’s house. She was looking out the window, waiting for them. Stacy waved and opened the front door. Her eyes were puffy and red.

Lorne placed a hand on Stacy’s forearm. “I’m so sorry.”

Stacy led them through to the lounge and then collapsed on the sofa. She covered her face with her hands as the tears started to flow. Lorne sat down beside her, uncertain whether to put a comforting arm around her shoulder. She barely knew the woman, but her heart ached for her losing her sister in such dreadful circumstances.

“I’ll put the kettle on.” Tony said, his awkwardness showing in his voice.

“I’m sorry. I keep telling myself that crying won’t bring her back, but…”

“It’ll help ease the pain. I’ve recently lost my father, and it’s hard to keep the emotions buried. I’m not sure you should, really.”

Stacy reached for a couple of tissues on the side table next to her, then delicately blew her nose on one and wiped her eyes with the other.

Lorne patted the back of Stacy’s hand. “Do you feel up to talking?”

“Yes, I’ll see how I go. Have you heard how it happened?”

“Not yet. Look, I wanted to ask if you knew that Karen was using the Internet for dating.”

Stacy turned her head sharply to look at her. “What? Karen would never do that.”

Lorne nodded reluctantly. “That’s what forensics found when they carried out a preliminary check on her computer.”

“But she wouldn’t do it. We discussed this awhile back, and the idea of it repulsed her.”

“Well, it’s hard to disagree with the facts.”

Stacy’s eyes creased up at the side as she thought something over. Then she clicked her finger and thumb together. “Wait a minute. Last year, she had this crazy idea about writing a book. Is it possible that she was carrying out some form of research?”

Tony entered the room, carrying a tray with three mugs on it. He set the tray down and sat on the chair opposite the women. “What was that?” he asked, handing Lorne a mug of coffee.

“Stacy thinks that maybe Karen was doing some kind of research for a book.”

“Interesting. We need to see if Karen had actually started a manuscript then.”

Lorne nodded. “Excellent idea. We might get some clues from that. If one exists, of course.”

Stacy sighed. “I’m not sure she got around to starting anything. As far as I was concerned, it was all pie in the sky, just some idea she had.”

“So you really can’t tell us any more than you have done? For instance, which dating agency she might have registered with?”

“No, nothing. It was all a big secret. What a mistake that was. Do you think she met someone, and he turned nasty when she started bombarding him with questions?”

Lorne shrugged. “It’s a possibility. Who knows? Do you think she would have used a local dating agency?”

“I have no idea. I presume the likelihood of that happening would be yes.”

“What do you think, Tony?” Lorne asked her husband, who appeared to be deep in thought.

“I would hazard a guess of that being correct, considering where she was found.”

“Then that’s where we’ll start. When we get back, we’ll track down all the dating agencies in the London area and go from there. Do you think Karen’s friends are more likely to know what she was up to and maybe what progress she’d made on her book?”

“I wouldn’t have thought so. Karen didn’t really have any friends outside work. We spent most of our spare time with each other.”

“What about your parents? Are they still alive?”

Stacy smiled sadly. “We lost Mum in a skiing accident a few years back, and Dad has Alzheimer’s and is in a care home. I see him regularly, a couple of times a month. We both used to visit him. Shit! How am I going to tell Dad…‌?” Stacy began crying again, and Lorne tried to comfort her.

“I’m sorry, Stacy. That’s going to be an awful job for you to tackle on your own.”

“I’m not sure Dad will understand at all. He’s deteriorated considerably over the last year.”

“Maybe one of the nurses or the people who run the home will help you break the news to him.”

Sniffling, Stacy replied, “I can only ask. Any idea how long it will be before I can bury Karen?”

“I don’t, I’m afraid. It depends what the post mortem shows up. These things can take a week or two to sort out. I’ll get Katy Foster, an old partner of mine in the force, to give you a ring. I think she, or at least her team, will be taking up the case. She’ll be able to give you more of an idea than I can.”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate that.” Tears started falling onto her cheeks again. “The thought of her being cut open abhors me. I know they have a job to do to try and find clues as to what happened to Karen, but…”

“I know it sounds distasteful, but without carrying out post mortems, seventy per cent of the murders in this country wouldn’t be solved.”

“I understand, sort of.”

They finished their drinks in a subdued silence, and then Lorne and Tony stood up to leave. “We’ll go back and do some digging.”

“So you’re still working on the case? Won’t the police take over now?”

“I want to do it. I never like to leave a case unsolved.”

Stacy showed them to the door.

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” Lorne told Tony with a raised eyebrow, expecting him to understand that she wanted a private word with Stacy before she left.

Tony took the hint and headed back to the car.

“I wanted to reassure you that I won’t be expecting any form of payment from you, Stacy. As far as I’m concerned, the case is still open, and I intend to keep on it until your sister’s case has been closed.” She wanted to add,
Until your sister’s murderer has been put in prison.
But Lorne had to check herself because she didn’t know how much Stacy had been told about Karen’s death.

Stacy gasped. “I can’t expect you to do that, Lorne.”

“Nonsense. It’s the way I work. Never like to leave a case unsolved.”

“We’ll sort something out once you find out what happened. I’m not the type to take advantage of someone’s kind nature. I appreciate any help you can give me on this, but I insist that you will be compensated properly at the end.”

Lorne stroked Stacy’s forearm and walked down the path before she shouted back over her shoulder, “We’ll see. Take care. I’ll be in touch soon.”

•\ \ \ \ \ •\ \ \ \ \ •

Tony started the car the second her door closed. “I think you better try and ring Katy again.”

“Any reason?” Lorne asked, puzzled.

“Let forensics know to look for a manuscript, maybe ask them if we can take a peek at it.”

“I was thinking along the same lines, but I doubt it’s going to happen now that it’s a murder enquiry.”

“Worth a try, though,” Tony pressed.

“All right. Has anyone ever told you that you nag?”

“Yeah, you. Frequently.” He laughed and motioned with his head towards her phone.

Lorne hit speed dial and rang Katy’s mobile. She answered on the first ring. “I’ll have to call you back, Mum.”

“Okay, I understand. No rush.” She stopped the call. “Oops, she must have been in a meeting. Cheeky mare called me her mum!”

CHAPTER EIGHT

L
orne and Tony waited another hour before Katy rang back. Breathlessly, she apologised for the delay.

“No need to apologise, Katy. I just rang on the off chance that you could maybe get us access to Karen’s laptop. I’m continuing with the case and thought that would be a great place to start.”

“Darn it! I’m not sure about that. I don’t think forensics have finished with it yet. They only gave it a cursory look over. Any reason?”

“We just called around to see Stacy, Karen’s sister. She seemed to think that maybe Karen was writing a book. Thought that perhaps her sister was using dating agencies for research purposes. I’d like to know what agencies she used. Maybe, if she had started writing her manuscript, there might be a name or two that would give us some kind of lead.”

“I see. Let me have a word with forensics and get back to you later this afternoon. It’s a tad chaotic down here at the moment.”

“Oh, any particular reason?”

Katy sighed heavily. “One of our boys got killed last night.”

“No! Do I know this officer?”

“No. He’s a newbie. You know what it’s like. Apparently, he went into a dangerous situation without using a protective vest, not that it would have mattered anyway as the burglar was armed with a shotgun and aimed a few shots at his head.”

“That’s terrible. Send my condolences to the team and Roberts, will you?”

“Sure. Look, I better go. Roberts wants all of us on this case until we catch the bastard. Everything else will be pushed back. You can understand that, can’t you, Lorne?”

Lorne nodded. “Yeah, I can understand. I hope you find the culprit soon. Would it be worth me having a quick word with Roberts?”

“You can try. Want me to put you through now?”

“That’d be great. Give me a ring later when you’re off duty, all right?”

“Will do. Thanks for understanding, Lorne. I’ll put you on hold and track Roberts down.”

Lorne placed her hand over the mouthpiece. “One of the team got killed last night. I’m trying to lend a hand.” She winked at Tony as Roberts came on the line.

“Lorne. I can’t talk for long. What can I do for you?”

“Katy told me what happened. I’m really sorry, Sean.”

“Thanks. And?”

Typical Roberts—never one to beat about the bush and always got down to business as quickly and directly as possible. “I wondered if I could carry on with my investigation into Karen Meldrew’s case. Her laptop is with forensics at present, and I wondered if we could be privy to the information that’s on there?”

“Oh, you did, did you? My priorities have to be to find Eaden’s killer. I can’t really deal with anything else right now.”

“I understand totally, Sean. But you must understand that there’s another possible killer out there who needs capturing, too. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

Roberts was silent for a second as he considered her proposal. “Okay, I give up. I’ll ring forensics and tell them to expect you, but that laptop doesn’t leave the building. Got that?”

“Brilliant! Thanks, Sean. You have my word. Tony and I will get down to the forensic lab right away. I hope you find the perpetrator soon.”

“Keep Katy informed about what you find, okay?”

“Will do. Bye.” Lorne grabbed the car keys off the kitchen table. “Come on, Tony. We’ve got to get over there ASAP.”

Tony winced as he stood up.

“Are you all right? Would you rather stay here?”

“I’ll be fine. It’s just a twinge. I’ll have a bath later. I’m sure that’ll help.”

Lorne turned and walked out the back door. “Going to the doctors will help more,” she mumbled. She knew that Tony would be making faces behind her back, and she swiftly looked over her shoulder. “You know I’m right.”

His eyebrows rose up into his hairline. “When aren’t you?”

Charlie came out of the kennels just as they were getting into the car.

“We’ll be back soon, sweetheart. Don’t forget you have two visitors coming today to see the dogs. Their names are on the pad in the kitchen.”

“Yes, Mum. That’s three times you’ve told me that so far today.”

Lorne blew her a kiss and got in the car.

Tony buckled up in the driver’s seat and started the engine. “I’m glad to see I’m not alone and that Charlie is also in the firing line.”

Lorne shrugged and said good-naturedly, “Well, excuse me for caring and wanting things to run efficiently.”

•\ \ \ \ \ •\ \ \ \ \ •

The forensics team welcomed Lorne like an old friend. Patti, the head of the department, apologised for not keeping in touch and blamed the pressures of the job.