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contacting the dead was getting to me despite myself.
Hello, I croaked.
Georgie, Steve said. Are you okay?
Yes, fine, I muttered, relieved. Something odd happened just before you
rang. I had an email on my mobile and it appears to have come from April after
she died.
You re kidding me! Who the hell would play a rotten trick like that?
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I ve no idea, I said. It has to be someone who knows my email address
and the way April started her messages to me.
You mean Hi, baby ? I ve seen them come into the office. I suppose quite a
few people may know that kind of thing. It s not hard to hack into someone else s
computer if you know how. I m always telling you to vary your passwords! And
April was hopeless at security anyone with any knowledge could break down her
passwords in five minutes flat!
That s not quite fair, and I do try to protect my stuff you know I do. This is
sick, Steve. Who wants to hurt me like this? And there s another odd thing. I m sure
I left my phone switched off when I went out. It was on when I came back and open
for me to read my email.
I told you not to stay there. Someone must have been messing with your
things and left it on, probably because they didn t know how to work the thing!
Have they been at your laptop?
I don t know. If it was opened it was closed when I got here. Don t worry my
security has been breached. The passwords I use on my files are so complicated that
I can t remember them half the time.
Are you sure you didn t switch on the mobile yourself?
As sure as I can be. I haven t been my usual efficient self. Look, Steve, I m
coming back to London this afternoon. Have you checked out my phone system at
home?
Of course there was nothing wrong.
Okay. I m satisfied if you are. Did you get anything useful from Inspector
Thorpe? I saw him this morning in the local churchyard, but he didn t say
anything& And I hadn t felt like asking questions.
I ll pop over this evening and tell you about seven?
That s fine. It will give me time to sort a few things out first.
I m glad you re coming back, Georgie.
So am I after this. It s given me the creeps!
Just ignore it, he advised. It sounds as thought it might have come from
someone who bears you a grudge.
It s something Teddy Husk might do. He probably hates me after
yesterday.
I nearly thrashed him in the pub last night. If Harry hadn t stopped me, I
think I would have floored him.
Did you hear about his car?
No what happened?
Three of the journalists cars were vandalized last night tires slashed,
paintwork scratched. You know how much time and money Teddy spends on that
car of his!
That must have happened after I left, Steve said. I returned my hire car at
nine-thirty and caught the next train back. Sounds as if I left just in time!
So it must have been after nine-fifteen then.
Yes I left about ten past nine. I didn t see anything unusual when I went
out to my car. It s odd, isn t it? That the cars all belonged to journalists.
I couldn t swear to that. It was hearsay. The woman in the supermarket told
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me Teddy s car was damaged.
Serves him right, Steve said. I think he deserved that and more.
I laughed wryly. I ve been wanting to stick needles in him, but honestly
speaking I should say this was bad enough. If Teddy loves anything it s that car. I
almost feel sorry for him now.
Stay clear of him, love. He is not a nice man to know.
The further away the better as far as I m concerned& I think the line is
breaking up. I ll have to recharge while I have lunch. I ll see you this evening,
Steve.
Bye.
I closed down and put my mobile on charge while I packed my things. I still
felt pretty certain, in my own mind, that I had not left my phone on, but it was
possible that the cleaning woman had been playing with it. It was state of the art
stuff and she might have been curious, and having switched it on she probably
didn t know how to switch it off very few people did.
The email was clearly the idea of someone who wanted to punish me. Teddy
Husk was the most likely and the user name sounded like something he might
choose. Unless there was a person or persons out there who hated my guts?
Could April and her husband have been killed because she had been
mistaken for me? Yet only a few people knew I was coming down here - Steve, Sir
Melvin, Brenda and Miss Stratton none of whom had any reason to want me dead.
Miss Stratton hadn t been that friendly towards me, and she had been behaving a
little oddly, but somehow I didn t see her as a gun happy killer.
Who else could have known? Unless my phone at home had been tampered
with and Steve had just said it was okay. But there were always ways of finding
out if someone really wanted to know.
A shiver went through me. It was possible that someone wanted me dead. I
had written some pretty harsh things about certain criminal types and one of them
might have it in for me.
That was a horrible thought! Not just because it scared me, but also because it
would mean April s death had been a mistake, which made it even worse somehow.
Surely not! I had dismissed the idea when Steve brought it up first, because
I d been so sure it was a contract killing. Supposing it wasn t? That would leave two
likely options some kind of a nutter who was jealous of April or someone out for
revenge!
*****
Sir Melvin was sorry I had decided to leave.
You must come down again soon, he said as we shook hands. Not just for
the funeral but for a proper holiday. I ve enjoyed meeting you, Georgie. Not every
young woman is prepared to humor an old man.
You aren t, I said, appreciating the twinkle in his eyes. I shall certainly be
in touch, as soon as they give us the go ahead. I m very grateful for your offer,
Melvin. I went to have a look and it s very peaceful in the churchyard.
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