Virtually Scared To Death (Julia Blake Cozy Mystery Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

would
be strong enough to scare him to death?” I asked.
    DI
Clarke looked deep in thought. After a while he said, “It’s possible. He could
have been terrified by the background images so much that he needed his
tablets.”
    I
nodded, “Yes! Of Course! Have you had the tablets tested yet?”
    “Yes,
they were four times the dose that Mr Castle takes,” DI Clarke admitted.
    “Do
you think Mark was murdered?”
    “It’s
staring to look that way. I’ll have to take your computer and get the game
analysed.”
    “It
runs quite slow,” I warned him.
    “Lucky
for us that it does,” DI Clarke grimaced as he came closer to the image on the
screen. “That really is quite disturbing.”
    Whilst
I helped the inspector unplug my computer I mentioned that I’d seen Jasper
Parker in Leeds with Annabel Castle.
    “Yes,
he came into the station to complain about you. I’ll have to check the copy of
Mr Castle’s game that he’s got.”
    “Why
would he have a copy?” I asked.
    “Mark
Castle gave him a copy shortly before he died so that he could sell it on his
behalf,” DI Clarke said. “Jasper Parker claims he had a company ready to buy
it.”
    I
stopped moving and asked, “Did he mention which company?”
    “I
can’t quite remember the name. It was some big Japanese name.”
    I
shook my head furiously. “No! That can’t be. Mark said he would never sell to a
company like that. I think that Jasper Parker stole the game and somehow, he
and Annabel Castle killed Mark!”

 

Chapter 13

 
    The
inspector warned me not to make such wild accusations. He left with my computer
and said he’d be in touch soon.
    It
all made sense to me now.
    Annabel
switched the pills so that when Mark needed them he would end up taking a dose
that was fatally too strong for him. Jasper had got a copy of the game and put
subliminal messages and sounds on them. Mark could have been subjected to them
for months and not known.
    It
took me a while to get to sleep that night. It wasn’t just the thought that
Mark had been murdered, it was the image of the mutilated girl that kept
flashing into my mind.
    I
was called into the police station the next day. I hoped it was to witness the
arrest of Jasper and Annabel.
    I
was shown into DI Clarke’s office.
    He
invited me to sit down.
    “We’ve
had the game analysed and found many brutal images of that same girl and other
children. If it’s any consolation they are computer generated images and not
actual photographs. We found sounds as well. I won’t play them to you, they’re
too disturbing.”
    “Can
you tell me what kind of sounds they are?” I asked.
    “Like
you’d image a factory to make. You know, like machinery moving. There’s also
the sounds of children screaming and a little girl asking for help. If Mr
Castle was subjected to this for a sustained period of time ... well, I’m
surprised he didn’t go insane.” DI Clarke shook his head sadly.
    “Who
do you think put the images there? Jasper Parker?” I said.
    “Mr
Parker said he never saw the game until Mr Castle gave it to him recently. Mr
Parker sent us a copy of the game that he received so that we could test it.
There were no subliminal messages. Also, I mentioned your surprise about Mr
Castle agreeing to sell the game to a Japanese company. Mr Parker was surprised
too when he got Mr Castle’s email to confirm the sale.”
    “Email?
I though they had meetings via video call,” I said.
    “Apparently
they usually do, but this communication came through email,” DI Clarke replied.
    “That
means anyone could have sent it,” I pointed out. “Someone could have been
waiting for Mark to die, and then hacked into his emails and sold the game to
Jasper Parker.”
    DI
Clarke gave a little smile, “You’ve got an active imagination, Ms Blake. I
thought of that too. I asked Mr Parker to give me the account number of where
he transferred the two million pounds to.”
    “Two
million pounds! What was that for?” I said