Here’s Day 2 of my free complete crime short story Selfie. In the week my new Danny Lancaster crime novel GARGOYLE PIXIE DOG is published I’m serialising Selfie from Monday to Friday – here and at www.facebook.com/DannyLancasterInvestigates. Here’s:
SELFIE: part 2 of 5
It wasn’t a good thing for a police officer to admit to murder but Detective Sergeant Pauline Myers knew she would kill someone if she didn’t get a coffee in the next ten minutes.
She couldn’t remember when she and Tequila Tania had left the club but they were still very much awake when the first strands of dawn had crept across her sweaty duvet. Now the computer screen in front of her pulsed in time with the throb behind her eyes. Tequila Tania was a dangerous cocktail.
Coffee wasn’t going to solve her problem but it might just put the brakes on the runaway train in her head, even if it was only that evil chemical effluent from the machine in the corridor. Myers eased herself up from her chair when the phone jangled the split ends of her nerves.
She glared venom, then picked it up.
“Pauline?”
“Who is this?”
“Danny.”
“Oh, no.”
“And a good day to you, too.”
“Look, I’m crazy busy here. If this is another of your…”
“Revenge porn.”
“What?”
“Illegal, isn’t it?”
Myers sagged back into the chair, cradling the phone and her head.
“Look, Pauline, there’s this kid. She’s done something stupid. She won’t talk to anyone official. I’m just trying to help.”
“It’s not just something stupid, Danny. It’s a way of life these days. They reckon nearly fifty per cent of British girls between 13 and 17 have sent explicit photos.”
“I’m not talking about fifty per cent of girls. It’s one kid.”
“Let me think.” Danny listened to the sound of heavy breathing. “Right, there’s new legislation brought in at the beginning of 2015, part of the Criminal Justice And Courts Bill. It covers images of people engaging in sexual activity on social media, text messages, etc. Sending images can be an offence under the Communication Act 2003 or the Malicious Communication Act 1988. Then there’s the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.”
“Sounds pretty belt and braces.”
“It is.”
“But not much good if the victim’s too scared to report it.”
“Look, Danny, I’ve got an urgent appointment down the corridor. If an offence has been committed you let me know.”
“Understood.”
“Good, I hope you get him.”
***
The spring sun was throwing long tree shadows across the grass but the chilly wind had kept people away. He sat outside the Pavilions Gardens Cafe, nursing a mug of tea, people watching. Danny saw them as soon as they came round the path by the museum, Ash leading, Gemma in her wake. The girls slipped into the two empty seats at Danny’s table and looked at him.
“You want a drink?”
They shook their heads.
“Ok, here’s the plan. I’ll see if there’s any way out of this mess. It’s the best I can think of.”
“Thank you,” said Ash. Gemma pushed her fringe away from red eyes, nodded.
“What’s this character’s name?”
“Ryan, Ryan Black.”
Danny took out his notebook. “Ok, write down all the details, his address, car, mobile number, Facebook, all that stuff.”
Ash began to write, one arm curled protectively around the pad as if it was an exam paper. Then he read through her notes, asked a few questions, pocketed the pad.
“I’ll take a look at this guy but that’s as far as it goes. You get any more problems, you ring me. And Gemma…”
The smaller girl dragged her head up as if her neck was weighted.
“Yes?” The voice was a whisper.
“Delete those pictures.”
***
Some of the stuff flicking across the screen of Karol Jachowicz’s laptop was the product of very sick minds. There seemed to be no human activity that didn’t turn some weirdo on. Even chickens!
Danny relied on Karol or Wanda for his researches. He seemed to have a mental block where the internet was concerned. Today he felt glad to be a Luddite.
“Even if this ex-boyfriend deletes his images it is too late,” said Karol.
“Why?”
“Once they are on the net they can multiply like a disease. They are copied to other sites, downloaded. You cannot reach them all.”
“It’s a start.”
“Ok, these are his pictures.”
Danny tried not to look because every time he did he saw Hayley’s face but it had to be done. There were a dozen. Gemma half-smiling nervously in some, scared in most. She didn’t look happy in any of them.
“My instinct is to break his legs and have done,” said Danny. “But that doesn’t help Gemma. We need an angle. What can we find out about this guy?”
Karol’s fingers blurred across his keyboard.
“Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,” said Karol. They both studied the screen.
“A man of simple tastes,” said Danny. “Football and booze.”
His closest friends were four guys who drank and played football together. Dave Tweddle, Connor Wilding, Baz Bashir and Seth Bramley. There were pictures and posts of a bunch of lads out on the lash and on the pitch for the Sporting Brighton first eleven. Most of the photos showed them red-faced and sweating in pubs and clubs. Some of the images had them red-faced and sweating on the pitch.
“How about his check-ins?” asked Karol.
“Do what?”
“On Facebook you can tell people where you are?”
“What for?”
Karol threw Danny a pitying look.
“And if you let your phone access GPS it gives your location when you post.”
The light dawned across Danny’s face.
“So we know where he spends his time?”
“Compared to you, Danny, King Ludd was the Steve Jobs of his day.”
“Ok, Karol, let’s get weaving.”
As Karol scrolled through the different windows Danny wrote down a list of locations. It took half an hour to trawl through Ryan Black’s social media posts for the last year. They formed a simple pattern, booze and footie.
“What do you do now?” asked Karol.
“Watch him. Find a weakness.”
“I hope you succeed. I have a sister the age of that girl.”
MORE TOMORROW
█ SELFIE is an edited version of a short story in my new Danny Lancaster crime novel Gargoyle Pixie Dog which is a short thriller plus six short crime stories. That’s a lot of crime for 99p. It’s available as an Amazon ebook. Just click this link – www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010T2CHK4. Part 3 will be published here and on Danny’s Facebook page tomorrow.
©BILL TODD