Virtually Dead by Peter May

Author:Peter May [May, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General
ISBN: 9781615951321
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: 2011-01-09T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

What little moon there was seemed to have vanished. The night was black as ebony, the sky studded with tiny jewels of light that reached out to them from millions of years in the past. There was something about that vast, timeless cosmos that made Michael feel very small, and his troubles less than insignificant. But he knew that as the sun rose tomorrow and the first twelve hours of his twenty-four had passed, those troubles were going to loom very large in his mind and seem anything but insignificant.

Janey poured them each another glass of Syrah and set the bottle carefully back down on the stone tiles of the terrace. The silhouettes of tall palm trees bowed in the breeze against the lights of the island below, and a yacht under motor power chugged its way slowly up the channel, leaving shards of shattered light scattered in its wake.

“That money must have come out of Smitts’ account when his AV was destroyed. Transferred to another account that transferred the money to you before it was erased.”

Michael shook his head. “But why would anyone want to put it into my account? Didn’t they know I was broke and liable to spend it?”

Janey laughed. “It must have been a mistake, Mike. The money must have been destined for someone else. Someone made a mistake when they were tapping in a name or a number, and it went to you instead.”

Knowing that it must have been an error did nothing to improve Michael’s mood. He sat clutching his glass, already partially anaesthetised by the wine, and felt himself slipping into an even deeper depression. “They’re going to think I killed him.”

“Who?”

“Smitts. If they think I engineered the theft of the money, they must think I killed him, too.

“Did you?

“Ha. Ha. Ha.”

“Where were you the night of the murder, Mike?”

“Pole dancing at Minsky’s.”

“No, I’m serious. Where were you?”

He turned to look at her. “I was here.”

“On your own?”

“Yes.”

“Great alibi.”

“I don’t need an alibi, Janey.”

“Well, if someone’s setting you up for this, you might.”

A chill ran through him, in spite of the warm night air. “You think I’m being set up?”

“I have no idea. It doesn’t really matter, either way. Whether you’re being set up or if it’s all just some horrible mistake, you’re in deep shit.”

Michael slipped further down in his chair and took a long draught of his wine. “Thank you for those words of comfort.”

They sat in silence, then, for a long time, before finally Michael turned and looked across at Janey in her ridiculous outfit. She was deeply lost in some distant contemplation. But he needed a change of subject, something to take his mind off the same thoughts that kept going round and around his head in never-ending circles.

“So tell me about SL sex.”

“What?”

“That’s what you came for, isn’t it?”

Her head swivelled to look at him as if he were mad. Then she smiled and shook her head. “What do you want to know?”

“How it’s done.”

“Why?”

“Just curious, that’s all.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.