A Secret Schemer (32 page)

Chapter 36

I stirred sleepily to the sound
of my mobile ringing, fumbling around I grasped it eagerly to see
who was calling, as I expected it was Lucas advising me to go
downstairs quickly. Looking at the clock it wasn’t long after six,
so I slipped out of bed and donned my robe, I didn’t stop to use
the bathroom, as by the tone of Lucas’s voice it was pivotal.

As I rushed through the kitchen
door I could tell by the look on his face that something was
amiss.

‘You best sit down Lucy.’ Lucas
advised.

As I sat down Lucas passed me
the first tabloid. To my immense horror, staring at me in bold
letters, I read the headlines. ‘
DUPED BY ‘GAY’ LOVER!
What
the hell did it mean?

Lucas gently placed his hand
over mine. ‘You need to read it all Lucy to fully comprehend.’

Tim Carter was arrested on
Saturday the 6
^th
of June, for
cybercrime, the police were handed sufficient evidence to justify
Carters arrest. The evidence handed to the police earlier that day,
came from his girlfriend Miss Lucy Ross. Carter had been in a
somewhat elusive relationship with Miss Ross for the past nine
months.

To read the full report, turn
to pages 4-5.

As I flicked to the said pages
my body was shaking relentlessly, with the fear of what I was about
to see…shocking realisation hit me like a fist in the face. There
staring at me was the person from my dreams, the one with the
stunning eyes, holding hands with Tim. The words underneath the
picture read.
Carter on his recent wedding day, at Chelsea Town
Hall.
Trying to comprehend the staggering reality of this
picture was overwhelming. ‘How, when, why, nothing makes sense,
surely I couldn’t possibly have been that obtuse not to have
realised.’ I uttered out of shock. I’d only just noticed that Lucas
was still holding my hand.

‘Lucy he’s a practised conman,
no one could have seen that one coming. Give yourself a break
before you read on.’

‘No Lucas I have to read it
now.’ I added as I glanced back at the paper. There were two other
pictures, one of Jorge Sanchez, noted as being one of the men who
was involved financially and emotionally in this scam. The third
picture was one of the doctored images; thank goodness my face had
been pixelated. I hadn’t noticed Mary was in the kitchen and when
she placed a steaming cup of tea under my nose, I resumed reality.
‘Mary thank you, I’m so sorry.’ I mumbled.

‘You have nothing to be sorry
for darling.’ Mary added as she lovingly patted my shoulder.

Between sips of the warm sweet
tea I continued to read the treatise. The detailed version of my
bizarre affair continued as follows.
Carter met Miss Ross
through a Dating Site, a relationship developed and after a few
weeks Carter had moved into her London pub. Miss Ross quoted that
Carters dream was to become a millionaire by the time he reached
forty. She added that this had amused her at the time as he was
already thirty nine.. He had requested renting a room from her as
he said being an IT consultant he needed to spend numerous hours on
his computer. They went out for meals, although their outings were
never that regular, Miss Ross had accepted this as he’d said it was
due to work commitments. Her friends all found him unsociable,
especially in the environment in which they worked and lived. At
Christmas he disappeared for several days, on his return he said
he’d been staying with his parents as his mother was unwell. Miss
Ross then asked for his parents address in case of an emergency. He
gave the address of a flat in Orpington, which has now been
established as having been owned by his partner James Johnson.
Carter had not seen or heard from his parents in over twenty years,
after they had discovered he’d been stealing from them. On several
occasions Miss Ross had deemed he may have had problems during his
childhood and possibly that was why he spent so much time alone.
She said he was always charming when they did spend time together.
Due to the irregular hours he kept and little to no contact on a
daily basis, Miss Ross confronted him with the issue of his work,
saying she had no idea where he worked. He reluctantly gave her the
firm’s name, after searching Miss Ross discovered that the said
firm had closed over five years previously. Her close friend Miss
Jena Wright suggested they search his room as she felt there was
something odd about Carter. They found his room in total disarray,
bedclothes in a heap on the bed, clothes strewn over the floor and
a waste bin full of rubbish. During the search they found bank
statements and a shoe box filled with cash. Miss Wright had taken
photos of the statements, which were from no less than five
different banks. She had urged Miss Ross to confront him about the
money; however Miss Ross felt that as she had no proof to the
contrary, the money could have been legal. As there was only one
week left before his fortieth birthday, and Carter had promised her
a big surprise on the day, she felt inclined to leave things as
they were. On the morning of Saturday the 6
^th
of June one of Miss Ross’s employees a Mr Carr,
had heard Carter struggling out of the pub with luggage, at five
o’clock in the morning. This had started the alert and during the
day Mr Carr and Miss Ross had managed to hack into Carter’s laptop,
which he’d left behind in error. Hence the discovery of cybercrime,
Carter had stolen Miss Ross’s identity to obtain money
fraudulently. He had taken two photos of Miss Ross when he’d first
met her, just head and shoulder snaps on his mobile phone. He’d
used these two photos to belie that the vile pornographic images
he’d generated, were of Miss Ross. He then had contacted dating
sites on his computer, for example USA Sugar Daddy Dates .com, and
Sugar Daddies in Scotland. He had then sent copies of the pictures
to mature wealthy men on these sites, once Carter had created
sufficient interest, he’d contrived what he believed was a fool
proof story. Changing Miss Ross’s name to Miss L Carter, ensuring
any monies sent would come directly to him, as his second name was
Leonard. Now using her identity he had emailed the interested
parties, stating that she was serving a short term prison sentence,
which she’d been wrongly accused of, therefore she would not be
able to meet them until her release in early June. Erotic emails
had been sent along with the pictures and large amounts of money
had been sent to ‘her’. The amount of men and cash has still not
been finalised. In fact Carter had sold Miss Ross to these men;
they had been financially and emotionally duped by him.

When the police arrested Carter
and Johnson they were about to leave for the airport, flight
tickets for Singapore were found in their luggage. During the last
week before his fortieth birthday, he’d emptied and closed four of
the said bank accounts. The flat in Orpington had been sold
bringing in £185.000 to Johnson. After police questioning the
stories of Carter and Johnson were inconsistent, Carter told the
police a house had been purchased in Singapore, whereby Johnson
favoured Thailand. Although Johnson had not been a part of duping
Miss Ross he was guilty of aiding and abetting, however now they
were married, which would change things.

As this is a very complex
case the police believe it will be some time before all the truth
is revealed, Carter is due to appear at Westminster Court in the
morning, to state his details. Jorge Sanchez has decided to stay in
the UK as he will be a crucial witness. Another man a Mr Alestair
Glenn, whom Carter had arranged to meet Miss Ross on
8
^th
June, has now been officially
contacted by the police, and made aware of the situation.

Carter has shown no remorse and
believes that if he hadn’t left his laptop in the pub by mistake,
he would now be in Singapore with his partner.

This is a devastating
experience for Miss Ross, who is of an impeccable character.

As I looked up from the paper I
noticed Jena was reading one of the broadsheets, I’d been so
engrossed that I hadn’t even realised she was in the room. ‘Jena
I’m sorry I didn’t see you come in.’ I said quietly.

‘I doubt you know what’s going
on Lucy, this is totally inconceivable, I always knew the guy was
shifty, but this takes the fucking biscuit.’ Jena exploded.

At that moment Andy burst into
the kitchen. ‘I’m not trying to alarm you girls but there’s a mob
of paparazzi hanging around outside.’

‘Even though the police didn’t
release the name of the pub, they’ve sniffed it out.’ Jena
declared. ‘We need to plan our day Lucy.’

‘Perhaps it would be better if
you stayed out of the bar today Lucy, you need time to take this
entire revelation in.’ Lucas proposed.

‘That sounds like the best idea
for today anyway, I’ll make sure none of the staff get involved
with the press, unfortunately the punters are a different matter,
truth is they know nothing anyway. Nevertheless it won’t stop them
talking.’

‘I need to speak to Charles
Emerson pronto, this is a living nightmare.’ I said with concern.
‘I expect my next shock will be losing my pub.’

‘No way Honey, challenging as
it is for you Lucy, the pub will be the hub for the next few days
and sales will boom. If the paparazzi want to come in our pub then
they’re welcome if they buy a drink.’ Jena assured. ‘Don’t worry
love they’ll soon have another story to follow.’

I wish I could feel Jena’s
confidence; the future for me was disturbing, and especially the
impending court case. The very thought of looking into those evil,
depraved eyes was appalling…

Tim Carter was slouched on a
bunk inside a cell at Belgravia police station; he was brooding
about Saturday afternoon on the train. The fear had had him
gripped; all he’d wanted was to be with JJ. He’d taken a cab to the
flat, once inside he’d thrown himself into JJ’s arms explaining
anxiously what had happened. They knew they would have to leave
right away; she would have given the police the address of the
flat. How he hated her, she had everything she wanted, his plan had
been infallible. Then he’d made the stupid mistake of leaving the
laptop in the pub. Their flight tickets to Singapore had arrived
during the week; they were due to fly on Sunday the 7
^th
June, his fortieth birthday, the plan had been perfect.

They had packed double quick,
only taking essentials. Then as they were about to exit the
building and leave for the airport, the doorbell rang… Panic
consumed them…they knew there was no escape route… They’d been
driven away in separate police cars, and that was the last time
he’d seen JJ, and the look on his face would stay with him forever…
He’d spent his fortieth birthday being interrogated by the cops,
and it was all her fault. He knew he had to appear in court in the
morning, and he’d get bail, so would JJ, then they would be
together…his scheme would work, he’d get passports, he had contacts
on the net...then they could fly to Singapore where their house was
waiting and a new life together….

Jena had arranged to run the
bar with Lucas during Monday lunchtime, as she knew the paparazzi
would be hovering around for any scrap of gossip available. When
she’d opened the door they’d barged in with cameras at the ready.
She heard repeated demands for Lucy Ross, where is she. As they
approached the bar Jena declared very distinctly. ‘This is a bar
guys if you wish to stay then you’d best get your money out.
Otherwise I’ll show you the door.’

She heard lots of mumbled
comments, and then one mouthy guy shouted above the rest.’ Where is
she then?’

Jena replied equally as loudly.
‘If you’re referring to Miss Ross, she’s not available today.’

As the punters turned up, out
came the note pads and the gossip was then in full flow, cameras
flashing in every direction.

‘They’re like a pack of rabid
dogs.’ Lucas declared. ‘Thank goodness Lucy’s not here.’

‘The trouble is Lucas they
won’t rest until they get pictures of her.’ Jena said quietly.
‘Perhaps it would be best if she showed her face for a minute,
otherwise they’ll be hanging around here for days. Hold the fort
Lucas while I have a word.’

Jena went into the kitchen.
‘Kate have you seen Lucy?’

‘She went up for a shower a few
minutes ago.’

Jena raced up the stairs and
found Lucy in her bedroom getting dressed. ‘Lucy Ross I’m going to
make a suggestion, the paparazzi are not going away and the last
thing you need is being stalked by them for days. So I thought if
you make a fleeting visit to the bar and smile and say you’re fine.
Even though we know full well you’re not, are you getting my
drift?’

‘I’m getting your drift love,
I’ve spoken to the brewery and they’re right behind me, so ok let’s
do this.’

‘It will show Carter and
everyone else that Miss Ross is made of stronger stuff.’

As we ran down to the bar Jena
went in first and grabbed the bar bell ringing it twice, this soon
got everyone’s attention. ‘Ok you guys you’ve got a minute with the
owner of this pub, so crack on.’

I walked out into the bar with
a smile on my face, the flashes from the cameras were dazzling and
they were all shouting at once. So with a resolute voice I said.
‘Thank you all I’m fine.’ Ignoring all further comments I turned
and walked out of the bar. I’d done it; now please let them leave
me alone to grasp what has actually taken place over the past few
days. Going into the office I endeavoured to catch up with the
paperwork, after a few minutes I realised I wasn’t concentrating
all I’d achieved was to open letters and push them to one side. My
thoughts were filled with all of the evil, hurtful, scenes and
events, rather like a tray of fruit with all the bruised and
blemished ones in the front, forgetting there was good stuff at the
back. How long would it take me to come to terms with it all?