4 comments/ 9507 views/ 2 favorites My Lost Love By: Cromagnonman "Why do you think that your wife agreed to marry you?" This seemed to be a strange question to ask a suspect in a murder investigation, but it was one that I had asked myself many times over the past three years. "I guess that she loved me as much as I loved her." That was the best that I could do under the circumstances, after all we had expressed out mutual love every day for all of that time. I looked at the woman seated across from me, she was the 'good cop' of the team and I guess that it was her way of softening the process, of searching for a reason why I could have killed my wife rather than bludgeoning a confession out of me like the other half of the team. I know a thing or two about interview techniques having had to conduct many of them in my time as Human Resources Director of Bramford Technologies, the company of which my wife was the Managing Director and owner. Jessica had started out as one of many secretaries and had, by hard work and diligence, worked her way up to being the Personal Assistant to Harold Bramford the company founder. A year after his wife had died she married him and helped him run the company, and as his health began to fail him, assumed more and more responsibility for its running until, following his death, she took over completely. We had met on a regular basis over the years to discuss the company direction and institute a program that focused on staff development and promotion from within rather than go outside to meet our needs. It was my task to conduct the selection process and I had developed a procedure that was guaranteed to appoint the right person for the position. This revolved around establishing a two part selection criteria and the primary selection was based purely on the CV and how well the applicant addressed these criteria. If all of the mandatory criteria weren't met then that was as far as that person got in the selection process. The desirable criteria were not as set in concrete and we could overlook it if not all of these were met. The next part of the process was to evaluate how well the CV addressed the criteria. If they were met with clear concise statements that provided quantitative examples of previous experience we would proceed and check with the referees. It was only then that a decision was made whether to interview or not. Because we knew that the applicant was able to do the job that we required, the interview was so that we could ascertain whether that person would fit into our organization. I had found that the best interview technique was to start a conversation and, by careful prompts, steer the conversation to get the answers that I sought. It was a successful procedure and, as a result we had a staff that worked well in teams within the umbrella of our company. One of the many procedures that I introduced was that HR section made sure that each staff member received a small present on his or her birthday and at Christmas. The sections were encouraged to hold regular lunches, we would provide cover for them for two hours while they either took over a section of the staff dining room or a restaurant was booked for the occasion. It was incumbent on each team not to abuse the privilege and none of them did. I guess that Jessica and I sort of grew closer as time went on. During Harold's illness and after he died I was the person that she turned to for comfort. She had no family to call on for advice, she couldn't call on his, and because she had focused on her career, she had no close friends. His family didn't take to her at all, especially his brother William (don't you dare call me Will or Bill) Bramford who was a nominal director but who was less interested in the company than the money he received from it in dividends and director's fees. He viewed Jessica as an intruder into his domain and took advantage of every opportunity of damage what little reputation she had with the family. Behind her back he referred to her as the 'slut' and insisted that she had fucked her way into Harold's life and fortune. It was a Friday evening, about three months after Harold's death and the week that Jessica had formally taken control of the company, that she came into my office. "Michael. Tell me, what do you do to relax and unwind after a trying week at the office?" "Jessica, you can call me Mike." "No, I'd better stick to Michael, I don't want the staff to think that we're getting too close." "To answer your question, I have a motor cycle and I ride up to a cabin I have in the hills." "I can't quite see you in your leathers riding a Harley." "Neither can I, I ride a BMW R100, I've had it for years." "What do you do up at this cabin of yours?" "I just mooch around, go for walks in the forest, sit on the back porch and watch the animals and birds, some of them are quite tame and come up to me for hand-outs." "That sounds positively idyllic. I wish I could do something like that, I feel so alone in my big house." She had a new look on her face as if she was jealous of me. "Would you like to join me?" "I'd love to, but I can't." "Why ever not? Surely your social calendar isn't that full that you can't make room for some 'me time'?" She looked at me for some time, and then her expression changed in a flash. She smiled at me. "All right, I'll do it! What do I do, what do I wear, how will I get there, I can hardly have my driver drive me up there?" "Tell your driver to go home and that you won't need him until Monday, then you can come home with me and I'll see if I can rustle up some clothes for you, then we're off on our weekend of doing nothing." She seemed amazed that a person could live in such a small apartment as mine with so few possessions. I explained that I was comfortable in my space and didn't miss not having all the latest gadgets, I had enough of computers at work and had few friends and didn't see the need for any social networking type technology. I grabbed some clothes and shoved them into a backpack and found some clothes for her to wear on the bike, they didn't fit but they would keep her warm until we got there. "Wow, is this yours?" She stood next to the shiny black BMW her mouth open. "That my lady, is our steed for the weekend. Climb aboard." I strapped the backpack on the tank and she straddled the pillion seat as I fired it up. It settled into the typical lumpy BMW idle. "Ready? Hold on tight." I kicked it into gear and we were off. When I told her to hold on tight I didn't mean that tight but as we rode I could feel her begin to relax and allow me to breathe more comfortably. I was in no hurry, content to cruise up the winding road and she soon got the hang of leaning into the corners with me. About an hour later we stopped outside my cabin and she got off. I got off and placed it on its stand. "Did you enjoy that?" "I didn't think that I would, but once I got used to leaning in the corners it was great, now I can understand why you like it." "The ride is the first part of the relaxation process, come." I led her into the cabin. I switched on the lights and she looked around the single room. Her puzzled look prompted an explanation, I pointed to the ceiling. "Solar panels on the roof and storage batteries, I can leave the lights on all night and not run out of electricity." "Okay, but there's only one bed and no bathroom, you don't think that I'm going to spend the weekend without having a bath do you?" I noticed that she hadn't actually questioned the sleeping arrangements. "The bathroom is outside and the bed is yours, I'll sleep on the floor." "We'll see." I filled the kettle with water and got out some mugs for coffee. "I'm sorry I can't come to percolated coffee, here I rough it with instant. If you look in that cupboard you'll find some long life milk and sugar. Tonight we'll have to make do with nibbles, tomorrow we'll have fresh bread and hopefully some freshly caught fish." Coffee made and cheese and crackers on a table in front of us we settled on the over-stuffed sofa. "This is nice." Jessica said through a mouthful of cracker. "How long have you had this?" "My grandfather built it a thousand years ago, longevity runs in the family, and I inherited it from my father about ten years ago. I come up here whenever I can or need to, it's my recharge space when life gets too much." "You're referring to last year when you had to take time off because of your wife." "Ex-wife you mean, how did you know about that? I never told anyone about my problems with her." "You didn't think that you could keep a secret did you, after all it was you that encouraged HR to keep track of employees and their problems so that we could help out where possible. If you hadn't requested time off I would have told you to take it." I was humbled by her words. I knew that she took an interest in the program that I had introduced, but I was impressed that she should take such an interest, given her other problems with Harold's illness. I sat there staring at the floor thinking that she was a special woman, and so far different from my ex, when I felt her hand on my arm. "Mike, here I can call you Mike and you must call me Jess, I came to your office for a reason tonight. I need your help in dealing with Harold's family." "In particular one William Bramford, right?" I knew that William had been a thorn in her side ever since she and Harold had married. He made no attempt to hide his contempt for the young woman that he called a 'gold-digging slut' who had married her way into the business. He would oppose every proposal she put before the board despite the fact that every one of them was well planned and would benefit the company. "I don't know how long I can put up with his continual opposition to me before I explode and tell him exactly what I think of him." "There's no way that he can be dismissed from the board?" "No, he is the family representative and he has poisoned them against me to the extent that they will not consider replacing him." "Okay listen to me, tonight we are going to forget all about William, he doesn't exist, expunge him from your mind and think about other things like what a great time we're going to have together, can I confess something to you?" "Yes." They way that she was looking at me told me that she knew what I was going to say, even before I said it. 'I have dreamed of this moment for some time, even before Harold died, may I?" She nodded, her eyes misting up. I took her face in my hands and kissed her gently on the lips. What happened next exceeded my wildest dreams, she flung her arms around my neck and kissed me with an unexpected passion. When we eventually separated she rested her head on my chest and in a barely audible voice she said, "Mike, do you know that if I had gotten to know you before I fell in love with Harold I wouldn't be in the situation I currently find myself. You are a wonderful man that I have come to rely upon for advice and support when I needed it most. Sure we've had our differences at times but at least we've been able to work our way through any problems we've had, just as Harold and I were able to work together. We three, you, Harold and I have the same vision, the same goal for our company and I'm sure that he's up there, looking down on us at this very moment and giving us his blessing for whatever it is that you plan to do to me tonight." "I don't plan to do anything to you tonight, or any other night for that matter." A look of uncertainty came over her. "What I have planned is not to do to you, but to do with you. Anything that we do tonight and into the future will be a joint venture, not just two individuals moving in similar directions." We approached our love making as mature adults, not rushing into things but taking our time and savoring every moment of it, my cock enjoying the feeling of her pussy caressing him as he moved slowly in and out of her, and when she came, we came, her muscles tightened their grip on him refusing permission for him to leave her body, even after he had subsided. "I knew that it would be like this." Jessica whispered to me as I caressed her breasts. "I knew that you would be a gentle lover. I don't want to continually compare you with Harold but you make love exactly like he did. I never thought that I would meet another kind and considerate lover like him, but I have. Right at this very moment in my life I am extremely happy. Now can we get some sleep?" I held her to me and kissed her eyes and cheek and mouth until she was asleep. I woke early and was preparing breakfast for us. I found the ingredients for pancakes and dug some honey and butter from the larder and was setting the table when I heard her stir. She emerged from the sheets like a Botticelli Venus, naked and not hiding it. She walked gracefully and slowly towards me so that I was able to take in the vision before me, and when she reached me her arms wound around my neck and she kissed me. "Good morning my love." I would have replied but it was difficult for me to talk with two tongues in my mouth. "This must be the most wonderful experience of my life, to wake from a love inspired sleep to find that my lover is preparing to feed me, what bliss." We ate, still naked, and, when we finished, we stacked the dishes in the sink and stood on the back porch letting the sun warm our bodies. After a while the usual animals and birds approached, warily at first and then realizing that Jessica was a part of me, they came closer. I put seed in the bird feeder and soon there were six or seven birds fluttering around and eating when a space became available. I took some feed from a bin on the porch and tossed it on the ground for the animals. "Have you ever made bread?" I asked as we walked back inside. "No, I get mine from the supermarket already sliced and in a plastic bag." "That stuff isn't bread, its blotting paper." I got the flour and dried yeast from the larder and put it in a mixing bowl. I added warm water and proceeded to mix it together to form dough. Tipping it out onto a floured board I began to knead the dough, pushing it away from me with the ball of my hand, folding it back and pushing it, stretching the dough until it had reached the required consistency. I placed the ball of dough back into the bowl, covered it with a cloth and placed it in a warm place to rise. "Come. We have about an hour, I want to show you something, but I think maybe we should put on some clothes." We must have looked weird because, while my clothes fitted, my clothes didn't fit her, the shorts which were snug on me came down past her knees and were pulled tight at the waist, my tee-shirt hung loosely from her shoulders and, apart from her breasts, didn't touch until it reached her hips. As she slipped into the shirt she looked at me. "I am not going anywhere near a bra until Monday." "That's good because you don't need one and I want to be able to fondle you whenever I feel like it without being hindered by anything other than the shirt." She came into my arms and turned so that she was facing away from me. My hands slipped under the hem of the shirt and cupped her. "Enough of this, you had something that you wanted to show me." She stepped out of my arms and we left the cabin. It was only a short walk to a clearing through which gurgled a stream. At the centre of the clearing the stream widened into a large pond of deep, clear, water. I stripped off and dived in, luxuriating in the coolness of the water. Jess followed me in and surfaced next to me. The smile on her face warned me of her intentions. Slipping under the water she swam to me and the sensation of her taking him into her warm mouth was the most amazing thing that I had ever experienced. She held him for almost a minute before having to release him and surface. Her arms came around my neck. "Did you enjoy that?" I was pushing my finger into her pussy as she clung to me. When the moment was right I put my hands under her arse cheeks and lifted her onto me. Instinctively her legs wrapped themselves around me and we began to make love. As our bodies moved together we drifted down stream until my feet touched the bottom. I waded to the shore and carrying her out of the water, I lowered her to the grass, still moving in and out of her. She sobbed as she came. "Mike, This moment has been a long time coming, too long. For almost a year Harold and I didn't make love, oh he used his finger to bring me to a climax, but it just wasn't the same as him being inside me. Now you are inside me and I feel so contented and so complete that, if I were to die right now I would die happy. Please, will you do this to me as often as you can?" "We have so much in common that it isn't funny. I have not made love to a woman for nearly three years. My ex and I had sex, but it was hard to have any enthusiasm for the act knowing that only a few hours earlier another guy's cock had been inside her cunt. She so demeaned the act that I don't feel bad about using the term cunt to describe what on you is a pussy; your contribution to our physical joining together." We scrambled into our clothes and headed back to the cabin. The bread dough had risen up and was lifting the covering cloth. I tipped it back out onto the board and punched it down and began kneading it again before putting it back in the bowl to rise once more. While I was waiting for that to happen I put on the kettle and made us both a cup of Moroccan tea. It was a first for Jess and she found it strange that a man would have such esoteric tastes. We sat on the sofa and sipped our tea and discussed our future and how we would proceed from here. The one thing that definitely agreed on was that this relationship was strictly between us, not to be revealed to anyone and at work we would be just good friends. Care would have to be taken around William because we didn't bear thinking about how he would react, especially if he thought that marriage might be in the offing. There was enough dough for two loaves of bread and the first was still warm when I sliced into it and spread butter on it. There is something about warm bread and butter that would be lost if anything else was added. After lunch I gathered together some fishing gear and we walked back down to the stream. Jess was a natural at fly fishing and after some basic lessons she was casting almost as well as me. We worked the stream for about half an hour before I got my first strike, it fought hard and when I landed it I saw that it was a good sized rainbow trout. Jess looked at as if the thought of cooking such a fine fish was a sacrilege. I explained that if we didn't do this we would have nothing to eat. Her ideas changed when she hooked her first fish. By the way that it was fighting I would think that it was a bigger fish than mine and so it proved. I had to urge her not to pull too hard or it would break off so she worked it like an expert and was over the moon when she finally had it on dry land. "I think we have enough with these two." I said as I started to pack up my gear. "No, I want to catch another one." She cast the line across the stream to a place some thirty yards from where she had hooked the last one. She only had to wait a short time, there was a ripple in the water as she retrieved her line and she dropped the fly on the spot. The fish that took the fly leapt out of the water, twisting in the air before splashing back down. It was bigger than her first and she had to work it away from a fallen tree into clear water before she could start her retrieve. "Okay smarty, that's definitely enough for one day. Tomorrow, if you want, we'll come back and see if we can catch a few more to take back to town with us." "You're a sore loser, you can't get over the fact that I caught bigger fish than you when you're supposed to be the expert and I'm the amateur." Her voice was almost like a little girl in the schoolyard, you know that one, "I'm better than you are, na, na, nana, na." My Lost Love "All right, I'll admit it you're a better fisherperson than I am, now I suppose you're going to want me to scale and gut them and maybe even cook them for you." "Would you? That would be so nice, I don't know the first thing about that." "Then let this be the next part of your lesson in self sufficiency." We had arrived back at the cabin and I filled a basin and grabbed a scaling knife and a cutting board and put them on the workbench. "This is how you do it; we're cooking the fish whole so we won't be filleting them, all you have to do is to scale them like this, and then starting at the anal vent, slit carefully up to the gills this allows you to remove the guts taking care not to rupture the bile sac. Now it's your turn." I handed her the knife and watched while she cleaned and gutted the next fish. It was a great meal, the best that I had even experienced up here, and the night just got better. We had no distractions apart from the wind stirred trees and the night calls of those things that call in the night, but all of that was outside the cabin. Inside the cabin were two people who had discovered that the friendship that they had known for some time had become much, much more. We didn't bother with the sofa, instead we were in bed not long after the sun had disappeared over the horizon. Jessica came into my arms immediately and was kissing her way down my body. Her mouth felt almost as good as her pussy on my cock, the light suction and her tongue sent thrills through me so I urged her to straddle me so that I could put my tongue to use on her pussy. We were very close to our orgasm when she released him and her mouth covered mine as she maneuvered him into her. She didn't move for at least five of the most excruciatingly anticipatory minutes and when she did move it was in a slow and sensuous way. I had never experienced anything like this before, not that I had much to compare it with. I told her a million times that I loved her, and she told me just as many times that she loved me, and after a thousand orgasms we eventually fell into a coma, our physical and emotional bond sealed forever. Sunday, we rose late, after a heart-starter and further reiteration of our love, breakfasted on coffee and toast and went back to bed where we stayed for the rest of the day until it was time to go back to town. We called by my apartment so that we could make love one more time, and she could change back into her clothes, and I then drove her home. We managed to keep our relationship a secret for five months until the day that we announced to the staff that we planned to marry. It came as a pleasant shock to the staff, all of whom offered congratulations. There was a buzz around the place that had not existed for some time and on Friday afternoon we realized just what it was about. Jessica and I were asked to come to the staff dining room for drinks with the staff and when we got there we were confronted by all of the staff and a happy mood. Joanna, Jess's PA came to meet us. "You two go and sit over there at that table and say nothing until invited to speak." We did as we were told and each of the team leaders made a short congratulatory speech and presented us with an engagement present. Jess stood when invited but didn't speak, instead she held out her hand for me to join her, only then did she speak. "Mike and I are overwhelmed by your support for our decision to marry and we want this company to carry on as if nothing has changed, because nothing will. Mike will stay in his present role as HR Manager, not because I don't want to promote him to an equal status with me, but because we have agreed that he will be of greater benefit to the company in that role, and because he is the best person for it. We have built this company around utilizing the best people in the role that best uses their talents and we are successful because of that policy. We have built successful teams by using this strategy and see no logical reason to change that. Okay, that's the business side out of the way, let me just say that we are very much in love," she reached for me and put her arm around my waist, "and want to show that love in a formal way by marrying." I held up my hand to silence the applause. "They other reason for this is that it is very stressful trying to keep this from all of you, we felt like teenagers sneaking out at night so that our parents wouldn't find out about us. Now that's a thing of the past, and I for one am glad of it. We just want the world to know that we love each other very much. Thank you for your presents, I'd like to know how you managed to arrange all of this without either of us finding out." "Why did you kill your wife?" Reality hit me like a sledgehammer, it was the bad cop's turn with the questions. "I didn't kill my wife. What possible reason would I have for killing the woman that I loved so much?" "I can think of a couple, like so that you can get sole control of the company." "That is not true, financial control is vested in Jessica who inherited Harold's fifty-one percent and his family own the rest. Operational control of the company is a co-operative arrangement with each of the team leaders having equal input. That is how the company operates best and that's the way that Jess and I wanted it to remain." "What about the affair she was having?" "What affair?" I knew where this rumor began. "Do you mean to say that you weren't aware of the affair she was having with her former brother?" My mind went back to the Christmas party before we were married. I was sitting in a cubicle when William came in with another man. "I tell you, that Jessica is one horny slut. I called around to her place before I came here and she was half naked when she answered the door. Before I knew it she had me on the floor and was bouncing on my cock. She told me that she hadn't had any cock since before Harold died and she just had to have some. I bet if you put the hard word on her tonight you'll score." I waited until they had left before flushing and leaving the cubicle. Did he know that I was in there and was he doing it for my benefit, but why, unless he knew of our relationship? I had a quiet word with Jess letting her know that William was spreading rumors about her and encouraging another man to hit on her. In bed after the party she told me that he had told his mother the same thing, and the more she protested her innocence the more her mother believed him, so she just let it slide, not caring what the family thought of her. She did tell me that when she and Harold first dated he had hit on her and she rejected him. He persisted for some time before Harold told him to back off. A week after Harold died he tried again and once more she rejected him. "I heard rumors to that affect but I knew them not to be true. She was not having an affair with William." "Believe what you want. Do you have an alibi for the time that your wife died?" "I was elsewhere but I have no way of proving it. Jessica and I had just gone to bed and were in the middle of something very enjoyable when my phone rang. I wanted to ignore it but Jess said it might be important. By then he'd gone down so I answered it. The voice on the other end of the line identified himself as a guard employed by a security firm to patrol the company premises. He told me that an alarm had gone off and asked if I could come down and accompany him while we made sure that the building was secure. I got dressed and drove to our office but there was no-one there. I waited for five minutes and called the security firm to find that they knew nothing of the call-out. You could check with them to see if the call was logged. So I drove home only to find the place swarming with you guys and me being arrested for murdering Jessica. How was it that you were on the scene so soon after the event?" "We got a 911 call that told us that the person was passing by and heard a shot and minutes later he saw your car drive away. He gave a very good description of the vehicle and driver and it was you, no doubts about that." "There are a couple of things that I think you should investigate. The first is how could a gunshot be heard from the street? The house is totally soundproofed to the extent that we can't hear thunder during an electrical storm, plus, the house is set back from the road. To hear a gunshot the person would have to have been inside the house. The second is, if I had shot Jessica, why did I come back? Surely I would have been heading as far as possible from the crime scene? I have no doubt that the person could have seen me leaving the property but as for the rest, I'm not so certain, and neither should you be. Oh, and another thing, if you check with the 911 operator you will be able to get the number of the phone used for that call, and I wouldn't mind betting that it's the same phone used to lure me away from home by the real killer. You probably won't be able to trace the call because, if the killer planned this that well, he would have used a pre-paid cell and disposed of it as soon as he had made the calls." I was allowed to leave after they had investigated the points that I raised and the focus of the investigation shifted to William, could he have been the person that made the call and what did he have to gain from killing Jessica? Several interesting facts arose from their investigation of William. He had spread rumors of an affair with Jessica dating from the time before she married Harold. His wife challenged him about these, threatening to divorce him and take him to the cleaners. He was unable or unwilling to substantiate the rumors and his wife accepted that it was just his attempt to discredit Harold's standing with the family. All this changed six months ago when she received a package from an unknown person that contained evidence of an affair. "What is this?" She demanded, pointing to the computer screen that showed a video of William and Jessica in a very un-platonic position. "Where the hell did that come from?" He was panicking, they had been very careful since Jess and I married to keep their secret a secret. "It doesn't matter where it came from! I now have the evidence I need to crucify you. I have already spoken to my lawyers and they are preparing divorce papers as we speak." "Look, I admit that Jessica and I are lovers and I'll give you what you want in the divorce, only just keep this quiet because if this gets out Michael will divorce her and take a large chunk of the company." "Right now I think I should contact him with this evidence and let him loose on the both of you, but I won't because that would probably mean that I would get less from you and you know me, I'm nothing if not greedy, so I'll keep quiet in exchange for a substantial amount of money and this house and, let's see, I think your fancy sports car will suit my image just nicely." "That's blackmail." "You're right it is blackmail, and what are you going to do about it?" "Nothing, you win." "I expect you to move out of this house as soon as possible, if I never see you again it will be too soon." She stormed off but not before taking the memory stick from the computer. William sat down and thought for a few minutes before picking up the phone and dialing Jessica's cell. "Hi, it's me. To say that the shit has hit the fan is putting it mildly. Somehow Jane has got evidence of our affair and is in the process of filing for divorce. We will have to move things up a bit, can you arrange that?" "Yes, the sooner I get rid of Mike the better, I only married him to stick it up your family, especially your snooty mother who doted on Harold and was really upset when he married me. I can't stand her, but I think that she will now be susceptible to the suggestion that the family buy me out. We have to get rid of him first, and it can't be a divorce or he'll be looking for half of my share." "How does fraud sound?" "What do you have in mind?" She was curious. "That money that we've been spiriting out of the company accounts and salting away for our future, we can take that and open an account in his name, put the money in there and then arrange for the auditors to discover it. We then allege that he's been stealing company funds and converting them for his own use, dismiss him and recover the funds." "There is one sticking point, we have to wait for your divorce to go through otherwise you'll lose most of your share." "But that's only a month away, surely you can wait that long?" "Of course I can." But she couldn't, Jessica had other plans and they didn't involve William or me and this was to be her undoing. I had the feeling that something was going on between Jessica and William so I arranged for Joanna, Jessica's PA to come and see me. "Have you noticed anything odd happening with Jessica?" "Odd, like what?" I could see that she had something on her mind. "Little things like long phone calls that don't go through your desk, long unscheduled lunches, longer periods on her computer than normal, things like that." "Now that you mention it, yes there have been quite a few long lunches lately and she does spend a lot of time on the computer looking at financial records. What do you think this means?" "I think that my wonderful wife is in the process of getting rid of me from this company and her life." "But I thought that you two were very happy together." "We were, but not for the past three months, she seems to be drifting away, or being led away and I think I know who's doing the leading." "Let me guess, William." "I'm afraid that you're right. I know that they were lovers before she married Harold and after Harold died but I thought that it ended when I came into her life, she told me that it had, and I believed her." "Look Michael, I like you, I think that you're a great guy and one of the reasons that this company is the great place to work for that it is. If something should happen to you I don't think it will survive. Jessica used to have a passion for it but that seems to be disappearing. I might sound selfish here but I want this company to keep going like it has and not disappear, and it's not just to save my job, but everyone's that work here. We will never find another company like this and any other employer will be a disappointment. So, if there is anything that I can do to save you and my job, I'm up for it." "I'll have to think about it and get back to you. Thank you for your support and I'll find a way to repay you for your loyalty." Joanna got up to leave the room but hesitated, she then walked around the desk to me and kissed me. Then she left, and she left me confused. I did a bit of digging in the financial records and discovered a considerable amount of money disappearing from the company funds, these funds were being transferred electronically to an offshore account. It took several attempts but I eventually found the password to this account and made another discovery, the funds were being moved to yet another account. I didn't need to access this account to work out what was happening and it pointed to Jessica pulling a double cross on William. He had entrusted her with money that he was hiding from his wife and she was stealing it. Here was my chance to get even. I sent William an anonymous note suggesting that he should ask Jessica for a printout of their account details. "What do you mean you won't show me the bank records?" "If you trusted me you wouldn't have asked me to show them to you, so I assume that you no longer trust me." "You're right there! I trusted you up until now, if you'd been willing to let me see the details I would have continued to trust, you but now I don't and I won't until I see those figures." He was getting angry and the more she tried to sooth his anger the angrier he got. Eventually she had as much as she could stand of William. "I don't have to listen to this, you can get out and stay out until you calm down! I have put a lot of effort into this plan and your contribution has just been to use it as a hiding place for your money so that your wife can't get hold of it, and you talk to me about trust. Now fuck off and leave me alone!" "Don't think that you've heard the last of this, you're nothing more than a scheming, manipulative fucking whore who has fucked her way into money and now wants more. No man will ever satisfy you greed for money or sex. I will find a way to get even with you and Michael just in case you're thinking of going back to him." "I might just do that, he's twice the man you'll ever be. Go home to your sniveling little wife with your tail between your legs and beg forgiveness, she might just take you back." The murder trial was a sensation. The police arrested William and charged him with murdering Jessica. He, naturally enough, proclaimed his innocence but there was a large body of evidence against him. His ex-wife testified of the falling out between William and Jessica, of how he came home and confessed his affair and begged her forgiveness and asked her to take him back. She wrung all of the gory details from him, relishing in his agony of seeing his plans and his money disappear in a puff of smoke, of him wondering if Jessica was going to come back to me. She even gave evidence that he had made threats against both Jessica and myself, hinting that it was he who set me up to be charged with murder, that he killed her after luring me away from the house. This scenario was challenged by the defense team but believed by the jury, especially after she testified that the murder weapon was a handgun registered in his name and which he took with him when he left the family home following the breakdown of their marriage. The discovery of the murder weapon wrapped in disposable coveralls, similar to those used by forensics investigators to prevent contamination of a crime scene, in a dumpster between the murder scene and his apartment added further to the evidence against him. I gave evidence of my life with Jessica and of Jessica's attitude to William, of how he had boasted of having sex with her and her denial of that, of how I was unaware of any dealings between them. My evidence was challenged by the defense lawyers who hammered the point that I was aware of the affair and had been for some time, that I had the opportunity and the motive to commit the crime. The challenge came to nothing and I was portrayed by the media as the victim of a plan that had failed due to the greed of those involved. So who did kill Jessica? Did William really do it? I wasn't about to offer evidence in his support because I hated him and thought that he got what he deserved. He was certainly the popular choice in the media. He was portrayed as a callous and manipulative man who would stop at nothing to achieve his mercenary goals. Could it have been his ex-wife Jane? She wasn't his ex at the time of the crime and had good reason to see him dead after the humiliation that he had put her through over the years. Did I in fact commit this crime? Who had the most compelling reason to kill Jessica if it wasn't me? I was the one who believed that she loved me, and no-one else, only to discover that she and William were lovers. I was the person who discovered that she had been taking funds from the company accounts. I was the person who discovered that she was planning to frame me for the lost monies and have me dismissed from the job that was a significant part of my life. So, did I do it? Joanna came into my office, it used to be Jessica's but after her death I had taken control of the office along with the company, and sat on the desk next to me. My hand rested on her thigh and she moved her legs further apart allowing me to slip it between her legs. "Thank you again for your help. That was a nice touch putting the evidence where you did." I kissed her and she responded hungrily.