The Coercion Key by Catriona King Read Free Book Online Page B

apartment owners have them, although several people have rented their apartments out now, so I suppose…”
    Craig finished the sentence. “Any tenant would have one.”
    Craig smiled again and nodded Wallace to continue on his way. He walked back to where John was standing with a C.S.I.
    “Ready?”
    John nodded and they headed for Victoria Linton’s fifth-floor apartment. Penthouse would have been a better name for it. As they walked through the heavy front door Craig gasped. He’d seen some amazing homes in his time, especially during his years in London, but this was up there with the best. The door opened directly into an open-plan living area of over one thousand square metres. The back wall held a modern kitchen, with steel appliances and every gadget known to man. The front was made of ceiling-to-floor glass and gave a view over the river at Stranmillis that Craig could only dream he had. He smiled, thinking of his small two-bedroomed place. Quaint was how Julia had always described it, scruffy would have been nearer the truth. He was hardly ever there so it hadn’t seemed to matter, but…
    John watched Craig’s face as he scanned the room and hoped he was doing more than admiring the drapes. He was, and something was niggling at him. Without preamble Craig crossed to a wide black desk by the window and scanned the items neatly arranged on top. Pens, in and out trays, a docking station and a computer mat. So far so ordinary for a professional of any sort. There was nothing out of place on the desk; in fact there was nothing out of place anywhere in the room. Victoria Linton must have had O.C.D. Then he saw what was wrong. Where was the computer that went with the docking station? Craig scanned the room and then turned to John.
    “Has anyone taken her computer?”
    “Yes. It was a laptop. Forensics are taking it back for examination.”
    “Where is it now?”
    John waved towards a white-suited C.S.I. in the corner and Craig crossed the room to her in three strides.
    “Have you got the laptop from that desk?”
    The girl looked up at him, her small face almost enveloped by the hood of her white jump-suit. “Yes, sir. But it wasn’t on the desk; it was on the settee when we arrived. Did you want to have a look at it?”
    She stared pointedly at Craig’s un-gloved hands and handed him a pair, then she extricated a sleek laptop from its sterile wrapping and opened it towards him, pressing the ‘on’ key. As it booted-up, Craig thought quickly. Forensics would work with Davy to dig into the deeper files, but it wasn’t something deep that he was looking for. Whatever had made Victoria Linton kill herself was either going to be obvious or it wasn’t going to be on her computer at all.
    A moment later the computer’s desktop screen appeared, devoid of personal images. The only images on it were shortcuts to documents archived elsewhere. Craig stared at it for a moment then he shook his head and looked at the C.S.I.
    “Was there anything else near where you found this? Anything at all?”
    The girl went to say no then she stopped, remembering something. She placed the laptop carefully on one side and rifled through a pile of evidence bags. After a moment’s search she beckoned another C.S.I. across.
    “Damien, you cleared this room, didn’t you?”
    The middle-aged man nodded. “Yes. Why?”
    “Did you find anything near the laptop?”
    “Aye, loads of stuff.” He pointed to a plastic crate set in one corner then lifted a clipboard and ran his finger down a page. “It’s all in there; bags marked twenty-three to ninety-six.” He turned over the sheet and tapped the one beneath. “That’s the list.”
    “Thanks.”
    The girl turned towards the crate and Craig followed. John stood with his arms folded, watching the pair. Craig was like a dog after a bone and that usually meant that there was a bone to find. Two minutes later four evidence bags were spread out on the floor.
    Their contents were