‘Okay, now, I’m not going to tie the rope off, but I’m going to thread it under the ropes at the back of your neck and take it back to your wrists. Are you alright with that? She indicated that she was. He pushed both ends through together, pulled them back to her wrists. He tugged at it to demonstrate how it pulled her head back into the position they found the victim in. He relaxed the pressure, only to receive a muffled protest from Jennie, who was telling him to do it properly.
‘Are you sure?’
She nodded her approval and he pulled the rope tight, tied a knot and got off the bed to stand in a position where the person who must have done that to the victim would have stood.
Jennie was lying on her left side, in exactly the same position. She opened her eyes to look up at him. He was rubbing his left temple again. His right hand stretched out and touched her on her right cheek, on the right side of her nose, then along her top lip to her left nostril. She liked his touch but was finding it difficult to breath and moved her head to convey her discomfort. He moved quickly onto on the bed to untie her and realised when he got to her wrists that by pushing on the ends, rather than pulling he could ease the pressure on the clove hitch and slip it off. He pulled the loop off the stilettos and she gratefully straightened her legs. He untied the rope around her ankles as she pulled the rope out of her mouth and passed the loop over her head. He helped her stand and held her as the circulation returned to her legs.
‘What do you think Ian?’
He grinned. ‘I think you are incredibly beautiful.’
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.
‘Are you really thinking about going back to teaching?’
‘If it means I can be with the man I fancy yes, but, what was the answer to our experiment? What were you thinking about when you touched my face – and don’t say how incredibly beautiful I am.’
‘Ah, well, if you don’t want the truth; I was thinking about the position we found Lucinda Lovebrace in. You were the same, as near as makes no difference and I can understand how semen was found in her right nostril – but how could it have got into the left one?’
‘Perhaps she turned to look up at him at the point of ejaculation. It could part of what turned her on.’
‘Maybe, but could she have turned her face upwards? It seemed to me that when your head was pulled right back, you would have found that impossible.’
‘Do your want to tie me up again to check?’
‘No, we’ll do it some other time. I think she was left to die, but even if we find out who was with her, it will be difficult to pin a murder charge on him.’
‘Could it be a her?’
He touched her on the nose with his finger. ‘I know where you’re coming from. We have video evidence to show that Julie Bunford shared a session with her, but she has a cast iron alibi – and you spoke to her lover.’
She pulled him close; she could feel his erection building and quite liked the idea of discussing the case as foreplay. ‘Yes, I‘m sure that‘s genuine, Julie Bunford was reluctant to involve her and that’s understandable, but she was sure Bunford left her house after 5.15, she woke her to say she was leaving. She had to tidy her house ready for an estate agent’s visit at 10am, which was true; he arrived as I was leaving. But she could have gone to the penthouse first.’
‘You’re forgetting she was found at 6.30. Even Jenson Button couldn’t get back from Bromsgrove in that time. No, I still think it was one of her regular customers.’
His cock was brushing her thigh. ‘What do you think about the Billingsgates’ story?’
He laughed. ‘It’s a rum old do.’
She fell backwards onto the bed, pulling him with her, whispering in his ear.' I'll be the judge of that.’
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
After burning onto DVD, Dudley Wink wiped all the Anita von Beta material from his computer. He labelled the DVD ‘Exotic Wildlife’ and hid it in an ‘All Creatures Great & Small’ box set.
Now he was ready to transfer his attention back to Natasha Billingsgate, having changed his mind about posting her hard-core activities on the Anita von Beta website. Probably just as well, with all the flack flying around following the murder. Or was it murder? Detective Inspector Cardhew seemed to have an open mind, not like that up-start Detective Sergeant Kimberley who tried to pin everything on him. He had gone voluntarily to Hamsworth Police Station, as advised by Ed Templeman, but that twat Kimberly refused to listen to his story and banged him up in the cells as a murder suspect. Fortunately Cardhew arrived, remembered him from the Mayfair case, and common sense prevailed. He told Cardhew everything, well almost. He was bailed to return to the station if required and had been back once, when Cardhew assured him that as he had a contract to work for Lucinda Lovebrace, no crime had been committed – not that his wife would believe that if she ever found out.
The gorgeous naked body of Natasha Billingsgate filled the screen. Without Lucinda Lovebrace around, he was in love with Natasha again. With only 10 minutes of titillating and hard-core material of her edited together he desperately wanted more. Hugh Portland had agreed to let him camp in the copse overnight to see what wildlife he could capture on camera. Poor old Hugh, he had no idea, but as it turned out, neither did he. His night in the copse was to prove more rewarding than he could have possibly imagined.
Samantha Derby was caught completely off guard when Natasha Billingsgate phoned to say she knew she was bonking her husband and suggested they meet for lunch and a chat. Guilty though she was, the idea of a public humiliation did not appeal. She suggested her flat, where she hoped to be able to explain, rationally and without any emotional outbursts, that it was only a bonk. And that a bonk, as far as she was concerned, did not mean anything. Which it didn’t; except the relationship had suddenly changed. It was going to be a difficult meeting.
The moment Natasha walked through the door, Sam liked her. There was no animosity, quite the reverse, she was open and friendly. There was something about her, which struck a chord of familiarity, and she was desperately trying to think what it could be, when Natasha dropped the bombshell.
'Look Sam, I know you won’t believe me, but there’s something I really must tell you.'
Sam’s guilt prompted her to interrupt..
'No, it’s me that should be telling you everything.'
Natasha surprised her by swiftly leaning forward and kissing her lightly on the nose.
'You don’t have to tell me anything Sam, I know you only wanted a bonk – a bit like having a cigarette – Barrie treated it the same way. I’m the one to blame for changing everything. You see, it was me Sam. I was in Barrie’s body when your lunchtime bonk turned into a wonderful lovemaking session.'
Samantha laughed. Barrie had mentioned Natasha’s strange sense of humour, but this was off the wall. However, before she could think of some smart comment, Natasha launched into intimate details of that magical lunchtime, some of which was so personal to the moment they were beyond guessing. She could not possibly have known unless Barrie told her and she knew Barrie well enough to know that he was not, by any stretch of the imagination, good on detail. Apart from the lunchtime session, there was the evening they had dinner at Roberto’s, following Barrie’s visit to Lucinda Lovebrace. She knew everything, right down to the finest detail. So, as crazy as it seemed, she just had to believe, although if anyone ever asked if she really thought they could have exchanged bodies, she would of course say no.
When Natasha proposed a threesome, she told her that she never had lesbian tendencies. Natasha claimed not to have had them either, but admitted that being in Barrie’s body and coping with his sex drive had left her unsure of her own sexuality. A threesome did not necessarily mean that they should do anything other than support each other and get the best out of Barrie, but she could not deny that she still felt the same way about her as she had when in Barrie’s body. Natasha’s slim hand covered hers and her beautiful grey eyes looked pleadingly into her own.