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Authors: Paul Pilkington
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with . . .’
‘My ex-boyfriend, Stuart Harris.’
‘And what am I looking for?’
‘Do you think it’s real or could it be fake?’ Lizzy said.
‘Fake in what way?’
‘Could it be more than one photo, combined, to make it look as though Dan and Stuart are together?’
He looked closer. ‘It’s impossible to say, with a hard-copy image. If I had a digital file I’d be able to examine it using some specialist software, and then I could say for sure. You can do that pretty easily now. But with a hard copy like this, well, there’s an element of guesswork.’
‘So, what’s your best guess?’ Lizzy asked. ‘Is it real or not?’
Emma watched as David Sherborn looked at it some more. She almost didn’t want to hear the answer.
Finally, he looked up. ‘My best guess is that the photo is a single image.’
Emma’s stomach lurched. She concentrated fiercely on the carpet for a moment or two.
‘What makes you think that?’ Lizzy asked.
‘Well, as I said, it’s an educated guess. But if you look at the light, especially the way it reflects here,’ he said, pointing at Dan and Stuart’s faces, ‘and off the two glasses, then for me, it seems that the light source is coming from the same place, which indicates that it isn’t an overlay of two separate images.’ He looked hopefully at Lizzy and Emma. ‘Is that what you wanted to hear?’
Lizzy looked at Emma, who was still staring straight down at the floor. ‘Not exactly, no.’
Chapter 11
‘Archie, you’d better come quickly. It’s Peter Myers.’
Slightly irked at the interruption of his morning break, Archie Turner looked up reluctantly from his copy of the Sun newspaper, clasping his cup of stewed tea.
Stephanie Steward, one of the more junior guards stood, breathless, at the door. He didn’t show his irritation, as he was fond of the girl. She was a good kid – too good for working in a place like this. For him, it was far too late, but not for someone so young. He’d told her as much, on more than one occasion. ‘What’s he done?’
‘He’s not done anything,’ she said. ‘Someone’s done something to him.’
Now Archie stood up. ‘Attacked?’
‘Yes.’
‘How bad?’ he said, already moving towards the door.
She followed him out. ‘Pretty bad. He’s not moving much.’
‘Christ,’ he said. ‘Where is he?’
‘In the washroom.’
They hurried in that direction. ‘Is there anyone with him?’
‘Johnny.’
Another young prison guard. Another good kid. Archie climbed the staircase and approached the washroom. He prayed that this wasn’t going to be as bad as it could be. He didn’t like Peter Myers, hadn’t taken to him from the first few minutes after meeting him – the guy had no respect, for one thing. But that didn’t mean he wanted something like this to happen. Archie prided himself on the fact that events such as these were extremely rare under his watch.
By now, there was a group of guards outside the entrance to the washroom, preventing interested prisoners from seeing what was happening.
‘Is he dead?’ One of the prisoners asked grinning.
Archie ignored the comment, and breezed past as the guards stood aside. ‘Bloody hell.’
Peter Myers was on the floor in the recovery position, unmoving, his face battered. It looked as if someone had given him a serious kicking.
Johnny was kneeling beside him.
‘Is he breathing?’
‘Yes.’
Archie knelt down and placed a hand gently on Myers’ side. He groaned softly. Blood was trickling from his nose, and his left eye was already blackening. ‘Have you called an ambulance?’
‘No, sorry,’ Johnny replied.
‘We wanted to see what you thought first,’ Stephanie explained.
‘Well, call one now,’ Archie said. ‘This guy’s in a bad way. He needs proper medical attention.’
‘Hi,’ Dan said, as he took a seat in Perfetto that lunchtime. ‘Well, this is a nice treat. Just what’s needed for the first day back at work
‘My ex-boyfriend, Stuart Harris.’
‘And what am I looking for?’
‘Do you think it’s real or could it be fake?’ Lizzy said.
‘Fake in what way?’
‘Could it be more than one photo, combined, to make it look as though Dan and Stuart are together?’
He looked closer. ‘It’s impossible to say, with a hard-copy image. If I had a digital file I’d be able to examine it using some specialist software, and then I could say for sure. You can do that pretty easily now. But with a hard copy like this, well, there’s an element of guesswork.’
‘So, what’s your best guess?’ Lizzy asked. ‘Is it real or not?’
Emma watched as David Sherborn looked at it some more. She almost didn’t want to hear the answer.
Finally, he looked up. ‘My best guess is that the photo is a single image.’
Emma’s stomach lurched. She concentrated fiercely on the carpet for a moment or two.
‘What makes you think that?’ Lizzy asked.
‘Well, as I said, it’s an educated guess. But if you look at the light, especially the way it reflects here,’ he said, pointing at Dan and Stuart’s faces, ‘and off the two glasses, then for me, it seems that the light source is coming from the same place, which indicates that it isn’t an overlay of two separate images.’ He looked hopefully at Lizzy and Emma. ‘Is that what you wanted to hear?’
Lizzy looked at Emma, who was still staring straight down at the floor. ‘Not exactly, no.’
Chapter 11
‘Archie, you’d better come quickly. It’s Peter Myers.’
Slightly irked at the interruption of his morning break, Archie Turner looked up reluctantly from his copy of the Sun newspaper, clasping his cup of stewed tea.
Stephanie Steward, one of the more junior guards stood, breathless, at the door. He didn’t show his irritation, as he was fond of the girl. She was a good kid – too good for working in a place like this. For him, it was far too late, but not for someone so young. He’d told her as much, on more than one occasion. ‘What’s he done?’
‘He’s not done anything,’ she said. ‘Someone’s done something to him.’
Now Archie stood up. ‘Attacked?’
‘Yes.’
‘How bad?’ he said, already moving towards the door.
She followed him out. ‘Pretty bad. He’s not moving much.’
‘Christ,’ he said. ‘Where is he?’
‘In the washroom.’
They hurried in that direction. ‘Is there anyone with him?’
‘Johnny.’
Another young prison guard. Another good kid. Archie climbed the staircase and approached the washroom. He prayed that this wasn’t going to be as bad as it could be. He didn’t like Peter Myers, hadn’t taken to him from the first few minutes after meeting him – the guy had no respect, for one thing. But that didn’t mean he wanted something like this to happen. Archie prided himself on the fact that events such as these were extremely rare under his watch.
By now, there was a group of guards outside the entrance to the washroom, preventing interested prisoners from seeing what was happening.
‘Is he dead?’ One of the prisoners asked grinning.
Archie ignored the comment, and breezed past as the guards stood aside. ‘Bloody hell.’
Peter Myers was on the floor in the recovery position, unmoving, his face battered. It looked as if someone had given him a serious kicking.
Johnny was kneeling beside him.
‘Is he breathing?’
‘Yes.’
Archie knelt down and placed a hand gently on Myers’ side. He groaned softly. Blood was trickling from his nose, and his left eye was already blackening. ‘Have you called an ambulance?’
‘No, sorry,’ Johnny replied.
‘We wanted to see what you thought first,’ Stephanie explained.
‘Well, call one now,’ Archie said. ‘This guy’s in a bad way. He needs proper medical attention.’
‘Hi,’ Dan said, as he took a seat in Perfetto that lunchtime. ‘Well, this is a nice treat. Just what’s needed for the first day back at work
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