Virtual Justice by MA Comley Page A

all sat.
    Lorne turned to Ms. Fortenham. “We just wanted to know if a Karen Meldrew was—sorry— is registered with your agency.”
    The woman tapped the keys on her laptop and waited for the results to appear on her screen. “Nope. Nothing is coming up on here.”
    Tony leaned over to Lorne and whispered, “We’re assuming she used her proper name. Maybe she used a false name for her research. I know I would.”
    “Damn, I didn’t think of that.”
    “I’m sorry I can’t help.” Ms. Fortenham sat back in her chair.
    “The thing is, the person we’re looking for was writing a book, so she could have been using an assumed name. Would it be possible to look through your database? I take it you do have photos of all your members on file?”
    “Of course. How else could we match people?”
    “On that note, how do you know the photos are real? True identities, I mean. Couldn’t the ugliest person around upload an image of a rippling-muscled hunk just so he can pull a beautiful woman?”
    The woman looked horrified by Lorne’s suggestion, and her brow furrowed as she contemplated her answer. “To be honest, all our members sign a contract to say the information they upload is accurate and truthful.”
    “So, once they upload, you check the accuracy of each member’s profile. Is that correct?”
    Ms. Fortenham shuffled in her seat. “Most of the time.”
    “Ah, I knew there would be a flaw somewhere.” An unexpected anger soared through her. “How can you live with yourself? As long as the money keeps rolling in, you’re happy not to keep a tight rein on things. Is that it?”
    “I don’t like what you’re inferring.”
    Lorne let out a heavy breath. What’s the point? “Is it possible for us to take a look at your members’ profiles?”
    “Not without some kind of formal paperwork.”
    Lorne took out her mobile and hit the number that would connect her to Katy’s mobile. “Hi, sorry to trouble you. Can you organise a warrant for me?”
    “What? You know I can’t do that, Lorne,” Katy replied with obvious confusion.
    “That’s great. I think we could be onto something here at this particular agency. The manager—stroke— owner doesn’t carry out thorough checks. This could be where Karen met her killer.”
    “Okay, I get what you’re up to now. Play it calmly. Not everyone appreciates being threatened into supplying information.”
    “Yep, I know—”
    “Wait a minute. Did you say killer? Has someone been murdered?” The colour drained from Ms. Fortenham’s cheeks.
    “Just a minute, DS Foster.” Lorne covered the mouthpiece to her phone and asked the woman, “Yes, the woman we need information about has been murdered. Now, are you willing to assist us in this matter or not?”
    “Yes, of course I will.”
    “Thanks, Katy. I’ll be in touch soon.” Lorne disconnected the call and sat forward in her chair. “Can we trawl through your database? Or maybe if I show you a photo of the victim, you might recognise her?”
    “I doubt that. I don’t sit here all day looking at the member’s photos, you know,” Ms. Fortenham snapped back.
    Lorne tutted. That was probably true. She didn’t even carry out checks on her customers, after all. “Do you have a spare computer we can use?”
    “Sure. I’ll see if Sandra can let you use her spare one for an hour or two.” Fortenham left the office and returned to give them the go-ahead before Lorne and Tony had a chance to discuss what had just happened. “If you’d like to follow me.”
    Ms. Fortenham showed Lorne and Tony over to a small table with two chairs. Atop it, an open laptop was booting up.
    “All our files are on there. You have the choice to look through gender or latest uploaded members.”
    “That’s great. We shouldn’t be too long. Oh, one last thing. If members contact each other, do you have a record of that?”
    Fortenham paused to think, then turned to look at her secretary. “Sandra, is that