Innocent Conspiracy_A Sam Prichard Mystery Read online

  Innocent Conspiracy

  Copyright © 2018 by David Archer.

  All right reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Published by: David Archer

  PROLOGUE

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  PROLOGUE

  The house lights dimmed and people began to cheer as the spotlight speared through the darkness to illuminate the man and woman who stepped out from behind the curtain onto the stage at Canterbury Arena in Denver, one of the greatest performance venues in the city. The audience, all eighteen thousand of them, erupted into raucous screams, cheers, and applause as the exciting music died down.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” called the announcer over the incredible noise, “the seventh annual Web Wide Awards Presentation Program is both delighted and excited to welcome this year’s host and hostess, Aaron Zachary and Jennifer Larkindale!”

  The music continued to swell as the young celebrity couple made its way up to the podium, and then the big kettledrums rolled briefly just before silence settled to engulf the entire building. The incredibly loud cheers and applause died down quickly as the two young celebrities smiled and waited patiently.

  When the volume had gotten just barely low enough, the young man standing at the podium looked at the lovely young lady beside him. “Jennifer,” he said, “I know this is actually your very first time hosting an awards program in front of a live audience. I’m curious, but is it shaping up to be everything you expected?”

  Jennifer’s smile was wide and absolutely radiant, offering strong competition to the brightly colored satin designer gown she wore. “Oh, it’s absolutely amazing, Aaron,” she said. “Just a year ago, when I was a guest on this very program, I never would have dreamed that I would be standing here tonight, getting ready to announce the names of this year’s incredible breakout superstars in web-based television.”

  “But you were on this stage a year ago,” Aaron said, his own smile almost overshadowing hers. “I remember that very well, because I was the one who was given the honor of presenting you with last year’s Top Web Video Discovery award.”

  The audience went ecstatically crazy again, cheering and applauding even more loudly than they had before. Jennifer’s self-produced, independent web-based TV series, entitled Life After Jeff, had become a global favorite since the day she first started writing, producing, and starring in the fifteen-minute episodes. The show chronicled the day to day life of a sixteen-year-old girl whose boyfriend was one of several kids who were brutally slaughtered one day by a school shooter. It had drawn international attention and acclaim for its incredible realism in capturing the depth of the emotional impact of such a loss, even though the story was entirely fictional.

  “And I still think that could only have been a dream,” Jennifer said. “I’m just a small town girl from Arkansas, not some kind of TV celebrity, but this has been an incredible experience. I never would have believed that my little video hobby would come to affect so many people so deeply. The fans have been, oh my gosh, they have been just absolutely wonderful, and I hope I can continue to honor and entertain all of them for a long time to come.”

  Aaron led the the crowd in the cheering applause this time. It went on and on for another half minute, and then finally died down again.

  “I’m sure you’re always going to do well,” Aaron said. “But tonight, we’re here to pay well deserved tribute and honor a number of different web-based shows and the casts and crews that make them happen. I don’t know about you, but I am personally very deeply honored to be able to host this year’s show, because this actually makes it my second in a row. I’m also terribly, terribly excited to be working with Jennifer, because I just happen to be one of her biggest fans.”

  “Well, then, let me tell you that the feeling is absolutely mutual,” Jennifer said. “Aaron, your music is so incredibly awesome, so beautiful and inspiring that I’m actually the president of the Fayetteville chapter of your fan club.”

  “Are you telling me that I actually have a fan club?” Aaron asked, feigning surprise. The audience erupted into laughter, and after a moment, he composed his face to be more serious. “Tonight, Jennifer and I are privileged to be presenting awards to those web-based series, movies, and music videos that have had the most impact on the lives of their own fans. All of the nominees, and all of the votes, came directly from you, the fans who watch all of the shows and love all of the characters and the music, and tonight the winners will be revealed.”

  “That’s right, Aaron,” Jennifer picked up as he paused. “We’ll be letting the whole world know about all of the brightest and most talented new stars in the web video universe, from the actors and actresses, themselves, to the shows and music!”

  “And while we’re at it,” Aaron resumed on his cue, “we’ll also be giving you some exciting examples of the finest entertainment to be found on the World Wide Web! Get ready for an absolutely incredible night of surprises and delights as we stream this award presentation program live to the entire world!”

  Over the next three hours, Aaron and Jennifer were cheered and applauded as they presented more than three dozen awards in as many categories, ranging from short, topical videos to independently produced feature-length movies, music videos from several different music genres, and even recognized several popular actors and actresses. It was very much like many other award shows that had been on television over the years, with various musicians, most of them discovered on YouTube, performing their music, and with special appearances by some of the stars of the new shows from the preceding year.

  The final award of the evening, of course, was the one that everyone was waiting anxiously to see presented, though. It was the very one Jennifer had been honored to earn just the year before, the Top Web Video Discovery Award, a
nd everyone was waiting on the edge of their seats to find out whether one of their favorites had garnered the most votes for this coveted spot.

  Winning the Top Discovery Award was almost as big a deal as if you had gotten a major movie or recording contract. While you might already be well known to many thousands of fans, this award would thrust you to the top of the web video heap for a long time. It wasn’t at all unusual for the winners of this award to move on to star in major movie or TV productions, or be signed by a major record label, and everyone in the audience was hoping it would be their own favorite who took home the prize.

  At last, it was time. Aaron and Jennifer took the podium once more.

  “Each year,” Aaron began, “Web Wide Awards allows you, the fans of the shows and the music, to contribute names to a database of your favorite artists who have appeared on the many web videos seen during that year. Two months ago, all of those hundreds of names were listed on the Web Wide Awards website for a week as potential nominees, and every single one of you was allowed to choose up to three of them, the people you wanted to see nominated for this award. In order to actually be a nominee, each of these artists had to be chosen by at least twenty percent of the fans.”

  “In some of the previous years,” Jennifer continued, “this nomination method has resulted in up to a dozen nominees for the Top Web Video Breakout Award, but this year you have selected only five, and they are undoubtedly the best of the best. All five of their names were posted on the Web Wide Awards website for a full thirty days, and you were then each allowed to vote for only one to be the winner. A number of vote tallying techniques and methods were used to make absolutely sure that each fan could vote only one time, so that the results we are going to present tonight can be revealed with confidence.”

  “And the nominees are,” Aaron said, and the audience erupted again as he held a card up in front of his face. He had to wait for the noise to die down before he continued. “Penelope Winston, from the independent YouTube video series, The Girl In The Room Upstairs, which is a delightful show about a family who moves in to a new home and finds that one of the bedrooms is haunted by the lonely, friendly ghost of a teenage girl. What began as a short indie film project received so much attention and acclaim that Penelope was encouraged to continue it, so she wrote and produced several more episodes, and it evolved into a series with a new episode posted each week. Penelope lives in Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada, and is fifteen years old.”

  A screen behind him showed a live video of Penelope Winston sitting on a tall chair, waiting backstage, and the fans applauded.

  “Next,” Jennifer said, holding up her own nominee card. “Lamar Morrison, an incredibly talented indie music artist. Lamar started recording some very simple music videos of himself when he was only twelve years old, but this past year has seen him doing something new and gaining quite a following. His exciting new music videos are even more interesting because they show what appears to be a ten piece band made up of several copies of himself, as he plays all the instruments and provides all the vocals. Lamar’s music is outselling many of the top label artists from all around the world, and some of his songs have already been used in three feature Hollywood films. Lamar lives in the tiny little town of Walterboro, South Carolina, and is only eighteen years old.”

  Lamar, sitting on a tall chair of his own, waved at the audience from the screen.

  “Number three,” Aaron announced when the cheers and applause died down enough, “is Paula Murkowski, also an indie music artist. Paula began recording herself playing piano so that she could listen for errors, and it was her friends who convinced her to start posting them as music videos for everyone to see about a year ago. Her clear, sweet voice has resonated with millions of people all around the world, and she has been invited to perform at a number of different exciting events, including a special performance for none other than the Queen of England. She lives in Bristol, England, with her family, and she is twenty-two years old.”

  Paula could be seen on the overhead screen, tears of excitement and happiness streaming down her face as she blew kisses to the audience.

  “Number four,” Jennifer resumed, “is Max Petrelli, star of the web video series, Freaktown High, which is a science fiction comedy about a high school whose science teacher accidentally creates a wormhole to other dimensions. Max plays Max Peters, the brainy student who has to figure out how to fight and defeat the strange, sometimes diabolical creatures that come through while keeping most of the school from ever finding out just what’s really happening. Max says he actually created the show just for fun, but it has grown to become a worldwide phenomenon because of the ingenious, old school style special effects he comes up with. Max lives not that far away in the town of Montrose, Colorado, and is fifteen years old.”

  Max, a skinny kid with an obvious and serious case of acne, was laughing and waving wildly on the overhead screen.

  “And number five,” Aaron said with a flourish, this time raising his voice to be heard over the cheers that didn’t seem to want to stop, “is Alexei Romanov, yet another indie music artist. Alexei has burst on the scene because of his incredibly beautiful and sensual singing voice, which some people say is the most unique voice they’ve ever heard. Alexei lives with his sister in the city of Moscow, Russia, and is twenty years old.”

  On the screen over and behind them, a pale, thin-faced young man was seen smiling and waving.

  The kettledrums rolled as Aaron picked up the sealed envelope that would name the winner.

  “Jennifer, I think it would be more appropriate if I let you read off the winner, are you ready?”

  Jennifer smiled broadly. “Oh, yes, Aaron, absolutely,” she said, as Aaron ripped the envelope open and passed the card inside it to her. “And the winner is,” she said, pausing dramatically and causing the entire audience to hold their breath.

  On the overhead screen, all five of the current nominees were shown sitting on stools side by side, holding hands and smiling triumphantly.

  “The winner is,” Jennifer said again, “Max Petrelli, the creator and star of Freaktown High!”

  The nominees all cheered for Max, who seemed genuinely surprised and even stunned. He sat there for a moment until Alexei and Paula pushed him off his stool, and the music swelled as the curtains opened and Max stumbled for a second as he came from behind them. He caught himself and looked up at Aaron and Jennifer, then took only one more step before his legs suddenly collapsed underneath him. He fell to his knees and stayed there, just staring at the two of them for a couple of seconds, then pitched forward onto his face.

  A few people began to laugh, obviously thinking he had only fainted, but then Aaron and Jennifer rushed over to him just as a stage hand got there, and it was Jennifer who screamed when the stage hand rolled the boy over and they saw the blood spurting out of his chest.

  The house security guards went into sudden action, sealing off all the exits from the building as police were called and began flooding in. Because of the size of the crowd that had been expected, the company that owned the arena maintained two ambulances on site, and paramedics got to Max within less than two minutes. They quickly determined that he had been shot in the chest and had a collapsed lung and internal bleeding, and they worked to stabilize him as quickly as possible, then loaded him into an ambulance and raced for the hospital.

  As a number of hours passed and the Denver police tried to determine exactly what had happened, only one thing became apparent: someone had shot Max with a rifle from high overhead, up in the lighting of the building, and the shooter was apparently long gone before anyone even realized what had happened.

  The audience was required to remain where they were, sitting in their seats for well over 3 hours, while the police continued to conduct their initial investigation. It was shortly before they were finally released, at shortly before midnight, when Aaron Zachary and Jennifer Larkindale walked solemnly out onto the stage again.

  “La
dies and gentlemen,” Aaron said, “We’ve just been given the first official update regarding Max Petrelli’s condition. He was rushed directly in to surgery within minutes after they got him to the hospital, and the doctors were able to remove the bullet, which they say was lodged right next to his heart. He’s currently listed as being in critical condition, but the doctors say there is definitely still hope for him to make a complete recovery.”

  Jennifer leaned down to the microphone. “I’d like to ask everyone to just stop whatever it is that you’re doing for the moment, and please, just say a prayer or just spend a moment of silence for this young man. This is a terrible thing that’s happened here tonight, and I am sure we all hope and pray that whoever did it is caught quickly and spends the rest of his life paying for what he’s done.”

  The hall was completely silent for more than a minute as Aaron and Jennifer stood in their spots with their heads bowed. When they looked up at the crowd once more, a young woman who was sitting in the front row began to applaud. A few others joined in with her a couple of seconds later, and then the entire hall erupted into cheers and applause. There were numerous shouts of, “Max! Max!”

  The audience was released about fifteen minutes thereafter, and everyone made their way out of the building and headed for home. The news over the next few days would continue to cover the story, and, no matter who they might have voted for, the whole world watched and cheered as Max Petrelli slowly recovered.

  The day after the shooting, however, there was no sound applause at the downtown Denver headquarters of Web Wide Awards, Inc. The company, despite the fact that it was not a big corporation, had quickly rallied to do what damage control they could, pledging that they would never again let such a thing happen at one of their events, and promising to make an announcement over the next few days on how they planned to prevent it.

  In their business, it was always necessary to begin planning the next major award event as soon as each one was finished. With such a shock rocking their world, the Board of Directors, which consisted of two people, decided to immediately arrange for better, more professional security for the next event, and to arrange personal protection for all of the nominees for the major award the following year.