A businesswoman hiding a knife in her back

Walter arrived at Riesling’s front door soon before 7:00 p.m. Over dinner, Riesling briefed Walter on her progress with the estate agents and the Registry office and Walter gave her his birth certificate and the electricity bill as proof of his address. Riesling served a treacle pudding for dessert and they cleared the table together.

Riesling: right pet, I have been thinking and I made a list of all the facts about what is going on. I can’t put my finger on it but I am sure the diabolical Gill Bates is behind all of this funny business

Walter: how right you are my Treacle Pudding, it is a funny business

Riesling: have you been able to find any mistakes or missing pieces of information from the iBall application?

Walter: no, no, no. It is absolutely tickety poo I am afraid

Riesling: and you don’t know how our application was removed from the Patent Office computer

Walter: no, no, no, not the foggiest my Little Mouse

Riesling: nor how it might have disappeared from your own computer

Walter: not a thing. I am fed up with my computer though, it has been playing up more and more

Riesling: what do you mean playing up pet?

Walter: I keep finding it turned on Cough Drops

Riesling: what do you mean pet?

Walter: well, I turn it off at night and when I wake up, there it is, turned on again!

Riesling: you must have forgotten to turn it off pet

Walter: no, no, no, I have a good memory for things like that. Even today, I woke up and found it turned on; I turned it off and went to work. When I returned at lunch time, there it was whirring away my Christmas Pudding

Riesling (jumping out of her seat): OF COURSE! How could I have been so blind?

Walter: what is it Apple of My Eye?

Riesling: don’t you see what is going on pet?

Walter: yes, yes, no, I am afraid I don’t

Riesling: look at the facts pet. Gill Bates is very clever with computers; he is very rich; you said to me once that every time someone buys a computer anywhere in the world, Gill Bates gets paid because of his thingy…

Walter: yes, yes, yes, his GATES operating system

Riesling: exactly! Now, you know about these things, is it possible for someone to spy on you by looking at your computer without you knowing it?

Walter: well, it is theoretically possible. There is specialist software that allows a technician to diagnose and fix your computer without having to visit you at home or at work but you have to give him permission first

Riesling: well, Gill Bates is hardly going to ask for your permission to steal your ideas, isn’t it pet?

Walter: no, no, no, the diabolical hacker!

Riesling: is it also possible that he could have hacked into the Patent Office computer, deleted your application and made the changes to his application?

Walter: I suppose so, we use WIDE GATES on our office computers too

Riesling: one other thing pet, is it possible that he might have turned your home computer on from a distance?

Walter: this diabolical man seems to be capable of anything! The one thing I still can’t understand is how he managed to steel the actual paper application from my desk!

Riesling (frustrated): no pet, nor can I but we will find out soon enough

Riesling said she needed to go and tidy the kitchen and left Walter playing with Izha on the sofa. What she really wanted was to have a few minutes of thinking time on her own. 15 minutes later she emerged from the kitchen with tea and assorted biscuits.

Riesling: okay pet, tell me something: you say you can’t find anything wrong or missing from the application as it stands, right?

Walter: no, no, no, not a smidgen

Riesling: can you add something to make it seem better?

Walter: I am afraid I don’t follow you Song of my Heart

Riesling: can you add another feature to it that should make it better but in reality will make it worse?

Walter: why would Gill Bates want to do that?

Riesling: he won’t know that it will make it worse and because he is greedy, whatever you invent or think of, he goes off and copies it, isn’t it?

Walter: yes, yes, yes. I need to go away and think about it for a day or so but I am sure I can do that

Riesling: good. I need you to go home and whatever you come up with, make sure you enter it on your computer straight away. In the meantime, try and delay processing the iBall application to make sure he gets a chance to add any new feature you might come up with

Walter: Jam Tart, you are a genius, you are!

Riesling: oh I know pet. Now, is there anyway your iPatch invention can be re-created later on?

Walter: oh yes, yes, yes, don’t you remember my notebook? I have everything in there. All I need to do is spend a couple of days transferring it to my computer

Riesling: don’t you dare do that until I tell you!

Walter; no, no, no of course not Cheesecake

Riesling kissed Walter good night and closed the door at the end of a very eventful day in their lives. Riesling was clear in her mind that they have to fight fire with fire and since Gill Bates plays dirty, they too must play dirty if they are to stand any chance of winning. However, she felt that to play dirty, they need to gather more information about their enemy; much, much more information. As she prepared to go to bed, Riesling’s mind went into an over drive.

Soon after midnight, from a Travel Lodge bedroom on the M4 Motorway between Newport and Bristol a woman dialled an international number on her mobile phone and waited for a connection.

Gill: yes?

Claire: Gill, it is me your darling fiancé

Gill: yes, what do you want?

Claire: I did what you asked me Gill, I stole the application from Walter’s desk

Gill: good, now destroy it straight away. Did you manage to plant the bug on his clothing?

Claire: sorry Gill, I couldn’t get close enough to him

Gill: Never mind, I will tell you when to try again

Claire: Gill, when are we going to get married?

Gill: soon, I am busy at the moment

Claire: but we have been engaged for over 20 years now, you can’t be all that busy

Gill: I look after you, don’t I?

Claire: I know, but I want to be with you all the time

Gill: and who is going to keep an eye on Walter for me?

Claire: I don’t care about Walter, I care about you, I love you

Gill: what kind of nonsense talk is that? Walter must be watched constantly

Claire: haven’t you done him enough damage?

Gill (hissing): listen to me woman, for as long as I live, I will never do enough damage to Walter Patch, he destroyed my life and I will haunt him for the rest of my or his days

Claire: can’t you forgive and forget?

Gill: it is easy for you to say that. Besides, you too played your part in my humiliation. Think yourself lucky I didn’t bear a grudge against you

Claire: I said I was sorry a million times, are you ever going to let me forget it?

Gill (raging with anger): NEVER! I still feel the humiliation of being expelled from school and the heartache it caused my poor mother

Claire: speaking of the devil, how is she these days?

Gill: she is stronger than ever bless her pure heart

Claire (disappointed): oh, that’s lovely. Gill, tell me you love me

Gill: I am busy, now I want you to find me some more people to be a front for future inventions. This Bawtree person isn’t the ideal partner for the iBall; the man is a complete Luddite and as far removed from science and technology as it is possible without falling off the edge! My people tell me he can’t even drive a car or ride a bicycle. As for your sister Caroline, I doubt if she can add two and two together! In the future, try and find me more competent partners who live in the 21st Century

Claire: alright Gill, but I need more money

Gill: I will have my people transfer more money to you tomorrow; don’t forget to destroy the iPatch application

Claire put the phone down and came up with three firm conclusions:

  • Gill Bates is using her and has no intention of marrying her. From now on she will dance to her own tune and no one else’s;
  • She will not destroy the iPatch application; it might come in handy some day;
  • This is all Walter Patch’s fault; he is the source of her misery; she must kill him!

To read the next chapter, please click here: Chapter 15