Page 73 of Read Between The Lines

‘I’m not trying to hire you for a job here,’ I snapped.

‘That’s exactly the point. I was hired for a job. The founder of SO Ox, Dom Markham, is an old pal. We used to be at school together, before he got booted out, and we stayed in touch. Anyway, he approached me a few months ago asking if I’d record some voiceover adverts for the app. The idea was that they’d sound like messages left by a lover so people would get the idea of the calibre of date they’d meet on SO Ox. I do get a lot of voiceover work. My agent says I’ve got a very sexy voice.’

I took a deep breath while I tried to gather my thoughts.

‘So, what you’re saying is that the voice notes I received purporting to be from someone called Brian, were actually recorded by you for promotional reasons?’

‘That’s the nub of it,’ said Blake cheerfully. ‘I was wondering what had happened to them and why I hadn’t heard them in use. Mind you, I wasn’t that surprised. Dom’s always been an old cheapskate. He barely paid me enough for doing them to cover a dinner out. He made a big deal of offering me six months of free membership for SO Ox as an extra bonus, but I’m not sure that’s worth the angst.’

He leaned forward. ‘I’m genuinely sorry. If I’d had any idea the recordings were going to be used like that, I would never have agreed to make them. I’m devastated you’ve been hurt in this way.’

And he did seem to be completely sincere. But there was still one thing that wasn’t adding up.

‘But what about the call? I once had a phone call with Brian James. The line wasn’t good and so it only lasted less than a minute, but we definitely spoke in real time. How can you explain that?’

Blake frowned. ‘I’d have remembered a phone call, especially with someone who’s got as pretty a voice as yours.’

‘Nice try, but you’re not going to distract me with fake flattery. The advert excuse is plausible, I’ll give you that, but you can’t explain the phone call, can you?’

‘AI,’ said Blake suddenly.

‘Pardon?’

‘Artificial Intelligence. That’s what Dom was doing his DPhil in before he dropped out of university. He must have taken my voice samples and used AI to create other sentences and conversations. Bloody hell, that’s really scary. He could have impersonated me for all kinds of bad stuff.’

The outrage in his voice seemed genuine and, the more I considered his explanation, the more plausible it seemed. Who better to perpetrate a scam of this kind than the founder of the app himself? He certainly had the means and opportunity, and several people had independently told me that he wasn’t doing well financially from the app, which would give him a motive.

‘Apparently, he did. The character of Brian James was determined to get money out of me. Who knows how many other women he’s been targeting on the app, using your voice? He’s well placed to generate a proper money-spinner for himself.’

‘It’s terrible, absolutely terrible,’ said Blake. ‘Just think about the damage it could do to my career if this got out.’

I laughed. His self-centred response was actually the light relief that I needed from the intensity of the conversation.

Blake had the good grace to look ashamed of himself. ‘Sorry, that was an awful thing to say. Of course, my first concern is about the poor victims of this dreadful scandal.’

In another life, I reckoned Blake would probably have made a very good politician with his ability to do a slick about-turn.

‘Would you be willing to give a statement to the police about how he’s used your recordings? It could be exactly the evidence we need to get them to open an official investigation. I imagine they’ll be able to get a court order to investigate the rest of the app and look into Dom’s financial status.’

To give Blake credit, his hesitation was only brief.

‘I guess so. Dom can’t be allowed to get away with this kind of behaviour any longer. The truth about SO Ox needs to get out into the public domain before he causes more hurt.’ But then the doubt started to creep back into his voice. ‘If that is indeed what has happened. Are you sure there can’t be another explanation? Dom might have had a wild streak when we were kids, but he’s always been a decent sort, very bright, that kind of thing. It seems a bit much to think that he’d need to turn to fraud like this.’

‘It’s surprising what people will do for money,’ said Leo, coming over to join us. ‘Especially when they’re desperate. It’s pretty clear that he’s abused your friendship to get those recordings and use them to take advantage of people. Hi, I’m Leo Taylor, by the way.’

He held his hand out to Blake.

‘Nice to meet you,’ said Blake, a confused look on his face as he tried to work out who Leo was and what he was doing here. ‘Are you Kat’s friend? Boyfriend, perhaps?’

‘Friend,’ said Leo, a little too quickly for my liking. ‘I’m a detective and I’ve been helping her get to the bottom of this scam.’

Blake sat up straighter. ‘Right, it’s obviously very serious, then.’

I glowered at him, although he seemed completely impervious to my irritation. I’d played his voice recordings and explained everything to him, yet he still couldn’t quite believe me. Then, the minute a man came along and told him it was true, he was falling over himself to accept it? Unbelievable.

Leo caught my gaze and I could tell he knew exactly what I was thinking because he did the subtlest of eye rolls to show that he echoed my thoughts.

‘Let’s head down to the police station now, then,’ I said.

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