Murder in Room 346 Read online

  ‘Fine. I had myself checked out a few months back, no serious damage. It’s arthritis, that’s what it is. I just can’t move as fast as before.’

  ‘Fast enough for this department.’

  ‘It’s our superintendent, isn’t it?’ Wendy said.

  ‘He’s weakening my base, going for the kill,’ Isaac said.

  ‘You don’t intend to let him win, do you?’

  ‘Not this time. We fight fire with fire. How’s your health, Bridget?’

  ‘Fine, but I’m not up for a medical.’

  ‘Every morning, you’ve got to take a one-hour walk with Wendy, and easy on the food. No more hamburgers, greasy chips. From now on, it’s salads and eating healthily, chicken if you're desperate.’

  ‘Me, as well?’

  ‘Bridget, you’re to set Wendy an example.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Wendy. We’ll get you through this,’ Bridget said to her friend.

  A period of magnanimity existed in the office, only to be disturbed by Caddick coming in the door. ‘DCI, what’s going on?’

  ‘We’ll talk later,’ Isaac said to his team.

  ‘One more murder. Is that right?’ Caddick said as he sat down on a chair in Isaac’s office.

  ‘We know the woman had been an acquaintance of Helen Langdon.’

  ‘Did she kill Langdon and Holden?’

  ‘She’s not involved.’

  ‘Then why has she been killed?’

  ‘It was in my report.’

  ‘Too busy last night to read it. Give me the shortened version,’ Caddick said.

  That’s what I gave you, you pompous fool, Isaac thought. Instead, he said, ‘Before Helen Langdon married Gerald Adamant, she worked in a club.’

  ‘What sort?’

  ‘Gentlemen’s.’

  ‘Strip joint?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Call it what it is. Don’t go giving me the benefit of your fancy education. A spade is a spade, a place where the women prance around with nothing on is a strip joint. Do I make myself clear?’

  ‘Yes, you do.’

  ‘And it’s sir to you. Your insubordination is wearing thin. I’ve put up with it till now on account of your past record. Dismal to me, but there are others who think you’re special. And as for your staff…’

  ‘Are you about to launch into a tirade about them?’

  ‘A critical observation. They’re a tired bunch of individuals, not worthy of feeding.’

  ‘Sir, you, as a detective superintendent, must realise that derogatory remarks about personnel are an actionable offence. You could be reported for what you’ve just said.’

  ‘Just you try it, Cook.’

  ‘I intend to register a formal complaint against you in line with regulations.’

  ‘I’ll have you out of here in an instant.’

  ‘Not while the complaint is ongoing, you won’t. You’ll have to give your reasons, and believe me, you’ll not win.’

  ‘Cook, it’s you or me.’

  ‘That’s fine by me. Let’s see how you get out of this one.’

  ‘Do you want to make a comment here about me?’ Caddick said.

  ‘Not a chance. We’ll wait until the hearing into my complaint comes up.’

  ‘Is this how you spoke to Goddard?’

  ‘Detective Chief Superintendent Goddard was a competent man. It wasn’t necessary.’

  ‘And I’m not?’

  ‘I’ve nothing more to say. If you have no more to add to our conversation, I’ll wish you goodbye. I’ve got three murders to solve.’

  After Caddick had left, red in the face, Larry came into Isaac’s office. ‘You’ve made a cross for yourself to bear. Was it wise?’

  ‘Probably not.’

  ***

  The Dixey Club did not appreciate a visit from Homicide. It was still early in the evening, a few hours before the entertainment began. Isaac was pleased the lights were on. At the back door of the club, which opened onto an alley, two uniforms had been stationed in case someone wanted to slip out.

  ‘You can’t come in here,’ the burly man from Isaac and Larry’s previous visit said.

  ‘DCI Cook. I’ve got a warrant.’

  ‘We’re clean, nothing to see here.’

  ‘We’ve got a few questions. Is the manager here?’

  ‘I’m the manager.’

  ‘No, you’re not. He’s got an office out the back. We’ll find him.’

  Wendy walked through the place, saw the pole in the middle of the stage, walked through a door behind it, found some women in early for the night’s entertainment. ‘Sergeant Wendy Gladstone,’ she said.

  ‘We’ve done nothing wrong,’ one of the women said. Wendy had seen the photos of the ladies on display outside: beautiful, fresh and young, and one of them of a more youthful Helen. Those preparing themselves were not. They didn’t have much in the way of clothing, although one was dressed as a cowgirl, another as a nurse. The third, Wendy was not sure what she was meant to represent, but it looked weird to her.

  ‘I’m not saying you have, but I’ve a few questions.’

  Wendy could see the women were nervous.

  ‘I’m not here for you three. If you’ve committed any crime, that’s not my interest. There were a couple of women who worked here some years ago.’

  ‘I’ve only been here two,’ the youngest of the three said.

  ‘Maybe you don’t know. How about you?’ Wendy said, looking at one of the girls, although she was well over thirty, probably closer to forty.

  ‘I’ve been here a while. Who do you want to know about?’

  ‘One was Daisy. The other one was named …’

  ‘Helen, that’s who you mean, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes. What do you know about them?’

  The woman dressed as a cowgirl, straightened herself on her chair. ‘Daisy, she was game for anything.’

  ‘Explain “game”,’ Wendy said.

  ‘The men, they get carried away, wanting to do things they’re not meant to.’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘Exposing themselves, grabbing too much of us.’

  ‘It’s on display,’ Wendy said.

  ‘So’s the meat at the butchers, but you don’t go prodding it.’

  ‘Do you object?’

  ‘Not if they’re paying and it remains light-hearted, but some of the men, well, you know?’

  ‘I don’t. I’ve not frequented these places.’

  The youngest of the three spoke. Wendy realised she was dressed as an astronaut, although not from NASA. ‘Some of them, they think because we strip on the stage, let them take a few liberties, that we’re prostitutes, available to the highest tipper.’

  ‘Aren’t you?’

  ‘Sometimes we’ll negotiate a special deal, but we’ll not do it on the stage or in the audience. We’ve some standards.’

  ‘Daisy?’

  ‘She was always available. She could have made herself plenty of money, apart from her addiction.’

  ‘And you three?’

  ‘I was into drugs a few years back,’ the eldest said. The other two are clean.’

  ‘So why be here?’

  ‘Life’s expensive, you know that,’ the youngest said. ‘I can make more here in two days than working all week in a regular job.’

  ‘So how many days do you work here?’

  ‘Four, and sometimes a Saturday.’

  ‘Which means?’

  ‘The rest of the week is free.’

  ‘To do what?’

  ‘There are one or two men.’

  ‘Escort?’

  ‘They pay plenty. I’m buying myself a flat, putting myself through university.’

  ‘Are there beds out back?’

  ‘Are you here to arrest us?’

  ‘I’m with Homicide. We deal with murders, not who you screw on the premises.’

  ‘Sometimes it happens,’ the oldest of the three said.

  ‘I’m not involved, I’ve g
ot my men to consider. They don’t want the goods damaged,’ the youngest one said.

  ‘Okay, enough about you three and this place, what about Daisy and Helen?’

  ‘Daisy, she’d play the men, let them go further than they should. Sometimes, the management wanted her to go easy, but she was a drawcard, the same as Helen.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Daisy, she’s the rough, Helen, she’s the pure. Helen, she’d get the men excited, playing to the crowd, teasing them, pulling back. Once they’ve lined up a likely mark, Daisy would come along, make sure the man or men were stuffing plenty of money into whatever she was wearing. Later Daisy would take them around the back and fleece some more money out of them.’

  ‘Helen?’

  ‘Never in this club. She played her part, that was all, and she was good.’

  ‘Did you like her?’

  ‘Everyone liked Helen, and now she’s dead.’

  ‘So is Daisy.’

  ‘Daisy was always going to end up that way.’

  ‘You knew about Helen marrying, and then killing her husband?’

  ‘We knew.’

  ‘What did you think?’

  ‘She wasn’t the sort of person to kill anyone.’

  ‘But she could strut herself here, bait the men.’

  ‘It doesn’t make us all murderers, does it?’

  ‘I’m trying to understand the woman.’

  ‘Mind you, her becoming involved with Ben Aberman was not expected.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Aberman, he owned this place.’

  ‘And he disappeared,’ Wendy said. ‘What’s the full story?’

  ‘Helen wanted more than this club. She told us she wanted to find a decent man to look after her.’

  ‘A sugar daddy?’

  ‘Not Helen. She was good at detaching herself. In here, she’d play the tart, outside she’d not want to associate with us.’

  ‘What can you tell us about Ben Aberman?’

  ‘He was a rogue, but he was a decent man, and he treated the girls with respect.’

  ‘Were they living together?’

  ‘We knew Helen would spend the night with him sometimes, and he was really keen on her.’

  ‘And Helen?’

  ‘She said she didn’t love him, and it was just a business partnership.’

  ‘What do you think she meant?’

  ‘No idea really. She wasn’t even escorting, and she could have made plenty of money. We never really understood why she was here.’

  ‘Aberman disappeared,’ Wendy said.

  ‘We were told he went overseas.’

  ‘And Helen’s reaction?’

  ‘She was ambivalent, told us not to worry, and that he would turn up in a few days.’

  ‘And then Helen left.’

  ‘Two days later, she’s gone, never even said goodbye.’

  ‘Did you look for her?’

  ‘We did for a few days, but she’d left where she was living, never left a forwarding address. We assumed she was with Ben, but then, not long afterwards, she lands herself a rich man and marries him.’

  ‘Did you ever speak to her again?’

  ‘None of us did. She was the one that got away.’

  Chapter 11

  Out front in the club, the manager stood with Isaac and Larry. ‘Ben Aberman, before my time,’ he said. ‘Sorry, can’t help you.’

  Isaac had met his type before: only interested in a profit, not caring how it was earned.’

  ‘Your name?’

  ‘Barry Knox.’

  ‘You’re soliciting on these premises. We know it, so do you. What do you want? This place to be closed down, or do you want to cooperate?’

  ‘I’ll need my lawyer here.’

  ‘That’s up to you, but you’re opening up in sixty minutes. You’d better get him here fast.’

  ‘You can’t close me down.’

  ‘You’re up to your neck in crime. I was here the other night with DI Hill. We saw what was going on.’

  ‘Harmless fun.’

  ‘Are you dealing in drugs here?’

  ‘We’re clean. The place is legit, more than I can say for two undercover police officers casing the joint.’

  ‘It’s called policing. If you try it on us, I’ll haul you down the police station and throw you in a cell for the night.’

  ‘You can’t talk to Mr Knox like that,’ the tattooed man, who had been there on Isaac and Larry’s first visit to the club, said.

  ‘We can. And as for you, back off,’ Isaac said. ‘Do you have a record, been involved in any crime lately? And what do you know about this place, have you taken any liberties with the women?’

  ‘You’ve no right.’

  ‘I’ve every right. I need answers as to what happened to Ben Aberman, and what about Helen and Daisy, and don’t make out you don’t know who I’m referring to. Men like you don’t move far. You would have been here then, so would your manager, or if he wasn’t, he’d know people who were, people who know the true story.’

  ‘Okay, you’ve made your point,’ Knox said. ‘It’s best if you come into my office.’

  The four men walked the short distance to the office. In the room, a monitor showed the stage, another showed the patrons, and another the room where the women gave the patrons individual attention.

  ‘You’ve got a licence for that?’ Isaac asked, pointing to the bed in the bare room.

  ‘It’s our first aid room,’ Knox said.

  ‘Knox, you’d better start talking.’

  ‘Ben Aberman, I knew him, so did Gus. He wasn’t pulling in the money, and his lenders were anxious. I came in to run the place and make it financially sound.’

  ‘The lenders?’

  ‘You don’t go to the bank to open a strip club.’

  ‘Loan sharks?’

  ‘Businessmen. It’s all legal. Aberman signed the documents, agreed to the terms and conditions.’

  ‘Back then, you had Helen and Daisy, the double act. This place must have been making money.’

  ‘Maybe it was, or maybe Aberman was creaming more off the top than he should have.’

  ‘Which is it?’

  ‘Aberman, he owned this place, but he wasn’t honest with his financial backers, delaying the repayments.’

  ‘Are you one of the backers?’

  ‘Not me. I’m just the person sent in to make it pay.’

  ‘Is it now?’

  ‘We get by.’

  ‘Which means it is, but you don’t declare it.’

  ‘Inspector Cook, we’re a business. We make money, we spend money. How we structure our finances is not your concern. You’re after Aberman, am I correct?’

  ‘What about Gus here? What’s he got to do with Aberman?’

  ‘I did nothing with the man. He was my friend,’ Gus said.

  ‘Where’s Aberman?’ Isaac asked.

  ‘I don’t know, and that’s the honest truth.’

  ‘We know that Aberman does not own this club. Was the signing over of the business legal, or was his arm bent?’

  ‘I wouldn’t know. I’m just the humble manager,’ Knox said.

  ‘Did Gus force Aberman to sign the business over. What had Aberman been subjected to before he signed? What happened afterwards?’

  ‘Aberman, he was reluctant, but they wanted to get their money. I’ll swear on my mother’s grave that nothing happened to him.’

  ‘I pity your mother if she’s dead. Aberman, he’s forced to sign, and then he’s dumped in a river somewhere, or taken out to sea. Did he cry when you threw him over the side?’ Isaac said.

  ‘You’ve got this all wrong. Aberman’s out of the country.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘He doesn’t send me postcards. Helen, she knew.’

  ‘She’s dead, so is Daisy. Mr Knox, there are too many coincidences pointing back to this place and to you. And why did Helen leave the club two days after Aberman vanished, Daisy within three months?�
�

  ‘She didn’t want to work here without Aberman, and Daisy, we got rid of her in the end.’

  ‘That’s probably the first truthful answer you’ve given. Daisy was a hopeless drug addict, probably too much for even this club to handle. Helen, why two days? Did she know the story, did you pay her off?’

  ‘I’ve told you the truth. What more do you want from me?’

  ‘Was Helen involved with Aberman?’

  ‘They were cosy.’

  ‘Sleeping together?’

  ‘Aberman was a snake.’

  ‘So why was Helen with him?’

  ‘I don’t know. You could have asked her if she was alive.’

  ‘Do you and your kind have any decency left in you? You killed Aberman, but you couldn’t kill Helen. We know of her hold over men. Did she have it over you? Did she have it over Gus?’

  ‘Helen was not as good as you make her out to be. Helen and Aberman made a good team, and then he’s not around, and Helen’s out of here in two days. We paid her up, it’s in the books.’

  ‘Aberman’s house?’

  ‘What about it?’

  ‘If the man’s got debts and the loan sharks...’

  ‘They’re businessmen, tough businessmen,’ Knox corrected Isaac.

  ‘Okay, have it your way,’ Isaac said. ‘These businessmen would not have allowed Aberman’s house to remain in his name. They would have wanted it as security.’

  ‘If they knew about it.’

  ‘They did. The man had parties there. Parties attended by the cream, sour probably, of the criminal classes.’

  ‘There was an agreement,’ Knox said. ‘If Aberman gave the clubs he owned over to them willingly, then the debt was absolved.’

  ‘And where does Helen come into this?’

  ‘Aberman made it clear she was to have the house if she wanted it.’

  ‘But it’s in Aberman’s name.’

  ‘Which proves he’s still alive, paying the bills.’

  ‘Why did he want to let Helen have the house?’

  ‘Aberman was a sentimental fool. He’d fallen in love with the woman, the same as that old man she married, the same as that old fool she was shot with.’

  ‘Was Helen capable of love?’

  ‘I wouldn’t know. She was a beautiful woman, but she never came near me.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Look at me. The manager of a strip joint.’