"And prost.i.tution is one way to enhance the old revenue stream," added Mich.e.l.le. "So what do we do about it?"
"I think another talk with Lulu is in order."
"Husband dead and three kids. I know it"s a crime, Sean, but I"m not real excited about helping to send her to prison."
"Perhaps we can show her the error of her ways."
When Lulu returned to her office later, King was sitting behind her desk and Mich.e.l.le was standing beside him.
"What are you doing in here?" Lulu barked.
In answer King reached inside the drawer and pressed the buzzer they"d found there earlier.
"I hope this second warning doesn"t confuse the girls, but at least all the johns have already left the joint."
Lulu"s mouth dropped open but she quickly recovered. "What"s that supposed to mean?"
"Sit down, Lulu," King said very firmly. "We"re here to help you. But if you try to bulls.h.i.t us even a little bit, we"ll just tell Todd to come in here and take over. And then it"ll be out of our hands."
Lulu stared fiercely at them but finally sat down, her hands fidgeting in her lap.
"If you want to light up, feel free; we might be here awhile."
Lulu did so, sucking in the smoke and then purging it out her nostrils.
King sat back in his chair. "Okay, explain the setup."
"It"s not what you think," Lulu said.
"You"re far too smart to do it the old-fashioned way, so I"m sure you have something very creative. I"m anxious to hear what it is."
Lulu looked nervously at them. "I"ve worked hard for years to build up this place. Long hours, ignoring my kids at times, and Junior too. I"ve got ulcers and a two-pack-a-day habit. Sure, I"m the minority owner but I really run the place. My partners spend most of their time in Florida. But they"re always on me to keep pushing up the profits so they can buy bigger boats and better-looking wives. More, more, more-that"s all I hear."
"So you came up with ways to do that with the dancers?"
"My partners suggested it actually. I didn"t want to do it but they insisted. Said they"d find another manager who would, and get rid of me. But any girl who didn"t want to do it didn"t-no questions asked. I wouldn"t back down on that." She hesitated and then said, "If I tell you . . ."
"Lulu, like Sean said, we"re here to help you," said Mich.e.l.le.
She suddenly yelled out, "Why? Why do you care?"
King answered, "Because we think you"re basically a good person and a mother with three children who need you. You"ve been under tremendous pressure and you just lost your husband. What you tell us goes no further, you have our word."
Lulu took a deep breath and began. "No money exchanges hands between any of the girls and any of the men. We . . . well, we formed a club of sorts. The members pay an initiation fee to the club to join and then a monthly amount based on . . . well, based on usage. We book it as business networking."
"Well, that"s certainly an original way to network. Go on," said King.
"It"s a fairly large sum, so the clientele is limited and of a certain level."
"Translation: wealthy guys looking for some action in bed," commented King.
"Anyway, with their membership they have access to the girls by appointment only. The members are given special words to tell the girls so they know it"s okay. They all use protection and there"s no dangerous stuff allowed. Anybody gets rough with one of the girls gets kicked out for good. But we"ve never had any problems. The dancers who partic.i.p.ate get extra pay."
"Pretty creative, but it"s still illegal, Lulu. This could shut the club down and put you right in prison."
Lulu lit another cigarette and looked like she might be sick. "I know," she said in a trembling voice. "G.o.d, I knew this whole thing was stupid."
"And the buzzer in your office is connected to the rooms, to alert the girls and their clients if there"s a problem, and they clear out through the rear exit."
"Yes," Lulu said miserably. "And I have people keeping an eye on the entrance to the hallway from time to time."
"So how did Kyle get through, then?"
"The lady left a note and a picture of Kyle telling me he was okay." She put her cigarette out. "I can tell you this much. There was someone who followed Kyle in the night I saw him. One of my lookouts told me about it later."
"That was Sylvia Diaz, the doctor Kyle works for."
"Name sounds familiar."
"She"s the local medical examiner. And before you changed doctors, you two shared the same gynecologists."
"I haven"t changed my ob-gyn."
"Okay, the point is, she was the witness who saw Kyle here and heard the argument between him and the woman." He paused and said, "You"re going to have to put an end to it, Lulu. No more, starting today, or else it all comes tumbling down."
"I"ll have to refund the men their money. That"s a lot of cash."
"No, you won"t. They knowingly partic.i.p.ated in an illegal scheme. Tell them they had a close call today and that"s it. Tell them if you pay the money back, it can be traced to them if there"s a later investigation. I"m certain they"ll pa.s.s on the money to avoid the risk." He stared at her pointedly. "This is your only way out, Lulu."
She finally nodded in understanding. "I"ll call them all today."
"And talk to your partners in Florida. Make it clear to them that the long arm of Virginia law reaches that far south. If they don"t want to lose the boats and the babes, they better get off your back and stick to pole dancing and beer, which I"m sure pays a pretty penny."
King rose and motioned for Mich.e.l.le to join him in leaving. "And with Remmy helping to take care of the kids financially and finishing up your house, you might want to spend less time here and more time at home. It"s just a suggestion."
As they were heading out, Lulu called to them. "Look, I owe you a big debt. All I can say is thank you."
King turned back. "I figured you were about due a break. Good luck." He and Mich.e.l.le started to leave again but paused when Lulu called to them again.
"I do know what kind of car the woman drives. I saw it one time."
"We know too. An older-model Mercedes convertible."
"It was more than that. It was a true cla.s.sic, a 1959 300 SL Roadster."
"How do you know that?" asked Mich.e.l.le.
"One of my partners is a car buff. He"s got a fleet of fancy ones he keeps down in Naples. He taught me a lot. The one the lady drives is a beauty. It"s worth a small fortune."
King muttered something under his breath. "Lulu, consider your debt paid in full. Come on, Mich.e.l.le." He grabbed her arm and pushed her out the door.
"What"s the rush?" asked Mich.e.l.le.
"I think I know where to find that car."
CHAPTER 62.
KING PARKED HIS LEXUSon a side road and got out.
"We"ll have to walk from here. I don"t want anyone to see us if we can help it."
"Where are we going?"
"Be patient. You"ll see soon enough."
They climbed over a rear gate and made their way down a gravel road. Through a break in a long row of one of the twelve-foot hedges planted on either side, Mich.e.l.le caught a glimpse of the house in the distance and commented, "We"re at the Battles"." As King moved away from the direction of the house, she said, "Sean, the house is that way."
"That"s not where I"m heading."
"Where, then?"
King pointed up ahead. "To the car barn."
They reached the large structure without being seen. King was able to jimmy open a side door, and they went inside. He made his way along each of the cars on the first floor, looking under their protective cloth covers. Finished with the first floor, they headed up the stairs to the second.
There were a number of covered cars up there, and King started checking each. Arriving at the third vehicle, he lifted off the cover completely and let it drop to the floor. He looked at the vehicle"s model name.
"A 300 SL." He knelt down and inspected the tires, running his hand along the tread. He held up one finger for Mich.e.l.le to see.
"Mud," she said. "But how could someone take this car and no one know about it?"
"Easy. This building isn"t used anymore, Sally told us. And it"s not visible from the house. And that gravel road we came up leads right to the side road. If she"s only driving late at night, chances are good no one would see her."
"Her.So I guess it"s pretty clear who our s.e.xy stripper/ drug user is."
King straightened up. "Yes, it is. And I guess we better go and talk to her."
"This isn"t going to be pretty."
"Trust me: not knowing the truth is even uglier."
They headed in the direction of the mansion. Before they got there, however, King veered off, pa.s.sed by the stables and went through the gate connecting the carriage house and the Battle mansion properties.
"Sean, where are you going? Savannah"ll be at Casa Battle."
King ignored her and kept marching along. She hurried after him. He saw the car parked out front, raced up the steps and pounded on the carriage house"s front door. They soon heard footsteps coming and the door opened.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"Can we come in, Dorothea?" asked King. He placed one foot inside the doorway in case he didn"t get the answer he wanted.
"Why?" she demanded.
"Kyle Montgomery"s dead."
One of Dorothea"s hands flew to her chest, and she stepped back as though staggered by a physical blow. "I . . . I don"t know who that is."
"We know everything, Dorothea. We traced the car."
"What car?"
"The 300 SL in the car barn you used to drive to the Aphrodisiac."
She stared defiantly at them. "You"re wrong."
"We"re wasting time," King said impatiently. "You were seen leaving the club, Dorothea. We have a witness who recently saw you get in the car and drive off around five in the morning."
Dorothea"s defiant look started to fade.
"This same person heard you and Kyle arguing. You pulled a gun on him. You threatened him-"
"I didn"t threaten that little . . ." Dorothea stopped and looked like she might faint.
King said quietly, "I thought you"d want to talk to us first, before the police. But if not, we can go ahead and call them now."
"Oh, my G.o.d," she said. Within seconds her hardened exterior simply crumbled and tears slid down her cheeks. King pushed open the door and they went in.
CHAPTER 63.
"IDIDN"T KILL HIM,Sean.I didn"t."
"But you were buying drugs from him?"
They were sitting in the living room. King and Mich.e.l.le were in wing chairs. Dorothea was on the small sofa across from them, clutching the arm of the furniture as though if she let go, she"d topple to the floor.
"I"ve been under tremendous pressure lately," she began slowly. "I"ve had some . . . financial reverses."