James cried out, pointing his skinny finger like a weapon at Alexandre, "It"s him you should be worried about. He was having a b.l.o.o.d.y affair with my wife!"
The policeman smirked as if he"s made a great discovery, and said to James, "So, sir, that would give you a good motive, wouldn"t it?"
"Should I handcuff them, sir?" the female officer asked.
"Look, that really won"t be necessary," James blurted out. "This is absurd. This is my b.l.o.o.d.y house! You think I"m going to kill my own wife? I"m the one who called you, for Christ"s sake? You think I would have made that phone call if I"d been guilty of murder?"
"Actually, a neighbor called 999 before your call came in," the woman said. "She heard a woman scream."
The officer in charge shot her a poisonous look. She"d obviously said too much. She covered her mouth with her hand in embarra.s.sment.
Laura screamed, did she? Alexandre mused. He didn"t think that James was capable of murder, but who knew? His mother had killed - and he hadn"t imagined Laura would be capable of blackmail. People did strange things under pressure. Maybe Laura was threatening James in some way, and he needed her out of the picture. It seemed strange that she would fall down the stairs in her own house, even with heeled slippers. It wasn"t even dark.
"Look sir, we can either do this peacefully and you come with us nice and quietly down to the station for questioning, or we"ll have to cuff you."
It was still very civilized in Britain, Alexandre thought. In the USA, he and James would be on the floor by now, wrists cuffed behind their backs and a gun held to their heads. Yet here, they were politely asking them to come along to the station for questioning. He knew a little about the law in Britain and the way the system worked. His new partner, the one he was starting the video game company with, had once been arrested for dealing marijuana. The police in the UK were able to arrest people much more easily than in the States. American police needed probable cause to make an arrest, but in the United Kingdom, officers could arrest just on suspicion.
Alexandre pushed out his wrists in front of him to show good will.
The police officer said, "That won"t be necessary, sir. If you men can both come along with us quietly and do not resist, we won"t be needing restraints."
"Sure," Alexandre told him, offering a limp smile. His mind raced back to the possibility of the evidence being in the closet. d.a.m.n, he"d like to have one more look but it would cause mayhem. James was already suspicious; Alexandre couldn"t draw attention to the closet not even look at it. He"d have no choice but to be led like a lamb to slaughter to the police station, and call Sophie to get his lawyer there ASAP. Meanwhile, he wouldn"t incriminate himself, wouldn"t give evidence he had the right to remain silent" and he"d d.a.m.n well use that right.
"Come along please," the small policeman ordered, ushering James and Alexandre out of the bedroom. Alexandre ambled along peacefully but James, disgusted by the c.o.c.kney policeman"s hand clamped on his wrist shouted, "Get your hands off me!"
Alexandre knew that things would now get worse.
The Napoleon complex officer stood tall" and commanded, "On second thoughts, cuff them both. I really don"t want any trouble." He pointed a fat finger at James and hissed, "You, sir, need to calm right down."
"He"s upset, sir; his wife"s just died," the policewoman suggested to her boss.
"Yes, well. I don"t want any monkey business when I"m in charge, thank you very much."
It felt humiliating to be arrested and cuffed. Alexandre"s mind traced back to the time when he cuffed" Pearl with the string of Art Deco pearls, and wondered if she had felt the same; humiliated. Christ, he hoped not, he hadn"t meant it that way. Jesus, how embarra.s.sing, his c.o.c.k started throbbing just thinking about her naked, her hands above her head, her legs splayed open and bound to his bra.s.s bed with his blue silk ties her p.u.s.s.y soaking wet as he licked and sucked her to her first, ever, oral o.r.g.a.s.m. Pearl was all his. No other man had given her such pleasure s.e.xually. He loved going down on her she tasted so sweet. s.h.i.t! He felt himself expanding; it was as if his heartbeat was right between his legs. He knew that Pearl nicknamed it his Weapon of Ma.s.s Destruction and she was right it could bring him to ruin if he wasn"t more careful. Thank G.o.d he was still wearing his overcoat. Jesus, he had a full hard-on now. How he could possibly have an erection in the middle of being arrested was an enigma to him. Pretty f.u.c.ked-up to be thinking about s.e.x at a moment like this. He"d heard that when men got hung, they found it erotic. It was known as a death erection" and angel l.u.s.t." He"d read, somewhere, that Christ was depicted by several Renaissance artists with a post-mortem erection after the crucifixion. Maybe, that was what was happening now he knew he was about to be hung, drawn and slaughtered, figuratively speaking.
As they exited, the housekeeper, Mrs. Blake, was bustling towards the front door with a bunch of grocery bags. She looked horrified.
"What on earth is going on?" She gazed at James. "Mr. Heimann, what"s happening? I wasn"t expecting you back until tomorrow."
"I"m afraid you can"t go in there for the now," the policeman in charge said. "Not until the coroner has finished and forensics have done their bit."
James told her in a grave tone, "I"m sorry, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Heimann took a fall. She"s dead."
Mrs. Bake looked at the handcuffs and began to quiver uncontrollably. "But it was an accident, surely?"
"We don"t know that yet, madam. Please move aside. I"m sure Mr. Heimann will get in touch with you when you"re needed."
"But Mr. Heimann is innocent!" she screeched. "And this gentleman here, Mr. Chevalier. I know him. They would never have hurt Mrs. Heimann. Never! Handcuffs! You are arresting them? This is madness!"
"Please move aside, madam. This is being treated as a crime scene until further notice."
James stood erect and said, "Don"t worry, Mrs. Blake, it"s just a little misunderstanding, that"s all. I"ll ring you very shortly. Meanwhile, consider it paid leave."
As Alexandre was bundled into the police car and driven away, he thought of Pearl at the George V. He"d had his cell switched off all this time he thought Pearl calling while he was dealing with Laura would add fuel to the already raging fire. Pearl had probably been trying to call. But now they"d only allow him one phone call and that would have to be to Sophie. In any case, he didn"t want to worry Pearl in her delicate, pregnant state. Sophie could deal with everything. He hoped she"d pull out all the guns. Get him out of this mess.
Jesus. What a f.u.c.king nightmare.
Chapter Seventeen.
Daisy is now sprawled out on the living room sofa, sozzled from all the pink champagne. I feel responsible, although she doesn"t seem to care at all. I left her lying there with a grin spread across her face like the Cheshire Cat.
Amy was rushing about with excitement earlier. I ordered room service for us all, although Daisy was beyond repair and didn"t seem interested in eating. I left her with a couple of large bottles of Perrier water on the coffee table and a ceramic bowl next to her to vomit in, just in case. The place is far too fancy to have a bucket and I didn"t want to call down. I then gave Amy a sumptuous bubble bath in the grand marbled bathroom and put her to bed.
I return to the living room to check on Daisy and cover her with a blanket. She has miraculously perked up and is in the mood for a chat.
"You"re not feeling sick?" I ask.
"No! I"m feeling simply marvelous. b.l.o.o.d.y delicious champers got anymore?"
"No, we"ve run out," I lie. "But there"s lots of delicious mineral water."
"Bore Ring."
"I put Amy to bed."
"Good girl. You, not Amy. You"re a good girl for doing that."
Yes, she"s tipsy alright. "Okay, I think you"re ready now for the delicious soup I ordered for you. Wait there and I"ll heat it up. Organic chicken noodle soup with Shiitake mushrooms and ginger."
"Sounds delicious."
"Doesn"t it? Give me five minutes and I"ll be back."
I hear Daisy glugging down some water as I go to the kitchen. It really is like an apartment here. I could get used to this easy luxury; gourmet food on tap, flower arrangements changing daily.
Still no word from Alexandre. A frisson of fear runs up my spine as I think of all the possibilities. Why hasn"t he called? It can only mean one thing: bad news. Laura has persuaded him to do the IVF and he"s stalling. He doesn"t want to hear me scream and cry about it. I swore to myself I wouldn"t; that I"d remain cool, calm and collected, and accept whatever decision he made, but the more I think about Laura pregnant, the sicker I feel.
I return with Daisy"s soup on a tray. It smells incredible and I"m tempted to order more, although I had a delicious Club Sandwich, earlier.
As I lay the tray on Daisy"s lap, I feel as if I"m feeding an invalid. Chicken noodle soup can heal anything, even an impending hangover. "Are you sure you"re not going to take a spoonful and vomit everywhere," I check.
"Ha! You think I"m a wimp, don"t you? I used to drink quite a bit, in my day. You should have seen me down the pub; I could drink any man under the table." I spread a napkin like a bib about her neck and she slurps down some of the broth. "Oh my G.o.d, this soup is out of this world." She looks as if she"s died and gone to Heaven. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to say. Remember when I slipped out of the restaurant this afternoon to go to the chemist to get some Advil?"
"The chemist?"
"Sorry, I mean pharmacy" chemist is English. Anyway, I didn"t have a headache at all. I went to buy us some naughty toys."
I widen my eyes with mock disapproval. "From that s.e.x shop we pa.s.sed earlier?"
Daisy giggles. "Yes. I slipped in and got something for each of us."
"You saucy wench, Daisy."
"I"ve never used anything like that before in my life, but now that I"m single I thought it was time to experiment."
"Well, I"ll have to wait to use mine. I still have to be careful."
"Ah, but I thought of that, Pearl. Yours isn"t," she lowers her voice to a tiny whisper, "a d.i.l.d.o...it doesn"t penetrate, it vibrates. It"s called the something deux, for the two of you. It splits in half you"ll see how it works." She giggles again. "The hers" part is convex and the his" part is concave, apparently. Or is it the other way round? Anyway, the saleswoman told me it was very popular with couples, and a best seller."
"So when Amy and I were innocently eating our chocolate mousse you were out buying s.e.x toys?"
"I know, isn"t it outrageous?"
"Where are they?"
"I left the bags in the closet by the entrance. I hope Amy doesn"t find them." She slurps another mouthful of soup. "G.o.d this is good, you wanna try some?"
"No, it"s okay, thanks."
Daisy studies me for a minute and suddenly comes out with, "Pearl, can I ask you a personal question?"
"Sure."
"Do you have multiple o.r.g.a.s.ms?"
I don"t need long to recollect my memories. "Once or twice it has happened. Only with Alexandre, though. But the truth is, I feel so satisfied...so satiated after one, I really don"t feel I need another. Why?"
"Oh, just because you"re always reading about them and you feel like a kind of freak, you know, just having one, like all other women are having such fun and you, well, you"re just...I don"t know."
"What"s your favorite dish?"
"What"s that got to do with it?"
"Just hear me out. What"s your favorite thing to eat?"
"Well, I do love a good Sunday roast with Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes"
"Okay, imagine you"ve just eaten a full Sunday roast. And it was absolutely delicious. You are full. Best meal you"ve had for ages. Maybe years. And then you"re offered another plate piled high with more of the same. Would you be able to wolf all that down, too?"
"I see your point."
"Believe me, you should be happy with one, good o.r.g.a.s.m. Very happy. A lot of women - and it was how I was for so many years - are starved and don"t even get the one, so count yourself blessed. Lots of women don"t climax at all during intercourse. Don"t believe all you read about multiple o.r.g.a.s.ms, anyway."
She considers what I"ve said. I can see the invisible cogs of her mind turning. I know what she"s wondering she"s wondering if it"s because Alexandre is a G.o.d in bed and that"s why I"ve had multiple o.r.g.a.s.ms, or if I was born that way.
"So no word from Alexandre?" she asks.
"No." Uh, oh, the food is sobering her up; I need to change the subject. "So, tell me more about Zac; we hardly discussed it the other day because of Amy being around."
"Oh my G.o.d, Pearl. I mean, when Zac kissed me it made me realize what I"d been missing all these years, you know? He"s so s.e.xy...so...buffed up." She laughs too loudly and covers her mouth. Maybe she isn"t sobering up, after all.
"Funny. You, Natalie and I have all ended up with younger men. Well, that"s if you take Zac up on his offer."
"You"re right! I hadn"t thought of that!"
"We"re getting our revenge on the world." I wink at her.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it"s always been guys who get the young girls. Now the tables are turning. There"s so much more Girl Power about, have you noticed?"
She sips another large spoonful of soup and sighs at its deliciousness. "Like so many amazing women singers now, and stuff?"
"Exactly. Men need to watch out. Gone are the days when they can sit around getting beer bellies and think their women will be happily waiting for them if they behave like a.s.sholes. Women are beginning to call the shots now. I mean, look at you. You"re not crying your heart out, feeling sorry for yourself. You"ve moved on. Moved on to a hot, s.e.xy younger model!"
"Don"t ya love it?"
I wrinkle my nose. "I hate that word, cougar" though, don"t you? I find it offensive"
Daisy nods her head as if weighing up the options. "I don"t know. I quite like the idea of being a cougar. It"s a compliment. Cougars are beautiful creatures."
"That"s exactly what Alexandre says."
Our girlie chit-chat is interrupted by the phone ringing. Thank G.o.d, it"ll finally be him. "Oui, hallo?" I say, giving it my French touch.
"Pearl?"
"Sophie, is that you?"
"I"m in ze lobby, I"m coming up."
"Great-" The line clicks dead before I get a chance to say anything more.
Daisy arches an eyebrow. "Sophie"s here? At this hour?"
"I know. A bit odd. Oh, well. We"re friends now so..."
"Maybe she wants to come and hang out."
"You think?"