Page 86 of The Lady Has a Past

Luther surveyed the room again. “He must have hidden them somewhere else.”

“Pete and Joe told us that Billingsley was the boss, and maybe he was, as far as they were concerned. But Raina is convinced that Guppy was involved in the kidnappings. We assumed she was an accomplice like Frampton, the treatment lady who was murdered. But what if she was more than that? Maybe she was a full partner in the kidnapping operation.”

Luther got a thoughtful expression. “Or maybe the one in charge. She’s the one who knows the formulas for the drugs. She reigns supreme at the spa. It’s her reputation that draws potential victims here to the resort.”

“If that’s true, she’s the one who has the negatives,” Simon said. “There’s a safe in her office. I opened it last night. There were some financial records and bundles of cash, but no photographs or negatives.”

“A safe in a business like Guppy’s spa is often opened several times a day. There’s a big risk that sooner or later one of the staff—the cashier or the bookkeeper, for example—will discover the combination. If those photos had been found, it would have been the end of Guppy’s House of Beauty. If Guppy is the ringleader, I don’t think she would keep blackmail negatives in her office safe. More likely they’re hidden in her home.”

“She lives here at the hotel,” Simon said. “But there aren’t that many places to hide something as dangerous as those photos in one of these rooms. The spa is her world. She created it and she controls it. From what I saw of the interior there are a lot of places she could conceal half a dozen photographs and negatives. I might be able to find the location.”

Luther raised his brows. “The way you found those photos in this suite?”

“It’s what I do, Luther. Why you hire me.”

“I know.” Luther gave him an odd look. “Are you aware that something changes in the atmosphere when you do whatever it is that you do?”

Simon did not move. “I know some people get nervous when theywatch me work. It’s one of the reasons I rarely work with a partner. Does the shift of energy in the atmosphere bother you?”

“No. I’ve got other people working for me who radiate some sort of energy when they use their talent. I have no problem with the concept of the paranormal. All I care about are results, and you always come through with those. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question, though?”

“Depends on the question.”

“Has Lyra seen you work?”

“Yes.”

“She doesn’t appear to be nervous or anxious around you.”

“No.” Simon exhaled slowly. “But she asks a lot questions. She wants to know everything—how it feels when I pick up the heat. If there was anyone else in my family who could do what I do. How I turn my extra senses on and off.”

“So? Sounds like she’s interested in you. Is that a problem?”

“I’m a new experience for her.”

“I repeat, is that a problem?”

“The woman is insatiably curious, Luther. When she starts asking questions, people talk to her.”

“Including you?”

“Including me. I swear, it’s almost like mesmerism, except you know what’s happening when you start answering her questions. Later you look back and you say,What the hell was I thinking?”

Luther’s eyes gleamed with a flash of amusement. “I think I’m beginning to understand the problem here.”

“We haven’t got time for an analysis of my personal life.” Simon collected the photos, stuffed them back into the envelope, and slipped the envelope inside his jacket.

“Let’s go take a look around Guppy’s room,” Luther said. “I doubt we’ll find another wall safe, but we need to check. After that we’ll try the spa.”

Simon glanced at the open safe. “What about the money and the bottle of chemicals?”

“Leave both for the cops to find. Make them look good.”

There was only one object of interest in Guppy’s suite: a large walk-in closet that had been converted into a darkroom.

“She’s the one who took the photos and developed them,” Luther said.

Chapter 39

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