Page 33 of Death of a Courtesan
‘I was expecting you,’ he said without preamble. ‘We can talk outside,’ he added, leading the way to the door. ‘Walls have ears.’
‘What do you have to tell us?’ Riley asked as he and Salter walked along on either side of Wallace. He was a tall, exceptionally thin man with auburn hair and whiskers and couldn’t have been more than thirty. He wasn’t wearing gloves and there was no ring on his wedding finger.
‘You know where I was the night before last, I imagine, accounting for your presence here this morning. I thought about coming to see you. Anyway, thank you for behaving with discretion. You need not have done that, and I am much obliged to you.’
‘I am not in the business of embarrassing people, unless they try to lie to me,’ Riley responded.
‘I am unmarried and can behave as I please, Lord Riley. Even so, if knowledge of my preferences became common knowledge I would become a laughing stock and most likely lose everything I’ve worked to achieve. My subordinates would no longer respect me and my superiors would lose faith in my judgement.’
‘Then why take the risk?’ Salter asked.
‘I have tried to give it up, believe me, but the impulse is simply too strong and I always go back eventually. Especially since meeting Adelaide. She is…was…masterful at what she did.’ He sighed. ‘But now she’s gone and I find myself dreading the thought of exposure, perhaps that will suffice to rid me of the habit.’ He shrugged, not looking terribly optimistic. ‘One can but hope.’
‘What time did you leave Maiden Lane the night before last?’ Riley asked.
‘About one in the morning. I was one of the last to spend time with Adelaide, although there was another man waiting to utilise her services.’ He gave a mirthless smile. ‘A man of the cloth, which is not as unusual as you might imagine in such establishments. What that says about the state of our society is anyone’s guess. People in glass houses, and all that.’
‘He didn’t try to disguise his occupation?’ Salter asked, looking shocked. ‘The minister, that is.’
‘He didn’t advertise it, sergeant, but all of us regulars have a fair idea of one another’s occupations. None of us shouted about it, especially not your chief inspector,’ he added with a significant glance at Riley.
‘I am aware of his presence there,’ Riley replied crisply. ‘And I can assure you that he is receiving no preferential treatment in this investigation.’
‘He’s no more guilty than I am.’ Wallace sighed. ‘Without Adelaide, we are all at a disadvantage.’
‘There are plenty more fish in the sea,’ Salter said.
‘None of Adelaide’s calibre. She was unique and she knew it.’ He sighed. ‘What a damned mess. She will be greatly missed. Anyway, to answer your question, sergeant, somehow we all knew what one another did for a living. The odd word here or there, if one cared to listen, leant valuable clues. It didn’t seem to matter much if we let our guard down in the place where we went to relax and be ourselves for a few hours. There is honour amongst deviants, and none of us could risk exposing the other, so to speak, without putting ourselves at risk of retaliation.’
‘But you did not use your own name, unlike many of the others,’ Riley pointed out.
Wallace shrugged. ‘You still found me.’
‘During the early part of the evening, when you were being entertained in the salon, did any of the other men there say anything to make you suspect their motives?’ Riley asked. ‘Anything out of the ordinary.’
Wallace laughed. ‘We were all there to endure pain in the hope of gaining the ultimate pleasure from it. There was nothing that you would think of as ordinary about those gatherings. Some who dislike pain enjoy wearing women’s clothing, or acting out fantasies. We were none of us ourselves, and yet we were in an odd sort of way, if that makes any sense.’
‘None whatsoever,’ Salter muttered.
‘Did Adelaide seem concerned about anything?’ Riley asked. ‘Was she distracted?’
‘Not that I noticed, Lord Riley, but then I was concentrating upon doing as I was told, rather than concerning myself about her mood. Not that I would have dared to question her about it, even if I had noticed anything amiss. That isn’t the way our sessions worked. I went there to absolve myself of my responsibilities for a while, not take on someone else’s. I was fond of Adelaide, but at the end of the day she was just a high-class whore, well paid to provide a service that’s hard to come by if one expects perfection. I harboured no other feelings for her, was not jealous of her other clients and looked upon her as a means to an end. She was good, but there will be others out there waiting to take her place. Finding them will be deuced inconvenient, so I certainly didn’t kill Adelaide.’
‘One last question,’ Riley said. ‘How did your sessions end?’
‘What the inspector wants to know,’ Salter said in a rough voice, ‘is did you fuck her?’
‘That was not permitted. I tried to insist once, but she said that if I wanted to be that intimate I would have to find another dominatrix. She wasn’t paid enough to have all and sundry poking her, as she put it. Anyway, she called my bluff and we both knew I wouldn’t go elsewhere.’ He swallowed and looked truly distressed. ‘Ask any of her customers. They will all tell you the same thing about her. Not only did she stretch our boundaries but she did so in a detached manner that…I don’t know how to describe it. She simply made you want to please her. It seemed vitally important to take whatever she dished out because she was convinced that you could, and would have been affronted if you’d asked her to stop. And that made it all the more challenging…and pleasurable.’
‘Seems to me she had you right where she wanted you,’ Salter said in a disgruntled tone. ‘How hard can it be to whip someone’s arse?’
‘Oh, it’s an art, sergeant, and one that precious few can master efficiently. You will have to take my word for that.’
‘Well I certainly won’t be looking to find out for myself anytime soon,’ Salter said.
Riley thanked him and warned him that they might need to speak to him again.
‘I can’t think why, Lord Riley. I’ve told you everything I know, but if you do need to see me, I should be grateful if you would call at my rooms where there is less likelihood of a connection being made between me and your current investigation.’ He gave them his address and Salter made a note of it in his book. ‘I hope you find whoever did this and you can be assured of my full cooperation if you have need of my help.’
