Page 35 of Death of a Courtesan
‘Even unbelievers tend to return to the comfort of religion in times of great anxiety, inspector. I have seen it happen many times before.’
‘Did she say anything else that might help us?’ Riley asked.
‘Not that I can recollect, but she actually kissed me on the cheek before we left her room and that surprised me. Any physical contact with her was against her rules, you see. She couldn’t bear to be touched.’
‘She beat you and that excited you, but you couldn’t touch her,’ Salter said, vigorously scratching his head. ‘So how did you achieve release?’
‘Not in the way that you imagine, sergeant. We were never physically intimate, and I would have declined any such offer, even if it was made. I don’t expect you to believe me, but I have standards, and even I would not have sexual congress with a woman outside of marriage.’
‘It takes all sorts, I suppose,’ Salter muttered as they took their leave.
‘You were hard on him, Jack.’
‘I can’t stand hypocrisy.’ Salter screwed up his features, making it seem as though there was an unpleasant smell beneath his nose. ‘He’s supposed to lead by example. It’s a sorry state of affairs if we can’t expect men of God to conduct blameless lives.’
‘We are all human, and we are all fallible. That man is tormented and riddled with guilt.’
Salter seemed unmoved. ‘So he should be,’ he said, hailing a cab to take them to King’s College Hospital and their meeting with the Huxtons.
‘Don’t you think it interesting that he shuddered at the thought of any form of intimate contact, sir?’ Salter asked as the conveyance moved off with them aboard. ‘None of the men she entertained that we’ve spoken to so far were granted that privilege, yet they still paid a fortune to be humiliated by her.’
‘Perhaps they are worried about catching diseases. We know that Wallace would have taken the risk and probably paid more for the privilege, but she still declined.’ Riley lifted a shoulder. ‘It’s odd for someone in her profession, I’ll grant you that much.’
‘Perhaps one of her customers felt dissatisfied because he couldn’t achieve the ultimate pleasure even though he’d paid through the nose for her services and felt entitled to receive anything he wanted in return. So he decided to come back and force the issue. He wasn’t about to let a whore call the tune indefinitely.’
‘It’s a possibility,’ Riley agreed, staring at the rain-slicked streets as the cab made slow progress towards the hospital. ‘But I think the crime was motivated by something more personal than that. Adelaide was sufficiently conflicted to seek comfort in religion, and yet I am convinced she left home partly to get away from her pious aunt’s influence.’
Salter nodded. ‘Can’t say as I blame her for that. We’re no nearer to learning what was troubling her though, are we sir?’
‘Patience, Jack. We already know more than we did this time yesterday and we have yet to speak with your favourite suspect, her uncle Derek.’
Salter cheered up considerably at the prospect of grilling the man. Despite the fact that the hospital was one of the sergeant’s least favourite places, he was smiling when the cab dropped them outside the austere building.
‘With a bit of luck, Maynard will have done the post mortem and we won’t have to endure those God-awful smells,’ he said.
They were met in the entrance to the pathology department by Maynard himself, wearing a blood-splattered apron that caused Salter’s face to drain of all colour.
‘Ah, Lord Riley,’ he said cheerfully. ‘Perfect timing.’
‘Good morning, Dr Maynard,’ Riley replied. ‘Has the girl’s father come to identify her?’
‘He and his brother are upstairs. I had them remain there until you got here. I’ve just done my examination and, as you will already know, the girl died because someone, a right-handed someone, slashed her throat.’
‘Right-handed on what premise?’ Salter asked.
‘On the premise that he was standing behind her and forced her head back, sergeant. It’s very hard to slash someone’s throat when standing in front of them. They see what your intentions are and instinctively fight back, don’t you know.’ Maynard pounced forward with an imaginary knife in his hand, aimed at Salter’s throat. Salter blocked the thrust with his forearm. ‘See what I mean?’
‘Most unreasonable of the victim to fight for her life,’ Salter grunted.
‘Quite so. Besides, blood would have been splattered all over the room and the attacker’s clothing if the assault had been frontal. No, I would stake my reputation on the fact that she was attacked from behind when either standing, sitting or lying on the bed and knew little about it. She had a couple of broken nails but couldn’t have fought him off for long before blood loss caused her to lose consciousness.’
‘She knew her assailant and felt in control of the situation,’ Riley said, aware that Adelaide had always been in control in that room. Such was her influence over those she subjugated that she would not expect any one of them to go against her commands, even if she had not been expecting to receive him after hours. He had already seen for himself just how dedicated she had been to pleasing powerful men like Danforth, Wallace and Boyland. She understood what drove them and played on their weaknesses in order to control them. If they displeased or disobeyed her, she withheld the punishments that they craved.’ He shook his head. ‘I get the impression that Adelaide had a very poor opinion of the male sex in general, and enjoyed exploiting them. I wonder what happened to her to make her so bitter.’
‘We know she was planning to make changes, sir,’ Salter said. ‘Perhaps the man who killed her was the one she’d been intending to go off with. Maybe she changed her mind and he lost control. We already know just how devoted to her all her customers were.’
‘We don’t know that her plans had changed.’
‘Even so, let’s suppose that I’m right. He met her in that room, either by prior arrangement or he surprised her by lying in wait, fed up with her dithering about the decision she kept putting off making. He forced her hand so she told him she wasn’t going to go off with him, he lost his temper and…well, if he couldn’t have her, no one else would.’
‘It’s a possibility, Jack,’ Riley conceded.
‘The reason I kept the relatives upstairs and wanted to speak with you first,’ Maynard said, ‘is that I came across something interesting during the course of my examination. Something I didn’t expect to find, given the girl’s occupation.’
‘Let me guess,’ Riley replied with a wry smile. ‘She was a virgin.’
‘Good lord!’ Maynard’s eyebrows disappeared beneath his hairline. ‘How on earth did you know that?’
