Page 8 of Death of a Courtesan
Mrs Sinclair inclined her head. ‘That seems reasonable. I know you are a gentleman and will keep your word.’
‘I am a policeman first, Mrs Sinclair, and if I discover that you have misled me in any way then you will see a very different side of me. Now then, what other duties does Tennyson perform?’
‘Once our visitors are here, he keeps order. If any of the gentlemen get too boisterous, which sometimes happens, he either reprimands them or persuades them to leave the premises. But it seldom comes to that.’
‘Someone became boisterous with Adelaide,’ Riley said in a mild tone, ‘but she didn’t summon Tennyson. I noticed a bell in the room. Presumably they all have them and the girls use them if they are in trouble, but Adelaide did not. Can you explain that?’
‘I can’t explain any of this, and that’s the truth.’ Mrs Sinclair spread her hands. ‘As far as I was aware, the last of our gentlemen left at around two in the morning, Tennyson locked up and the girls went to their rooms.’
‘They have individual rooms?’ Salter asked, pencil poised.
‘Adelaide did, as does Mirabelle, my next most senior girl. The one who joked with you downstairs earlier.’ Riley nodded, unsure if she had actually been joking. ‘The other four share two rooms.’
‘Explaining why Adelaide wasn’t missed, if she didn’t have to share with the others.’ Riley shifted his position, failing to find a comfortable one in the chair he occupied. The rain hammering against the window intensified, bringing with it a gust of wind that rattled the glass. ‘When was she last seen?’
‘We were trying to remember that before you arrived, Lord Riley.’ Mrs Sinclair furrowed her brow. ‘We were very busy last night. We throw a party once a month on a Thursday evening and it is always well attended. Upwards of forty gentlemen passed through our doors. I do know that Adelaide had entertained her last client because I exchanged a few words with him before he left. Adelaide herself brought him back downstairs.’
‘But you didn’t see Adelaide after that?’ Salter asked.
‘No, but that’s not unusual. Once she finished work she was in the habit of going straight to her room. The other girls would usually gather downstairs and complain about their clients’ demands, joke about them and generally compare notes, but Adelaide seldom joined them.’
‘Then how did she finish up in her working room with her throat cut and, more to the point, who did the cutting?’ Riley asked. ‘Presumably Tennyson checked to ensure all the clients had left before he locked the door. It’s not hard to imagine one or more of them becoming obsessed with Adelaide, especially if she knew how to satisfy their needs so proficiently. Perhaps one of them wanted her for himself and offered to marry her because he was unable to afford to set her up as a mistress.’
Mrs Sinclair nodded. ‘That situation arises more often than you might imagine. But Adelaide wouldn’t have been tempted. Frankly, she looked upon her clients with a degree of scorn. She wasn’t terribly fond of men in general—’
‘She preferred her own sex?’ Riley asked.
‘Not as far as I know. Most of us in this business have been scarred by the demands placed upon us by men when we were too young either to understand them or to fight back. Men who were for the most part related to us and supposed to protect us. Is it any wonder that we develop a cynical attitude? We find it hard to form relationships, so we settle for gaining revenge by perfecting our skills as courtesans and exploiting them?’
Riley nodded. ‘You are sure that no one lingered after the party ended?’ he asked. ‘There are plenty of suitable hiding places.’
‘Quite sure. It was a filthy night, and all the gentlemen arrived wearing coats and hats. Tennyson handed these garments back to their owners before they departed and none were left behind. Besides, even if a desperate man had sneaked back in and hidden himself away, inspector, how would he have found Adelaide in her room, persuaded her to dress in her working attire and voluntarily accompany him downstairs, all without anyone hearing a peep? I can assure you that Adelaide was not the passive type and would have taken exception to being coerced into doing something she wasn’t being paid for.’
‘Unless she had reached an agreement with the gentleman that you knew nothing about.’
Mrs Sinclair conceded the possibility with a sideways tilt of her head. ‘If she did then she would have been taking an almighty risk,’ she said, her expression as hard as flint. ‘My one firm rule is that any girl making private arrangements with a client will find herself immediately without employment. No exceptions, not even for Adelaide. And just so that you are aware, my terms of employment are more generous than most. I seek to inspire loyalty. The girls are content here and wouldn’t want to leave, I can assure you of that. Ask them yourself if you don’t believe me.’
‘We will,’ Salter muttered.
‘Very well.’ Riley sighed, cursing the fact that the murder had taken place on the night of a party. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Presumably the man responsible thought that the police wouldn’t make too much effort to track down the killer of a whore. Unfortunately for him, Riley took this murder just as seriously as if Adelaide had been employed in a respectable trade. It affected his fierce sense of right and wrong just as much as the killing of his father’s actress had all those years ago. Now he was confronted with another life cut tragically short, and he would not leave a stone unturned in his effort to find the perpetrator. ‘Do you live here yourself?’ he asked Mrs Sinclair.
‘Yes, I have two rooms and a bathroom to myself on the top floor.’
‘Tennyson and the other staff. Do they live in?’ Salter asked.
‘Yes. Tennyson has a room off the kitchen. My maid Lily and Beryl the cook share the only other room in the basement. I have two girls come in and help in the kitchen, but they go home once the food is prepared. Only Lily shows herself upstairs.’
‘I shall need the names of all the gentlemen in attendance here last night,’ Riley said.
‘All of them?’ Finally Riley had said something that caused Mrs Sinclair to lose her composure. ‘I know I agreed to hand it over but, upon reflection, it seems to me that only those who lingered until the end will be of interest to you.’
‘Even so, they will all have to be spoken to, especially those whom Adelaide entertained. They might have seen or heard something unusual.’
Mrs Sinclair gave a harsh laugh. ‘There is nothing that you or anyone else would consider usual about the proceedings in this house, inspector.’
‘I must insist, Mrs Sinclair. Rest assured that we understand the meaning of discretion and will make sure we speak to the gentlemen away from their families.’
Mrs Sinclair’s expression lost a little of its rigidity. ‘As I already told you, there were forty men here last night,’ she said.
