Page 10 of Death of a Courtesan
Chapter Three
Riley took a moment to digest the disquieting knowledge that his chief inspector was one of Mrs Sinclair’s regular customers. Not many discoveries shocked him, but this was had shaken him to the core. Why the devil hadn’t he cornered Riley and warned him of his connection to the place when he’d first learned of Adelaide’s death? He must have known that Riley would discover the truth, with all its disturbing implications. He was either too embarrassed or busy putting his own version of events to the superintendent—most likely the latter.
‘Thank you, Mrs Sinclair,’ Riley said, his mild tone disguising the turbulent nature of his thoughts. ‘Be so kind as to return to the salon with the other ladies and wait there until I have spoken with them all. It won’t take long. Then I would like to look at Adelaide’s room. After that, we shall leave you alone for now but needless to say, you cannot open for business for the next few nights.’
Mrs Sinclair inclined her head. ‘I understand.’
‘Have Mirabelle join us, if you would be so kind.’
Salter got up and opened the door for her.
‘That ledger shows how much all the customers paid,’ Salter said, returning to his seat and scratching his head. ‘Talk about easy money! But Danforth didn’t pay a single penny.’
‘Don’t be naïve, sergeant. Why do you suppose this place is never raided by our colleagues in uniform?’
Salter slumped into a chair. ‘This is serious, isn’t it?’
‘Potentially. The superintendent will have to be told. If Danforth has any sense, he will already have told him, before he finds out from us.’
Salter chuckled. ‘I have a picture in my head of Danforth’s fat arse being flogged.’ He pulled a disgusted face. ‘Perhaps it ain’t such easy money for the girls after all. Only imagine him being such a deviant.’
‘Not a word about Danforth’s involvement leaves this room, Salter.’
Salter scratched his head again. ‘I should have thought after all the trouble he’s caused you that you’d look forward to your moment of revenge.’
‘I hope I can rise above such petty-mindedness.’ Riley clasped his hands behind his back and stared out of the window, watching the unrelenting rain still pounding down on the cobbles outside. ‘But Chief Inspector Danforth will most certainly be helping us with our enquiries.’
Salter grinned. ‘Please tell me I can throw him in the cells and then grill ’im.’
‘I very much doubt whether he killed the girl. Even he isn’t that stupid,’ Riley said, sighing. ‘But you are right about one thing. We will have to treat him as a suspect, unless or until he can prove his innocence. And the only way I can think of him doing that is to have his wife confirm that he was tucked up in bed beside her before midnight, when we know Adelaide was still alive. I don’t suppose he will want to involve her, but the problem he faces is that some of the other gentlemen in attendance here might tell us the good chief inspector was here until the doors closed.’
‘Can’t Tennyson confirm what time he left?’
‘Very probably. But can we rely upon him to tell us the truth?’
‘Ah, I see what you mean. Danforth might not have spent the morning confessing all to the superintendent. Instead, he’ll have been running around, trying to cover…’ Salter grinned. ‘His sore arse.’
‘Precisely. Has it occurred to you to wonder why Mrs Sinclair voluntarily pointed out Danforth’s name to us?’
‘Well, now that you come to mention it…’
‘News of Adelaide’s death will spread, and the reputation of this place will take a denting. Mrs Sinclair wants to avoid a scandal.’
‘This is starting to sound a lot like Lord Ashton wanting to protect his back when that poor lass was killed in his house.’ Salter gave a derisory sniff. ‘He didn’t care about justice, he just wanted to keep his precious reputation.’
‘I’ll wager that Danforth has agreed about the time of his leaving with Tennyson already.’
‘How could he have got to him so quick?’
‘Perhaps Mrs Sinclair told him about the murder before it was officially reported.’ Riley scowled. ‘In fact, I rather suspect that she did. She relies upon him for protection from the police, and he would be her first port of call in times of trouble. Danforth will be kicking himself when he knows the case fell to us, rather than to one of his less rigorous investigators. Serves him right for being too busy saving his own hide to allocate the case himself. Anyway, the maid will be able to tell us what time she found the body, then we will have a clearer idea.’
‘So Danforth’s been running around this morning tying up his alibi,’ Salter said. ‘Better to be embarrassed than looked upon as a viable suspect.’
‘It’s Danforth’s reputation, such as it is, that won’t survive the scandal. We won’t say anything but you can bet a pound to a farthing that news will leak out. It’s not the sort of salacious gossip that can be kept under wraps indefinitely. Danforth has crossed too many of the policemen who will become involved with this case for us to expect them to keep it to themselves. He’ll become a laughing stock, I’m afraid. There’s no way to prevent that from happening.’
‘And he’ll only have himself to blame,’ Salter said with a derisive snort. ‘Right now he’s probably singing his heart out to the superintendent, secure in the knowledge that Mrs Sinclair and her staff will back up his story or risk him shutting them down once the dust settles. But what about the other men who were here? Won’t they be queuing up to tell us one of our own was here until last knockings—if you’ll pardon the expression?’
‘By that late at night they would have been too intent upon their own pleasures to pay too much attention to who else was in the place. Besides, they probably don’t want their presence advertised, and they won’t want to get on the wrong side of a senior policeman.’ Riley released a slow breath. ‘Anyway, time will tell.’
