Bed & Breakfast 13 - Snow Place to Die by Mary Daheim

Author:Mary Daheim [Daheim, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mary Daheim
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2010-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

140 / Mary Daheim

“Why not? We do when we get the chance.” Judith put the receipts back in Andrea’s wallet.

“I suppose she needed a vice besides Leon Mooney,” Renie allowed. “He wouldn’t make me feel steeped in sin. Hey, this is weird.” Renie had turned to the second page of material in the folder. “There’s another list, but it’s names and titles and companies, along with a bunch of other really strange stuff.”

Judith took the sheet of paper from Renie. The first listing read, “Charles E. Fisher, vice president—customer services, S.W. Com.; Oct. 8–10, Cascadia Hotel, Room 608, bouncy blonde or redhead, no S&M.”

The cousins stared at each other. “Hookers.” Judith formed the word silently. “Look at this—James L. blah-blah, assistant vice present, blah-blah, Plymouth Hotel, blah-blah, Asian or Hispanic, plumpish, into bondage. Here’s one that says, African-American dressed as Little Miss Muffet, and right below it is some guy who wants a tall Scandinavian wheatthrasher.”

Renie started to giggle. “Somebody was running a hooker ring out of OTIOSE? That’s rich!”

Judith wasn’t laughing. “Andrea?” She wrinkled her nose.

“It’s possible, I suppose. In another life, she could have been a madam.”

“No.” Renie grew serious. “Not Andrea, not any of these top level female executives. They wouldn’t exploit other women. I know I said that the sisterhood is a myth, but there is a code. Prostitution isn’t part of it.”

“So this was planted along with Barry’s stuff?” Judith was puzzled.

“Maybe.” Renie, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, rocked back and forth. “Or Andrea found it on the coffee table where we left it and was going to take somebody to task.”

Judith leafed through the remaining four pages in the folder. There were more names and descriptions, similar to the ones they’d originally thought belonged to race horses. SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 141

“Bronze Beauty—long-legged, aloof, can dominate”;

“Crinkles—nicely padded, fun-loving, extensive costume wardrobe, wigs, undergarments, etc.”; “Frangipani—exotic, erotic, no funny stuff.”

The cousins, however, didn’t recognize any of the supposed clients’ names. They all appeared to be from out of town, mostly from the officer corps, and almost exclusively connected to the communications business.

“Who?” Judith demanded, handing the folder back to Renie.

“In this bunch? I could only guess, which would get me nowhere, because I wouldn’t put it past any of the men.”

Renie hesitated before putting the folder back into the briefcase. “Evidence? Or not?”

Judith considered. “That folder seems to have a life of its own. Let’s leave it and see what happens to it next. As long as we know where it is now, maybe we can learn something if it turns up somewhere else.”

Renie complied. “I might exclude Killegrew,” she said as they headed back into the hall. “He wouldn’t dare dirty his hands with this sort of thing.”

“He must know about it,” Judith said as they approached Andrea’s door.

“Maybe not,” said Renie. “Maybe that was Andrea’s fatal mistake. Maybe Frank Killegrew was about to find out.”

After creeping downstairs, the only items the cousins put into the safe were the pillowcase, the water glasses, the pill bottle, and Barry’s belongings.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.