The Inspector Walter Darriteau Murder Mysteries - Books 1-4, David Carter [diy ebook reader .txt] 📗

‘Course you will,’ said Walter.

‘What do you do when you work?’ asked Karen.

‘Oh, all sorts, shop work, office work, waitressing, stacking the shelves in Bestdas, anything that pays well, I’m a hard worker, me. Hey, hang on a minute, you don’t think I do, we do, me and Chantelle, the same thing as Ellie, do ya?’

‘No, course not,’ said Walter. ‘We are just filling in the background.’

Janice pursed her lips and did not look happy.

‘Did Chantelle go with you?’ asked Walter.

‘Yeah, but the baby was well looked after, he’s not abandoned or anything like that, mum took him, she adores the kid.’

‘I’ll bet she does. You’ve both got the same tans,’ said Walter.

‘Ah, yes, I see, yeah well, it was so bloody hot there, we were so surprised, at this time of year, and all.’

‘You said Ellie told you things?’ said Walter gently.

‘Yeah.’

‘Go on,’ said Karen.

‘I don’t think she had anyone else she could talk to. Not really. Derek’s a wet weekend of a man, and I don’t think she talked to her mum at all, so she kind of confided in me.’

‘Anything you can tell us,’ said Walter, ‘will help us a great deal.’

‘Was she murdered?’

‘We think that’s possible,’ said Karen.

‘That’s why anything you can tell us could be vitally important,’ added Walter.

Janice pointed hard at the window and said, ‘Those men, those bloody men, some of those men were, and are, quite disgusting. And do you know the worst of it; many of the bastards are married too. Can you imagine being married to a man like that, who goes out doing all sorts at all hours, and comes home as if the grass doesn’t grow?’ Janice looked hard at Karen and said, ‘Can you imagine being married to a man who carried on like that?’

For a moment Karen imagined being married to David Baker, and wondered what he would be like as a husband. Would he ever, and had he ever, patronised young women like Ellie Wright and Tracey Day? Maybe he still did. It didn’t bear thinking about.

Walter said, ‘Was there anyone particular you had in mind, when talking about “Those Men”?’

Janice breathed out hard and spat out, ‘There were hundreds of them! Literally. Sometimes she told me she did ten of them in a single day, or night. Can you imagine? Geez! I find one of them hard enough work to deal with, but ten.... Or more. No thank you! And of course she had a habit too.’

‘Drugs?’ said Walter.

Janice nodded. ‘Nothing too serious, but it gets a grip of you, so I believe, and even a small habit can cost a pretty penny, that’s why she kept on working.’

‘Coke?’ asked Karen.

Janice nodded and said, ‘Yeah.’

‘Where did she get it?’ asked Karen.

‘Oh, don’t ask, you can get it anywhere if you look hard enough.’

‘Not from Derek?’ asked Karen.

‘No, course not, he’s never going to get involved in anything like that.’

‘Did any of them ever threaten her?’ asked Karen.

‘Course they did! All the time. She lived in fear of it, but I guess it comes with the territory, in that line of business.’

‘Was there anyone she told you about who worried her or pestered her the most?’ asked Walter.

Janice nodded. ‘There was one bloke. To begin with she really liked him. He was dead good-looking and very generous. Tell you the truth I think she fell a little bit in love with him, which was something she said she would never do, not with the punters, like. That was forbidden territory.’

‘Do you have a name?’ asked Walter.

‘No. But he’s foreign.’

‘What do you mean, foreign?’ asked Walter. ‘Black, like me?’

‘No, no! Not like you at all, Inspector. You’re nice. No, this guy speaks with an accent. Good English but with a definite accent.’

‘German, French, what?’ asked Karen.

‘No. More eastern European, I would think.’

‘What? Polish?’ asked Karen.

Janice pulled face and shook her head, and said, ‘No, Bulgarian or Romanian, I think, she did say once, but I can’t remember now. Latvian maybe, one of them lot.’

‘Did she describe him at all?’ asked Walter.

‘Nope, but she didn’t need to.’

‘Why’s that?’ asked Karen.

‘’Cos I saw them together once.’

‘You saw him?’ said Walter. ‘Where and when?’

‘In the Crazy Cow steakhouse. A couple of months ago.’

‘He took her for a meal?’ asked Karen.

Janice nodded.

‘To begin with he was always taking her out, and he wasn’t short of money either, that’s when I think she got some fancy ideas about him. She even went away with him to Ross-on-Wye for a whole weekend once, stayed in some fancy hotel. Got up to all sorts. He came well equipped, she said. She was made up with that trip, I can tell you. But the dinners and the treats gradually became less and less, and the other thing became worse and worse.’

‘What other thing?’ asked Karen.

‘You know. The services she provided, and the ones he wanted.’

‘Go on,’ said Karen.

‘Do I have to?’

‘A little way,’ soothed Walter.

‘Look! I thought I knew all about life, I thought I knew what men were like, but some of the stories she told me made my hair curl, I can tell you, and I’ve never had a curl in my life. And some of these men often wanted her to do things their wives would never dream of doing, or tolerate doing either. Not ever. It was gradually getting out of hand.’

‘With the eastern European?’ clarified Walter.

‘Yeah, among others.’

‘Do you know what he did for a living?’ asked Karen.

‘Yeah, course I do. Didn’t I say?’

‘Go on,’ said Walter.

‘He’s a banker,’ and Janice laughed aloud.

‘What’s so funny?’ asked Karen.

‘She always called him “my wanker of a banker”, and she said he always paid good too, but he wanted his money’s worth, that was the problem.’

‘Can you describe him?’

‘Course I can.’

‘Go on.’

‘Good looking, six foot, slim, fit, nice dark hair, neatly parted, brown eyes I think, well dressed, perfect husband material, really.’

Karen thought of David Baker again. Perfect husband material, really. But for the foreign accent