Ian Rankin - Resurrection Men

“There’s always a bit of a rush after the pubs close, then it calms down again. You here to see one of the girls?”

“Laura.”

“She’s got a punter with her.”

Siobhan nodded. “How come you’re talking to me?” she asked.

“Way I see it, you’ve got your job to do, same as I have.” Suzy held the chipped mug to her lips. “No sense getting worked up about it. You here to arrest Laura?”

“No.”

“Asking her questions then?”

“Something like that.”

“Your accent’s not Scottish . . .”

“I was brought up in England.”

Suzy was studying her. “I had a friend sounded a bit like you.”

“Past tense?”

“This was at college. I did a year at Napier. I can’t remember where she was from . . . somewhere in the Midlands.”

“That could be about right.”

“That where you’re from?” Suzy was wearing frayed moccasin-style slippers. She had crossed one leg over the other and was letting one moccasin dangle from her painted toes.

“Around there,” Siobhan said. “Do you know Laura?”

“We’ve worked some of the same shifts.”

“She been here long?”

Suzy stared at Siobhan, but didn’t answer.

“All right then,” Siobhan said, “what about you?”

“Nearly a year. That’s me just about ready to quit. Said I’d do it for a year and no longer. I’ve got enough saved now to go back to college.”

The woman on the sofa snorted.

Suzy ignored her. “You make good money in the police?”

“Not bad.”

“What . . . fifteen, twenty thousand?”

“A bit more actually.”

Suzy shook her head. “That’s nothing to what you can make in a place like this.”

“I don’t think I could do it, though.”

“That’s what I thought. But when college fell through . . .” She got a faraway look. The woman on the sofa was rolling her eyes. Siobhan didn’t know how much of it to believe. Suzy had had nearly a year to fashion her story. Maybe it was her way of coping with the Sauna Paradiso . . .

A man suddenly came out from behind the curtain. He looked around the room, surprised to find no other men there except Ricky. Siobhan recognized him: the less drunk businessman from her previous visit, the one who’d mentioned Laura by name. With head down, he walked briskly to the front door and made his exit.

“Has he got a tab or something?” Siobhan asked.

Suzy shook her head. “They pay us, then we settle with Ricky later.”

Siobhan looked across the desk, where Ricky was standing watching her. “Going to let Mr. Cafferty know I’m here?” she called.

“You still on about him?” Ricky grinned. “I keep telling you, I own this place.”

“Sure you do,” Siobhan said, winking at Suzy.

“Another month tops, that’s me out of here,” Suzy was saying, to herself more than anyone, as Siobhan got up and made for the curtained doorway.

Only one cabin had its door closed. She knocked and opened it. She could hear a shower running. It was behind a frosted glass door. The room had a wide bench topped with a mattress, a spa bath in one corner, and not much else. Siobhan was trying not to breathe in the fetid air.

“Laura?” she called.

“Who’s that?”

“It’s Siobhan Clarke. All right if I wait for you outside?”

“Give me two minutes, will you?”

“No problem.”

Siobhan climbed back up the stairs. The place was still dead. “Tell Laura I’m right outside,” she ordered Ricky. Her car was actually across the road. She sat in it, the radio playing softly, window rolled down. A few cars and taxis rumbled past. Not too far away, she knew the streetwalkers were plying their trade: a trade less safe than that enacted in places like the Paradiso. Men would pay for sex: it was a fact of life. And as long as the demand was there, there’d be no shortage of suppliers. It struck Siobhan that what troubled her most about the business was that it was run by men for men, with the women themselves reduced to merchandise. Okay, so they’d maybe made the choice themselves, but for what reasons? Because there was nothing else, at least in their eyes? From desperation, or coercion? Her stomach felt tight, as though some cramp was coming on. It was a feeling she was getting more frequently these days, as though she might be about to seize up completely. She saw herself frozen like a statue, while Cafferty, Ricky and all the others got on about their business.

The door of the sauna opened and Laura stepped out. She was dressed in a tight black miniskirt and matching sleeveless top, with knee-length black leather boots. No coat or jacket, so she was intending going back to work afterwards.

“Laura!” Siobhan called. Laura crossed the road and got into the passenger side, rubbing her arms.

“Not warm tonight,” she commented.

“Have you heard from Donny?” Siobhan asked without preamble.

Laura looked at her and shook her head.

“We took him in for questioning earlier today.” Siobhan made sure she had eye contact. “He did a runner.”

Laura’s eyes went vacant.

“He knows about your . . . arrangement,” Siobhan said quietly.

“What arrangement?”

“You and Edward Marber.”

“Oh . . .”

“Will he come after you?”

“I don’t know.”

“What about Alexander?”

Laura’s eyes widened. “He wouldn’t hurt Alexander!”

“But might he try to snatch him?”

“Not if he knows what’s good for him!”

“Maybe we could have some officers watch your home . . .”

Laura was shaking her head. “I don’t want that. Donny won’t hurt me or Alexander . . .”

“You could always ask Mr. Cafferty for help,” Siobhan stated nonchalantly.

“Cafferty? I already told you . . .”

“Donny worked for Cafferty, did you know that? Maybe you could ask Cafferty to keep Donny away from you.”

“I don’t know anyone called Cafferty!”

Siobhan stayed silent.

“I don’t, ” Laura persisted.

“Well then, you’ve nothing to worry about, have you? Maybe I wasted my time coming out here this time of night to warn you . . .”

Laura looked at her. “I’m sorry,” she said. Then: “And thank you.” She reached over and laid her hand on Siobhan’s. “I appreciate it.”

Siobhan nodded slowly. “Did Suzy ever go to college?” she asked.

Laura seemed taken aback by the question. “Suzy? I think she thought about going . . . maybe six or seven years ago.”

“Is that how long she’s worked in saunas?”

“At a rough guess.”

They heard the door to the Paradiso opening. A man, his back to them, face in shadow as he disappeared inside.

“I better get going,” Laura said. “Could be one of mine.”

“You have a lot of regulars, don’t you?”

“A fair few.”

“Means you must be good.”

“Or they must be desperate.”

“Was Edward Marber desperate?”

Laura looked slighted. “I wouldn’t have said so.”

“What about the punter who was leaving as I came in? He’s a regular, too, isn’t he?”

“Maybe.” Becoming defensive now, opening the car door and stepping out. “Thanks again.”

She started to cross the road. The sauna’s door was opening, throwing light onto the street. The same man emerging, only now with his front to them rather than his back.

Donny Dow.

“Laura!” Siobhan called. “Get back in the car!” At the same time she was struggling to find the door handle, which seemed to have moved a few inches from where she normally found it. Pushed open the door and started to get out.

“Laura!” Siobhan calling out her name almost at the same time he did, their voices clashing in the air above their heads.