David Baldacci - Hour Game

"Did you see her come and go?"

"Sometimes. But she always wore a scarf, long coat and glasses."

"And that didn't make you suspicious? Didn't you ever try to find out who she was? Wait and watch her leave, trace her somehow?"

"Of course I was suspicious, but I'm not one to pry into other people's business either. Live and let live is my motto. If she wanted a private room and didn't want anyone to know who she was, at least she was willing to pay well for the privilege. And so there you are. I'm not into scaring off customers," she added defiantly.

"Well, Kyle Montgomery is dead, possibly murdered, so that puts a different spin on things," said Williams.

Lulu looked at him nervously. "I don't know anything about that. He sure wasn't killed here, so I don't see what this place has to do with it."

"Well, let me enlighten you, then," said the police chief. "We have a witness who says a very heated altercation took place here between Kyle and this woman. We know he was bringing her prescription drugs that he'd stolen from the doctor's office where he worked."

"I don't know anything about that."

Williams continued. "So they had an argument recently, and last night, Kyle dies."

"Well, I didn't kill him, and I don't know who the lady is."

"Did she come here last night?"

"Not that I know of. At least I didn't see her."

"When was the last time you did see her?"

Lulu thought. "I can't be sure. I've had other things on my mind, including a husband to bury," she said, bristling.

"We're going to need to question anyone here who might have seen her."

"Some of those people aren't due into work until later."

"Then right now I want to see the room, and I want to question whoever is here who might have seen her."

Lulu looked at him nervously. "Right now?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No, it's just that some of the night-shift dancers are still sleeping."

"Sleeping. It's two-thirty in the afternoon!"

"They dance until dawn!"

"All right, let's start with the nondancers, but in the meantime you get those gals up and ready to talk to us. You understand, Lulu?"

"I understand," she said quickly.

As they were leaving, Michelle glanced back and saw Lulu's hand disappear inside a drawer of her desk, just as it had the other time she and King were here.

Once they were outside, Michelle said, "Todd, why don't you collect the people and start the questioning? Sean and I'll poke around a bit."

"Good idea. We'll compare notes later."

"What's up?" said King after the police chief and his men had left them.

"Come on, quick."

Michelle led him outside and to the back of the building where she spotted a staircase leading from the second floor. They stayed concealed behind a Dumpster and waited. Within a minute or so their patience was rewarded. A number of men, some carrying coats over their arms, others with their shirts unbuttoned and untucked and hair sticking up, emerged from a second-floor door and made their way down the outside stairs, climbed into cars parked there and sped off.

King and Michelle looked at each other.

"Appears the Aphrodisiac is living up to its name. Nice catch, Michelle," said King.

"And prostitution is one way to enhance the old revenue stream," added Michelle. "So what do we do about it?"

"I think another talk with Lulu is in order."

"Husband dead and three kids. I know it's a crime, Sean, but I'm not real excited about helping to send her to prison."

"Perhaps we can show her the error of her ways."

When Lulu returned to her office later, King was sitting behind her desk and Michelle was standing beside him.

"What are you doing in here?" Lulu barked.

In answer King reached inside the drawer and pressed the buzzer they'd found there earlier.

"I hope this second warning doesn't confuse the girls, but at least all the johns have already left the joint."

Lulu's mouth dropped open but she quickly recovered. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sit down, Lulu," King said very firmly. "We're here to help you. But if you try to bullshit us even a little bit, we'll just tell Todd to come in here and take over. And then it'll be out of our hands."

Lulu stared fiercely at them but finally sat down, her hands fidgeting in her lap.

"If you want to light up, feel free; we might be here awhile."

Lulu did so, sucking in the smoke and then purging it out her nostrils.

King sat back in his chair. "Okay, explain the setup."

"It's not what you think," Lulu said.

"You're far too smart to do it the old-fashioned way, so I'm sure you have something very creative. I'm anxious to hear what it is."

Lulu looked nervously at them. "I've worked hard for years to build up this place. Long hours, ignoring my kids at times, and Junior too. I've got ulcers and a two-pack-a-day habit. Sure, I'm the minority owner but I really run the place. My partners spend most of their time in Florida. But they're always on me to keep pushing up the profits so they can buy bigger boats and better-looking wives. More, more, more-that's all I hear."

"So you came up with ways to do that with the dancers?"

"My partners suggested it actually. I didn't want to do it but they insisted. Said they'd find another manager who would, and get rid of me. But any girl who didn't want to do it didn't-no questions asked. I wouldn't back down on that." She hesitated and then said, "If I tell you…"

"Lulu, like Sean said, we're here to help you," said Michelle.

She suddenly yelled out, "Why? Why do you care?"

King answered, "Because we think you're basically a good person and a mother with three children who need you. You've been under tremendous pressure and you just lost your husband. What you tell us goes no further, you have our word."

Lulu took a deep breath and began. "No money exchanges hands between any of the girls and any of the men. We… well, we formed a club of sorts. The members pay an initiation fee to the club to join and then a monthly amount based on… well, based on usage. We book it as business networking."

"Well, that's certainly an original way to network. Go on," said King.

"It's a fairly large sum, so the clientele is limited and of a certain level."

"Translation: wealthy guys looking for some action in bed," commented King.

"Anyway, with their membership they have access to the girls by appointment only. The members are given special words to tell the girls so they know it's okay. They all use protection and there's no dangerous stuff allowed. Anybody gets rough with one of the girls gets kicked out for good. But we've never had any problems. The dancers who participate get extra pay."

"Pretty creative, but it's still illegal, Lulu. This could shut the club down and put you right in prison."

Lulu lit another cigarette and looked like she might be sick. "I know," she said in a trembling voice. "God, I knew this whole thing was stupid."

"And the buzzer in your office is connected to the rooms, to alert the girls and their clients if there's a problem, and they clear out through the rear exit."

"Yes," Lulu said miserably. "And I have people keeping an eye on the entrance to the hallway from time to time."

"So how did Kyle get through, then?"

"The lady left a note and a picture of Kyle telling me he was okay." She put her cigarette out. "I can tell you this much. There was someone who followed Kyle in the night I saw him. One of my lookouts told me about it later."

"That was Sylvia Diaz, the doctor Kyle works for."

"Name sounds familiar."

"She's the local medical examiner. And before you changed doctors, you two shared the same gynecologists."

"I haven't changed my ob-gyn."

"Okay, the point is, she was the witness who saw Kyle here and heard the argument between him and the woman." He paused and said, "You're going to have to put an end to it, Lulu. No more, starting today, or else it all comes tumbling down."