Murder at the Stripclub by Lew Pit - HTML preview

Chapter 3

 

Driving home, I was trying to get my head around the fact that Rose was gone, she was the third girl I had ever employed at the club, sort of replacing Lisa who had retired shortly after. I sure hope I won’t have any nightmares because of the monstrous way she was killed. When I started thinking of potential suspects there was one that immediately came to mind and that was Jacky Boy. Well, that’s what we called him, his name was Jack but I don’t remember anymore when the Boy was attached to it. It was probably a nickname the girls had given him.

Jacky Boy is the most regular customer I can think of, he is, virtually, every day at the club, and he is a huge fan of Rose. He regularly brings her flowers and small gifts. It is sometimes embarrassing her, to the point that she even didn’t want to give him lap dances anymore. In a way she felt sorry for him, he spent a small fortune at the club, not on drinks though, he could nurse his beer sometimes for hours, but on tips for her, and from the way he looked and was dressed we all presumed he was not really a millionaire. But his infatuation looks so innocent, I doubt he could actually harm Rose, but on the other hand, you never know, especially now since Rose stopped giving him lap dances. Could that have been a potential trigger to harm her? Or was he jealous of other customers whom she still took into the private room, but then again why was the word Dyke carved into her body?

He wouldn’t be the first man who kills the woman, he worships though, so nobody else could have her. I definitely need to tell miss Tashima about Jacky Boy. There were a number of other chaps that visited regularly, and they all had their favorites but none were worshipping their preferred stripper as Jack did Rose. Jack’s infatuation could of course also be very innocent and harmless. I hoped when I tell detective Tashima she won’t be too hard on him. I didn’t know her that well to have figured out yet if she is a tough cookie, she looked harmless enough but you never know. Maybe she had a point to make, as she looked rather young and new at this job and the chief didn’t seem very pleased with her. Maybe I should try to find out how long she’s been in this detective function.

Arriving home I immediately started to make phone calls to all my employees to inform them about what had happened and that they were expected at the downtown police station at 10 am the next day. During the various conversations I had with the girls, I tried to bring the awful message as gently as possible that way avoiding to explain in detail what I’d actually seen myself. The effect on all of us was tremendous, the club would be closed for days, maybe even weeks. The girls couldn’t survive a lengthy closure financially, so I had to make sure they got at least unemployment compensation. I filled in the forms to make them technically unemployed, that way they would at least get some compensation to tie them over. They all promised to show up at the police station on time, even Joe the bouncer, who was as upset as I was after hearing the reason for the temporary closing of the club.

As he’d known Rose for so long I knew up front he was going to take it badly. He kept on shouting that if he’d get his hands on the killer, he would personally wring that person’s neck and pull his head off. Strangely enough, we sort of all presumed it had been a man who’d killed Rose.

The next day we all gathered at the police station, Miss Tashima was already waiting for us. She was accompanied by an elderly gentleman, who introduced himself as Jeff Baines. He explained that he would help Miss Tashima in her investigation. This sort of confirmed what I had seen on the internet about miss Tashima.

I’d figured out that she was 25, had studied at the police academy, ended up top of her class, and was then assigned to our local police station as a detective replacing an old goat who’d not been interested in the job anymore looking forward to his retirement. That made her indeed a rookie detective. Later during the investigation, when we got to know each other a bit better, she confided that after investigating a few burglaries and some domestic abuse cases, this was indeed her first murder case. Jeff Baines was an old fox, who’d handled hundreds of murder investigations, but he was not conceited and let Miss Tashima lead the questioning and rarely intervened.

I told them about my suspicions concerning Jacky Boy but warned them that I had doubts he would actually harm Rose, he was just very infatuated with her. I also told them about the other regular customers who had gone several times to the special lap dance room with Rose for a private session. Again I confirmed that the girls formed one big happy family and there was absolutely no jealousy among them. As I was not allowed to be present during the interrogation of my staff, I’ll let Miss Tashima and Mister Baines tell you how it went. She left the interrogation room together with me to fetch the next person they wanted to interview.

“Is Miss Apple here, please?” Tashima asked.

Apple, who really looked nervous, got up and followed Tashima to the interrogation room.

“Please take a seat, miss, misses?”

“Oh miss, madam, I’m a widow.”

“OK, and what is your real name, as I presume Apple is your stage name?”

“Yes, I’m sorry miss, my name is Nancy Smith.”

“OK Miss Smith, first I would like to inform you that we record these sessions, which makes it easier to type up the required report afterward.”

“OK doesn’t bother me, I’ve got nothing to hide,” Nany replied already feeling a bit more at ease now that she saw it was a woman doing the questioning.

“Great as a start, what can you tell about the victim Meredith or Rose if you wish.”

“Rose is… “ and then she broke out in tears. When she recovered, for which, Tashima gave her ample time best she continued.

“I am so sorry Miss Tashima, “

Please you don’t need to apologize, if I lost someone dear to me I’d probably react the same way, please take your time, you said that Rose was…“

“Yes I have to use the past tense, now speaking of Rose, “she continued sometimes interrupted by some more sobbing. “She was my best friend at the club, ” sob, “we started almost at the same time, ” sob.

“Is there anybody that comes to mind, who would want to harm Rose?”

“No, not immediately, Rose was well-liked and loved both by her colleagues and the audience. She has one big admirer Jacky Boy, one of the regulars at the club, but I don’t think he would want to harm her.”

“Was this Jacky at the club last night?”

“He comes every night, so yes he was there.”

“Did he behave in a different way than the other nights?”

“No, he sat in his usual spot completely mesmerized when Rose came on stage, but he likes the other girls too, but Rose is his favorite.”

“Is he the only one with a favorite girl?”

“No, absolutely not, I’ve got my admirers, or fans as we like to call them, and so do the other girls.”

“And is this attraction both ways?”

“No, Rose likes him of course like she does all of her fans but she is not in love with him or anything.”

“Does Rose have a boyfriend?”

“No, more like a girlfriend I would say.”

“Is Rose lesbian then?”

“I wouldn’t put the label of lesbian on Rose, if I do need to put one on, I would say she’s bi, a bit like our new girl Maya.”

“So Maya likes girls as well?”

“Yes she’s very open about it just like Peach, but that one is a 100%, pure lesbian.”

“Was Rose involved with either girl?”

“No, I’m not sure whom she was involved with, but lately a single woman showed up regularly and she always followed Rose’s show very intensely, but Rose never mentioned her in any way.”

“Do you think they were lovers?”

“Lovers I’m not sure, but this woman regularly took Rose to the private room for a lap dance, something we don’t see very often. It’s usually men who want a private dance.”

“Can you describe this woman or do you have a name?”

“I think I heard Rose mention the name Dita or something. Well, this Dita, if that is indeed her name, is rather a big woman, I would describe her as manly, but with a nice classic face, in fact how you would imagine a lesbian to look like. Short black hair, muscular. The times I saw her she invariably wore pants and a man’s shirt, nothing much feminine about her. She drinks one beer which she finishes when Rose has finished her second show and leaves.”

“You said she sometimes buys a lap dance?”

“Yes that happened a few times, and when she does she has a second beer afterward.”

“How would you describe Rose’s reaction after this lap dance.” Jeff wanted to know.

“Flustered, happy, ready to take on the world.”

“Is there a way we can find out what this woman’s full name is?”

“You’ll have to ask the bar girls, Daisy or Luna if she paid with a credit card they may have noticed the name. If she paid cash they probably won’t be able to help you either.”

“OK, anything else that comes to mind that could help us to find Rose’s assailant?”

“No, not immediately, as I said Rose was very much loved and liked by all of us and the punters.”

“Thank you, Nancy, if we have further questions we have your contact data, and please accept our condolences for the loss of your friend and colleague.”

“Yes, thank you, can I go home now?”

“Absolutely, you’ve helped us tremendously already.”

Seiko walked out with Nancy and asked Eve to come with her.

“So Eve, would you like to share your real name with us?”

“I’m Drita Toska madam.”

“Miss, dear, or you can call me Seiko if you wish, so you work as a stripper in Mister Gentle’s bar?”

“Yes, Seiko.”

“And is he a good employer?”

“Absolutely, he takes good care of us.”

“In what way?”

“Oh, financially and he helps us with all the administration we need to fulfill in this country.”

“You are not from around here?”

“No miss, I come from Albania.”

“And have you been long in Belgium?”

“Ten years now, I arrived when I was 18.”

“Were you brought here?”

“You mean by these guys that lure girls to come to Belgium to clean or do other normal jobs?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean, people smugglers. ”

“No I came on my own, I hitchhiked and ended up in your country, or are you also from another country?”

“If you must know, my roots lie in Japan, I came to Belgium as a baby, when I was adopted by a very friendly couple.”

“Lucky you, I had to fight to get where I am today.”

“What do you mean fight?”

“Well, finding a place to stay, learning the language, getting a job.”

“And you ended up as a stripper, not much unlike the profession the girls that were recruited in your country by the smugglers ended up in?”

“Excuse me, I’m not a hooker, I’m an erotic dancer.” Drita replied looking rather angry.

“Yes, I’m so sorry, my apologies, you are right, you don’t sleep with men for money.”

“No, I take my career very seriously, I train daily, maybe you should try hanging upside down on a slippery metal pole and not break your neck.”

“How did you learn that if I may ask?” Seiko tried to placate Drita after her mistake.

“George made me take a course in these routines shortly after I started working for him.”

“So you didn’t start as a stripper?”

“No, I started working the bar.”

“But you had to be topless? Didn’t it bother you?”

“No, I’ve always gone topless at the beach and I’ve got smashing tits, if I say so myself, so I had no problem with that. It was mister Gentle who suggested I join the dancers after he’d seen me trying some stuff on my own on the pole before the opening time of the bar.”

“I see and one thing led to another?”

“Yes, I make more money now, I was even able to make a down payment on a small apartment I’m trying to buy. Securing a loan was much more difficult, but mister Gentle went together with me to the bank and he convinced them I was credit proficient.”

“I see Mister Gentle really takes care of you girls.”

“Oh yes miss, we couldn’t wish for a better boss.”

“But coming to the task at hand, Meredith.”

“Yes, poor Meredith, I heard she died?”

“She did and not in a nice way, she was murdered and we are going to try to find the person who committed that horrible crime, and that’s where you can help.”

“Oh please tell me Miss Seiko how I can help, Meredith is…was a wonderful colleague.” She said, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes.

“What can you tell us about Meredith, we know that Jack was her fervent admirer. What is your idea of this character?”

“Oh Jack is harmless, he’s like a teddy bear, he spends his last Euro on us, more on Meredith of course, but every time we come on stage he gives us tips, small tips, but nevertheless tips.”

“So you don’t think he would harm her?”

“No, he would be the last person I would think who could harm Meredith.”

“OK, what about a certain Dita?”

“Dita? I have no idea who Dita is.”

“We were told that Dita could be a very close friend of Rose, tall, short black hair, manly looking.”

“Oh is that Dita? I had no idea her name was Dita, I always referred to her as Helga, you know from the horror movies about Helga The Woolf of the SS, only this Helga had black hair while the one in the movies had blond hair.”

“So Helga is a nickname you gave her yourself?”

“Yes and no, I heard her called Helga by some of the other girls, so I presumed it was indeed her name.”

Both Tashima and Jeff were taking lots of notes especially when this name thing came up. Now they had two names to investigate.

“But it was never confirmed?”

“No, Rose didn’t mention her, but I saw Rose take her a few times to the private room.”

“And how did Rose look when she returned?”

“Now that you mention it, she always looked rather pleased and happy when she returned, but I guessed it was because she got a big tip, it’s not every day you’re asked to do a private lap dance for a woman.”

“Could Rose have been romantically involved with this person you think?”

“No, I don’t think so, as far as I know, Rose is not a lesbian, we’ll I don’t think so.”

“We heard she was rather friendly with your colleague Peach.”

“No, not that I know off, Peach is very chummy with Maya, but not so with Rose.”

“So are Peach and Maya lesbian lovers?”

“I wouldn’t call them out and out lesbians I would rather say they root for both camps, bi as they call it.”

“Would there be anything else that comes to your mind, which could help us in our investigation miss Toska?”

“No, not immediately, I have no idea who could do any harm to Rose, we all loved her like a sister.”

“OK thank you for your help so far, if anything comes to mind please don’t hesitate to contact us.”

Looking down at her list of names, Tashima asked Eve to tell Peach she was up next. Shortly thereafter there was a knock on the door of the interrogation room. Upon entering, Peach was asked to take a seat.

“Good morning Peach, my name is Jeff Baines and my colleague is miss Seiko Tashima and she is leading this investigation, would you please be so kind as to state your real name,” Jeff asked politely.

“My name is Patricia Johnson, sir,” Peach replied looking rather nervous.

“And what is your function in the club Patricia?” Tashima continued.

“I’m an erotic dancer Miss Tashima.”

“Excellent, and what can you tell us about Rose?”

“Not much, miss, she’s a colleague, she’s an excellent dancer, and has taught me lots of stuff over the months I’ve been at the club.”

“Are you romantically involved with Rose?”

Patricia instantly turned red in the face and started wringing her hands.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking women Patricia, we just want to know if you are.”

“Euh, yes I am, but we’re not a couple if that’s what you mean.”

“So you only had casual sex with Rose then?”

“Yes!” She replied clearly relieved.

“Does this mean that you’re both lesbians”

“No, miss, I’m 100% lesbian but Rose likes, or should I now say liked girls more but loves to have an occasional fling with a boy or man as well.”

“So Rose was bi-sexual?”

“If you want to put a name to it yes, I guess so.”

“We have it from a reliable witness though that Rose may have had another lesbian lover.”

“You mean Dita?”

“You know her?”

“I’ve seen her around and I’m absolutely sure she is 100% lesbian, why else would she want a lap dance from another girl?”

“Did she ask you also for a lap dance?”

“A few times yes she did, and she loved it, especially when I started licking her nipples.”

“So she had also removed her clothes when you performed the dance?”

“Her top yes.”

“Is that common practice also with male customers?”

“It happens, it depends on how much they want to pay for the dance.”

“So are you also selling sex?”

“If you mean by selling sex, that we actually fuck someone, no we don’t. Some touching is going on yes but that’s about it.”

“Do you mean that you sometimes also touch men’s private parts?”

“If they pay enough, yes we sometimes give them a hand job.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes of course.”

“No blowjobs?”

“Definitely not.”

“What about the other girls?”

“I’ve never heard any of the girls saying they give blowjobs.”

“But they will all give hand jobs?”

“As far as I know yes they do.”

“Do you know if Rose gave hand jobs to Jacky Boy?”

“No, with Jacky Boy it was strictly platonic, it wouldn’t work anyway, he can’t get it up.”

“How would you know that?”

“He booked me a couple of times also before he fell for Rose and I never felt him getting hard, how hard I tried, even wiggling my boobs in his face or letting him touch them did not have any result.”

“You mentioned he fell for Rose, what exactly do you mean by that?”

“Well the first few months he started coming to the club he booked private dances with all of the girls, but the last 6 months it was only Rose he booked. When we’re on stage, he slips the occasional fiver in our panties, but that’s about it, no more private dances by anyone except Rose.”

“Do you think he could harm Rose?”

“No, absolutely not, he’s madly in love with her, he even brings her flowers and gifts.”

“Yes, but was Rose in love with him?”

“No, not that I know, if I have to guess I would rather say that Rose had a thing for mister Gentle.”

“Are you implying that Rose was in love with mister Gentle?”

“In love, I wouldn’t know, she never said it out loud, but there was a rumor going around among the girls. We all felt that there was something, but we could not really put our finger on it.”

“Do you know anything about any former partners of Rose?”

“No, I know nothing about Rose’s life before I met her at the club.”

“You never talked about that?”

“Oh yes we did, but Rose never mentioned much about her youth, she always said it was a closed chapter in her life, something she wanted to forget about as quickly as possible.”

“OK, is there anything else that comes to mind, which could shed some light on what happened to Rose and why?”

“I’m afraid I have no idea, as I said Rose was well-loved among the colleagues and the punters, I have absolutely no idea who would do such a thing to Rose.”

“OK thank you, Patricia, for your time and if there is anything that comes to mind, please don’t hesitate to call us.”

“Yes miss, I’ll keep that in mind, oh do you have any idea when we will be able to go back to work?”

“That could be a while yet, forensics is still busy in the club, there is a lot they need to investigate. But I thought mister Gentle had arranged for you girls to get compensation for not being able to work?”

“Yes he did, but that only covers our wage loss, not our tips, which constitutes the bulk of our income.”

“I’m afraid you will have to do without your tips for at least another 2 weeks, it could even be longer, a lot will depend on what we find out.”

“OK, thank you miss.”

Looking at her documents Tashima asked, “Oh can you ask…Ruby to come in please?”

“Yes, miss Tashima.”

After the usual introductions, Tashima asked Ruby for her real name.

“My name is Monique LeGrand miss.”

“Are you French miss, misses LeGrand?”

“Miss please, mister Baines, I’m single and a indeed I come from France, how could you guess?” She said with a mischievous smile on her face.

Baines didn’t react to the pun Monique intended, she immediately concluded the man had no sense of humor whatsoever.

“And how long have you been working at the club Miss Legrand?” Jeff continued undisturbed.

“Please call me Monique or just Miss, Miss Legrand is the name of my grandmother, and I’ve been working now close to five years at the club.”

“That means you started rather late in the business, as I see you are 35 now?” Tashima interjected.

“Yes I did, well at this club anyway, I started when I was 18 in Le Moulin Rouge as a chorus girl and worked my way up to one of the solo dancers, but when you reach 30, they don’t immediately throw you out, but they begin to make your life difficult so I got fed up with it and wanted to emigrate, my first thought was London. I read a lot about it and knew about some of the famous clubs like Paul Raymond’s Revuebar and that seemed a place I wanted to work, but there was the language barrier. I don’t speak English you see so then my next choice was Belgium, language is not a problem here, half of them speak French anyway and the other half can make themselves understandable in my mother tongue as well.”

“You are indeed French, I can hear that, your explanation was very thorough, like in the French movies.”

“Yes, I hear that a lot, especially in Belgium, when people give lengthy explanations they refer to it as it being a French movie.”

“How right you are Monique, yes indeed French movies usually have more talk than action.” Baines Couldn’t refrain from mentioning. “But coming back to the events at hand. You worked together with Rose in the club?”

“Yes, and I was shocked when I heard that she was murdered, she is…was such a nice girl, she helped me a lot when I started at the club you know with the work permits and getting a place to live, the first few months I even stayed at her place.”

“So you were roommates?”

“I wouldn’t call it roommates, she has a nice house with 3 bedrooms and she was so kind to let me stay in one of them, for free.”

“That was very friendly of her and she didn’t want anything in return?”

“No.”

“No sexual favors?”

“What do you mean with sexual favors?”

“Well, we do know that Rose was bi, so we were wondering if she ever made any advances toward you?”

“No, she never did, I had no idea she was bi, well not until I saw her with this woman at the club, you know the one booking private dances with her.”

“So you know about this woman, do you know her name?”

“Dita yes, some of the girls referred to her as Helga from these SS horror movies.”

“Do you have a family name as well for us?”

“I’m not sure, one time I overheard a conversation, well a bit of a quarrel, between this Dita and Rose and I think she called her something that sounded like Van Gall, but I’m not sure.”

“Never mind, this is good information you give us, this will really help us to find this person.”

“Why do you think she killed Rose?”

“We don’t know but if we find her she might be able to help us to find who did.”

“Do you think Rose was killed by a woman?”

“We’re not at liberty to discuss this with you, Monique, this is all part of the ongoing investigation. What we also like to know is what you know about Rose’s involvement with Mister Gentle?”

“You mean the rumor that they have an affair?”

“So you heard about that?”

“Oh it’s been the talk of the past few months, you know girls will be girls, and when they see something they immediately jump to conclusions and pump it up to something it isn’t. I never believed this rumor, mister Gentle has no relation whatsoever with any of the girls.”

“Is Mister Gentle gay then?”

“Oh no, absolutely not he loves women, but none in particular, well not that I know of, except maybe that one time, there was a redhead he was very yummy with for a while, but that was when first started to work for him. Come to think of it I haven’t seen that broad for ages, so I think it never really came to anything permanent.”

“Was that before or after the rumor about him and Rose started?”

“Oh no well before that, what I’m talking about was at least 3 or 4 years ago and the rumor about Rose only started about 6 months ago.”

“Do you remember who started the rumor?”

“Come to think of it, I think it may well have been Rose herself who did, although once it began to spread, she kept on denying it.”

“That’s strange.”

“Rose had a wild imagination, most of what she told us was pure fiction, I guess Rose read too many of those trashy romantic stories and then imagined she was the heroin in one of them.”

“Could it be that her imagination caused her death?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me, Rose didn’t think about the consequences when she told one of her stories, so yeah it could well be that someone really believed that she actually had an affair with George.”

“Any idea who that person could be?”

“Absolutely not, it could be anybody, a lot of the punters had the hots for Rose and with these guys, you never know.”

“Again, I’m sorry to insist was there anyone in particular?”

“There is Jacky Boy, he’s head over heels for Rose, but I don’t think he has it in him, besides who would kill the woman you are in love with?”

“You would be surprised, as a French woman you must be familiar with the term ‘un crime passionnel’ a crime of passion?”

“Oh yes absolutely, I’ve seen my fair share of these types of crimes when I was working in France, but I don’t think it would apply to Jacky Boy, someone else maybe, but I have no idea who.”

“So in the end you have absolutely no idea who could have wanted to harm Rose?”

“No, I’m afraid not.”

“OK, thank you Miss LeGrand, could you ask Maya to come in after you please?”

“Do I have to stay on?”

“No, you can go home if you wish, if we need to talk to you again, we’ll invite you, we have your particulars, but if anything comes to mind that you think could help us in the investigation, don’t hesitate to contact us.”

“Maybe you should tell the other ones we’ve seen and who are still there that they can go home Seiko, except maybe Mister Gentle, I think we should talk to him again about this alleged affair with Rose,” Baines ventured.

After escorting Monique to the outside room to check who was still there, Seiko came back in accompanied by Maya. After introductions, Maya gave them her real name, Tabitha Bell, and told them she was single and the latest recruit at the club.

“So you’ve only worked at the club for a few months then?”

“Yes miss, eventually I am going to take the spot of Apple. She’s been talking about retiring, almost from the day I started.”

“I see, and do you think that is her own wish, or is she being pressured to retire?”

“No she made it clear that she is ready to be a full-time granny, she has two grandchildren a boy of 3 and a girl of 5, and her daughter has been asking more and more to take care of them as she runs a very successful clothing store and wants to expand by opening a second one in a neighboring village.”

“So the daughter does not have the same profession as Apple?”

“Oh no, Apple does not hide what she’s doing but she doesn’t want her daughter to tread in her footsteps.”

“I understand that Apple, or do you use her real name, Nancy?”

“Oh, no we always address each other by our stage name, we don’t want anyone at the club to know our real name.”

“Understandable, so Apple is a widow?”

“Yes so I was told, her husband died a few years ago, well before I started at the club.”

“You wouldn’t know if Apple had a friend then?”

“As far as I know she’s single, her dear departed husband was the love of her life and, as far as I know, she hasn’t looked at another man since she met him.”

“So no romantic relationship with Mister Gentle?”

“No absolutely not, Mister Gentle is in no way romantically or sexually involved with any of the girls.”

“But you did hear the rumor about Mister Gentle and Rose?”

“Oh yes, but that is pure speculation.”

“And who do you think started it?”

“I have no idea it was already floating around when I started and in the beginning, I believed it, it’s not uncommon in these types of establishments or groups, God it was quite different in the previous group I was working for. I was regularly groped and if you didn’t put out you never got a solo, but at the club no, well not by mister Gentle or Joe anyway.”

“Anyone else who wanted to force you to have sex with them?”

“When you give a private dance, you get groped sometimes, some even try to finger you or in the worst case scenario they try to fuck you, but Joe quickly puts a stop to that.”

“Is he watching then when you do a private dance?”

“No, but each chair has a push button under the seat, and when the punter gets too friendly, we push it and Joe is there within seconds, to kindly ask the assailant to vacate the premises, and if they don’t oblige immediately he escorts them Manu Militari out personally. If they’ve been escorted out by Joe, and they happen to come back to the club, they never try anything like that again believe me.”

“So you are pretty safe at work?”

“Oh yes, and Joe and Mister Gentle are always the last to leave when the club closes at 2 am.”

“And I understand that Julia, the cleaning lady, is the first to arrive in the morning?”

“That’s what I gather, I see her rarely unless she has toilet duty.”

“Toilet duty?”

“Yes, we have Brenda, Brenda Roberts who normally man’s, or maybe it’s better to say woman’s the toilet, but when she’s ill or on vacation Julia takes over from her, it even works both ways, when Julia is not there Brenda does the cleaning.”

“And you are absolutely sure that there is nothing going on between Rose and mister Gentle?”

“Sure, sure… if they are discreet and keep it outside the club who’s to know?”

“But you’re not the only one that mentioned this so I gather that you personally have never seen anything?”

“No, I’m sorry, Mister Gentle treated Rose in exactly the same manner as he does me or the other girls.”

“Some also hinted at a potential lesbian affair Rose might have been involved in, what can you tell us about that?”

“Oh, you mean the alluded affair between Rose and this Helga?”

“Helga?”

“Yeah that’s what we call her, I don’t know her real name, so we gave her a nickname.”

“You said alluded affair, so you think it is not true?”

“I have no idea, I do now that Rose is not averse to some female loving, and neither am I, God I’m not going to deny that we were friendly, so to say, a couple of times when nothing much was going on in the club, but I never saw her having sex with this woman, except maybe for a kiss during a lap dance.”

“Maybe a final question, do you have any idea who could have murdered Rose?”

“Absolutely not, we all loved her very much and will miss her and I’m sure so will mister Gentle.”

”OK thank you, Tabitha, you may go home now, and if you wish and if there is anything that comes to your mind that could shed some light on this horrendous crime, please don’t hesitate to contact us.”

“Yes ma’am, I certainly will.”

After Maya had left, the two bar girls were interrogated, but couldn’t give any clue either as to what and why Rose had been killed. Neither could Brenda who was very distraught by the whole thing, crying and sniffling all the time, not telling us anything that we hadn’t heard before. That left us with Joe, the bouncer, Julia the cleaning lady, who’d discovered the victim, and of course, the owner Mister Gentle who allegedly had an affair with the victim.