Dial Me for Murder

Chapter 31

HAVE YOU EVER HAD THE FEELING THAT YOU’VE just been shot out of a cannon? That you’re hurtling through the air like a big metal ball-or a curled-up clown with orange hair and a red nose? Then you know exactly how I felt as I crashed into my apartment, dropped my purse and Dan’s coat onto the living room chair, kicked Abby’s stilettos into a corner, and fell-with a heavy thud-into a fetus-shaped lump on the couch. And you also understand why I was trembling in fear, and sick with worry, and blubbering in so much confusion and self-pity that my bright red nose was dribbling all over my favorite Woolworth’s throw pillow.

Where had Dan zoomed off to? Would he be safe? Would I ever see him again? How on earth had he discovered that I was investigating another homicide? And how did he know it was the Virginia Pratt murder? And why was Dan involved in the case at all? The papers had said Detective Sergeant Casey O’Connor at the Midtown North Precinct was in charge. Dan was in Midtown South. And the two precincts were so competitive that they practically never joined forces. Something really strange was going on here!

Head swirling and pulse pounding, I bolted to an upright position, yanked off my clown wig, pulled a Kleenex from the box on the table near the phone, and blew my nose. I didn’t have time for a nervous breakdown! A potent mixture of curiosity and dread was surging through my system like an electrical current. All I could think about was digging up some answers to my many burning questions-and finding Melody’s murderer before he murdered Dan.

I was dying to talk to Jocelyn (aka Candy) again, but knowing she wouldn’t be home from her date for hours, I quickly ditched that idea. I figured Melody’s other good friend, Ethel (aka Brigitte), wouldn’t be home, either, but in a frenzy to take some kind of positive action, I decided to call her anyway. Jumping over to the bookcase and snatching Sabrina’s lavender list out of its hiding place in The Maltese Falcon, I returned to the couch, found Ethel’s number, and dialed it.

To my surprise, she answered.

“Hello, Ethel?” I said. “Ethel Maguire?”

“Yes, who’s this?”

“Paige Turner. I hope I didn’t wake you or your husband up. I’m sorry to call so late, but I-”

“That’s okay,” she broke in. “My husband’s sleeping soundly, and I just got home.”

“Were you out with a client?”

“I was with a client,” she sniffed, “but we didn’t go out.” I could tell from her tone that she found my question inane. “Look, I wasn’t asleep, Paige, but I am pretty tired. Is there something you need to talk to me about?”

“Just one thing,” I said. “I happened to run into Candy tonight, and she admitted that she’s been seeing two of Melody’s regular clients-Sam Hogarth and Tony Corona-on her own, without Sabrina’s knowledge. Did you know anything about that?”

“No!” Ethel exclaimed, with an audible intake of air. “I can’t believe she would do something like that.”

“Well, she did. She said she did it for the money.”

“But Sabrina has been so good to us! How could Candy deceive her that way? It’s the same as stealing.”

“That’s true, Ethel, but weren’t you ever tempted to-?”

“Never!” she exclaimed. “I’d rather starve than steal from Sabrina. She’s dearer to me than my own mother. I would never hurt her in any way.” Her words were a bit effusive, I thought, but I believed them just the same.

“Well, then, did Sabrina ever fix you up with Hogarth or Corona or any other of Melody’s clients? Either before or after she was killed?”

“I met with Oliver Rice Harrington a few times,” she said. “Next to Melody, he liked me best. I liked him, too. He’s a real gentleman. Very nice and considerate.”

Ha! Either my ex-boss has a split personality, or there are two Oliver Rice Harringtons in this town.

“Have you seen him since the murder?”

“No. I asked Sabrina about him, but she said he hasn’t called to make any new appointments.” Ethel stopped talking for a second, then added, as an afterthought, “But the man I was with tonight used to date Melody, too. Actually, he dates all the girls.”

I almost swallowed my tongue. “What did you say?” I gasped. “Who are you talking about? What’s his name?”

“Umm… er… I can’t tell you,” she stammered, voice suddenly turning wary. “He’s the one john Sabrina doesn’t want me to discuss with you, and I forgot. I’m sorry, Paige. I made a big mistake. I shouldn’t have mentioned him at all.”

“But why?!” I screeched. “Why is this guy such a well-kept secret? Why didn’t Sabrina tell me about him herself? And why can’t you tell me his name?”

“I’m sorry,” she said again. “You’ll have to ask Sabrina those questions.”

I SAID GOOD-BYE, BUT I DIDN’T HANG UP THE receiver. I quickly clicked the button with my finger, got a new line, and dialed Sabrina.

“It’s Paige,” I croaked, as soon as she answered. “I just got back from the Copa.”

“That was fast,” she said. “It’s not even midnight. What happened? Did Tony give you the boot?”

“No, he just dismissed the class early.” Deciding to save my questions about Ethel’s mystery date for later, I gave Sabrina a full report on the tumultuous events at the nightclub- beginning with Jocelyn’s surprise appearance and confession in the ladies’ lounge, and ending with Dan’s and Abby’s and my hasty exit from the premises.

“What a nerve-racking night,” she said when I finished.

“That’s a placid way to put it,” I mumbled. “What do you make of the whole mess?”

She sighed. “I’m so disappointed in Candy, I could cry.”

“You really had no idea?”

“None whatsoever. In fact, I thought Candy was one of my most trustworthy girls. A real straight talker. I knew she loved money-she was very honest about that, at least-but I chalked it up to good business sense. I even entertained the notion that if she failed to reach her goal of marrying a millionaire, I might make her my partner someday.”

“Well, at least she came forward when the chips were down.”

“But it was far too late!” Sabrina cried. “If she had revealed her feelings about Sam and Tony to me earlier, I would have dropped them both as clients before the murder. And then poor Melody… might still be… alive.” I couldn’t see Sabrina’s face, but I knew her thin mouth was contorted and her soft gray eyes were brimming with tears.

“I know, Sabrina,” I said. “It’s a sad twist in a terrible tragedy.” I paused for a moment to let her compose herself, then collected my thoughts and went on. “But all we can do now is try not to make the same mistake again. We’ve got to do everything in our power to see that the killer is caught before he kills somebody else. That’s why you have to give me the name of another client, Sabrina. The one you chose not to tell me about. The one who dates all the girls. The one you fixed Melody up with in the past… and sent Brigitte to meet with tonight.”

Sabrina remained silent, but I could hear the wheels spinning in her sly, secret-keeping brain.

“Oh, come on, Sabrina!” I cried. “Haven’t you screwed with me long enough? You’re withholding crucial information! You’re purposely impeding my progress in the case. What the hell is going on? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had something to do with the murder yourself.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she huffed. “I resent the implication.”

“And I resent the fact that you’re keeping a major suspect secret from me! Who is this man, and why are you protecting him? I want his name, and I want it right now!”

“Okay!” she hissed. “I’ll tell you who he is. But he is not a major suspect. He’s not even a minor one! You have to trust me on this, Paige. Promise me you’ll guard his identity as carefully as I have.”

“I’m not promising anything. Not until I have all the facts.”

“Oh, all right!” she said, with a loud groan of surrender. “The client’s name is Casey O’Connor.”

I almost choked. “You mean Detective Sergeant Casey O’Connor? The top detective in the Midtown North Precinct? The one who’s in charge of Melody’s murder investigation?”

“The one and only,” she said. “Now do you understand why I didn’t tell you about him?”

“No, I don’t!” I screeched. “I don’t understand it at all. O’Connor’s personal connection to both the case and the victim seems awfully suspicious to me! What makes you so damn sure he’s not the killer?”

“O’Connor is a raving sex maniac,” Sabrina replied, “but he’s not the murderer. The night Melody was killed, he was holed up in the Waldorf Astoria with three of my other girls- Mitzi, Gabriella, and DeeDee. They swore to me that O’Connor was with them all night-from early that evening until late the next morning-and they have the signed room service receipts to prove it. Also, the manager of the Waldorf, a personal friend of mine, confirmed their report.”

“But why didn’t you tell me about this?” One decibel louder and I would have shattered her eardrum. “It’s important information! It could have helped me in my investigation, given me a better grasp of the situation. Why the hell did you keep me in the dark?”

“It was necessary,” Sabrina said. “I had to protect O’Connor so he would continue protecting me.” She took a deep breath and went on. “When I first started the agency, he was in Vice, not Homicide. And he had informers all over his precinct- especially in the posh restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels where my wealthiest clients liked to meet with my girls. Within weeks of my going into business, O’Connor was tipped off that there was a ritzy new escort service in town.

“Next thing I knew he showed up at my door, flashed his badge in Charlotte ’s face, muscled his way into my apartment, and demanded to speak with me. Shaking in terror, Charlotte showed him to my study, where he proceeded to stomp around in all his ugly, pudgy, red-faced glory, threatening to have me, Charlotte, and all of my girls arrested, and to close down my agency for good. There would be a huge scandal, he promised, and we’d all be sent to prison… Unless, he was quick to add, I chose to play the game his way.”

“And what way was that?” I had a pretty good idea how the game was played, but I wanted to hear the rules.

“It was a simple trade agreement,” she said. “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. He said he would protect me and my girls and my agency from the authorities if I gave him free, unlimited access to the merchandise-all of the merchandise-whenever and wherever he wanted it. He was a very virile man, he said. He needed a lot of sex and a lot of variety, and if I would take care of his needs, he would take care of mine.”

“So you shook hands and became friends.”

“There was nothing friendly about it,” she grumbled. “I totally despise the man, and he thinks I’m a pompous bitch. We’ve each kept up our end of the bargain, though, and we’ve both benefited from it.”

“But what about Virginia?” I wailed, squirming in outrage. “O’Connor must have seen her murdered body! He had to know that she was Melody! And he couldn’t possibly conduct an honest and thorough investigation without disclosing his relations with the victim-and his deal with you.”

“Precisely,” Sabrina said. “O’Connor was in the hot seat. He couldn’t break the case without breaking himself. So he took- as you would expect-the corrupt way out. He kept everything he knew about Melody under wraps and launched a phony, totally superficial investigation into the death of Virginia Pratt. He even kept her picture out of the paper, so nobody would recognize her and put the two names together. On the one hand, this worked in my favor. It saved me and my girls from exposure and prosecution. On the other hand, it meant Melody’s murder would probably never be solved.”

“And this was acceptable to you?” I felt sick to my stomach again. So sad and angry that I wanted to scream.

“Of course not!” Sabrina said. “I called you, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but you didn’t give me the dirty details. You didn’t tell me you were in collusion with-”

“Whatever you may think of me,” Sabrina cut in, “I was- and still am-horrified and disgusted by the whole situation. I hate O’Connor for who he is, and I hate myself for collaborating with him. Believe me, Paige, if I could have found any other way to save my business and secure my girls, I would have taken that route. But there really was no other way. And now I’m stuck-in bed, so to speak-with O’Connor, and I have to keep our connection secret.”

“Meanwhile, Melody’s murderer goes free,” I said in my most cynical and disapproving tone.

“But it won’t be for long!” Sabrina protested. “With you on the case, who needs O’Connor? We’re getting really close now, Paige. With my leads and your legwork, we’re going to nail the bastard soon.”

“Not if Dan has anything to say about it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Dan’s on the case now, too,” I said. “I’m not sure how it happened, or how much he knows, but I’m certain he’s participating in the investigation. He’s aware that I’ve been conducting a search for Virginia ’s killer, and he’s very upset about it. He thinks the murder is related to the mob war that’s going on in the city, and that I’m in danger because of it. He ordered me to stay home and keep my doors locked.”

Sabrina was quiet for a second or two, then asked, “Has Dan discovered that Virginia was a call girl?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say anything about that.”

“Did he mention me or my agency?”

“No, he didn’t. But if he hasn’t found out about you yet, he will soon.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because the next time I see him, I’m going to tell him myself.”