Agent with a History Read Free Page B

Puzzled
I asked, “Exactly what did happen?”
    The brunette looked around and then spoke.
“We got into costume and got to our positions and started doing our
thing. The place was just like this one. A bunch of men came in
from another room and acted like the men do here, but they weren’t
for real, it was like they were acting or something. They brought
Philippe in. He was unconscious and they sat him down at a table. I
saw a man inject him with something. A little while later Philippe
came awake and started enjoying himself, as usual, as he watched
us.”
    “Wait! Wait! You knew the man they brought in
unconscious?” I asked.
    “Yeah sure, his name is Philippe Valo. He’s a
pretty regular customer of ours. He’s gone for a couple of months
at a time and then he’s back almost every night until he leaves
again. The girls like him. He’s not real mean like a lot of them
can be when they’ve had a few, and he’s always got money.”
    “All right back to what happened.” I said
directing her back on course.
    “Well nothing happened for a while, until
this big serious dude came in. He gave me the heebie geebies, in a
good way, if you know what I mean.” She added with a nervous laugh
that gritted on my nerves. Most of the other girls had responded in
kind to the mention of the ‘serious dude’.
    I sighed heavily; it was like dealing with a
class of two year olds. Yelling wouldn’t do any good. “Then what
happened?” I continued.
    “Well he went to Philippe’s table and
Philippe got a real serious expression on his face. I think he was
scared. He and the man talked for probably over an hour and
Philippe wrote something down on a paper and then the big man
left.”
    “What happened to Philippe then?”
    A blond from the end of the line spoke up, “I
think they slipped him a micky in his drink, because he fell back
asleep on the table.”
    “Then what?”
    “They told us to go home and paid us what
they said they would.”
    I held up the sketch, “Is this the man that
talked to Philippe?”
    The brunette smile widely, “It sure is! I...”
I held up my hand to cut off any further lurid conversation.
    “Have any of you seen this man since
then?”
    The same blond as before spoke up, “I
overheard two of them say they were going to interrogate another
man in the next room when they were done with Philippe.”
    I nodded. Two men? The plot was certainly
thickening. “Nobody heard this man’s name?” I asked, holding up the
sketch of the man again and they all nodded no. “Thank you for your
time and cooperation. I may need some of you to testify as to what
you’ve told me so don’t any of you leave town, understand?”
    On a chorus of nods we left the back stage
area and headed back out into the noise and lights. Once in the car
I pressed my hand to my forehead and kept the pressure there for a
moment.
    “Headache?” Rafferty asked.
    I nodded.
    “Maybe you should take a sleeping pill or
two? You need to get some rest.” He said in evident concern.
    I smiled, my little watch dog was worried
about me as usual. “I’ll be fine. Call our lover boy in and see if
we have an address.”
    He sighed, but complied. “Got it! He’s housed
in a swanky apartment complex five blocks from here. I put the car
in gear and we eased out into traffic.
     

Chapter Three
Deep Water
    There was a do not disturb sign on the door
and the sight of it just didn’t sit well with me. It didn’t match
with what I already knew of Philippe Valo.
    He was the consummate playboy, devil-may-care
thief. He was implicated in a dozen or more antiquity thefts and
even a few bank jobs. There had never been enough evidence though
to pin an indictment on him.
    He may be flashy, but he was smart too. He
liked money and he was good at getting it, by all accounts. He led
an easy-going life.
    He was the kind of guy that would proposition
a cleaning lady, who accidentally walked into him having sex, into
joining along in the act.