‘Oh, very attractive.’
‘Yes. And I have to protect them. But in the case of Janine any moral decision I might have to make about putting her in touch with you is made for me.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I can’t put you in touch with her. I don’t know where she is.’
‘But you must know where the group’s working.’
‘Janine is no longer a member of the group.’
‘When did she leave?’
‘Rang me about a week ago. Said she had to get out “for personal reasons”. Bloody inconvenient for the group. They’ve just got a big telly spectacular coming up and I’ve got plenty on my plate without having to rush around auditioning new girls. Apart from anything else, all the ones I’ve seen so far have been terrible.’
‘So Janine left just at the end of the Hunstanton booking?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Could you give me her home address so that I can contact her there?’
‘Wouldn’t do you a lot of good if I did. She’s moved out. Used to live in a flat with a boy-friend, but I gather they’ve split up. Anyway, he’s moved out too.’
‘You don’t know the boy-friend’s name?’
‘No. I spoke to him once or twice on the phone, but never got his name. Janine kept her private life very private.’
‘Oh.’ Disappointing. A blind alley.
‘Incidentally, Mr. . Don’t tell me your name, because I’m as unlikely to believe that as I am your phoney cover as an insurance salesman. . I find it rather strange that you know the Foolish Things have just been in Hunstanton.’
Charles smiled feebly. ‘Oh, I like to keep an interest in show business.’
‘I also find it strange that you asked me for Janine’s private address when you told my secretary you’d tried her home. She’s lived in the same place for three years.’
‘Ah.’ The cover was definitely blown. Maybe try the truth. See how that went down. ‘Look, in fact I’m a kind of private detective.’ Well, a heightened version of the truth. ‘I’m investigating a crime and I believe that Janine can help me with some information.’
It did sound melodramatic. Green looked at Charles for a long time, weighing the likelihood of this new story. He appeared to make up his mind. ‘I see. Well, I suppose society has a duty to help people like you, though yours is a rather unpleasant business.’ He tore a piece of paper off a pad on his desk and wrote something on it. He sealed it in an envelope and wrote on that. ‘Go to this address. They may be able to give you what you’re looking for.’
Green and his secretary’s fascinated stares followed Charles out of the office.
The address was not far away. In Old Compton Street. It was a strip club. Photographs bulged either side of the curtained doorway. It didn’t look a likely place to find a missing dancer, but that was where he had been directed.
Inside the doorway Charles was met by a stocky gentleman who looked very familiar. Mr. Green without a nose-job. Must be a brother.
‘Can I help you, sir?’
Charles handed over the note. The man tore it open and read it. ‘Fine, sir. Well, it may be rather expensive, but I’m sure you’ll find it well worth the money. Now, in fact there isn’t any film in the cameras, but I think that only adds to the excitement. The girls will move about and pose for you, but I’m afraid we do have to insist on the rule of no touching. Now if you’d like to — ’
‘What the hell are you talking about? I’m just trying to find Janine.’
‘You can call the girls whatever you like. They won’t mind. Call one Janine if you — ’
‘What the hell did it say in that note?’ Charles snatched it back and read:
DEAR JOE,
THIS KINK WAS COMING ROUND SNIFFING AFTER ONE OF MY DANCERS. SEEMS MORE YOUR LINE. WELL IT’S BUSINESS. LOVE TO MYRA AND THE KIDS. MIKE.
Oh dear. He shouldn’t have worn that raincoat.
CHAPTER FIVE
COMIC: I say, I say, I say, why did the film-mad chicken cross the road?
FEED: I don’t know. Why did the road-mad chicken cross the road?
COMIC: To see Gregory Peck.
‘As you can imagine, Gerald, I felt quite a fool.’
‘Yes. Of course, if you are going to turn funny, you’re about the right age for it. I mean, if you do feel you want to start flashing in the park. It’s only to be expected.’
‘Ha, ha. You’re condemning yourself too. You’re the same age as me. And smooth solicitors aren’t immune from developing embarrassing habits. So watch it.’
Gerald chuckled uneasily down the phone. He was warned that his secretary Polly might be listening in. In spite of her obvious maturity and worldly eye, he had an old-fashioned view of what she should be allowed to hear or see.
Charles continued, ‘One thing was interesting. Even though he did think I was some kind of pervert, the information he gave me was true. Janine and her boy-friend have recently moved out of their flat. I’ve checked.’
‘Where did you get the address?’
‘Amazingly, from Maurice. You know, Maurice Skellern, my agent, the theatrical ‘Who’s Sleeping with Who’. He knew somebody who knew somebody who had once known Janine. Rang me back within half an hour. He’s impressively efficient about everything except being an agent.’
‘He didn’t know who Janine’s boy-friend was?’
‘No. Nobody seems to know that. But they’ve certainly both moved out.’
‘If you went to the flat, surely you could have checked with the landlord.’
‘I didn’t go to the flat. I just rang up and spoke to the new tenants. They didn’t know who had been living there before. But I got the landlord’s name and rang him. He was, to put it mildly, unhelpful. To put it less mildly, bloody abusive. That’s why I rang you.’
‘I don’t follow.’
‘I thought maybe you could use your professional position. If you were to identify yourself and ask him, he’d probably tell you.’
‘Hmm.’
‘I mean, solicitors carry weight — and not just from all those lunches they have at their client’s expense.’
‘Ha, ha. You have a very puerile sense of humour, Charles. All right, I’ll try and ring you back.’
Gerald fulfilled his promise within ten minutes. ‘I understand what you mean about downright abusive.’
‘Ah. He didn’t tell you anything either?’
‘He told me all he knew, but it wasn’t very helpful. He didn’t even know Janine had been living there. Some bloke had a five-year lease on the place and it’s been through a long sequence of sublets — you know, the lease passed on with a payment euphemistically known as ‘fixtures and fittings’. Used to be known as ‘key money’. Illegal, but pretty common, particularly since the Rent Act. It was on the subject of this practice that the landlord became downright abusive.’
‘Hmm. So Janine’s trail has gone cold?’
‘Yes, Charles. For the time being, she’s disappeared.’
‘Right.’
‘Which must surely lend support to your theory that she killed Peaky.’
‘Yes. Except, since the inquest raised no suspicion of foul play and she doesn’t know that anyone disbelieves its findings, why does she need to disappear?’
‘See your point. What else could it mean, though?’
‘Well. . if someone else murdered Peaky and she found out, then she might know too much and. . I don’t know, it’s only conjecture, but the timing does seem odd. There must be some connection between Peaky’s death and her disappearance.’
‘Sure thing, buster.’
‘The main priority is still to find her. And to get as much background on the case as possible. I’ll pump Lennie Barber some more.’
‘Oh yes, of course, the show’s tomorrow. How was the rehearsal?’
‘I don’t really know. It’s more like army drill than rehearsal. Barber gives me my timing by numbers. “I say my line, you give it a count of two, then you come in. In the middle of the speech a count of four and at the end of the line give three before you move your head.” I think a computer could be programmed to do it instead of me. And probably better.’