Scarlet Women

‘Mira Cooper,’ said Sir William when she’d taken him upstairs and got him settled on the couch.

Annie sat down opposite. Sir William was a small man, his feet barely touching the ground in front of the couch, but he had a regal bearing about him. She waited for him to go on.

‘You remember your wonderful establishment, Mira worked there. We had some stupendous times there, didn’t we?’ he asked.

Annie nodded and smiled, still wondering, What is he doing here?

Back in the day, Sir William had been one of her best clients: married, of course, but paying out a fortune at her knocking-shop up West for drinks, cigars and the best tarts in the business. He had always asked for Mira. Had taken her to Cliveden with him; Mira had been so happy, so excited, she remembered that. Thinking of Mira now, and Mira then, made her want to cry.

‘What you probably don’t know, Mrs Carter,’ Sir William went on, ‘is that Mira and I continued our association even after…well, after that little unpleasantness.’

He means after the Bill closed us down. ‘I didn’t know that.’

He shrugged. ‘Well…we tried always to be discreet.’

Yeah, or Lady Fenella would have kicked your arse.

‘Mira was a lovely girl,’ he said wistfully. ‘I set her up in a flat in Mayfair; we had such lovely times together. I enjoyed treating her to things, and she was such a happy soul, so amenable.’

He paused.

‘Go on,’ prompted Annie.

‘When I travelled on business she often accompanied me. Mira was a complete delight. I took her back to Cliveden several times. Three times, I think it was. And on the third time, of course, she met him there. Redmond Delaney. They say three times a charm, don’t they? Well, for poor Mira I’m afraid that it could have been a curse. And of course,’ he gave a tight, sad little smile, ‘then I lost her. I have few illusions about myself, Mrs Carter. I’m getting old. I’m short. I’m nearly completely bald. No oil painting.’

Redmond was tall, stunningly handsome, vigorous. Also, rich enough to show a girl a really good time. No contest.

‘You’re a lovely man, Sir William,’ said Annie. ‘And Mira was lucky to have you.’

‘And you are very kind.’ He paused, seemed to gather his thoughts. Then he went on: ‘I was concerned for her. I’d heard things about the man. Bad things. I knew he was a villain. I tried to dissuade her from seeing him, but she wouldn’t listen. I think she was actually in love with the man.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said Annie.

‘I saw her in town sometimes…I could see that at first she was happy. Radiant. And then she seemed to wilt, like a crushed flower.’ Sir William looked down at the carpet, then back up at Annie’s face. ‘I was worried about her. So I hired a private detective to watch them both, to try to see what was happening with my poor Mira.’

Annie waited.

He went on: ‘I had a very bad feeling about that man,’ he said firmly. ‘An extremely bad feeling.’

Yeah, well, you wouldn’t be the first, thought Annie.

‘He saw other women, you know.’ Sir William looked at Annie acutely. ‘When Mira was with me, I saw no one else.’

Except your wife, she thought.

‘Why would anyone want more than Mira?’ Sir William was shaking his head as if in puzzlement. ‘She was… exquisite. Perfect in every way. Mrs Carter, I’m talking to you about this because you have an understanding of the situation, and you have connections. I can’t talk to the police about it. I have my position to consider.’

‘This private detective,’ said Annie. ‘Did he see something the police should know about?’

Sir William nodded slowly.

‘What did he see?’

‘He saw Redmond Delaney checking in early one morning at the Vista Hotel in Park Lane. Nothing much happened for the rest of the day. Then, in the early hours of the following morning, my man was in the park opposite the main entrance and he saw a black girl, obviously a prostitute—forgive me, my dear, but apparently her style of dress made it obvious—leaving the Vista.’

Annie’s heart was in her mouth. Aretha. ‘Go on,’ she said urgently, leaning forward.

‘It was a foul night. Hot, clammy, raining. But he clearly saw a tall woman with long red hair running up behind the black girl. Then the rain started coming down harder. It was a real summer storm, there was thunder and lightning. Visibility was obscured. By the time it was clearer and he could actually see what was going on, the red-haired woman was gone and the black woman too.’

‘Oh fuck,’ whispered Annie.

‘If the papers are to be believed, the black woman…’

‘Aretha,’ said Annie.

‘Aretha. She must have been lying on the pavement. My man couldn’t see her down there, of course. As I said, visibility had turned bad. Look, Mrs Carter—Annie—I can’t be involved with the police. It can’t come out that I was trying to keep track of Mira, to see that she was well, because I was frightened for her. I knew of this man, the type of dealings he had a hand in. I know he’s a wicked man.’

Annie was silent, taking it all in.

‘My detective watched the hotel again the next day. Police everywhere, swarming over the place like flies. He went back there the following day too, and you were there, asking the receptionist questions. And Redmond Delaney was there, meeting up with another man.’

Constantine.

The perpetrator sometimes felt an overpowering urge to return to the scene of the crime, Hunter had told her. But the crime had been this redhaired woman’s. Redmond had suggested the Vista as a meeting place, not Constantine. And Redmond and Orla were twins.

They moved as one, she thought.

‘Would this detective stand up in court as a witness?’ asked Annie.

‘No,’ said Sir William shortly. ‘I am sorry, my dear, but that’s out of the question. And I have to warn you— any mention of my involvement in this would have to be suppressed. Vigorously.’ Sir William stood up. He handed her a business card with his number on it. ‘And now I have to go. Contact me if you need to on this number, but give it out to no one else, is that clear? Do what you will with this information, but no mention of my name. You understand? Leave me out of it.’

Chapter 44

Christie were giving ‘Yellow River’ their all from the club’s brand-new sound system when Dolly arrived early that afternoon in a state of high excitement. It hurt Annie to see how happy Dolly looked, because she knew she was about to destroy her happiness.

‘Fuck me, this is fantastic!’ Dolly enthused at the top of her voice as they stood halfway down the stairs and watched the DJ at his deck, familiarizing himself with the levels in the club.

The dancers were rehearsing in T-shirts, hot pants and leg warmers inside their gilded cages around the dance floor. The bar staff were in, setting up, and when they swung through the door into the kitchens, Annie and Dolly could see a hive of activity in there. The whole place smelled of new beginnings and fresh hope. The electricians were testing the strobes, showing the dancers in a mad series of bright flickering images as they boogied along to the beat. Above the bar, the red neon ‘Annie’s’ sign glowed warmly.

‘I hardly recognize the old place,’ yelled Dolly in Annie’s ear.