“Pregnant?”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“You mean to tell me she was pregnant when she died?” I asked, my heart feeling heavy as it sank into the pit of my stomach. Steph squeezed my shoulder then turned to Jackie.
“How many girls does Mrs. McNorton have doing this?” she asked her.
“Seven. Well, six now. She’s a lovely lady, always making sure we’re OK. She doesn’t advertise her girls to just anybody, you know? She deals with some pretty well-off clientele, if you know what I mean.”
“Like who?” Steph asked.
“Married men mostly, the ones that can afford it, anyway. Mr. Jacobs the Commonwealth Bank manager, Mr. Sutton the Supermarket owner, Chief Rademeyer-”
“Wait. The Chief?” Steph interrupted, her face showing what I was feeling. Jackie just nodded.
“Yeah, he was really nice. I spent some time with him. He was so gentle. Also Dr. Levinson, Dr. Gibbs, Chief Richards-”
“Richards?” I asked, interrupting her this time.
“Yup, he’s been seeing girls for longer than anyone else.”
“Where do you go?” I suddenly asked, curious.
“Go? Oh, you mean where do we take them? They come to us. At the Railway.” For a moment I didn’t comprehend her words, then as they suddenly sank in, began to understand.
“You mean the Railway Hotel is a brothel?”
“No, well, maybe, kind of, I guess. Mrs. McNorton says that as long as she rents more beds out for sleeping than she rents out for, you know, the other stuff then it’s fine.”
“Wait, what do you mean if ‘she rents out more rooms’? Does she own the hotel?” Jackie was nodding again, as the surprises continued to explode before me. I had been boarding at a brothel, had been eating food prepared by a madame and been infatuated with a pregnant whore. My skin broke out into gooseflesh as I thought about Tami with Levinson, then hated myself for thinking of her as a whore.
“Jackie, how long have you been working for Mrs. McNorton?” Steph asked.
“About 4 years now.”
“And Tami?” I asked.
“About 2.” I was gutted, gob-smacked, in total disbelief. The ramifications of what had been happening in this town, the leads that would need to be followed up following this conversation were going to take a lot of effort. And Steph and I were going to have to walk on very fine egg shells. There was no way that we could even discuss this conversation with the new Chief, especially if he was involved with the town whorehouse.
“Jackie, did Tami say anything to you about Levinson? I mean, did she say that he was threatening her, or anyone else threatening her for that matter?” She shook her head.
“She did give me an envelope. Asked me to give it to the cops if anything should ever happen to her.”
“Did you?” Steph asked.
“No. If I ever had to, I was planning to give it to Frank, but then he got himself killed and, I was scared. The new Chief isn’t as nice as Franky was.”
“Do you still have the envelope?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s upstairs.” She stood and began walking to the door, unlocked it, then checked to make sure we were following. We did, and once we reached the room where her things were stored, followed her inside. The room had a row of lockers down one wall and a door that led to a bathroom. A bench ran the length of the opposite wall, resembling one I remembered from the gym’s locker room back in high school. Jackie went to one of the lockers and opened it. After rummaging through some clothes, she pulled out a brown jacket and reached into one of its pockets, pulling from it, a small rectangular envelope. She handed it to me and I took it, putting it in my own pocket.
“Thank you, Jackie,” Steph said as I shook her hand.
“We really appreciate your help. Thank you,” I said and she shot me a smile.
“She loved you, you know? She wouldn’t stop talking about you. Drove me crazy.”
“Thanks again,” I said and left the room, Steph following me. We didn’t say a word until we were sitting back in her car.
9.
“Holy shit,” Steph yelled when we were safely back in her car and driving away from the hotel. She switched the windscreen wipers on, the weather turning murky as the first spots of rain began to fall. I wasn’t sure where she was taking us but made sure the windows were rolled up tightly. We couldn’t risk anyone overhearing our conversation. “Holy shit,” she repeated.
“That is some serious information. Like fucken hell. What the hell! Old sweet Mrs. McNorton is a madam? What the fuck is that about?” I still couldn’t believe it, my mind now a frazzle of names and places, all inter-mingling in a labyrinth of material.
“We need to go somewhere, Jim. Somewhere away from here, for a couple of hours, at least. Go through this shit. And the envelope,” she said, pointing a finger at my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at it for a moment. I lifted it, holding it in front of my face. It was sealed, the front and back blank. I slid a finger along the seal and ripped it open, reached in and pulled out three sheets of paper, all folded twice over. The first was a hand-written letter. I recognized Tami’s handwriting immediately and noted that it was addressed to no-one specifically.
Should anything happen to me, I want it known that I have been in the company of Doctor Julius Levinson for almost 8 months now. I’m currently pregnant with his child. I have been threatened by this man on a number of occasions, namely trying to force me to abort my baby. He has also offered me money to relocate me to Queensland, which I have refused. I have discovered that Dr. Levinson has been conducting experiments on prisoners at Crab Apple prison and have enclosed some papers that I discovered while looking through his desk for anything that I can use to guarantee the safety of my baby
