'Where I usually go on Mondays, the Golf Club.'
'Are you a player?'
'No.' She smiled weakly, relaxing a little. 'Just a drinker.' 'You realize it's Friday now?' Banks prompted her, eager to set her at ease but puzzled about the circumstances. 'You say the robbery took place on Monday… It's a long time to wait before reporting it.'
'I know,' Thelma Pitt said, 'and I'm sorry. But there's something else…' Banks looked at her, his wide-open eyes asking the question.
'I was raped.' Banks put his pen down on the table. 'Are you sure you wouldn't like to see a policewoman?' he asked.
'No, it doesn't matter.' She leaned forward. 'Inspector, I've lived with this night and day since Monday. I couldn't come in before because I was ashamed to. I felt dirty. I believed it was all my fault-a punishment for past sins, if you like. I'm a Catholic, though not a very good one. I haven't left the house since then. This morning I woke up angry, do you understand? I feel angry, and I want to do whatever I can to see that the criminals are caught. The robbery doesn't matter. The jewels were worth a great deal but not as much… not as much…' She gripped the sides of her chair until her knuckles turned white, then struggled for control of her emotions again.
Banks, who had been thinking that now the peeper had escalated to more serious crimes, was surprised by Thelma's description.
'Criminals?' he asked. 'You mean there was more than one?'
'There were two of them. Kids, I think. They were wearing balaclavas. Only one of them raped me. The other said he didn't fancy 'sloppy seconds.' That's the way he put it, Inspector, his exact words-'sloppy seconds.' ' She pointed to her bruise. 'He's the one that kicked me.'
Banks didn't know what to say, and into the uneasy silence Thelma dropped what turned out to be the best lead of all.
'There's another thing,' she said, looking away from him toward the wall as if she were examining the idyllic autumn scene on the calendar. 'I've got VD.'
II
Over the next half-hour, Banks listened to the details of Thelma Pitt's story as PC Susan Gay transcribed them.
Every Monday night Thelma went to the bar of the Eastvale Golf Club, where she kept up her association with some of the people she had got to know in earlier, better days. There was one man in particular, a Lewis Micklethwaite, with whom she had been going out for several weeks.
During a long weekend in London with a female friend a couple of weeks ago, Thelma had, while not entirely sober, allowed herself to be picked up by a younger man in a pub and had subsequently spent the night with him. She didn't remember much about the experience, but the following morning she felt terrible: physically and emotionally hungover. The young man lived in a small flat off the Brixton Road, and Thelma rushed outside as fast as she could and, unable to find a taxi, took the first bus into central London, returning to her friend at the hotel.
'To cut a long story short,' she said, 'I found out just over a week later that the bastard had kindly passed on his disease to me-gonorrhea.'
That was why she had left the Golf Club early. She didn't want to tell Lewis, nor did she want to infect him. They argued. He seemed unusually perturbed about her going, but she ran off anyway. And as a result of that, she had disturbed the burglars and got herself raped.
'Can you describe them at all?' Banks asked. 'You said they were wearing balaclavas?'
'Yes.'
'What color?'
'Gray. Both gray.'
'Any idea how old they were?'
'By the way they spoke and acted, I'd say they were both in their teens.'
'How can you be sure?'
'The one who raped me was inexperienced. It was all over mercifully fast. I'd say it was his first time. A woman can tell these things, you know, Inspector.'
'What about the other?'
'I think he was scared. He talked tough, but I don't think he dared do anything. He was smaller, more squat, and he had a very ugly voice. Raspy. And piggy eyes. He was edgy. I think he might have been on drugs. The one who raped me was leaner and taller. He didn't say an awful lot. I noticed nothing peculiar about his voice. His eyes were blue, and his breath didn't smell too good.'
'Did they call each other by name?'
'No. They were careful not to do that.'
'What about the rest of their clothing? Anything distinctive?'
Thelma Pitt shook her head. 'Just what lots of kids wear these days. Bomber jackets, jeans…'
'There's nothing else you can remember?'
'Oh, I remember it all quite vividly, Inspector. I've replayed it over in my mind a hundred times since Monday. But that's all there is that's likely to help you.
Unless it's of any use to know that the boy who raped me was wearing white Y-fronts. Marks and Sparks, I think,' she added bitterly. Then she put her head in her hands and started to weep. Susan Gay comforted her, and after a few moments, Thelma Pitt again made the effort to control her feelings.
'I'm sorry,' she apologized. 'That was uncalled for.'
Banks shrugged. 'It must have been a terrifying experience,' he said, feeling completely inadequate. 'Would you recognize them again?'
'Yes, I think so. In the same circumstances. But that wouldn't help you because I can't identify their faces.'
'That might not be necessary.''
'I'd recognize the squat one's voice and eyes any time. As for the other… I do remember that he had a bit of decay between one of his front teeth and the one next to it, as if a filling had come out, But I couldn't give you a positive identification. I couldn't swear to anything in court.'
She was remarkably calm as she relived it, Banks thought, trying to imagine the inner strength and courage it took to deal with such horror.
Finally, she described the jewelry that had been stolen, along with a valuable camera, then Banks let her leave, promising to get in touch as soon as anything happened. He also suggested, though it was much too late, that she see a doctor and have him look for and record any signs of assault for the purposes of evidence.
As soon as PC Gay had escorted Thelma Pitt from his office, Banks phoned Dr. Glendenning. He was with a patient, so his receptionist said, but would call back in about ten minutes.
'What is it?' the old doctor asked brusquely about twenty minutes later.
'VD,' Banks said. 'Gonorrhea, to be specific. What do you know about it?'
'Ah, gonorrhea,' Glendenning said, wanning to the subject like a general admiring a brave opponent. 'More commonly known as the clap, Cupid's revenge.'
'What are the symptoms?'
'Discharge, a burning sensation while urinating. Inspector Banks, I hope you're not trying to tell me that you-' 'It's not me,' Banks snapped, adding 'you silly old sod' under his breath. 'How soon do the symptoms appear?'
'It varies,' Glendenning went on, unruffled. 'Three to ten days is about usual.'
'Treatment?'
'Penicillin. There have to be tests first, of course, just to make sure it isn't something else-particularly syphilis. The early symptoms can be similar.'
