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.The small flat was surprisingly neat in comparison with the rest of the building.She doesn’t bring her clients back here, thought Mariner, it’s far too homely and personal.Even to his undiscriminating eye the decor was tasteful and pleasing, and above all it was scrupulously clean.For Anna’s sake he was glad of that.That wasn’t the only surprise, either.Kerry, when she spoke was surprisingly articulate, although her manners didn’t extend to offering them a seat.Mariner sat down anyway and Anna followed his lead, leaving Kerry with little choice.Mariner also held back on any introduction of Anna, allowing Kerry to make the assumption that she, too, was a police officer.‘Tell me how you first met Eddie Barham,’ began Mariner.‘It was a long time ago, I can’t really remember.’ She was cool and closed.‘Try.’Glancing over at the window, Kerry made a show of trying to recall, though it was more likely that she was weighing up how much to tell him.‘It was a couple of years ago,’ she said at last.‘Maybe three.I was living rough.A bunch of us used to go to this cafe, greasy spoon place near the bus station, when we could afford it.Eddie came in there.We got talking.’‘About what?’‘I don’t know, just chit-chat, you know.Nothing really, but he was very good at getting stuff out of you.He was just nice, friendly, and he seemed interested.’‘In what?’‘Anything, everything.How we lived.What we did all day.I did think it was a bit weird, until one day he coughed that he was a reporter.He said he was working on an article about what it was like to be living on the streets in Birmingham.He wasn’t going to use real names or anything, but just write about how kids ended up there, and what happened to them.He said it was a chance to tell our story.’‘And you helped him with it?’‘Yeah.I thought it would be a laugh.Besides he was offering good money.’‘Did you know about what was going on at Streetwise?’Kerry blushed, more in anger than anything.‘Yeah of course I knew.Everyone did.’‘So you were aware that Frank Crosby was using the drop-in centre as a way of procuring under age kids for prostitution?’ Mariner had to be sure of this.From the corner of his eye he saw Anna’s eyes widen almost imperceptibly, but he couldn’t help that.She’d asked to be here.‘I didn’t know about Frank then,’ Kerry said.‘I’d seen him around, but I just thought he was a friend of Paul’s.Paul was the one who did all the deals.’‘Did you ever do any “work” for Paul?’‘You know I did, don’t you?’‘And you told Eddie about it.’‘I missed one of our meetings.Eddie wanted to know where I’d been, so yes, I told him.I think I wanted to shock him.’‘And did you?’‘Sort of.But Eddie was too much of a pro.He just found it more interesting than the piece he was writing.He wanted to know all the details.’‘Did you tell him?’‘I could only tell him what had happened to me.I said he’d have to find out the rest himself.I don’t grass.’ Implicit was her utter contempt for informants.Mariner wondered what she’d have thought if he’d told her that it was how he’d first joined the payroll of the West Midlands Police.‘The next thing I knew, your lot had arrested Paul and Frank Crosby.That was when I first knew who Frank really was.But by then Eddie had paid me enough to put down a deposit on this place, so I didn’t have to go to the drop-in any more.’‘Is that when you started working for Frank Crosby yourself, Kerry?’ Mariner asked innocently.He hadn’t been sure, but her reaction verified it all right.‘I don’t work for him,’ she said, petulantly.‘I work for myself.’‘And where do you work?’ asked Mariner.‘Where do you take your clients?’‘I rent a room.’‘In one of Frank’s seedy little hotels?’ Mariner could tell from her face that he’d hit the mark.‘And I suppose Frank puts the occasional punter your way, too.’‘It’s worth it, they’re always generous, Frank’s clients.I had to get started somehow.’As if there was no other option in life.‘I bet Frank doesn’t know that you helped Eddie with his story, does he?Does he ever encourage you to offer your clients extra services?’‘Like what?’‘Like a little additional chemical stimulation.’‘No.I don’t mess with any of that stuff.’ She was rock steady.Mariner let it go for now.‘And did you see Eddie again after the story broke?’‘Not for a while, no.’‘So when did you see him?’‘A few weeks ago.He’d been in to Maureen’s.’‘Heaven’s Gate.’‘I know.’ Even she could see the irony.‘He’d seen my picture.Maureen gave him one of my cards, so he phoned me.’‘For an appointment?’Crunch time.But Kerry just laughed.‘Not exactly.’‘So why did he contact you?’‘He wanted a favour.’‘Another story? About what? Frank Crosby?’‘No, it wasn’t like that.Eddie’s got this brother who’s a bit backward, you know?’The sudden shift in the conversation caught Mariner off guard.‘Jamie?’ he said, nonplussed.‘Yeah, that’s right.Eddie looked after him.Anyway, he was having trouble with him getting horny.He’d started playing with his dick in public, groping women, that kind of thing.Eddie thought it might help if he actually had sex, you know.He thought it might calm him down.He could hardly ask any of his friends to do it, so he had been trying escort agencies.That’s how he finished up at Maureen’s.Trouble was, none of the girls would go to his house, and Eddie needed Jamie to learn that sex is something you do in private, in your own place [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.The small flat was surprisingly neat in comparison with the rest of the building.She doesn’t bring her clients back here, thought Mariner, it’s far too homely and personal.Even to his undiscriminating eye the decor was tasteful and pleasing, and above all it was scrupulously clean.For Anna’s sake he was glad of that.That wasn’t the only surprise, either.Kerry, when she spoke was surprisingly articulate, although her manners didn’t extend to offering them a seat.Mariner sat down anyway and Anna followed his lead, leaving Kerry with little choice.Mariner also held back on any introduction of Anna, allowing Kerry to make the assumption that she, too, was a police officer.‘Tell me how you first met Eddie Barham,’ began Mariner.‘It was a long time ago, I can’t really remember.’ She was cool and closed.‘Try.’Glancing over at the window, Kerry made a show of trying to recall, though it was more likely that she was weighing up how much to tell him.‘It was a couple of years ago,’ she said at last.‘Maybe three.I was living rough.A bunch of us used to go to this cafe, greasy spoon place near the bus station, when we could afford it.Eddie came in there.We got talking.’‘About what?’‘I don’t know, just chit-chat, you know.Nothing really, but he was very good at getting stuff out of you.He was just nice, friendly, and he seemed interested.’‘In what?’‘Anything, everything.How we lived.What we did all day.I did think it was a bit weird, until one day he coughed that he was a reporter.He said he was working on an article about what it was like to be living on the streets in Birmingham.He wasn’t going to use real names or anything, but just write about how kids ended up there, and what happened to them.He said it was a chance to tell our story.’‘And you helped him with it?’‘Yeah.I thought it would be a laugh.Besides he was offering good money.’‘Did you know about what was going on at Streetwise?’Kerry blushed, more in anger than anything.‘Yeah of course I knew.Everyone did.’‘So you were aware that Frank Crosby was using the drop-in centre as a way of procuring under age kids for prostitution?’ Mariner had to be sure of this.From the corner of his eye he saw Anna’s eyes widen almost imperceptibly, but he couldn’t help that.She’d asked to be here.‘I didn’t know about Frank then,’ Kerry said.‘I’d seen him around, but I just thought he was a friend of Paul’s.Paul was the one who did all the deals.’‘Did you ever do any “work” for Paul?’‘You know I did, don’t you?’‘And you told Eddie about it.’‘I missed one of our meetings.Eddie wanted to know where I’d been, so yes, I told him.I think I wanted to shock him.’‘And did you?’‘Sort of.But Eddie was too much of a pro.He just found it more interesting than the piece he was writing.He wanted to know all the details.’‘Did you tell him?’‘I could only tell him what had happened to me.I said he’d have to find out the rest himself.I don’t grass.’ Implicit was her utter contempt for informants.Mariner wondered what she’d have thought if he’d told her that it was how he’d first joined the payroll of the West Midlands Police.‘The next thing I knew, your lot had arrested Paul and Frank Crosby.That was when I first knew who Frank really was.But by then Eddie had paid me enough to put down a deposit on this place, so I didn’t have to go to the drop-in any more.’‘Is that when you started working for Frank Crosby yourself, Kerry?’ Mariner asked innocently.He hadn’t been sure, but her reaction verified it all right.‘I don’t work for him,’ she said, petulantly.‘I work for myself.’‘And where do you work?’ asked Mariner.‘Where do you take your clients?’‘I rent a room.’‘In one of Frank’s seedy little hotels?’ Mariner could tell from her face that he’d hit the mark.‘And I suppose Frank puts the occasional punter your way, too.’‘It’s worth it, they’re always generous, Frank’s clients.I had to get started somehow.’As if there was no other option in life.‘I bet Frank doesn’t know that you helped Eddie with his story, does he?Does he ever encourage you to offer your clients extra services?’‘Like what?’‘Like a little additional chemical stimulation.’‘No.I don’t mess with any of that stuff.’ She was rock steady.Mariner let it go for now.‘And did you see Eddie again after the story broke?’‘Not for a while, no.’‘So when did you see him?’‘A few weeks ago.He’d been in to Maureen’s.’‘Heaven’s Gate.’‘I know.’ Even she could see the irony.‘He’d seen my picture.Maureen gave him one of my cards, so he phoned me.’‘For an appointment?’Crunch time.But Kerry just laughed.‘Not exactly.’‘So why did he contact you?’‘He wanted a favour.’‘Another story? About what? Frank Crosby?’‘No, it wasn’t like that.Eddie’s got this brother who’s a bit backward, you know?’The sudden shift in the conversation caught Mariner off guard.‘Jamie?’ he said, nonplussed.‘Yeah, that’s right.Eddie looked after him.Anyway, he was having trouble with him getting horny.He’d started playing with his dick in public, groping women, that kind of thing.Eddie thought it might help if he actually had sex, you know.He thought it might calm him down.He could hardly ask any of his friends to do it, so he had been trying escort agencies.That’s how he finished up at Maureen’s.Trouble was, none of the girls would go to his house, and Eddie needed Jamie to learn that sex is something you do in private, in your own place [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]