AC05 - Death Mask (20 page)

‘This happened in a small town I’ve never heard of,’ Ethan
explained. ‘Equality in some parts includes everyone except gays, women and anyone with a different viewpoint.’

Anya thought about McKenzie changing States over the last few years. ‘He could easily have committed violence against partners in other States. It wouldn’t be the first time someone with a violent past moved States and the police had no idea about any prior history.’

For the next half-hour, each read in silence, Ethan on his computer, and Anya trying to sort through the various printouts splayed around the table.

Ethan slapped the desk. ‘Got it!’ He rubbed his eyes. ‘There’s something you don’t know. McKenzie and Janson were charged with rape a couple of years back. The victim pulled out the first day of the trial. Rumour had it she was paid off, but there was nothing in either of the boys’ records or her financial statements to prove it.’

‘Why haven’t you told me this? Was all that spiel about a family-friendly team just garbage, when Buffet employs people with histories like that?’

‘Hold on a second. It was on the public record, so I didn’t need to mention it to Linda Gatby, and it’s her job to find out past incidents.’

Anya had thought she and Ethan were working, to a certain extent, together. ‘It doesn’t explain why you kept it from me.’

Ethan breathed out. ‘It made more sense for you to go over the medical information about Kirsten Byrne without any prior knowledge of charges against the players, which were withdrawn anyway. That’s why they weren’t in your dossiers. It’s one of the reasons I wanted you here. You’re unbiased and could actually be objective. Besides, these men are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, right? I’m guessing Linda didn’t tell you because she wanted your objective opinion on Kirsten as well.’

Begrudgingly, she had to admit Ethan had a point.

‘So if you already knew about the complaints, what did you just
get
?’

‘I’ve been trying to track the woman down.’ He rubbed
both hands together. ‘We just got her address. I think we should see how she’s doing.’

Anya suddenly felt uncomfortable about finding the private address of a woman who did not want to be found. If she had been raped, this would be another form of violation.

‘Isn’t there anyone else?’

‘I don’t see many other options.’

Anya closed her eyes. If these men had a prior history that would have a bearing in Kirsten’s case, she felt an obligation to investigate that, even though it would be painful for the woman involved. It might just save another woman from going through the same thing.

There had to be a reason the woman had refused to testify. She wondered if Jim Horan had had anything to do with it.

Ethan slid a newspaper clipping over.

Charges of rape against star quarterbacks Pistol Pete Janson and Liam McKenzie were dropped by the DA this morning. The two players say they have been vindicated and want to get on with their lives and the noble game of football. Their accuser, a stripper from Queens, refused to testify, leaving the DA with no alternative but to drop the charges. Speculation is rising that the woman sought a significant payout from the accused, which sources close to the players say amounted to extortion.

Anya did not need to read more. The fact the article mentioned the word ‘stripper’ explained enough.

E
than drove to Brooklyn and parked outside a playground with swings and climbing equipment. A mixture of black, white and Hispanic children played together, while others preferred to stay close to their mothers.

Ethan checked a photo. ‘That’s Darla Pinkus.’

He pointed to a thin woman pushing a little girl on the swing. The child squealed, ‘Higher, Mama.’

Anya watched for a few minutes, familiar with the simple joy of swinging, which for a child was akin to flying. Ben used to beg to be pushed harder to soar as high as possible. She remembered the same feeling, as though there were no constraints or limits.

Darla complied, but there was no excitement in her voice, no encouraging her daughter on to greater heights. She looked almost mechanical, as if her mind was elsewhere. Even with a hooded sweatshirt and baggy pants, hair plaited, she was an attractive woman, with a large bustline and narrow hips.

Ethan took a step forward and Anya touched his elbow.

‘I’d like to talk to her first.’

He shrugged. ‘Fair call. I’ll be right here if you need me.’

Anya grinned, reached into her bag and pulled out some tourist guides. ‘If you sit on a bench reading, you’re less likely to raise suspicion in a kids’ playground.’

Even though Ethan was well aware of surveillance techniques, he cheerfully took the brochures without a word and duly sat at a nearby bench.

The wind picked up and Anya shoved her hands into her trouser pockets. ‘You can swing really high.’

Darla didn’t seem to notice Anya addressing her daughter, she was lost in her own thoughts.

‘Mind if I sit here?’ Anya asked.

‘Uh huh. Bet I can go higher than you. You want to see?’

‘I know you can, I have a little boy back home and he swings just like you.’

Darla looked across.

‘Why didn’t you bring him to play?’ The child slowed herself by bending her knees on the way up.

‘He lives a long way away, in a place called Australia.’

‘That’s where kangaroos come from. Mommy showed me in a book.’

Anya smiled. ‘It sure is. Your mum is pretty clever.’

Darla let go, stepped back and lit a cigarette, careful to shield the match from the wind. ‘I’ve always wanted to go to Australia. Are the beaches as pretty as people say?’

‘Better. South of Sydney is a place called the Sapphire Coast. It’s called that because the water is such a beautiful blue. Just like sparkling jewels.’

‘There are lots of dangerous things there, Lilly,’ Darla said, ‘like poisonous spiders, snakes, and they say wild dogs can snatch a baby with their teeth.’

Lilly’s big brown eyes widened further. ‘Did a dog take your boy?’

Anya laughed. ‘No. It’s really safe in the city where I live. I came here to work for a few weeks, but he has to stay home and go to school. Actually, he’s not much older than you.’

Darla took a drag and exhaled away from where her daughter sat.

‘I couldn’t leave my kid. I mean, going to work is hard enough.’ She glanced around the playground. Two boys played
on small horses wobbling on spring bases while their mothers sat nearby with prams, chatting away to each other. A father encouraged a set of identical twins down the slide.

‘Actually, if you help me, I could get back home sooner.’

Darla clutched the front of her top, as if doing so added warmth. ‘I don’t see how —’

‘I’m a forensic doctor and I’m investigating a possible assault on a woman by several football players. I think you may know some of them.’

The woman stubbed out her cigarette and grabbed her daughter’s hand. ‘Honey, we have to go.’

Lilly jumped to the ground, broke loose and ran off towards the slide.

Darla stood, hand on her forehead. ‘Haven’t you people done enough? What more can you do to us? You got me fired, made me sound like a cheap whore in all the papers.’ Her eyes flared. ‘I almost lost my daughter because of what you did to me.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t explain properly,’ Anya stressed, raising both hands with open palms. ‘I don’t work for the players and all I would like is to talk to you about what happened. I read the hospital report and believe you were raped that night in the club. You deserve to be heard.’

‘Yeah, well, too little too late. Lilly!’

The little girl was chasing the twins around the slide, and the three were giggling and squealing.

‘Please hear me out. I’ve come a long way to see you.’

Darla stopped and looked Anya up and down. ‘You really from Australia?’

‘Usually my accent gives it away.’ Anya pulled out her passport as identification.

Darla tapped a foot on the ground and lit another cigarette. ‘We can talk back at my place.’

The child slipped her hand into Anya’s on the way back. Darla turned to look over at Ethan.

‘Is he with you?’

‘My minder, you could say. Without him I’d drive on the
wrong side of the road and spend all my time getting lost. Do you mind if he talks to you as well? He’s working with me, too.’

Anya signalled for him to come along and Darla did not object.

They walked a couple of blocks to an apartment building. Graffiti covered the ground floor walls and elevator doors. A sign indicated the lift was out of order. Three flights of stairs later, they reached number 316. A woman across the hall opened her chained door and peered through the narrow gap before closing it again.

Darla fiddled with two sets of locks and then whispered, ‘Her son was killed in Iraq a year ago. She’s lost her marbles and spends all day waiting for him.’

Once inside, she instructed Lilly to take off her coat, which she hung behind the door, and untied her shoelaces. The little girl disappeared into a side room. ‘Don’t forget to wash your hands.’

‘I know,’ came the predictable response.

Darla opened the window. Thumping from upstairs echoed through the apartment. ‘The woman above us minds kids for money. Luckily, the ceiling hasn’t collapsed yet.’ She grabbed a pair of sheets and some clothes from the lounge and placed them in what Anya presumed was the bedroom. ‘Have a seat and I’ll put some coffee on. Sorry about the mess. There’s nowhere to hang washing, and I can’t afford anything bigger.’

Anya and Ethan sat. On a noticeboard were photos of Lilly at various ages. The sparkling eyes were the one constant in each image. No photos of a man, or partner. Despite the minimal space, the place was clean and homely. A basket of toys in one corner kept the floor free of obstacles. The little girl skipped back into the room and presented her hands to her mother for inspection.

‘Good girl. How about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?’

The child nodded and sat herself on the floor by the coffee table, tucking her slippered feet underneath her.

‘How do you have your coffee?’

‘Any way it comes, thanks.’

‘I only have half and half milk,’ Darla said, placing three mugs on the small table in front of them. Anya preferred low-fat milk, and said so.

Lilly’s sandwich didn’t last long before the crusts were separated from the bread and abandoned.

‘I want you to go and play in our bedroom while Mama has a talk to the grown-ups.’

Lilly trotted off compliantly.

‘You’re a great mother,’ Anya commented. ‘She’s a real credit to you.’

Ethan seemed happy to let the women develop a rapport.

Darla sat down at the coffee table as her daughter had. She wiped a long piece of hair from her eyes.

‘It isn’t easy sometimes, but I try. The last two years have been the toughest.’ She moved the plate to the side. ‘What do you want from me?’

Anya tried to ease into details of the assaults. ‘We want to know exactly what happened that night you were attacked at the Gold Banner Club.’

‘I was a stripper there. Hell, I knew I had a good body, so I took my clothes off for money. I used to be a dancer so I knew how to move, and the money was great when you’re a single mother.’ She looked towards the window. ‘Not much else a girl without an education can do. Lilly’s father took off a month after she was born.’ She turned her attention back to her visitors. ‘Don’t get me wrong. I never had sex with the clients and I’ve never taken money for sex. A girlfriend told me that Rudy, the manager, had a strict no-touching policy, which is why I agreed to work there. That was part of the act. The guys paid more for you to take more off, and dance more, hoping they had a chance with you, which of course they never did. I only ever stripped down to a thong, and you see more than that at the beach. One girl was paying for her college tuition by stripping. She told me I should sit the high school diploma, and I would have if things had turned out differently.’

‘Where did the dancing take place?’ Ethan obviously wanted to know the layout of the club.

‘There was the general area downstairs, where guys would pay to see you strip around a pole, then there were the private rooms upstairs, for VIPs.’

‘Did the high cover charge attract a specific clientele?’

‘I guess, but the drinks were how Rudy really stung the customers. Our job was to get them to buy us drinks before we stripped, making them feel like it was some kind of date. Only, like I said, there was no touching.’

‘I read that the club was a hangout for movie stars and prominent athletes,’ said Ethan. ‘Were they ever seen by the public, or did they get ushered in a back way?’

Darla tucked her legs beneath her and held her chipped mug with both hands. ‘Rudy wanted them to be seen. Said it was good for business. And word got out pretty quickly whenever someone big was in the club. So they’d enter through the main doors, wave at the crowd, then Rudy’d take them upstairs to the VIP rooms and give them free drinks all night. They could go through a thousand bucks’ worth of champagne. Rudy was cheap, so he had to be making money out of the deal.’ She lowered her gaze. ‘He was always doing coke, but I never asked questions.’

Ethan explained, ‘Rudy had a name for dealing long before he got into clubs. It makes sense that’s how he made real money. The club was how he avoided paying taxes on it.’

‘I swear I wasn’t into drugs. I never touched the stuff. Look, some players had their favourite girls, but still, there was no touching, even in the VIP rooms. We usually had one of the bouncers outside the door in case of trouble. All we ever had to do was call out if a client got out of line.’

Anya asked gently. ‘What happened that night? When things went wrong.’

Darla stared down at her drink. ‘I was dancing, I’d taken off all my clothes except my thong when one of the players, McKenzie, grabbed me from behind and tried to dance with me. I told him to let go or I’d call the bouncer, but he shoved
me to the couch and covered my mouth with his hand. I could hardly breathe. Janson was laughing and cheering as McKenzie held me down and raped me. Then Janson took over.’