Free Dressed To Kill (A Kate O'Donnell Mystery) by Patricia Hall

eyebrows, careful that neither man could see her. She hung up her coat and glanced around the studio. There was no one there except Sylvia, looking even more pale and wan than the last time she had seen her.
    ‘I’ll make some coffee,’ Kate said, filling the kettle and switching it on. ‘Are you all right?’
    ‘Not really but I’ve got the name of someone to go and see,’ she said listlessly.
    ‘To get rid of it, you mean?’ Kate said cautiously.
    The girl nodded and Kate drew a sharp breath. All her upbringing told her that the very idea was terribly wrong but when she looked at Sylvia, little more than a child herself, she could not bring herself to even begin to persuade her not to go ahead with what she was planning.
    ‘Some of these people are very dangerous,’ she said quietly. ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘’Course I’m sure,’ she said. ‘What else can I do?’
    Kate made the coffee silently and handed Sylvia a cup.
    ‘Though I need the cash and I don’t know where I’m going to get that from,’ the girl said as she took a sip and grimaced. ‘I’ve gone off coffee,’ she muttered, putting the cup down.
    ‘How did you end up here?’ Kate asked as the two of them perched on high stools and Sylvia opened a packet of custard creams and began to eat them voraciously.
    ‘It seemed better than anything else, didn’t it?’ she said. ‘Where I came from you worked in a shop or a factory, then you got married and had a load of kids. When Ricky turned up outside the school looking for pretty girls to go modelling it seemed like a good idea at the time. He can be very persuasive, can Ricky.’
    ‘He does the recruiting, does he?’
    ‘I think he hangs around some of the schools looking for likely targets. It’s been going on for ages. It was only when I got here that I realized that a lot of them don’t stay long. Andrei chucks people out as soon as look at them if they don’t suit. I expect if he discovers I’m pregnant I’ll be out on my ear.’
    ‘And then what would you do?’ Kate asked.
    ‘I don’t know,’ Sylvia said. ‘That’s why I’ve got to get rid of it.’ A single tear ran down her face. ‘There was another girl here from my school. She was the year ahead of me. Jenny Maitland she was called. She seemed to be doing fine when I started, but suddenly she vanished. I asked Ricky where she’d gone, but he told me he hadn’t a clue. She just went, didn’t she, he said. She’s a free agent.’
    ‘Jenny?’ Kate said, remembering that the girl who had been found dead behind the jazz club had been called Jenny. ‘How long ago did she leave?’
    ‘Oh, I don’t know. A couple of months, maybe. I can’t remember.’ The girl looked at Kate speculatively. ‘Could you lend me some money?’ she said.
    Kate drew a sharp breath. ‘I can’t do that,’ she said quietly. ‘I know you’re desperate but . . . I can’t.’ She sipped her coffee as another tear slid down Sylvia’s cheek. ‘If you’re sure that’s what you want to do, can’t you get Andrei or Ricky to help you? Surely it’s their responsibility.’
    ‘If I ask them they’ll throw me out,’ she said. ‘With or without the baby they’ll throw me out.’
    Kate sighed and then suddenly had an idea. ‘Did you realize that the girl who was found dead a couple of days ago was called Jenny?’ she asked.
    Sylvia shook her head.
    ‘You know the police pay for information sometimes. If I took you to see a policeman I know and you told him about Jenny Maitland and how you were both recruited by Ricky he might think it’s worth paying you for. I can’t be sure, but it’s worth a try. It sounds as if he needs to know anyway.’
    ‘But if Andrei found out I was telling the police things, he might throw me out. He’s not going to be very pleased is he? You haven’t seen him in a rage.’
    ‘I’m sure Sergeant Barnard wouldn’t say where his information came from,’ Kate said. ‘Why don’t you let me ring