Free Passion Killers by Linda Regan

duty?”
    “Nothing, thank you,” said Banham, careful to keep his tone formal. He sat down in the chair Kenneth Stone had indicated, and Alison perched herself on the arm of the sofa next to it.
    Stone sat down too, but the two women remained standing.
    “Please tell us what’s happened to Shaheen Hakhti,” Katie Faye said urgently. “Judy said...”
    Judy had told Banham about the pornographic videos, and that Brian Finn, who had murdered Ahmed Abdullah, was newly out of prison and blackmailing the women for the return of the tapes. Crowther was on his way to bring Finn in for questioning; Banham had decided to talk to Olivia Stone himself. That Katie Faye was here too was bonus; Judy had said that these two women were paying the blackmail between them, and that Shaheen Hakhti had disagreed with their decision.
    Thanks to Judy, Banham also knew that the Right Hon Kenneth Stone MP had met his wife nineteen years ago at the Scarlet Pussy Club where she was working as a stripper. What he didn’t know was exactly how much Kenneth Stone was aware of.
    “Mr Stone, I’ll need to talk to you in a while, but for the moment can I ask you to wait in another room while I have a few words with your wife and Miss Faye?”
    The smile left Kenneth Stone’s face, and the eyes he turned on Olivia were like chips of granite.
    “It’s all right,” Olivia said apprehensively. “There are no secrets between us.”
    “All the same,” Banham said firmly, “I’d like to talk to the ladies first.”
    Ken nodded curtly and got to his feet. “Are you sure I can’t get you some tea or coffee?” he asked, his tone no longer silkily courteous.
    “No thank you,” Alison replied.
    Ken left the room without another word.
    The atmosphere in the room seemed to lighten as he pulled the door pointedly shut behind him. The two women sat down, close together on the sofa.
    Banham was having trouble taking his eyes off Katie Faye. Her skin was flawless, and her eyes, so large and blue, were fearful. He knew Alison was watching him, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and comfort her, then take her away from this whole sordid mess.
    But he had a job to do, and he was nothing if not professional. He told them about the woman’s body in the boot of the car, sparing none of the details: the broken legs, the bloodied face, the scarlet g-string in her mouth. Then he took out the photograph from the handbag belonging to Shaheen, and handed it to Katie.
    Olivia looked away, biting her lip.
    Katie covered her mouth with her hand. “Yes, that’s her,” she whispered. “Who would want to do that to her?”
    “We’re bringing Brian Finn brought in for questioning,” Alison told them. “We know what happened at the Scarlet Pussy Club.”
    A look passed between Katie and Olivia. “What about it?” Katie asked.
    “That pornographic videos were made which Brian Finn still has in his possession. We also know he is blackmailing you for their return, and that Shaheen Hakhti disagreed with your decision to pay him.”
    Olivia seemed to relax a little; her shoulders dropped, and some of the tension cleared from her face. “We were expecting Shaheen a couple of weeks ago,” she told them. “She was coming down from Leicester to meet Susan Rogers, another member of our... little group. She wanted to take Brian’s note to the police, and Susan was going to try to persuade her to agree that we should pay him what he asked. But she didn’t turn up.”
    “We just assumed she didn’t want to get involved,” Katie said. “And to be honest, we were rather glad. She wasn’t even in the videos. We were, Olivia and I – you can imagine what it would do to both our lives if they got in the wrong hands.” She looked at Olivia and then back to Banham. “Exactly what do you know, Inspector?”
    Banham held her frightened blue eyes with his own. “It sounds as if you’d better tell me everything,” he