Free Passion Killers by Linda Regan Page B

g-strings at the club,” Katie said, her voice hardly above a whisper. “They were uniform for all the strippers.”
    “Judy Gardener told us that,” Banham said.
    There was a silence. Then Olivia asked, “What else did she tell you?”
    “Enough to show that you could be in danger,” Banham said gently. “We’re having Brian Finn brought in for questioning. He has killed once; we know he is capable of it.”
    For some reason Banham couldn’t quite grasp, a look of relief seemed to pass across both women’s faces.
    “When Finn was convicted,” Alison said, “he refused to give any explanation of why he killed Ahmed Abdullah, the club owner. Have you any idea why he did it?”
    “Ahmed was cruel,” Katie said quickly. “He made us all do horrible, perverted things, and he videoed them. Theresa worked for Ahmed, and Brian loved Theresa. He probably stood up for her.”
    “Ahmed was a horrible man. No one mourned him,” Olivia added.
    “Does your husband know about the videos?” Alison asked Olivia.
    “It was a secret that we six girls kept between ourselves,” Olivia said. “We didn’t tell anyone else at all.” She clasped and unclasped her hands. “Theresa and I have children. And the others all have careers.”
    “Kim obviously told Judy,” Katie said. The hard edge to her tone surprised Banham.
    “Do you know how Brian Finn killed Ahmed Abdullah?” he asked, looking from Olivia to Katie and back again.
    There was another moment of silence. Again Banham noticed the women didn’t look at each other.
    “I think they had a fight,” Katie said quietly.
    “Everyone hated Ahmed,” Olivia said again.
    “I don’t expect he meant to kill him,” Katie said quickly.
    “We weren’t there, so how would we know what happened?” Olivia added almost as an afterthought.
    “You should ask Theresa,” Katie said. “He was her bloke. If he told anyone, it would be her.”
    Banham looked speculatively at Katie. “Why do you think he didn’t mean to kill him?”
    “Brian wasn’t like that. He was gentle.” She threw Olivia a quick, nervous glance.
    “He was a club bouncer,” Banham reminded her.
    “And asking you for a hundred thousand pounds for your videos isn’t too gentle,” Alison pointed out.
    Neither answered.
    “I’ll ask again. Does your husband know about the videos?” Alison asked Olivia.
    Another brief glance passed between the women. Then Olivia shrugged. “He knows we were strippers. That’s where we met. He was a law student and he used to come into the club and watch Katie and me doing our turn. We had a lot in common. I wanted to be a barrister too in those days. We had an affair, I got pregnant, and we got married. End of story.”
    “Does he know about the videos?” Alison persisted.
    Olivia looked at the floor. “Yes, he does.”
    Katie stared at Olivia, but said nothing.
    Another silence fell, and Banham rubbed his mouth thoughtfully. Perhaps best not to push Olivia too hard on that for the moment, he thought. “Let’s go back to Shaheen,” he said, with a quick glance at Alison. “What do you know about her family?”
    “Hardly anything.” Katie shook her head.
    “I told you, she didn’t keep in touch,” Olivia said.
    “You sent Christmas cards. Didn’t you exchange news?”
    “She married a plumber and had three sons,” Katie said doubtfully. “I don’t know what use that is to you.”
    Olivia sat forward. “Her parents were religious fanatics,” she said. “We never met them – she told us. That’s why she ran away from home and came to work at the club. She didn’t need money. It was her way of rebelling.”
    “She never really fitted in,” Katie added.
    “So you didn’t like her?” said Alison.
    “I didn’t say that,” Katie snapped.
    “Have you any idea who might want to kill her?” Banham asked. “Did she have any enemies as far as you knew?”
    “Not that we know,” Olivia answered. “But why would we?”
    “Well, whoever