The Lady Has a Past (Burning Cove #5) - Amanda Quick Page 0,81

a talent for making conversation. They know we need time to find those files. They’ll keep the police busy as long as necessary.”

He opened the door and moved into the room. Luther followed, closing the door. Simon crossed the space and quickly drew the curtains closed. When he was sure they would not be noticed from the outside, he turned on a couple of lamps.

“I suggest you do a standard search,” he said. “I’ll try a sweep and see if I can pick up anything interesting.”

Luther went to the sofa and started removing cushions. “These are—were—Billingsley’s personal quarters. Won’t everything in here have the same vibe as the doorknob?”

“Yes,” Simon said. He walked slowly around the room, his senses open. “But we’re talking about a man who liked to have pictures of himself taken while he was trying to get an erection in front of a woman who was chained to a bed. I’m betting there will be a lot of additional heat around the place where he stored those photos.”

“Because they are important to him.”

“Yes,” Simon said.

He began in the bedroom. It was the place most people stashed their secrets. He went to the doorway and stopped short when he saw the bookcase. It was crammed with volumes.

Luther joined him. “See something?”

“Books.” Simon crossed the room and pulled a couple of volumes off the shelf. “A complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. No home should be without this invaluable educational tool. You owe it to your children to make this investment. Just ask any door-to-door encyclopedia salesman.”

“Let me take a wild guess here,” Luther said. “You don’t think Billingsley spent his evenings browsing the encyclopedia?”

“No, I don’t. None of these books have been handled in a very long time. They’re covered in dust.” Simon ran his fingertips along the edge of the bookcase. “Here we go.”

He tugged on the bookcase. It opened on hinges, revealing the door of a wall safe.

“We’re in luck,” he said. “Combination lock.”

He set his briefcase on the floor, unlatched it, took out the stethoscope, and went to work.

A short time later he opened the safe.

Luther moved into the room. “Anything inside?”

“Some cash,” Simon said. “A small bottle and a couple of envelopes.” He took out the bottle, removed the top, and sniffed cautiously. The acrid bite of strong herbs made him grimace. “I think this is the stuff that was used to drug Raina and Lyra and the others.”

“Leave it in the safe,” Luther said. “And the money as well.”

Simon replaced the chemical bottle and picked up the envelopes. He opened the first one and removed a legal document.

“It’s the deed to the house where we found Raina,” he said.

He tossed it aside, opened the second envelope, and dumped several photos onto a table. Each picture showed a nude woman chained to a bed. There was a man in each photo. He wore a rubber spa face mask, but in the images that showed his chest, the birthmark was visible.

“That bastard,” Luther said quietly.

Simon sensed the sick heat coming off the pictures. He picked one up and took a closer look. “Shit.” He picked up another photo and shook his head. “This is worse than we thought.”

“What is it?” Luther asked.

“Take a look.” Simon handed him one of the photos. “Billingsley used a blade to cut the throat of each of these women. He fantasized about murdering them.”

“We’ll burn these immediately.”

“That won’t protect the victims,” Simon said.

“I know. We need to find the negatives, too. As long as they exist, someone can make more prints.”

Simon glanced at the open safe. “They should have been in there with the photos. There’s no other secure place in this suite.”

Luther surveyed the room again. “He must have hidden them somewhere else.”

“Pete and Joe told us that Billingsley was the boss, and maybe he was, as far as they were concerned. But Raina is convinced that Guppy was involved in the kidnappings. We assumed she was an accomplice like Frampton, the treatment lady who was murdered. But what if she was more than that? Maybe she was a full partner in the kidnapping operation.”

Luther got a thoughtful expression. “Or maybe the one in charge. She’s the one who knows the formulas for the drugs. She reigns supreme at the spa. It’s her reputation that draws potential victims here to the resort.”

“If that’s true, she’s the one who has the negatives,” Simon said. “There’s a safe in her office. I opened it last night. There were some financial records