Irene and the others arrived. Personal business. Raina understood. She knew how it felt to live with unanswered questions.
“She had more than looks and a fancy accent,” Irene said. She flipped through her notebook. “According to a couple of newspaper interviews, she concocted her own perfumes, face creams, and other products.”
“Products like that damned poisoned tea that Frampton gave to Lyra,” Simon said.
Raina glanced at him. His eyes were unreadable, but something in the atmosphere around him sent a chill down her spine.
“Apparently she had some training at a pharmaceutical lab before she went into the beauty business,” Irene said.
Luther leaned forward, planted both hands on the desk, and took a closer look at the photos. “Huh.”
That got everyone’s attention.
“What?” Raina asked.
“Nothing. Yet.” Luther glanced at Irene. “Go on. Have you got anything else on Guppy?”
“Such as why she closed down her apparently successful business in New York and moved to California?” Simon asked.
“Good question,” Irene said. She turned another page in her notebook. “According to my newspaper source there were rumors of a scandal that reached into the highest levels of society. It involved drugs, rape, and blackmail. The entire affair was hushed up because some of the most distinguished men in the city were said to be involved, including several politicians. There were rumors of a little book filled with names.”
Simon opened his briefcase and took out a leather-bound volume. “A book like this one? Luther and I found it when we discovered the photos of the kidnap victims. It’s a very precise record of names, dates, addresses, and the ransom amounts. Each entry has a number that corresponds to the numbers on the back of the pictures of each victim.”
“Simon and I burned most of the photos and the negatives,” Luther said. “I let Mrs. Merryweather deal with those that involved her, but it’s safe to say they have been destroyed, as well. We can’t guarantee there aren’t any more copies of the photos, but I think the odds are good that, aside from the set she made for Billingsley, Guppy would not have allowed another set to be made. They were too valuable.”
“And she was nothing if not an excellent businesswoman,” Simon said.
Raina looked at Irene. “What about Billingsley?”
“He’s not nearly as much of a mystery,” Irene said. “He was born into wealth and had all the advantages, but he was dismissed from a series of private schools for unspecified reasons. In his twenties he was considered an extremely eligible bachelor and man-about-town, but he never married. There were rumors that he frequented houses of prostitution that catered to those with what my informant referred to as eccentric tastes.”
“Define eccentric in this case,” Raina said.
Irene looked up from her notes. “He was apparently unable to complete the act in the normal manner. He could only find physical satisfaction if the woman was chained to a bed and pretended to be terrified of him. Then he would stand over them and, ah, finish the business. He blamed the women for his problems. Apparently he had a habit of taking out his rage on the prostitutes. After two ended up in the hospital, most of the houses refused to let him through the doors. He probably turned to the streets but there is no way to know.”
“The women who are forced to work on the streets have no protection,” Raina said. “A violent man could literally get away with murder. I wonder if Guppy was aware of just how dangerous her business partner was.”
“She knew,” Simon said. “That’s why she tried to placate him by letting him have a set of photos. There’s no doubt that she was the real boss of the kidnapping ring. The question is, why did she get involved with an unstable business partner?”
“I can think of one reason,” Irene said. “My source tells me that she was rumored to be facing bankruptcy a few years ago. Billingsley was very rich. I imagine she needed his money. She needed it again when she had to close down the New York spa and move west.”
“He bought an entire hotel and added a spectacular spa just so he could pursue his desire to hunt and humiliate women,” Simon said.
“For Guppy, there was more than money involved,” Luther said. “Simon and I went through the names in her book. Her victims were not just the wives and daughters of wealthy men. She chose women who are closely connected to politicians, government officials, and successful industrialists.”
Simon looked at