Page 35 of The Killer’s Mark

‘I don’t know, Poe. I’m only hypothesising. But in principle, do you think it’s a good idea? I can check my bloodwork before and after. See if my oestrogen levels change.’

‘The heart wants what the heart wants, I suppose.’

‘Are you making fun of me?’

‘I’m not, Tilly,’ Poe said. ‘You’ve just caught me unawares. But if you want my advice …’

‘I do.’

‘… you should think very carefully before you do anything. Don’t rush into it. I also think you should have this conversation with Estelle. She’s a doctor and she loves you, so you know her advice will be well considered, and she’ll only have your best interests at heart. Also, I think she’d really enjoy that conversation.’

‘You do?’

Poe nodded. ‘Definitely.’

‘OK, I’ll do that.’

‘And in future, don’t listen to fifteen-year-olds when it comes to sex. They’re basically a boiling bag of hormones.’

Which reminded him what Chance Ryzcek had said about Traci Lords. He said she’d lied about her age. That it had cost the porn industry hundreds of millions of dollars. People had been prosecuted for underage sex. For distributing indecent images of children. People had gone to prison …

He smiled.

He had a plan.

Chapter 26

Bradshaw said that Pure Pulse Productions wasn’t a limited company; it was structured as a sole trader. That meant that a single individual ran and owned the business. Poe was glad. It would make what he was about to do a whole lot easier.

The proprietor was a guy called Toby Knight. He had a BA (Hons) in photography. Bradshaw said he used to star in his own movies but hadn’t since he got married in 2018. He now worked with a small number of men. He had used Chance Ryzcek sixteen times in the last five years. His business model seemed to be putting out a casting call for women hoping to break into the porn industry, pay them two hundred pounds a scene then send them on their way. The men got four hundred pounds a day but might have to do three scenes.

Knight worked out of an office above a letting agency. It was in a part of Romford yet to be hit by the gentrification stick. The kind of London that Londoners could still afford. Poe and Bradshaw had arrived early. Spotting a coffee shop on the opposite side of the street, they took a window seat and had breakfast while they waited for Knight to arrive. Bradshaw had asked why they didn’t doorstop him at his home, but Poe thought that saying what he was about to say in front of Knight’s wife was unnecessarily aggressive. They could always threaten him with that if things didn’t go their way.

Knight arrived at 9.30. He was carrying a disposable coffee cup and a brown bag. Looked like he was having breakfast at his desk.

‘Come on,’ Poe said. ‘No one likes being questioned when they have pastry crumbs on their jumper.’

‘Is that true?’ Bradshaw said sceptically.

Poe shrugged. ‘I’m not a fact-checking website, Tilly.’

They crossed the road. The door to Pure Pulse Productions was closed and locked. Poe pressed the buzzer.

‘Yes?’

Poe introduced himself. Bradshaw did the same.

‘Are you here for the auditions?’

Poe rolled his eyes. ‘I’d rather watch a Ben Fogle documentary.’

‘Then how can I help you?’ Knight asked.

‘It’s … sensitive,’ Poe replied. ‘Not something you want said out loud in this part of London, I imagine. Also, it’s very much in your interests to let us in. If you don’t, our next stop is the Metropolitan Police’s Complex Investigation Team.’

Knight buzzed them up. Poe had known he would. The Complex Investigation Team was well known in Romford. One of their investigations, Operation Winter Key – a specialist inquiry into historic child abuse – had made national news.

Knight met them at the top of the stairs. If Poe could have designed a British pornographer, he’d have come up with someone very much like Toby Knight. He looked like a fart searching for a trouser leg. Seedy, sordid, sleazy. All the bad s-words, none of the good ones. He had so many pockmarks his face resembled a dartboard. He was balding but had a ponytail. He wore gold hoops in his ears. Bradshaw had said that he no longer starred in his own movies. Said it was probably due to him getting married. Poe thought it was more likely because of his halitosis. When he said, ‘I’m Toby Knight, how can I help you?’ a wave of stink washed over Poe. It was so bad he started to cough. Bradshaw put her hand over her nose and said, ‘Wowsers.’