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She had to put thoughts of her personal life aside and focus on the case. There was still no evidence to go on from the scene, so she was hoping to get a nibble from the strip club where it appeared Melissa had been heading home from. According to the husband, at least.
The car was still being processed, and she planned on going through the stuff they’d found in the glove compartment, but so far, that was about all they had to go on, that and the phone which the techs were going through. So if she met another dead end at the club, she was looking at a long few days.
The club was just getting started by the time she pulled into the parking lot. It was now a little before eight, and the place opened at five-thirty, but from what she’d learned, things didn’t really start picking up until about seven.
She walked through the doors, flashing her badge at the bouncer who gave her a steely look. “I need to see Simon, the owner.”
“He’s in the back, one of the girls can show you.” He pointed over his shoulder in the general direction of the half-naked women who were walking around the room with trays of liquor and beer.
“Did you know Melissa Sherry?”
“Yeah, a damn shame what happened to her.” The large six foot three bald man with tats covering half his body seemed to soften as he shook his head.
“When’s the last time you saw her?”
“Been a few days now. I was out of town the week before, and when I came back, I didn’t see her.”
Celia started taking notes as he went on to tell her when was the last time he’d seen her victim to his recollection. “Who here was she close to do you know?”
“Amber, I guess. She’s the blonde over in the corner in the red bra.”
“Thank you, and your name?”
“Ross, Ross Harper.”
“Thank you, Ross, I might need to question you some more later.” He nodded and went back to scowling at the group of men who were coming through the door behind her.
Celia walked over to the corner, where Amber was chatting up a mark. The little blonde saw her and turned up her nose with a scowl. “I smell pig, you a cop?” Celia just smirked; she’d heard it all before, and as insults went, this one was a little pedantic.
“I need to ask you a few questions.”
“I’ll be right back sugar.” She pursed her lips at the aging gentleman who looked like he should be home tending his garden. “Follow me, it’s too noisy in here, and the walls have ears.” She followed the other woman through the crowded bar and out a side door that led to the back of the place where there were two large garbage dumps.
Night had fallen, and there was barely any light back there, so Celia placed herself in the most strategic position to protect herself if the need arose. “You’re here about Melissa.” Gone was the street-tough attitude as Amber pulled a cigarette from between her breasts in the too-small bra-like top that her breasts were spilling out of.
The din of music from inside was the only sound back there as she lit up. “I don’t know how much I can tell you. I haven’t seen her since she quit.”
“She quit? When was this?”
“About two weeks ago, didn’t her husband tell you?”
Celia didn’t let her confusion show as she avoided the question. “Did she tell you why she quit? Was she working somewhere else?”
“Nope, just said something better came up, something with more money. I know it’s not stripping because there isn’t another place around where she can make the same kind of money doing what she did here.”
“And she didn’t tell you anything?”
“Nothing, and believe me, I tried. If I had a line on something where I was making the kind of money, she said she was going to for less hours you think I’d still be here.”
“How much did she say she was going to be making?”
“She said she’d be pulling in in a night what we make in a week or something to that effect.”
Celia couldn’t think of anything in the small town that would pay that kind of money. “Did she ever complain about anyone bothering her while she was working here? Any clients who got too handsy?” Amber shook her head and took a drag from her cigarette.
“She never told me about it, and I never noticed anyone being any more of an ass than the usual, but you’d have to ask Simon if something like that were going on she’d have told him. He has a strict policy about stuff like that.”
Celia asked a few more questions, but she had a feeling she wasn’t going to get much more from the woman. She was equally sure that Gil didn’t know that his wife had quit her job, which could only mean that whatever it was she was doing, she hadn’t wanted her husband to know about it.
