Rip Tide by Robert F Clifton (best books to read now .txt) 📖

Kalinka dress in a fashion show she might have carried a designer purse at the same time. Also, if the murderer was unaware of the value of the dress they would also be unaware of a valuable pocketbook. Like most women, Pauline would have had a purse or pocketbook with her either the designer bag or her own bag”.

“Exactly, but which one? And, why hasn't Erica Butler mentioned the pocketbook?”

“Could be that she has it”, said Mckenna.

“I'm thinking the same way Tom”, said Wallace.

“What next Cap?”, asked Myers.

“I want you to talk to Alison Harris. See if she remembers what her sister wore the night she left home for the fashion show. In particular what kind of purse or pocketbook she had”.

“Got it. Anything else?”

“Yes, tell Qwen to try and find out about the missing bag. She'll know how to do it. At the same time let us know when she is going to make contact so Frank can place the bug”.

“Can I make a suggestion?', asked Myers.

“Certainly”.

“Did anyone check the shoe the victim was wearing?”

“Check it for what?”

“Make, model. cost, things like that”.

“No, there again, something we missed. Good thinking Myers”.

“Thank you. I'll look at the shoe when I come back. Right now I have to see a teenage girl who is out of school for the summer and could be anywhere”.

********************

Detective Myers sat across from the sofa in the living room of the Harris family. On the couch were Alison Harris and her mother. Standing and occasionally pacing the floor was Douglas Harris.

“Alison, I need to ask you a few questions about the last time you saw your sister. Your mother and father are here at my request so that they know why I'm making this inquiry. Are you ready?”

“Yes”.

“Good, tell me about the last time you saw and spoke to your sister”.

“We were in her bedroom. She had set her hair and was getting dressed. As she did we talked about her being in her first fashion show”.

“For the moment, let's talk about what Pauline was wearing that night,”said Myers.

“Nothing fancy. Jeans, a sweater, tennis shoes. I remember asking her why she was dressing that way to go to a fashion show. She told me that the designer wardrobes that the models were to wear were at the convention center and that they dressed there. She said that Erica Butler determined which model would wear a particular outfit”.

“I see. Did she take a pocketbook or purse with her?”

“Yes. I remember her saying she didn't know about makeup, whether the agency provided it or if she had to provide her own. I watched her place her own makeup in her pocketbook”.

“Can you describe her pocketbook?”

“Yes, it is a brown shoulder bag”.

“Was it expensive?”

“No. I was with her when she bought it at K-Mart. I think she paid fifteen or eighteen dollars for it”.

Myers wrote the information in her notebook. “Can you remember any of the conversation both of you had that night?”, she asked.

“Let me think. I remember her saying that she and the other models were going to wear expensive fashions, binka, minka, something like that”.

“Did she say Kalinka?”

“Yes, that's it”.

“Anything else?”

“As she was putting on her tennis shoes she said she wondered what style shoes she would be wearing. All she knew was that Erica Butler had her shoe size”.

“How was she when she left?”

“Do you mean what kind of a mood was she in?”

“Yes”.

“Happy go lucky. She stood by the front door waiting for Mr. Butler to pick her up and take her to the convention center. That was the last time I saw my sister”, said Alison as she began to cry.

Back at headquarters Captain Wallace answered the ringing telephone on his desk. “Major Crime Squad Captain Wallace”.

“Wally? This is Qwen. Erica Butler just called here and wants me to come in”.

“How soon?'

“I stalled her, telling her I had a bad tooth and needed to see a dentist”.

“Did she buy it?'

“Evidently. She told me to come in when I was finished'.

“O.K. I'm sending Frank over to set up the bug. When you get there sometime during your conversation bring up the subject of handbags. I want to hear what the boss lady has to say about them”.

“I will, but as near as I can make out she wants to see me about the upcoming fashion show, things like what color goes well with my complexion, high heels or flats, things like that”.

“Alright, everything else going smooth?”

“Yes, I feel terrible about imposing on Carol. Can't we make other living arrangements?”

“Not at the moment, but I do have something in mind. Let me work on it”.

“Fine. I'll wait for Sergeant Stiles. Bye”.

**************************

Qwen Phillips took a seat in front of the desk of Erica Butler who sat in a black, leather covered, high back desk chair. After sitting Qwen crossed her legs. She was wearing black slacks. Inside the bottom of the pant leg there was an attached listening device. When Phillips crossed her legs the bug was in a position to pick up any sound or conversation. Outside and across the street in an unmarked van Frank Stiles sat waiting to record any words issued by Phillips and Erica butler.

“So Sweety, what did the dentist say?”, asked Erica.

“You know dentist, just as soon as you open your mouth they say root canal”.

“Are you going to have it done?”

“It doesn't ache right now. I'll think it over”.

“That's up to you. The reason I called you in is to go over a few things.

As you know we will be displaying wool at this show. What I have in mind for you is an outfit that requires you wearing knee high boots. Would you have a problem with that?”

“High heel or flat?”

“High heel”.

“No, just as long as I have time to walk in them before going out on the runway”.

“Excellent, but let me make a note of it right now. As you can imagine

things can get hectic once the show begins”.

“You mention the boots, what type of pocketbook will I carry?”

“None, the first outfit I've selected for you is a hooded parka with matching sweater and ski pants. It might seem to be out of season, but we'll be showing to Canadians”.

“Just as well. I don't like carrying one when I model. I either display it too much or too little according to the designer”.

“That can happen”.

“And, the prices. I've seen some so expensive that they were insured by Lloyds of London”.

“Don't talk to me about insurance. I have a dress being held now by the police as evidence and I can't collect from my insurance company. It looks like I'll, have to pay the designer”.

“Who made the dress?”

“Kalinka”.

“Oh my. They are expensive”.

“Oh yes, that number was worth over a thousand dollars”.

“Wow!. I modeled a Kalinka sometime ago. As I recall it was a little cocktail number. I can't remember if I carried a pocketbook or purse. If I did I’m sure that it was expensive, just like the dress”.

“Well, I got lucky with the pocketbook. The girl that was murdered was carrying a Nancy Gonzalez, black, crocodile fringe cross body clutch bag worth twenty seven hundred dollars. Fortunately my husband took it from her when she came off the runway”.

“It's a shame he didn't get the dress”.

“As far as I know she was to wear it to a private showing for the wife of one of the conventioneers. She never showed up. Next thing we knew her body washed up on the beach”.

“How sad”.

“Yes, Pauline was only eighteen years old. I tried hiring younger models. Two of them quit and then the last one was according to the police, murdered. I have now decided to stay with my more matured

girls”.

“You mentioned private showings. How does that work?”

“I really don't know too much about it. That's something that Martha Hanes came up with. I see it as another way for the models to make additional money. I don't want to get involved in it. I have enough problems with what I've got”.

“Well, I'd be interested in making extra money. Things have been rough since my divorce”.

“Like I said dear, I don't know too much about it. I suggest that you talk to Martha”.

 

In the late afternoon Robert Wallace sat in the last row of seats high in the balcony of the ballroom, located in the convention center. As he did he watched the female models of the Nautilus Beach Modeling Agency

walk down the runway and back again. The women were wearing wool designs created in New Zealand by Paul Downs. Although it was August the fashion show was displayed at the request of Drilling Companies from Canada, their executives, employees, and relatives. “I'm sitting here in an air conditioned building, wearing a blazer and sweating my ass off. Down there those women are parading back and forth dressed in wool. They have to be uncomfortable”, he thought to himself.

Fortunately, Erica Butler introduced each model by their first name saying such things as; “And, here is Charlotte wearing a black, wool, evening coat”. As Erica introduced each model and fashion Wallace was able to see and identify each one of the women. He paid particular attention to Erica Butler, Qwen Phillips and Martha Hanes.

To his surprise from where he was sitting Erica Butler was better looking than he thought she would be. She was seated, but he noticed the black, short hair style. The black, ten button pantsuit she wore along with the white silk blouse was expensive and what she wore she wore well. He judged her to be about forty or forty five years old. By the tone of her voice here at the convention and from the experience of a telephone conversation he had with her he knew first hand that she came off as firm, aggressive, and sure of herself. “Interesting”,he thought.

When Martha Hanes was introduced he leaned forward in his seat.

Like Erica Mrs. Hanes wore her hair short, only she was blond and in his opinion her hair was styled in what they called a pixie cut. Myers had been right. All of these hometown housewives were attractive, but Mrs. Hanes was more than that, she was beautiful. The black and white, old, press photographs he had seen didn't do her justice. Now, seeing her and the other women hired by Erica Butler although amateur and part time models, their looks allowed them to appear as professional.

As he watched them, knowing that they were all close, high school sorority sisters at one time he wondered what secrets they had then. “What secrets do they have now? Which one holds the key to solving the murder of Pauline Harris? Is it really only one, or more?”, he thought.

Before the fashion show was to end Wallace got up out of the balcony seat, went through the exit and entered the long, concrete hallway. He walked down several flight of stairs and entered the parking garage underneath the convention center. There, he unlocked the door to the unmarked radio car, opened the door and sat behind the steering wheel. After starting the engine he drove off, driving up the steep ramp that led to the street.

At eight o'clock that evening members of the Major Crime Squad met again in the home of Detective Myers. After listening to the tape recorded conversation between Qwen Phillips and Erica Butler Captain Wallace got up out of the living room chair and went to his briefcase that was on top of the dining room table. He opened it and removed a large yellow note pad.

Returning to his chair he took a ballpoint pen out of his shirt pocket and looking at Qwen Phillips said, “O.K., let me hear what you have”.

“What I have I think you will find very interesting. After the show I was back stage putting on my street clothes when I was approached by

Martha Hanes. As she stood next to me she spoke in a low voice, low enough that the conversation we were about to have could only