Aretha Moon and the Dead Hairdresser: Aretha Moon Book 2 (Aretha Moon Mysteries) Linda Ross (books for students to read TXT) 📖

There were a couple more performers and then Avril was announced.  Avril wasn’t imitating anyone, just singing.  And, to my surprise, Avery/Avril had a really nice voice.  He belted out My Funny Valentine to the strains of a karaoke machine on stage.  When he got to our table we stuffed as many bills as we could in his stocking.  He had his leg propped on the empty chair between us, and I marveled at how silky his legs were.  I had seen the guy with hair, and what he took off must have been enough to stuff a pillow.  He was baby smooth everywhere.

Avery got a big round of applause, led by Thelma and me.  About an hour later the show was over, and Avery came out in street clothes to sit with us.  “You were great,” I told him.  “Your voice is really good.”

“I know a choir that could use you,” Thelma said.  “And you could wear a robe.”

Avery grinned and tossed his silky chestnut hair.

“Hey, good job tonight,” the emcee said.  “Can I join you?”

Introductions were made, and her name was Chloe Danum.  She worked at the bar on show nights, but her regular job was in Hannibal.  She and her partner owned a small candy store downtown.  Being a chocoholic, I was familiar with it.

“I’ve had many a great peanut cluster from there,” I said.  “For Halloween, I bought a pound of your chocolate-covered marshmallows for the office.”

“Where do you work?”

“Thelma and I are from The Spyglass.”

“They did the story on me,” Avery said.

“Really?  Did you work on that murder?”

“We’re still trying to get more information,” Thelma said.

“I ran into that Kara at a couple of parties,” Chloe said, and Thelma and I both perked up.  “And she used to cut my partner’s hair once in a while.  She was a real odd one.  Kara, not my partner.”

“How do you mean?” I asked.  I wondered if she was going to show me a scar or two from her encounters.

“Well, there’s this guy I know.”  She looked around and lowered her voice.  “David Henderson.  We’re friends from back when we took a computer class together.  He was older than the rest of us in class, and I didn’t know anything about computers, so we helped each other out.”  She chewed her lower lip.  “Don’t tell anyone else this, but he runs this kind of. . . club.”

“What kind of club?” I asked.

“It’s for people with different tastes, if you know what I mean.”

We didn’t, and Thelma and I looked at each other, baffled.

“It’s a B and D club,” Avery explained.  “You know.  Paddles, whips, handcuffs.”

I got the picture.  “Where is it?  I’ve never heard anything about it.”

“He has it in his house,” Chloe said.  “It’s not an official business or anything.  He doesn’t charge anyone any money and it’s just for fun.  Like a hobby.”

Okay.  So some people collected stamps and some people painted watercolors.  And some people spent their free time handcuffing and whipping people.  Actually, the more I thought about it the more people I could think of that I’d like to handcuff and whip.

“How did Kara fit into this?” I asked.

“She found out about the club and started going.  At first I guess it was all great.  A lot of the men who go are looking for a woman to dominate them.  And Kara knew how to do that really well.  But I guess she started getting more and more kinky, and David had to ask her to leave.”

“I bet that didn’t go over well,” Thelma said.

“You can say that again.  At one point she tried to burn down the house.  David got the fire put out before it did any damage, and he didn’t actually see her set it.  So the police couldn’t do anything.”

“Wow,” I said.

“Yeah, wow,” Thelma echoed.  Then she surreptitiously crossed herself.

“Listen,” I said, “I’d really like to talk to David about Kara.  Do you think you could ask him?”

It sounded like Thelma was saying Oh, dear God under her breath, but I ignored her.  If Kara had tried to set fire to David’s house, he could be another suspect.

Chloe chewed her lip.  “He’s gotten kind of funny about the club after Kara caused so much trouble.  He doesn’t like to talk about it.  I’m pretty sure he’d turn me down if I asked him to meet with you.”  Then she brightened.  “But you could go to one of the parties.  They have them once a month and the next one is this Friday night.”

I couldn’t hear what Thelma was muttering under her breath, but I think it was a prayer since I heard the name Mary.

“Will they let me in?”

“Sure,” Chloe said.  “David hires an off-duty police officer to make sure no one gets in who’s there for trouble, but they’re always glad to see new people, especially women.  Get there early, before David’s hooked up with someone.”

That sounded promising.  Thelma had her head in her hands, and Avery was tapping his long polished nails on the table.  “Honey,” he said, “we have to do something about your wardrobe if you’re going to that party.  Do you have a bustier?”

I wasn’t even sure I had a decent bra.  “I don’t think so.”

“I thought as much.  We need to work on the allure factor.  Right, Chloe?”

Chloe nodded her head.  “Maybe a short skirt.  Go for the sophisticated sorority girl look.  That’s one of David’s favorites.”

Avery nodded.  “Leave it to me.  What say we make a trip to Victoria’s Secret and Walmart tomorrow?  I’ve got the day off.”

We made arrangements to meet on my lunch time the next day, and I told Avery again how great he looked tonight and well he sang.  He