Silence and Stilettoes, Pt. 9 (Vote)

(Here it is, Silence and Stilettoes Part 9! Check it out now, vote below, and Daring+ fans pick up the accompanying Wallpaper here too! Be sure to check out the full story so far here at the Master Post!)

“After spending some time updating my crime notes and the board I keep on the case, lingering a little longer to enjoy the barely clothed Asana by my side, I stretch the legs down to the Italian Quarter. ‘La Bella Donna’, the restaurant in the heart of ‘Little Toscana’, is my destination. It’s not a place unknown to me, I keep my ear to the ground and I’ve heard the chatter about the kind of things that go on in the back of the dining area, but nothing that stands out more than any other legitimate business in this town. 

It does stand out for the reputation of the owners though, especially the alluring woman it takes the name from… As much as I’d like to lay my eyes on her, according to Asana she may well be the last person to see my victim alive, and therefore one of my lead suspects… I may have to save that pleasure for later.

This trip has another purpose. Like the Art of War says, know your enemy as well as you know yourself, and that’s what I’m aiming for here. That bartender Asana sat with, she’ll have the kind of info I need before I can confront the ownership. Nobody sees things as close up, and goes as unnoticed, as the staff of an entertainment establishment… So much so I’ve got to stay on my guard… who else would have as easy a time as her to drop a potent poison on the victim? It’s about time I find out for myself.

I find myself looking up at the wooden signboard with the eatery’s name stylishly burned into the wood. Charming. It looks perfectly homely; I can only imagine how dark the underbelly is. Stepping inside, the smell of freshly cooked foods and home-made bread waft my way, it’s the first thing I notice over the low sound of quiet diners and the sight of the elegantly laid out interior. I scour the horizon for a bar area… it doesn’t take long to home in on the sight of a comely blonde in the back, glittering against a backdrop of alcohol bottles and glassware. Found her.

My dress shoes tap against the floor as I approach her, the smile on her face growing ever wider the closer we come together. I finally reach her, and after taking a seat directly opposite the bar from her I wave her a gesture to mimic my order. ‘Two fingers’

‘For a drink or for me?’  she sharply replies. I like her already.

‘We’ll start with the whiskey and see where it goes.’ 

She winks back at me as she turns to pick up the premium scotch from behind her. Her look reminds me of the hungry one Ivy gave me only last night. My body can’t help but react to that… I’m surprised at this age I can recover so soon, but I’ve got to keep my mind on the job. Her translucent shirt that does nothing to hide her nipples beneath, paired with the skin tight hip hugging pants of her uniform certainly don’t make that an easy task. 

‘Mind if I smoke?’

‘Feel free, anything that the customer desires, that’s the way we operate here.’ 

‘Is that so? Better make that two glassed then, I prefer not to drink alone when I could do so with a lovely lady.’  She is about to politely decline my offer, I can see it in her eyes, and so I cut her off before she can. I get the feeling she response well to that kind of opponent. ‘It’s what this customer desires…’

She lays out two glass, one before me and the other before her, then together we each take a sip. That distinctly mild hit of spice with a sweet backing floods my taste buds. It the premium stuff alright. After savouring the flavour a while longer, I place the glass tumbler back on the counter with a soft clink.

‘You’re Mystique I take it?’

She grins at me as if I had revealed a closely kept secret of hers. After licking her top lip for a half second, she nods. ‘That’s a name of another time, and another place. Some people know me better as Raven, but more call me Ms Darkholme. Most don’t know me at all.’

‘A woman of many names I see.’

‘Several can’t be spoken in polite company, darling. You can call me whatever you like, as long as you keep the whiskey in my glass.’

I take out a cigar from my trench coat pocket, right beside where I keep my snub pistol, lighting it and taking one long drag before I exhale. It’s time I move from our dalliance of foreplay and into something really scandalous.

‘I hear you met with an exotic young woman right here, a few nights ago. Asana, she goes by.’

‘The stunning beauty for across the seas? The foreign flower with legs built to take to bed, with the flowing dark hair as rich as treacle, and voice a sweet as honey? With the hips that ripple with every little step, and the bosom so inviting you could melt within it? It’ may be… possible… I met a girl like that. Why do you ask?’

‘She’s a friend.’

‘That girl has no friends, not here in this place at least’

‘You seem to know an awful lot about her…’

‘… I simply notice a lot about people… Thing nobody else could quite replicate.’ Her tone becomes a little wistful with that last phrase.

‘Like I said, she’s a friend. But I’m more concerned with the guy she came in here with. He’s the talk of the town right now, but not for the usual reasons. I was thinking that you might know a thing or two that can help me set her mind at ease about what’s happened?’

Mystique sips deeply from the glass in front of her, buying her time before she need answer my question with a sigh. I can wait, and the more I do the looser those pencil thin lips will be thanks to her drink.

‘I feel sorry for that girl. Unlike anyone else who sits at my bar, she didn’t deserved what was coming to her.’ 

‘You mean her lover’s murder?’

‘No… that’s the best thing that could have happened to her. At least this way, she has fond memories of one person in this world.’ 

I raise a curious eyebrow to her as I take another puff of my cigar, prompting her to tell me more. This might be what I’m looking for, but even if not, it’s worth while knowing what she means.

‘Everyone in this city knows Mark is a woman’s man. His love life is pretty open to the public eye… But only the likes of myself ever see the wreckage he leaves dashed on the rocks when the next beauty comes along. That foreign girl was no different, a plaything that kept him interested a few months, and in a few weeks she’d be garbage on the heel of his shoe. Just another conquest in his campaign to bed them all. I’d bet all I’m worth on it. I’m surprised it took this long for somebody to kill him for it…’

‘You think he was killed over love?’

‘Yes, but not his, the only thing that man ever truly loved was his business.’

‘Sounds to me like you speak from experience…’

‘No… No, just from extensive observation. He would conduct many affair of the heart and of business here after all, visit about twice a week for years. In all that time, he never once asked my name.’

We both drain the last of out drinks to that, then Mystique pours us out a fresh pair, the dark brown liquid splashing as she skilfully measures out just a touch more than last time.

‘So, Mark was here before he died? You must know who did it then if you saw one of his lovers come to confront him?’

‘No, nothing like that happened. I don’t see all that much of the back area from here anyway, and I’m not one to tell of other people’s secrets. What kind of bartender would I be if I did?’

‘Alright, I understand. Still… It’s hard to think all the gossip of the town would be on Mark’s death and yet nobody even mentions it was a romance gone wrong, but someone as astute as you thinks it is… Those are two things that just don’t fit.’

‘And just who are you to be asking such questions? That girl must be some close friend that you’d be so careless as to stick out your neck like this… sir.’

‘It’s not like that… Like anybody else in this city, I just can’t keep to my own business, that’s all. Plus, the papers were pretty clear in saying he was stabbed in the throat, if you can reassure me that it was a lover’s quarrel, I’ll sleep well in my bed knowing Marco Malocchio isn’t ba-’

I don’t get a chance to finish that sentence. Her long, thin, delicate finger presses against my lips as she sternly looks into my eyes. Behind me the crowd whisper and gasp in hushed tones… In my efforts to keep on top of the woman before me I almost forgot about the crown and their practiced ears. The irony is more sour than the whiskey.

‘Never speak that name here if you know what’s good for you. The mistress doesn’t like it.’

‘My apologies, it’s never a smart move to casually drop the name of the most heinous murderer this town’s ever known.’

‘True, but that’s not why she hates it.’

The serious look in her eye tells me I shouldn’t pull on that thread… not right now at least. Even more convincing is the slight glance she takes towards the backroom, as if checking for any signs of disturbance back there.

‘Alright then, changing the subject… Who did Mark do business with here every week then? Could it be they were partners in business, but rivals in women? I would think that is why you are so confident it’s a matter of love? Am I right?’

I lift my cigar from it’s ashtray and take another drag, examining her poker face for any tell or flaw, but to no avail. I’m starting to think I’m not getting anywhere here…

‘I don’t give out people’s secrets, not even yours, Roy. If you want to know so badly, why not go back there yourself and ask? You may even get an answer at the risk of your life that is.’

Well know, it looks like she’s a perceptive and knowledgeable as I thought she might be, but hoped she wasn’t. Damn it… this probe is just about over now since she knows who I am… But maybe… Maybe I can throw all my cards on the table in one last gambit. She likes the direct approach after all.

‘You got me. Now how’s about you help me. Give me that name you’re holding so tightly too. Just the name, and I’ll do the rest, you can go back to watching from the shadows knowing those big shots who never bothered to ask a girl like you her name after years of service, will get what’s coming to them all because of you. What’s the name?’

She beams widely… Damn, that might just have worked after all. It seems our bartender holds a little grudge…

‘You really want to know? For true? Well, it seems Marks was seeking a new venture, and a new partner to match, but his old one didn’t like that very much.’

‘Wait, this is about business?’

‘Like I said, the only thing Mark ever truly loved. It got him killed, I’ve no doubt.’

‘Then who is this partner your talking about?’

‘The new one? Well, that would be the mistress of this fine establishment.’

‘And the old one?’

‘That would be Miller’

‘Miller? Miller who? No… you don’t mean… City Councilman Miller?’

‘None… other…’

I swallow the whole of my glass of whiskey… Just how far to the top does this go? What am I doing all this for? Asana? Yeah, for her… but really, I’m willing to go this far? All the way to City Hall?

‘What’s the matter Roy, you look startled. Are you not the man I thought you’d be? Should I have kept these lips shut?’

‘No… I’m just piecing it all together. I’m glad you told me. I would never had guessed.’

‘Better get your wits about you again quickly, sir. She’s waiting for you and you’ll need to be sharp to survive a bout with her…’

I look at her quizzically. Her words are so plain and straight forward, but together they are so very cryptic, as if I should know what she is at all talking about.

‘The mistress… She’s been waiting for you in the back room this whole time. She knew you’d be coming after news broke of the murder.’

Well that’s not ominous at all.

‘The owner of this place, your “mistress” lady, the woman to last see my victim alive in that very room, has been waiting for me to walk right up to her this entire time?’

‘That’s what I said. Are you ready to meet her?’

‘Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’

‘I wanted to have my own fun with you first, and to see if you measure up to the man they all whisper you are…’

‘… And do I?’

‘No, you are most decidedly different, but you might just be what this city needs after all… it’s hard to say right now. I guess time will tell.’

I can’t help but feel toyed with right now… toyed with for a while now actually, ever since I took this fucking case… What is with this Hell of a place? I’m my annoyance I throw down a fistful of cash to cove the drinks we both shared. I’m almost ready to leave, even if I’m not sure where I going before she stops me with one last jab.

‘Roy, before you go, please hear me out. Be sure to watch your blind spot, you know the one I mean. The one for attractive women… That “friend” of yours as you called her, Ms. Asana… Don’t forget, she has secrets of her own, like everyone who sits at my stools. I only spend a small amount of time with her, but I wonder why she stays in this city she hates so much… why a woman like her doesn’t return to her land across the sea?’

What has Asana got to do with this? Her insinuation does nothing to help ease my tumultuous feelings right now… But I can’t parse out her words for their subtle meanings right now, I’ve an offer to take or leave.

‘… So, are you ready to be escorted to the back? She’s waiting for you…’

I bet she is… this suddenly all seems too fishy for my taste… But I did come down here looking to get answers from the establishment owners, why not do it directly now that they’ve cleared my way? But still… It doesn’t seem right… Maybe this is a chance worth letting go? I do value my own skin after all… Maybe City Hall is my least dangerous path? It’s hard to think that though would ever enter my mind. So what do I do?”

Be hard boiled and beWilder!