Betwixt Natasha

by E V Daymuir

  The news should have cheered Dudley, but it could not displace the sadness he felt for the loss of Nymphie Nita. He had not thought for one single minute that it could have been her. Why hadn’t Charlie told him? What was he to do? It was easy for Ed to say he ought to go to the police, but he didn’t know what he was involved in. Sod it, he was proud of what he had done for Lucinda Lovebrace and grateful for what she had done for him. They understood each other perfectly. He had lost a very good friend.

  ‘Who was that Dudley?’

  ‘No one dear.’

  ‘What do you mean no one? I heard the phone and I heard you talking.’

  Dudley moved quickly to the top of the ladder. The last thing he wanted was for her to come up when he was completing the edit of Nymphie with Barrie Billingsgate, which he was going to re-title as, ‘Rough Sex’.

  ‘It was Ed Templeman at the Bugle, they want to use another one of my pictures. He wants me to go over to discuss it.’

  ‘What? At 10 o’clock at night?’

  ‘They want to use it in tomorrow’s edition. He reckons there’s a good chance it could get syndicated, same as the last one.’

  She was leaning back to look up at him, a stance which revealed more of her tits than she would normally let him see. They were quite happy in their marriage, but she had no idea of what he would really like from her. No point in him saying anything, she would never understand. Her brow furrowed into a frown, had she realised he was clocking her tits?

  ‘That’s nice, but I do worry about you love, you don’t get enough sleep. It’s alright for Ed Templeman; he doesn’t have to get up at five every morning.’

  ‘I won’t be long dear, I promise.’ She sighed and returned to the bedroom and her book. Dudley turned back to the computer and worked frantically to complete the edit. Of course, he knew Barrie Billingsgate had not killed her; he had collected the hard disk from her just before midnight. He used the service lift as instructed and she met him at the back door wearing her scarlet kimono with a blue silk scarf wound tightly around her neck. He hadn‘t thought anything of it at the time, too intent on her pussy. As usual it was on view and he desperately hoped she wanted him to do something to it. The fist fucking was scoring a tremendous number of hits on her website. Nymphie was delighted and called it ‘One in the cunt for Rosie la Bonque.’ They both laughed at that. He really was going to miss Nymphie. He changed her title idea of ‘The Postman Delivers’ to ‘Fist Frenzy’ as he was concerned that he might be identified as the owner of the fist. All images of himself were deleted from the hard disk, so at least he didn’t have that to worry on that score. He had been tempted to end the ‘Rough Sex’ video at the point where Billingsgate runs away, leaving the viewer with the impression he has killed her, but when he looked though the rest of the material he realised he would be missing a supremely erotic finale. He edited it down, so the viewer just had time to think he had killed her, before he closed in on her right hand, which twitched into life and moved down to stroke her pussy. Then he cut to the wide overhead camera as she nursed her sore neck with her left hand and frantically frigged herself to another orgasm with the other. He changed the title to ‘Gasping to Come’ and chuckled to himself as he posted his little masterpiece onto the Anita von Beta website. It seemed like a fitting tribute for her and as Barrie Billingsgate’s face was shown in close up, it would be another one in the eye, or perhaps to quote Nympie, another one in the cunt for the ungrateful Natasha Billingsgate. She would receive an anonymous letter suggesting a viewing of the website.

  As he un-plugged the hard drive he thought about the last meeting with Lucinda, which was brief, but she knew what he wanted and let him shoot his load over her pussy. He put the hard drive in a plastic bag, turned off the computer and climbed quietly down the ladder. He paused by the bedroom door, holding the bag to cover his erection.

  ‘I won’t be long dear.’ There was no reply. Linda was fast asleep with the bedside light on, her reading glasses perched crookedly on her nose, and the book about to fall off the bed. Dudley crept away, not at all sure when he would see her again.

  CHAPTER THIRTY.

  Chief Superintendent Cullen found it impossible to hide his frustration. His voice shook with anger and squeaked at the end of each sentence as he ran out of breath.

  ‘It's five days since the body was discovered. We have six suspects, two who have actually confessed to the murder, but we haven’t charged anyone. I’m getting it in the neck from the chief constable. It’s simply not good enough Ian, DS Kimberley assured me of a fast clean-up on this one.’

  Cardhew walked over to the window and looked out on the car park. He refused to stand in front of Cullen’s desk like a schoolboy getting a dressing down from the head master. He spoke to the window. ‘Kimberley went off half cock; he wanted to make an arrest before investigating all the facts. This is a complex case sir. We have five suspects, but it could double, even treble if we take into account the names of the judges, members of parliament, lords, knights of the realm and other worthies who used the victims services in Mayfair six years ago.’ He turned to face Cullen. ‘We’re checking out those with a known preference for bondage or S &M.’

  Cullen looked at papers on his desk, picked up a silver fountain pen and used it as an aid to check paragraph by paragraph. ‘There’s nothing about that in here, why haven’t I been kept in the loop?’

  Cardhew moved behind the desk and looked over Cullen’s shoulder. ‘Recent development, sir; but that’s not my report.’

  Cullen placed an arm over the papers. ‘I asked Sergeant Kimberley to appraise me of the situation; as part of his career development and training. You understand?’

  Cardhew looked him squarely in the eye. ‘Oh yes, I understand perfectly well sir. Shall we see how well Sergeant Kimberley is doing?’ He reached down and tweaked the half hidden report from under Cullen‘s arm. ‘I’ll go through the suspects for you sir. Number one, Barrie Billingsgate; came voluntarily into the station in the early hours last Saturday. Believed he had killed Lucinda Lovebrace during sex and made a statement to that effect, but it turned out not to be the case.’

  ‘How can you be so sure? Kimberley is convinced he had something to do with her death.’

  ‘Billingsgate left Laburnham Court at around 9pm on the Friday evening and had dinner with a fellow director of Travel Plan in Roberto’s Restaurant in the centre of town. We know that Lucinda Lovebrace died at around 3am.’

  ‘He could have gone back.’

  ‘Yes, he could have, but he didn’t, which brings me to suspect number two, Natasha Billingsgate. She too came voluntarily into the station and provided her husband with an alibi for the time he left Roberto’s at 11pm to when he arrived here at 5.40am on the Saturday morning.’

  ‘You mean, she swears that he was with her during that period. Really Ian and you believe her? ’

  ‘No sir.’

  Cullen visibly grew in his chair. He had found the weak point in Cardhew’s argument and was preparing to tear him to shreds, and when he had reprimanded him for his handling of the case, he would admonish him for daring to stand behind his desk and read his private papers. He turned in his chair and spoke sharply. ‘What do you believe then?’

  Cardhew spoke calmly, ‘I believe what she told me, which is that her husband left the restaurant with his fellow director, who is not a fellow, but a Miss Samantha Derby and went back to her flat, where they went to bed. He left there at approximately 5.25am and came here, and yes, we have spoken to Miss Derby, who corroborates the story.’ Cullen was about to interrupt, but Cardhew continued. ‘I know what you’re going to ask sir, and that is, how did Billingsgate’s wife know?’

  ‘Well, yes. How did she know?’

  Cardhew walked around to the front of Cullen’s desk and without asking permission, pulled up a chair, sat down and leant forward with elbows on the desk, a pose he often adopted when interviewing a suspect. ‘If I told you that Natasha Billingsgate knew, be
cause she was in her husband’s body at the time, would you believe me?’

  Cullen threw his head back and gave a short, hysterical laugh. ‘Hardly – how ridiculous – so tell me, how did she know?’

  ‘Just that; she maintains she was in her husband’s body. We know it’s impossible, yet the statement she made to DC Leadbetter and myself was almost word for word the same as the statement made by Barrie Billingsgate to Sergeant Kimberley, almost five hours earlier.’

  ‘They must have colluded.’

  ‘Impossible. I was with DS Kimberley and Barrie Billingsgate in interview one, when Natasha Billingsgate arrived at the station. DC Leadbetter took her to interview two and called me out from interview one to speak to her. They had no chance to see each other, let alone talk.’

  ‘They could have exchanged texts.’

  ‘We’ve checked. There were no texts sent or received on either mobile over that period.

  ‘So, what are you saying, Ian?’

  ‘What I’m saying sir, is that if we proceed with charging either of them, based on their statements, we will be laughed out of court. Now, like me, you may think we are dealing with a couple of nut cases, but the fact remains that Barrie Billingsgate has an alibi and Natasha Billingsgate is not equipped to have been the murderer, unless she was in her husband’s body, as she claims, but even then, the DNA doesn’t match. The same goes for the third person on Kimberley’s list, Julie Bunford. Out of all the suspects she has most to gain from the victim's death. On the Friday, she drove to London with Lucinda Lovebrace to sign forms which gifted a 50% share in all her business interests. Also, although she may not have been aware of it, Lucinda Lovebrace recently altered her Will, leaving virtually everything to Julie Bunford.’

  ‘She sounds the ideal candidate and Kimberley says as much.’ Cullen tapped Kimberley’s report with his silver fountain pen.

  ‘I agree, but that in itself does not make her a murderer. It would be unlikely for a woman to kill another woman in that way. It’s not the type of sex game two women play. She has admitted that they were in a lesbian relationship, but only after we confronted her with video evidence. I’m sure she’s holding something else back, I don’t think she killed Lucinda Lovebrace, although she admitted it was upsetting to be told by her that she couldn’t possibly give up men.’

  Cullen tapped his pen irritably on the papers. ‘As a prostitute she would hardly be likely to, unless she gave up work.’

  ‘The same thought occurred to me, but according to Julie Bunford, it wasn’t so much for money, she desperately needed the sex.’

  ‘Kimberley says she has an unsubstantiated alibi.’

  ‘DC Leadbetter followed that up. Julie Bunford claimed to be home, but there was no one to support her story. Her daughter has just gone to university and her husband was in hospital, injured in the Meltcon fire, he‘s the guy who ran out through the flames carrying a woman wrapped in wet overalls. As it turns out, Kimberley, was questioning Peter Bunford when the question of his discharge from hospital arose.’

  ‘He was investigating a suspected arson.’ Cullen fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair. ‘Unfortunately, the person who made the allegation has been sacked by Meltcon – for negligence.’ Cardhew waited to see if he wanted to add anything, but when it became obvious he preferred to gloss over the issue, he continued.

  ‘Apparently the hospital was reluctant to discharge Peter Bunford unless there was someone at home to care for him. He told them that his wife was away on business and the colleague he rescued volunteered to look after him. They left the hospital together at about 8.30pm. Julie Bunford didn’t know this, which of course raises the question, was she away and if so, where?

  Moving on, Mervyn Turner, the 4th name on Kimberley’s list, was a customer. His name was provided by Julie Bunford who told us she had been present when he made weird sexual demands on the deceased. He was staying at the Countryman Hotel, but checked out on the Friday morning. He is domiciled in Spain and we have asked the Spanish police to check up on him for us. I think the person there at the time of her death is most likely to have been a regular punter, so he is a prime suspect.

  Charlie Bell, the concierge is on the list because he has access to the penthouse, but there’s no evidence to associate him with the crime.’

  ‘We seem to be going nowhere fast. I need an arrest.’

  ‘You could keep everyone happy sir, by issuing a statement that a man is helping us with our enquiries. That would keep the Chief Constable off your back.’

  ‘Can I give a name?’

  ‘I would suggest not at this stage. The guy came in to see us, following some prompting from Des Partridge, editor of the Hamsworth Bugle and I promised Des that if it came to anything, he would be the first to know. The person in question is the postman, who took that incredible picture of Peter Bunford running out through the Meltcon fire. There were pornographic images on his camera memory card which Des ignored, until it became evident that they were of the murder victim. When Dudley Wink came in I had an informal chat with him and it transpired that he worked as a plumber in London where he did some work in a Mayfair flat for a high class prostitute who went under the name Anita Von Beta. He did not realise Anita Von Beta and Lucinda Lovebrace were one and the same person, until Charlie Bell asked him to meet her to discuss an early mail delivery. Lucinda Love brace remembered him and his interest in photography and asked him to take stills and video footage for her website. What he didn’t tell me was that he had almost destroyed her business in Mayfair by hiding cameras in the flat and secretly filming her with customers. I spoke to ex colleagues at the Met who filled me in. Apparently it was all for his own gratification and no one would have been the wiser had he not tried to sell compromising pictures of a high profile cabinet minister to a national newspaper.’

  ‘So, he has a criminal record then?’

  ‘Well, no, he hasn’t. The case never went to court. Anita Von Beta had been entertaining so many of the great and good that a decision was made at a very high level to hush everything up. Dudley Wink sold his plumbing business and came to Hamsworth 5 years ago. He’s married to a teacher and they have a shared interest in wildlife photography.’

  ‘So why would he risk getting involved with that woman again?’

  Cardhew gave an inward smile, Cullen sounded like the wronged woman. ‘Probably couldn’t resist working with pornographic material – and getting paid for it. He had a contract from her, asking him to supply cameras and produce the resulting material.`

  ‘Has he managed to put anything onto her website?’

  ‘Some hardcore activities featuring the deceased, I won’t attempt to describe all of them, but there’s one film which shows Billingsgate having rough sex with her, which she certainly survived on that occasion. If you log onto www.anitavonbeta, you can see it for yourself.

  Cullen cleared his throat. ‘I don’t think that will be necessary, I’ll take your word for it.’

  ‘Very wise sir, I’m sure it’s not your cup of tea. As Wink volunteered the information and brought in the secondary hard drive used to record from the cameras he set-up in the bedroom, I bailed him. I’m sure he’s innocent as far as the crime goes, but as he was close to the deceased I’ve had him in a couple of times to find out if he knows any more. He claims that she contacted him very late on the Friday, to collect some material. He went up to the penthouse at around midnight and left shortly afterwards. Normally he would have made a copy of the material she wanted him to edit, but she was expecting a client so he took the secondary hard drive with him. Which is a shame; otherwise the incident would have been recorded. We do have all the CCTV footage from Laburnham Court though and we’re carefully going through that, enhancing relevant sections. DC Leadbetter has a theory she’s working on but I’m still of the opinion that what we’re dealing with here is a sex game which went tragically wrong. Murder will be difficult to prove, but if we find the person who was with her, we could have a strong case
for manslaughter. I have asked my old colleagues in the Met for a confidential copy of the names of her clients from the Mayfair case.

  Cullen frowned. ‘I’m not sure I approve of that Ian.’

  Cardhew gave him an infuriating grin. ‘No different from you getting inside information from old contacts at Cambridge – sir.’ Cardhew stood up to leave. ‘So if that’s all, I‘m going to watch the rugby this afternoon. Billingsgate will be playing and many people on the periphery of our enquiries will be there.’

  Cullen shuffled his papers together and studiously replaced the cap on his silver fountain pen. ’Yes, that will be all thank you Ian. Please ensure you keep me in the loop.’

  Cardhew muttered under his breath as he walked to the door.

  Cullen called after him. ‘Sorry Cardhew. I didn’t quite catch that?’

  Cardhew turned and gave him an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry sir, I’m trying to learn German, lapsed into it without thinking – I said danke.’

  *****

  Natasha Billingsgate had a second cup of coffee. Barrie was sorting through the junk mail and bills which been delivered by a relief postman a few minutes earlier. They were still ignorant of Dudley Wink’s involvement with Lucinda Lovebrace and his perverted interest in Natasha. He held up an envelope. ‘Do I need a cure for premature balding?’