Chapter 7

The Booklet

The booklet opened with a Frontispiece listing the various people interviewed about their presence at the Conference party.

It began with the transcript of Tom’s account already described. Next came a brief contribution by Maurice Callaghen, the CEO. It went as follows.

Sir Maurice Callaghan, Chief Executive Officer.

‘I wanted a chat with you John so when you arrived I asked you to join our table. We talked for a while, got our business over, and my wife and her coven then monopolised you for the most of the evening. What it is to be young and handsome!

‘We were interrupted by one of the men. He said one of our secretaries was stripping and would I ask her to stop before she embarrassed herself and everyone else. I asked you John to do it, and you handled the situation and the girl very well. I noticed Georgina helped you. Good idea of hers.

‘You took the girl to her room, I assume, and Georgina left in the other direction. Soon after she returned, a couple went past the open doors of the room in a hurry. Gina told me in passing that the girl was the roommate of the stripper.’

Georgina Valilee’s Statement, Managing Director, Northern Division.

‘Oh, that party. That was the one that decided us to exclude the bottom two layers of the workforce. Too much aggro.’

John: I’m interested in a certain girl, blonde, central European.

‘Danuta Symanska you mean. She left the company shortly after that conference. Too embarrassed to continue, I assume. That girl could dance all right. It was when she started stripping the CEO sent you over to her to put a stop to it. You remember I joined you.’

John: We dressed her?

‘As far as we could. I think her dress zip got caught. Anyway, you did a good job getting her to her room. She could hardly walk, you had to hold her up.

‘You never came back. I wondered what you were up to. I know you wouldn’t have taken advantage of her, anyway you were still married to that glamorous girl, Carol was it?’

John: You went off to find her friend?

‘Oh, yes. Took a while, she was out on the porch with her head in some bloke’s lap. Can’t understand what the attraction of oral is. For the girl I mean.’

(Laughter).

‘I’m afraid I interrupted her in mid blow, or was it suck? Anyway, they were both aggrieved. I told her the situation and that Danuta shouldn’t be left alone. She said they would go up straight away. I assume he was going to carry on with her in the room.

‘Yes, I remember them going past the bar.’

John: You remember the girl’s name?

‘Didn’t know her, but her boyfriend with the large ... appendage, he’s Ian Sinclair. I think he does sales down West Country way now, based in the Birmingham office, freelance now, I think. That’s something I don’t understand, making him self-employed. Still.

‘Is there a reason for this?’

John: Yes. You remember I was divorced?

‘Very angry woman, if I remember. She’s dating that Malley now? Why dredge it up so late?’

John: She never gave me the chance to explain. I feel cheated. Even criminals get a chance to defend themselves.

‘You always had a thing about justice. Good luck.’

Ian Sinclair’s Statement.

‘At the party I pulled Lucy Simpson, not the cartoon, a real one. We danced quite a bit. Dannie was wild as usual, there was this lad from the North office pushing drinks down her, lots of suggestive remarks. She can dance though, that girl.’

John: Lucy?

‘No Dannie. Anyway Lucy and me, we got hot and went outside to cool down. We were out there when Gina Valilee came out and told Lucy that Dannie had flipped and started undressing on the dance floor. She said you had taken her to her room. She asked Lucy to join her because she should have someone with her. So we went up. We thought if Dannie was spark out we could use the other bed.

‘We got to the room. Oh, we passed that lad from the North office, the one who was pushing the drinks. He gave us a big grin, said Dannie looked better without her clothes.’

John: You got to the room?

‘Yes, we stopped at the door because you were in the entrance on your hands and knees cleaning up a pile of sick off the carpet. You were wearing a hotel bathrobe. You said she had thrown up over both of you, and you’d put her to bed.

‘We passed you, and she was lying on top of the covers. She was stark naked, lying in the recovery position. You said you needed help to get her under the covers, you’d tried and failed. She was a dead weight.

‘You gathered up all the clothing, boy what a stink! and took it away, saying you’d bring it back in the morning. We got Dannie under the duvet and used the other bed. That enough, or do you want details?’