Chapter 10

The man known as John Adams held the flimsy rice paper in his hands, careful not to let the tears coursing down his face land on the delicate tissue. The telefax had been sent to him by his secretary a couple of days after he had left the city for Hong Kong.

The trip had turned out to be much more involved than anyone could have predicted and as the months passed with deliberate slowness, he became frantic to contact the fantastic woman he had taken to the President's dance. But communications through the Bamboo Curtain were sensitive and monitored. No personal issues were ever discussed, as the hosts, inscrutable as they were, would have taken a personal issue and used it as a weapon against him in the fragile negotiations he was in. He had seen it happen before. And as his stockholders would have reminded him, work comes first, pleasure second. So he bit back his feelings and ploughed on with the tedious business of saving some asshole's face.

His secretary had been astute enough to understand his vague references to Bill Saunders as referring to the man's wife, Karin. When he asked her to check on the cabin and to make sure it was stocked for the next winter, she understood that he had taken Karin up there. She had been up there herself, in Karin's role. She knew what kind of a bond would be created between her boss and the women who went up there with him. He needed to contact her and let her know he would be delayed, but that he cared deeply, etc.

She did her best, but her best was hampered by a police blackout of the information regarding anything to do with Mr. or Mrs. Saunders. The initial headlines were banner high in the newspapers and what she read, well, she was shocked. It was a so-called 'news' report of Bill's murder and the arrest of his wife. The reporter made it sound like a sure thing, open and shut.

The date and time of the crime had been reported wrong in the article, however, and made it appear as if the murder had been committed a couple of days after her boss had left for Hong Kong. After Karin had returned from the cabin. So in the secretary's mind, Karin could have done it. Karin's innocence, her release from custody and the eventual arrest of Bruce had never been as widely reported, as by then it was 'old' news. Because of the nature of the crime, the secretary did not make any more obvious inquiries. It wouldn't do the bank or her boss any good, or her, either, to be connected to a murder.

She mailed him the entire paper and a carefully worded telefax reporting that the cabin was closed up tighter than a jail cell and no trace could be found of anyone having been there. After he had found the article reporting on the murder and Karin's arrest, he understood, or thought he did.

He pulled out the paper every night, looking for another meaning, trying to find his way out of his personal Hell, this dark helplessness that held his heart. He had found that one special woman and had lost her. He cried into the long darkness of the warm Asian nights.

Karin Saunder's personal darkness didn't get brighter anytime soon, either.

She was very much alone. She moved back to the mansion during the next week. The household staff had quit after the murder. The big house was cold and empty, but at least the delivery boys would deliver food to this address. She had just about starved at the apartment. She couldn't bring herself to go out shopping, even for food.

Karin had dumped her suitcases in the middle of the hallway, gone straight up to her old room and then to bed. The overwhelming suddenness and brutality of her total abandonment paralyzed her. She moved like a robot, lifelessly passing between the bedroom and the kitchen. The rest of the house seemed foreign to her and she avoided all those unfriendly evil rooms.

Most nights she lay in her bed and cried herself to sleep, hugging her pillows to her chest tightly. She had no interest in sex or in tying herself up as she had at the apartment. She felt dead inside, and, to be honest, she preferred it that way. Since she had been with John and had experienced the real thing, anything else just didn't seem to be enough.

She knew her John was out of the country, but she still missed him and wished he were there to hold onto instead of the pillows. There had been no word from him, not a card, no flowers or anything. She tried hard not to think about it, but her isolation allowed her to think of nothing else.

She was sitting in her room, staring blankly out of the window when the front doorbell rang. She waited for a while for the maid to answer it then realized the maid wasn't there anymore. She numbly got to her feet and fumbled down the stairs.

Sandra Billings stood in the door. Karin did not recognize her at first. By the time they had finally met at the station, Karin had nearly been in a state of shock. She had not been paying too much attention to what other people looked like right then. Karin finally put a name to the face.

As she stared at her in the doorway, she realized that Lt. Billings didn't look much like a cop. It took her a minute, but she finally put her finger on it. Her eyes were too kind and soft. "It must be hard for her in that place," she thought to herself as they stood staring at each other.

"Hello. Lt. Billings, right?" she ventured.

"Hello, Mrs. Saunders. Do you mind if I come in?" Lt. Billings was brusque and businesslike.

"Sure, I guess. Come on in. Please. Oh, and please call me Karin. I never got used to the name 'Mrs. Saunders.'" She opened the door wider and moved back to allow the tall policewoman into the house. As the officer came in, Karin paused. "Is this an official visit?" She was suddenly afraid, terrified of being alone in the world, alone with this stranger in a strange house.

Lt. Billings continued into the living room and sat on a couch. She patted the seat beside her. "Well, yes... and no."

Karin's heart sank. She numbly shuffled over to the couch and woodenly sat down. She held both her wrists together out in front of her, waiting to be cuffed. Tears streamed down her face, but she was silent.

The female detective reached out and took Karin's hands in hers and squeezed them. Her heart went out to the lonely girl beside her. "Oh, no! It's not like that at all! I'm here to tell you that we located Bruce, the, uh, butler. Or lover. It took a bit of persuading but he finally confessed to the shooting. We also found him hiding in a cheap motel with several hundred thousand dollars in cash, apparently from your husband's safe. We'll be returning the money to you after the trial."

Karin stared dumbfounded at the woman. Suddenly, she was ripped out of the dumps and rocketed to the heights. She continued to cry uncontrollably as she threw her arms around the detective's neck. The emotional roller coaster ride she was on was too much for her to cope with any other way.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you." She didn't know what else to say as the free flow of erupting emotions poured over her.

The policewoman sat quietly, holding and comforting the beautiful lady. This next part of her visit was not entirely official and she needed to work carefully. It was more like answering some nagging personal issues, rather than official police business. She was unsure of exactly why she was here, other than she felt compelled to see it through. She had convinced herself it was necessary, just good police work. 'No stone left unturned, ' and all that crap. She tried to ignore the itching this woman's story caused her, every time she thought of it. This follow up was merely professional.

Karin settled down and dried her eyes. She released Lt. Billings' neck and sat back down on the couch beside her, suddenly embarrassed at her slobbery outburst. Now that Bruce had confessed, there were some things she wanted to know. "How was Bill murdered?" she asked the lieutenant.

"He was shot."

"Oh. Where was he shot?" she continued.

"In the back."

Karin got a puzzled look on her face. "You mean, out back, by the pool?"

The detective laughed, a chagrined look on her face. "Oh! Uh, no, He was in his bedroom. When Bruce shot him, the bullet hit him in the back." Then she added, "Don't worry about the mess. The department had a crew come in to clean it all up."

"Oh. Thanks. That was nice of them." Karin felt kind of silly for her questions. She hadn't even known Bill had been shot. She felt a little guilty she hadn't even cared enough to find out. Even if it had been a sham marriage, she felt she owed him at least that much.

"Uh, Karin? If you wouldn't mind, I would really like to see the crime scene with you. There are just a couple of questions I wanted to clear up, OK? Just to clear up a few things in my mind." Lt. Billings stood up, not waiting for her to answer, and possibly say 'no.'

"His room is, uh, was upstairs." Karin said, leading the way, a vague feeling of dread coming over her.

Lt. Billings looked around the room, poking into drawers and under the bed, playing for time. She didn't know how to get around to what she was really here for. It was uncharacteristic for her. Best to dive right in, no? "Where is your room, Karin?"

"Over there," said Karin, pointing down the hall.

"Do you mind if I see it?"

Karin silently led her into her room, the feeling of doom greater than ever. There was no reason for her to be in here.

The detective poked around until she found what she was looking for. "Which one of these were you wearing when they beat you?" she asked, holding up several bathing suits.

Karin indicated the pink one.

"Would you mind trying it on? I had some questions regarding the beating."

The sense of dread Karin had been feeling now flooded over her body from her head to her toes. This was suddenly not a casual visit.

With trembling fingers Karin took the suit and went into the bathroom to change. She stripped off her clothes and put on the tiny suit. The shapes of the gold nipple rings were clearly visible through the taut thin fabric. She thought of John as she circled them softly with her fingernail. A tear trickled down her cheek at the sudden reminder of her absent lover.

She took a deep breath and went back into the bedroom. Lt. Billings had taken off her business jacket and Karin noticed her trim figure for the first time. The suit had been severely cut and did not flatter her figure at all. Karin was not sure if that was by intent or because the woman had no sense of style.

The attractive detective was about Karin's height. She had wandered over to her closet and was looking at the racks of clothes in them, many of which Karin had never had a chance to wear. Bill had just filled it with expensive clothes her size. He hadn't sent all these to the apartment, thank goodness. He had only sent her everyday clothes and makeup. She watched the other woman for a while, not wanting to draw attention to herself.

Lt. Billings was holding a slinky red dinner dress up against her body and looking in the mirror, swaying back and forth to see the fit better.

"That color would look lovely on you. Why don't you try it on?" Karin offered. "I think we're about the same size."

The detective jumped up with a guilty look. She had expected Karin to take longer changing into the bathing suit. "Oh, no, I couldn't... Could I, really?" She had always dreamed of being able to dress in a feminine way. The other cops at the station just wouldn't stand for it, however. Even the other female cops would have been jealous. In the interest of her career, she had intentionally toned down her beauty and her body by using the wrong makeup and dressing in the wrong fashions to appear as unattractive as possible. It had worked until now, and she intended to keep it that way. But, no one needed to know what when on here.

"Sure, go ahead!"

With a giggle, the detective stripped down to her panties and slipped the red dress over her head. Karin stared openly at the half naked woman. Her tits were a little smaller than her own and her hips perhaps a bit fuller, but not by much in either place. They could have been sisters. Twins. It was like looking in a mirror.

"Karin, could you zip me up?" she asked.

Karin moved behind the detective. Her service revolver was lying on the table beside her. It was easily within Karin's reach. The young woman shrank from the weapon. She didn't notice the slight relaxation in the detective's posture as she watched Karin's reflection in the mirror. 'Once a cop, always a cop' she thought to herself.

She was still checking out this strange, naïve woman, trying to figure her out. She had left the gun - unloaded — out in the open on purpose. It never hurt to confirm her suspicions. She was now convinced that Karin had had nothing to do with her husband's murder. There was always the slim chance that she had been in it with the butler.

Karen tugged the zipper up the small of her back and Lt. Billings did a quick pirouette in front of her.

"It's not something I could wear to work, is it?" she quipped.

Karen smiled. She was beginning to relax around this strong older woman for some reason. There was a familiar bond between them, perhaps because of their height and their beauty. She noted the slope of the woman's breasts as they tapered to protruding nipples. The tiny buds poked defiantly through the thin fabric of the dress, exuding a sex appeal that Karin found strangely attractive. She mindlessly rubbed her thighs together as her own body started to react to the sensual appeal.

"I-I-It's lovely on you, Lt. Billings."

"Oh, don't be so formal. Call me Sandi."

"OK, S-S-Sandi. The dress really does look nice on you. The color really suits you."

Sandi turned back to the mirror and made a few poses. "It does bring out my 'assets', does it?" she said, thrusting out her chest, emphasizing her breasts with a little twist.

Karin giggled. "You'd be a hit in court.'

"I'd be arrested as a hooker!" Sandi giggled along with her. "But I do have the body for it, don't' I?"

Karin reached out to touch her softly on the waist. She had intended only to smooth a wrinkle, but Sandi had moved at the last minute and she found her hand caressing a tantalizingly soft buttock. A forbidden thrill went through her. "Oh. I'm sorry. Excuse me!"

"That's OK. It felt nice."

Karin blushed.

Sandi turned to her. "Show me where it happened."

"Where what happened?" Karin knew what she wanted. She was just hoping she was wrong. She wasn't.

"Where they beat you."

Karin's heart sank. The basement. She hated the basement. She hadn't been down there since that day. She slowly led Sandi out of the bedroom, down the stairs to the basement door. At the locked door she stopped and looked at Sandi. It was a silent plea for a stay of execution.

Sandi gave her a firm smile that was meant to reassure her, but didn't do a very good job of it.

"Well, here goes..." she said weakly as she opened the door. She took a deep breath and went down the narrow stairs into the dark cellar.

Not much had changed in the room. There were still a few pieces of furniture scattered around and some old boxes of books and papers from Bill's business piled in the corner. Karin led her over to the place in the middle of the open area where they had strung her up.

"It was about here, I guess."