“Why do you think sex was the outcome?” Detective Davis probed.
“Because I was doing her wax job and she wanted nearly everything off, down below. I’ve noticed that when clients request a Brazilian, they’re expecting sex. I mean that’s not always the case. Some women do it because they like to wear hipster jeans, but Adele talked about it.”
Detective Herbert nodded and he seemed to be thinking. He turned to James. “What is your online dating name?”
Lizzie giggled nervously.
Marina nudged her with her elbow to keep quiet.
“Sorry,” Lizzie said.
James closed his eyes in a long blink. “Sex Cowboy.”
The heavyset policeman added that to his notes. “Sounds like a perverted sort of name to me,” he said. “Sounds like the name of someone expecting sex.”
Marina had a tight feeling in her stomach. She hadn’t meant to make things worse for James.
Detective Herbert gave him a hard stare. “We also have a report that you were seen arguing with a woman at Pier One near the crime scene.”
James’s chin jerked up. “Who is saying this crap? I feel like I’m being spied on.”
“We have a murder to solve here. A woman was beaten and strangled. I’m not interested in your sensitive feelings,” Detective Davis said. His bulldog-like face darkened. “You had a date. She showed up. Who was it?”
“So who were you dating, Sex Cowboy? Who were you arguing with?” Detective Herbert joined in.
James stared at him a long time before he answered. “No one.”
Detective Herman walked over to James, who stood and, despite his tense posture, put his hands defiantly on his hips. His face jutted forward, his expression furious.
Lizzie had always said that when push came to shove, James was brave. Marina froze, not knowing what to do as James stood eye to eye with the detective.
“Don’t leave town in the near future,” Detective Herman said. “I have a feeling we’ll be seeing you again.”
Chapter 5
Marina looked at her list of bookings. She was halfway through the day and she had a full leg and Brazilian, an underarm, full arm, brow, lip, chin, back, eyebrow shaping, ten minutes of impulse light treatment and fifteen minutes of electrolysis booked in. The trouble was it was all on the same lady. When it came to body hair, some people were born unlucky.
Her client, Dani Caponari, was a ball of energy packed into a short frame. Marina looked forward to her next appointment because Dani was as amusing as she was hairy. At twenty-two, Dani had more dating experience than Marina thought she’d be able to put into her whole lifetime. She was a veritable ‘what’s on in the city’ guide. Perhaps sensing that Marina was lonely, she’d promised to take her out to the Cha Cha club on Oxford Street and Marina warmed to her kindness. Her appointment, no matter how long, always passed quickly.
No doubt it would go better than the one she’d just completed where the client insisted on viewing her vagina with a mirror just like in a hairdressing salon and then complained her freshly waxed vulva looked like a steamed clam. Marina hadn’t known what to say.
She went to reception to greet her client and Dani hugged and kissed her on the cheek. “Ciao, Marina. How has life been treating you?”
Very strangely, she wanted to say. “Fine. And you?”
“Things have never been better. I’m turning my life around. The results are in,” Dani announced happily.
Marina led the way to her cubicle. “Results? What results? Remind me,” she said handing Dani a gown so she could disrobe. “I didn’t sleep well last night.” That was an understatement. She knew James had slept no better when he’d brought her a cup of coffee that morning. He’d sat on her bed with eyes like dark bruises. Who was spying on him? The same sicko who had murdered Adele? She’d wanted to pull back the covers of her bed and ask him to hold her.
Only Lizzie had seemed unaffected by the police interview, refusing to let it get to her because, as she stated, “We are all innocent and the police should go and find the killer instead of wasting their time interviewing innocent people”.
Marina stepped out of the room and waited outside while her client Dani disrobed. When she glanced along the corridor she saw that Lizzie’s door was closed. She was busy doing a non-surgical face-lift, which would take her the best part of an hour. On the doorstep sat a bunch of elaborate flowers, which Marina guessed had been sent by Fabio. This was the second time this week he’d sent Lizzie flowers with the aim of getting her back. Their manager, Natalia, wouldn’t allow interruptions, but Lizzie would get a nice surprise when she found them on her doorstep.
“I’m ready,” Dani called and Marina walked back in.
Marina gave her a grin. “Do you want me to tidy your eyebrows first?”
“No. Do the impulse light treatment. Get the painful bit over first. I hate having hair on my nipples. It’s such a turn off for men. I’d rather face zapping rays of light and the smell of my own hair burning than let a man see my nipples surrounded by dark, wiry hairs.” Dani shuddered. “I mean, the one part of me I like is my breasts. I wish they weren’t so hairy. I’ve shaved off the worst of the hairs.”
Marina glanced over her client. Dani did have an impressive cleavage, which Marina knew to be completely natural.
Nice big titties. Marina froze. Where had that thought come from? She shook her head trying to ignore the weird thought that seemed to come from nowhere.
“Why don’t you try laser, Dani? I know it’s expensive but it does get rid of body hair more effectively.”
Dani shook her head. “No. I don’t like the idea of laser. Things can go wrong.”
Marina maneuvered the impulse light machine over her client, then studied the pretty, young girl lying before her. Dani was one of her hairiest clients, but it was satisfying work to know that with treatment and waxing, she’d been able to get the worst of the problem under control.
“Tell me about the results thing you mentioned earlier,” Marina prompted to take Dani’s mind off any pain.
“Sure” Dani beamed.
Marina pressed the button. Zap!
“Ouch!” Dani stiffened with pain.
“Sorry,” Marina said. Hurt her again. Marina gasped at the sudden intrusive thought. She looked around her. There was no one. She’d have to see a psychiatrist if this kept up.
“Don’t worry. I’m coping,” Dani said. Marina felt her relax. “Remember I told you I was going to dress up as each of the Spice Girls and take photos to post on dating sites?”
“That’s right.” The memory came tumbling back and Marina was glad. Anything to get her mind off the horrible thoughts. Dani wanted to find out which look would be more popular with men online, so she took different photos of herself and posted them on different dating sites. “How did it go?”
“Great. I got some very interesting results. I did a sophisticated look like Posh Spice. You know, a little black dress number and slicked back hair.”
Marina zapped Dani’s breast.
“Ouch! That hurt.”
“Sorry,” Marina said. Good. Do that again. Hurt her. She looked around the room again, which was ridiculous, because they were the only ones there.
“Then I did a sweet Baby Spice look where I posed wearing a pink top and holding my stuffed bunny. A sexy Ginger Spice wearing my low cut black top, my red mini skirt, fishnet stockings and boots. Last was a Sporty Spice look wearing my t-shirt, shorts and runners.”
“Isn’t there another one?” asked Marina who tried to remember who was in the now-defunct British pop group. She focused her gaze on a large, black hair just below Dani’s nipple and zapped.
“Ouch!” Dani winced from the pain. “I didn’t bother with Scary Spice. I figured four different looks were enough.”
“That was a particularly thick hair. Did you do a different bio for each?” No voice this time. Nevertheless, her heart thumped with fear.
“No. I put the same bio o
n each site. ‘Hello. My name’s Dani. I’m twenty-two and I work in the travel industry.’”
Zap!
“Argh!” Dani screamed, her face creasing in pain.
“Sorry,” Marina apologized.
Blast her breasts.
Marina jumped. She was hearing voices. She was going insane.
“Where was I?” Dani’s face relaxed. “Oh yes, my bio. I wrote that I love travelling, seeing live bands and movies. I’m looking for a fun person to do things with.”
Marina moved to the other nipple to give Dani a break from the area she was doing. She hated making her client scream. After five minutes she could smell burning hair, even though Dani had shaved the site and it made her feel nauseous. Her head started to throb.
“I’m inundated with replies,” Dani said.
Zap!
“Argh!” This time Dani screamed so loud, Marina looked at her in concern.
Hurt her. Hurt her. She could feel a sense of excitement building, but it wasn’t her feeling. She didn’t like hurting a client. “Do you want me to keep going? The breast is a sensitive area.”
“Yes. Yes. Keep going. I’ve got a date on Saturday night. I mean I know it’s a first date and I don’t even know if I’ll kiss the guy, but I can’t stand having hairy breasts. I know the hairs are there and I don’t feel confident inside myself.”
“So all these different looks produced results,” Marina said, encouraging Dani to talk. The voice had to stop. It had to.
“Incredible results,” Dani said. Her face creased as Marina maneuvered the machine and she closed her eyes. “But guess which one produced the most?”
Marina thought for a moment. The sexy Ginger Spice look was the most obvious answer because men went for a sexy look. “I’m guessing the Posh Spice sophisticated look.”
“Wrong.” Dani laughed.
Zap!
“Ouch,” she grimaced in the next breath.
“Sorry,” Marina said.
“Baby Spice won. Men went for the cute look. I must admit—”
Zap!
“Ouch!” Dani screamed louder this time.
Marina winced.
“I thought sexy would win, but that came third.”
Good. So good. The thoughts were like a groan of sexual pleasure weaving in her mind. Marina’s fingers trembled with disgust. They were not her feelings. What was happening to her? She forced herself to continue working.
Zap!
“Ouch!” Dani’s body jerked. “Sophisticated came last.”
Marina tried to concentrate on what Dani was saying. “So cute was first, then sporty, then sexy, then sophisticated.”
“That’s right,” nodded Dani. “In one week, I had one hundred and five sweet emails from guys who liked the cute look and wanted my bunny to make baby bunnies with theirs and eighty-two for the sporty look from sports fanatics who went on and on about the sports they loved. Boring!”
“So, how many for the sexy look?” Marina asked intrigued.
“Thirty oversexed replies from guys who told me how hot they were in bed. Like who’d believe that? I never believe a man when they advertise themselves. You should read the names some of them signed on with. One guy called himself Sex Cowboy. Is that desperate or what?”
There couldn’t be two Sex Cowboys. “Um...I think Sex Cowboy is my flatmate.”
Dani giggled. “I didn’t reply to that one. There were so many emails I’m still going through them. Is he cute? Your flatmate.”
Marina thought of James, his broad shoulders, the expression in his green eyes when he brought her coffee in bed in the morning. “I don’t think he’d be your type.”
Dani’s eyes narrowed. “Do you like him?”
Heat flamed Marina’s cheeks.
“You do, don’t you?”
“He’s my flatmate.”
“Wouldn’t stop me shagging him.”
“Dani!” She focused on the electrolysis.
“Ouch! Ouch! That hurts.”
Yeeeess. The word came like a whisper of pleasure in her mind.
Marina stopped. She couldn’t bear the voice in her head. Little hairs rose on her arms like a terrified cat. “Are you okay?” She didn’t want to continue, not with the alien thoughts that slid unwanted into her head.
“Keep going,” Dani insisted.
She didn’t want to keep going. The voice sickened her.
Dani raised her head. “Marina! There’s a horrible wiry hair there.” Her client pointed to her right breast.
Marina took a deep breath and kept going. “Okay. What happened with the sophisticated look?” Zap! She waited. No voice. She expelled a deep breath and got on with her job.
“I had about ten replies. The interesting thing was that most of the guys who replied to the sophisticated look were over forty. One guy said he still had all his hair and teeth. I mean, is that meant to be a turn-on for me? Get real.” Dani rolled her eyes and Marina smiled.
“That’s a lot of replies in one week. Is that normal?”
“I had heaps more this time than when I put my bio and no photograph. One of the guys sounded nice, so I’m meeting him on Saturday night.”
Zap!
“Argh!” Dani screamed. “I don’t think I can bear it anymore.”
Marina glanced at her client. She was choking. There was spittle on her lips.
She slammed the impulse light gun down. “Dani!”
“Sorry.” Dani wiped a tear from her eye. “It seems extra painful today, but I want you to keep going.”
“But you were choking.”
Dani stared at her. “No, I wasn’t. I screamed, that’s all.”
She had heard a choking sound. She knew she had.
“Are all those dark hairs gone?” Dani raised her head and looked at her breasts. “Yuck. There’s one more. Dammit, why do they keep growing back? Women aren’t meant to be so hairy.”
“That’s enough for today.” She packed away the equipment before Dani could argue. Her hands trembled and her mouth had dried. She grabbed her water glass from her work bench and gulped some down. If she couldn’t seem to tell the difference between what was real and what wasn’t, was she going mad? She closed her eyes for a moment. Her whole body felt like a mass of jangling nerves.
Dani adjusted her gown to cover her breasts.
The waxing. She had to get back to the waxing. She put thick pink wax on a spatula and smoothed it under Dani’s brow line. Testing the wax with her fingers until it was no longer tacky, she peeled back an edge and ripped it off, leaving a nice clean line.
Dani winced but she didn’t scream out.
Marina listened to the silence, conscious of the buzz of the freeway in the background. No evil voice. Nothing. Just her own thoughts.
Two hours later, she finished waxing Dani’s face and body. Her headache wasn’t any better, but she’d done a good job and that pleased her. “Well,” she said as she finished up, “you’re done. Enjoy your date on Saturday night. Hope you feel nice and confident now.”
“I do,” Dani insisted, looking down to survey her smooth legs. She ran her fingers along her arms and over her face and chin. “No more spikes and prickles. I can’t tell you how much better I feel knowing I’m smooth and clean. Especially down there.” Dani giggled. “I shouldn’t tell you this because it sounds promiscuous, but the guy I’m seeing Saturday night is totally into Brazilians.”
Alarm shot up Marina’s spine. Adele had told her something similar. “How can you admit to that stuff when you’ve never met the guy?”
Dani giggled as she climbed off the bed. “I don’t normally, but he knew I liked to travel from my bio and he said he loved Brazil, so it kinda came out. I couldn’t help flirting, he sounded so nice.”
Marina shook her head. “Don’t go. Not on this date.”
“Why?” Dani looked stunned.
“One of my clients was murdered last week. She met her date online. He told her he liked Brazilians.”
> “I read about that in the paper.”
“Don’t go. I mean it. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Dani shrugged. “I’ve done heaps of online dating. Don’t worry about me. I’m very experienced at this stuff. I’ve been dating for years.”
“Dani, please. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“I don’t want to cancel.”
“Please,” Marina begged. “I don’t want you murdered.”
Dani sighed. “Okay. I’ll cancel. But only because I like you.”
Marina narrowed her eyes. “What’s this guy’s online name?”
“God, Marina, you’re getting like my mother. I told you. I’m going to cancel.”
She’d overstepped the mark. Dani was a client and she had no right to tell her what to do. “Fine.” She reached out and gave Dani a hug. “I’ll let you get changed and see you at reception.”
She walked to the lobby. A heavy sense of foreboding hung over her like a dark cloud. It occurred to her for the first time that perhaps she was depressed since her broken engagement. Or worse, perhaps she was experiencing some sort of psychosis. That would explain the isolated bad thoughts that floated through her mind and the reoccurring fear of what might happen.
Yet Adele had been murdered.
Was she going crazy or was there a serial killer waiting to strike again?
Chapter 6
Lizzie went to Fabio’s studio apartment on Albion Street, close to the World Gym where Fabio did his personal training and fitness classes. Fabs was almost a cult hero in the neighborhood but Lizzie didn’t think much of the area. Full of bars, clubs and pubs, it was a suburb of Sydney where she could walk down the street almost naked with Fabio and most of the guys would whistle at him. She knocked on Fabio’s apartment door and Fabs greeted her enthusiastically, pulling her into a bear hug. She sauntered into his apartment. Although enjoying the attention he gave her, she was here to sort things out and that meant changes.
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