Sam Kincaid 01 - The Commission

day. The stall continued.
    ***
    By early afternoon I was in the field looking for Sue Ann Winkler. I found her walking to her car in the parking lot outside the Satin & Lace Club. She had some large goon in tow who appeared to be nothing more than an escort from the club to her car. He was a large Asian guy who wore his jet-black hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was wearing tight black jeans and a yellow sleeveless tank top. Both of his well-muscled arms were covered with tattoos from wrist to shoulder. Both ears were pierced and he wore a round, silver ring above his right eyebrow. If he had other body parts pierced, I didn’t want to know where. As I got out of my car, I could tell Sue Ann recognized me, but she didn’t look enthused about seeing me again. George, the gorilla, put on his most sinister look and stepped between us. Sue Ann whispered something to him and he moved around behind her, still giving me his best scowl.
    “Hello, Detective Kincaid. You here for business or pleasure?” she asked. The greeting, while not dripping with affection, wasn’t hostile either.
    I did my best to put on my most sincere, friendly, non-threatening face. I said, “Business actually. I’m glad I found you. I really need your help with something. It’s important. I’d like you to take a look at some video footage of people who attended Levi’s funeral. We’re attempting to identify the guy Vogue brought over to the motel on those occasions when you did the ménage à trois. ”
    Her facial expression hardened instantly. The nonverbal look told me that I’d pissed her off. “Oh, Christ. I don’t see how this could have one goddamn thing to do with Levi’s murder,” she hissed.
    “You know what. You’re probably right. But you might be wrong, too. This is a loose end in the investigation that might be meaningless, or it might be important. Right now we’re following every lead we possibly can. And at the moment, we’ve about run out of leads. You put on a tough exterior, Sue Ann, but I believe you really cared for Levi. So I figured you’d be willing to help.” I’m wasn’t sure I really believed what I’d just said, but it sounded like the right thing to say at the time.
    “Well, maybe you figured wrong, Kincaid,” she said, her stern facade starting to slip. I stopped talking and allowed a moment of awkward silence to fill the space between us. She finally said, “Ah, shit. Let’s get it over with. I guess it could be worse. You might have brought Kathryn the Great with you, or should I say Kathryn the Bitch. In that case, I’d be telling you both to fuck off.”
    “I appreciate your willingness to do this. You can follow me in your car or ride with me, and I’ll drive you back afterward. Your choice.”
    “How long do you expect this to take?”
    “One hour at most.”
    “Then I’ll ride over with you.” She got in the passenger side of my department-issue Chevrolet Impala and looked over at me, smiling. “You know, Kincaid, you’re kind of a cute guy in a funny sort of way. A little too straight-looking for my taste, but what the hell. Why don’t we spend that hour you want me looking at video over at the motel. If you want to watch movies, I’ll show you some really hot video. We could have an intimate party for two. I’ll make sure you leave relaxed and with a smile on your face.”
    I smiled back and said, “That was a backhanded compliment if ever I heard one. And it almost sounded like you were soliciting me.”
    “I wasn’t soliciting. I didn’t ask you for money, honey. This one’s free—on the house, so to speak. What do you say?”
    I didn’t have the heart to tell her a vice raid at the Starlite Motel was imminent, and that it was a good place to avoid for the next little while. “Thanks for a very tempting offer. I’m flattered. I really am. And you’re a beautiful lady. But I’m a little busy right now trying to solve a couple of murders. Some other time, maybe?”
    She gave me an indifferent shrug and didn’t say anything more. I felt as though I’d managed to extricate myself from an awkward situation without offending her.
    I called ahead and had Patti set up the videotape in our conference room. I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. When we arrived, the TV monitor was on and everything was ready. The only thing missing was the beer and hot buttered popcorn. The tape had a total running time of approximately forty-five minutes. About