‘Please, take a seat,’ the woman said.
‘You’re one of the directors of Images Modelling Agency?’ Kim asked.
‘Yes, I’m Suzanne Compton, and the other director is my husband, Andrew. Is there some kind of problem?’
‘Mrs Compton, may I ask what your business does?’ Kim asked. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand the name. It was more that she couldn’t work out the reason for its change in fortune.
‘Suzanne, please,’ she said, waving a hand towards the wall. ‘We’re a modelling agency. Not exactly high fashion, more commercial.’
Granted, there were a lot of pretty girls adorning the wall, including Nadine, and Kim had no reason to doubt the nature of the business. But the sudden increase in turnover prompted a little scrutiny.
‘May I ask what this is about?’ Suzanne asked, following Kim’s gaze.
‘Are some girls more in demand than others?’
‘Of course,’ Suzanne answered.
‘Which ones?’
Suzanne swallowed her impatience, as though she wanted Kim to get to the meat in the sandwich. ‘Well, Chelsea is always popular for bikinis; Danesha lands a lot of underwear work; Cindy does a lot of sportswear.’
‘What about Nadine?’ Kim asked.
‘She gets by, I suppose.’
‘On what?’
‘Mainly catalogue work.’
‘Does it pay well?’ Kim asked.
‘If you can get enough.’
‘And does she?’
Suzanne pulled a face that indicated not really.
The questions were popping out of Kim’s mouth because she had the feeling she was not seeing the full story.
‘Glamour modelling?’ she asked still trying to account for the financial uplift.
Suzanne coloured but shook her head. Kim wasn’t convinced.
‘Was Nadine working today?’
‘Inspector, I really must insist that you tell me what this is about before we go any further.’
‘Nadine Cowley is dead.’
‘Wh… what?’ she asked, gripping the edge of the desk.
‘She was murdered a few hours ago after meeting someone in a pub while wearing a recording device.’
Despite her shock, some kind of instinct had clearly kicked in as the woman stood.
‘You need to leave.’
‘Why?’ Kim asked. ‘You’re not in any kind of trouble unless you killed her.’
