"Requiem For A Stripper" drabbles by Christopher

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 136

Requiem For A Stripper #136

"Have you ever heard of a rumored secret club called The Immoral Society?"

Jane's eyes glazed over and she stopped dead in her tracks.

She said yes in a tone so low it was almost drowned out by the sound of the waves.

"I don't want to talk about that."

I was a bit taken aback but just said, "Okay."

We started walking again and she said, "That was a bad thing, Jake. Those people were...sadistic. I heard that they sacrificed a girl in some sort of cannibalistic ritual. It was shortly after that I left and never looked back."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 135

Requiem For A Stripper #135

"The informant I talked to said he hadn't heard Madame Helga's name in a decade. What happened to her?" I asked.

"One of her girls had a jealous boyfriend. He went nuts one night and tried to kill the girl. Madame Helga had him beaten up and tossed out. He came back later and set the house on fire. Madame Helga managed to get all her girls out but she got caught up in the flames and was badly burned."

"Wow. Where'd she go after that?"

Jane shook her head, "Dunno. She was in the hospital for over a year."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 134

Requiem For A Stripper #134

"What year was this?" I asked.

"A lady isn't supposed to reveal her age, Jake. But you've levelled with me, so I'll extend you the same courtesy. It was 1921 when I went to work for Madame Helga."

"So, 27 years ago, if my math is accurate."

"It is. Linda Erickson, who's a few years older than me, was already working there, along with about six other girls."

"How long did you work there?" I asked.

"Until 1936. I got offered a spot with a touring dance company and I jumped at the chance. Madame Helga never forgave me, though."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 133

Requiem For A Stripper #133

"Modeling," she said. "How many wide-eyed innocent girls have fallen for that line?"

"Too many," I said.

"Well, when you're in a situation like that it sounds like a dream come true. But it soon turned into a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from."

She was going about it slow, but that was okay. I was going to let her get it out in her own time.

"Madame Helga had a house in the San Fernando Valley. It catered to motion picture stars, politicians, singers, bandleaders. You name it, she had it."

Kinda sounded like The Immoral Society...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 132

Requiem For A Stripper #132

She continued, "I got a job in a diner as a waitress. I did that for two years. I had a room in a boarding house and barely made enough money to pay for it. If the meals hadn't come with the room I wouldn't even have been able to eat half the time, except what little I could sneak at the diner. And that's where I met Madame Helga. She came into the diner when I was just 17. She said I was way too pretty to be doing that kind of work. She said I should be modeling."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 131

Requiem For A Stripper #131

The waves were forcefully crashing against the shoreline, sometimes causing us to have to retreat back to keep from getting our legs wet. The seagulls were flying all around and I could smell the salt water.

Jane was trying to get the courage up to tell her story. I just stood by patiently.

She started walking again. I followed beside her.

"My father was very abusive, Jake. I had to leave home at 15. I'm not giving you a sob story, I just want you to know how a nice young girl could wind up in a business like that."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 130

Requiem For A Stripper #130

"I know this may be difficult for you, Jane. And I don't want to pry into your past. But anything you could tell me about Madame Helga would be helpful. She spoke to one of the missing girls after the girl's lesson at Hoofers and asked if she did private parties."

"That doesn't surprise me. Madame Helga and Linda were always tighter than the rest of us girls. It's not a shock that they're still working with each other."

"So, what's her deal?" I asked.

Jane stopped walking and turned to look out at the sun glistening on the water...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 129

Requiem For A Stripper #129

I drove us out to the beach. We slipped our shoes off and walked out toward the water. Jane was wearing a dress and I had a suit and tie on. We looked like a couple whose car had broken down on the way to a fancy ball. Everyone on the beach looked at us like we were a little overdressed. I couldn't blame them.

We decided to just walk down the shoreline. We could see the oil derricks that lined the beach. The town had an oil boom in the 1920s and wells went up all over the place...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 128

Requiem For A Stripper #128

At the very least I'd picked up some valuable information on that little escapade so I considered the whole endeavor a success. I was about to reach my car when I heard Jane yelling, "Jake, wait!"

I turned and she was running toward me.

"Take me somewhere and I'll tell you the whole story," she said.

I opened the car door to let her in and went around to the driver's side. I saw Herb at the front door watching us.

"We have an audience," I said, getting in.

"He can go to hell. That place is a landfill anyway."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 127

Requiem For A Stripper #127

"You're right, Goldstein. I'm actually with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. I'm investigating your bribery of Abe Katz. It's a very serious charge, Mr. Goldstein."

Jane turned back around. Even with her eyes puffy from tears I could tell that she was amazed at the ease with which I could come up with lies.

"I think you're full of shit," Goldstein said. "Now get outa my club or I'll call the boys in the band back here. And you don't want them having a jam session right upside your head."

He was right. I started for the door...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 126

Requiem For A Stripper #126

"Jane, I swear I had no idea. Does that mean Linda Erickson was one of her girls too?"

She kept her back to me, clearly embarrassed to be remembering her sordid past.

"I'm sorry, Jane. I truly am."

"Mr. Rand?" I heard a voice call from behind.

I turned to see Herb Goldstein.

"What is it, Goldstein?"

"You know," he said, "it's a funny thing. I was worried about Abe so I called his house to see if he was okay. He said there's no one in the city building inspector's office by the name of Jack Rand."

Oh hell...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 125

Requiem For A Stripper #125

She started shaking as she yelled, "You get the hell outa here right now!"

"Why?" I asked in a rather perplexed tone.

"Why did you ask me that?" she said as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I'm trying to find out who she is. Her name and a phone number was written on a piece of paper in one of the missing girls' apartments. I had someone tell me Helga used to run a whorehouse but..."

Then I understood Jane's reaction.

"Did you used to be one of Madame Helga's girls?"

She turned away and began sobbing...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 124

Requiem For A Stripper #124

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, we have a strict no fraternization policy with customers. Why do you ask that?"

"Well, I've discovered that girls from the Daffodil and the Pussycat had been approached and asked if they performed at private events. I think Hoofers may be doing the recruiting."

"I never liked that place. I can't stand Linda Erickson."

"Oh, you know her?"

"Yeah, we go way back. I didn't like her then and I don't like her now."

"Lemme ask something else. You ever heard of Madame Helga?"

If looks could kill Jane Stevens would be in the electric chair...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 123

Requiem For A Stripper #123

I picked up the book and looked through it. There were names, numbers and addresses galore. And I wasn't dreading a bit spending the time later to call all those numbers. Hopefully one of them would lead me to the missing girls.

"Jane, can I take this book? I hope one of these numbers will hold the key to where Debra is."

"Of course. I hope her and Barb are okay."

I nodded. "Do you know if any of your girls ever hire themselves out for private parties?"

She shook her head, "If they did it was without my blessing."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 122

Requiem For A Stripper #122

I rifled through the crap that was lying on Debra's table. Most of it was inconsequential junk. There was a make-up case covered in gaudy gold foil that I opened up. I didn't expect there to be anything I could use in there but I was desperate. It had a tray in the top which I lifted up. And there, nestled in amongst tubes of lipstick, compact cases and make-up brushes, was a little black book.

I wanted to shout Hallelujah but I thought that would be a little too unprofessional.

I did think it though. Very loudly...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 121

Requiem For A Stripper #121

"I gave it to Debra when she got offstage," Jane said as she looked like she was going to be ill.

"Hey, it isn't your fault if that's what caused her disappearance. I have a feeling there's some sort of monster out there that gets his jollies from...," I stopped before I said killing strippers.

She went over to the end of the line of tables and mirrors.

"This was Debra's place. I haven't reassigned it yet because I was hoping she would be back. But now I..."

I walked over there and looked through the things on the table...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 120

Requiem For A Stripper #120

"Okay, one more question. Do you know if either Barb or Debra received a note from a man shortly before their disappearances? A girl at the Gilded Daffodil and another at the Pink Pussycat went to meet a man the nights they disappeared. One of them received a note that night asking them to meet someone. I'm not sure if the other girl got one, though."

Her eyes got bigger. "I remember the last night Debra was here the bartender gave me a note that someone had left at the bar for her."

"What did you do with the note?"

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 119

Requiem For A Stripper #119

"Can you answer a few questions for me?" I asked.

"Sure."

"Do any of the girls here take dancing lessons at a place called Hoofers?"

"The only ones I know of are," she thought a moment and then got a shocked look as she said in a low tone, "Barb and Debra."

I nodded, "I'm convinced Hoofers has something to do with the girls' disappearances. D'you know if anyone from Hoofers has ever been here in an official capacity?"

Her eyes narrowed and she bit her lower lip, "Not to my knowledge. Most of our girls are already great dancers."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 118

Requiem For A Stripper #118

She nodded, "Good. Apparently the cops are getting nowhere with it. I'm Jane Stevens. I manage the girls here at The Giant Clam."

"You must have been quite shocked when Barb Winston and Debra Snow went missing."

She shook her head, "Not initially. Sometimes the girls get fed up and just leave without notice. When Barb disappeared I didn't really think anything about it. But when Debra didn't show up the next week I got really concerned, especially after we couldn't find them anywhere. And then pretty quickly the word got out that girls were missing from other clubs too."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 117

Requiem For A Stripper #117

"Funny way to inspect a building," she said with a gleam in her eye. I could tell she could see right through me.

She was a lot older than your typical stripper, but every bit as gorgeous.

"Maybe I'm branching out," I said with a grin.

She smiled back, "Don't get me wrong. I can't stand that weasel Goldstein, so any pressure you put on him is gravy for me."

"And who might you be?" I asked.

"You first," she said.

I figured I might as well level with her.

"Jake Randolph, private detective. I'm looking into those missing strippers."