‘And they based a sex club on that? I’ll tell you now you better not be expecting me to slit my throat over you.’
He gave me a dry look. ‘The club is structured on the premise of the many sexual arts Butterfly, if she had been older and more sexually savvy, could have employed to seduce and entice
her American lover into staying with her.’
‘That’s quite clever for a sex club.’
He smiled. ‘Yes, I thought so too.’
‘Well, it sounds extremely expensive,’ I said lightly.
‘It’s worth every penny.’
I looked sideways at him. ‘Have you been to it many times?’
‘Not often enough,’ he said shortly.
CHAPTER 28
Tawny Greystoke
We arrived in the City where Ivan found a parking space on a side street. It was nearly six in the evening. There was hardly anyone on that street. We got out and walked down it, side by
side, but not touching.
‘Here we are,’ he said, stopping outside the faded entrance of an old-fashioned Japanese umbrella shop.
‘Mysterious and intriguing,’ I said looking at the disguised façade where the club was apparently hiding in plain sight.
‘Ready?’ he asked softly.
‘Definitely,’ I said, a swirl of excitement beginning to run up my spine.
To access the club, Ivan dropped his American Express black card into a metal container that had been painted to look like a letterbox. A whirling sound came from the box.
A few seconds later the lock on the door clicked. Ivan pressed open the door and we went in. He closed the door behind us as lights flickered on. We seemed to be in a small shop full of
umbrellas. From speakers came orchestra music. A woman with a fierce and darkly hued timbre wailed hauntingly to it. Her voice had such power that it made me shiver. That would be
exactly how I would have imagined the betrayed Butterfly would sound.
‘That’s Maria Callas,’ Ivan said. ‘A bit different from Dolly Parton, huh?’
‘Completely,’ I said softly. ‘I’ve got goose bumps.’
‘Some people say it is like having a Goddess look right into your soul.’
‘I agree. It’s emotionally devastating,’ I said.
To be honest I couldn’t imagine how this could be the entrance to a sex club. It was somber and dowdy, nothing like The Dirty Aristocrat. The last thing I wanted to do here was have sex.
He pressed a panel within an illuminated glass case, which activated a mechanical steel door that slid back to reveal a lift. As soon as we got in the doors closed and we started
travelling down. The doors opened to reveal a small area with Japanese screen doors. The silhouette of a woman in a kimono appeared on the screen. She parted the screen and revealed a
vibrant green room.
‘Welcome, Pinkerson san and cio cio san,’ she said.
Ivan nodded in greeting and I did the same. Right, we were role playing. He was the horrible officer and I was the betrayed Butterfly.
It was like peeking through a keyhole into someone else’s life. It had memorabilia that made it seem like Butterfly’s bedroom. Kimonos, a child’s wooden toy, sandals, a waxed paper
umbrella, beaded flower decorations and, inside a glass box, a dagger on a velvet bed. There was real pathos in the little shoes and the face paint we were meant to think Butterfly had
used.
The woman who had opened the screen slid another screen open. We followed her down a corridor. She went through a door, ushering me in with her. It was a small room, more like an ante
room.
‘We will prepare Butterfly for you, Officer Pinkerton, while you have some hot sake in the Gentlemen’s room,’ she said, bowing her head.
‘You’re going to leave me here?’ I asked, my eyes saying don’t you dare and a small whine of panic in my voice.
‘Relax and enjoy it. It’s truly a treat,’ he said coolly with a smile. With a quick kiss on my lips he casually strolled away.
‘This way please, Butterfly,’ the woman said opening another door. The place was like a maze. We entered another room with a long steel table that looked like one of those tables they
have at the morgue.
She opened a plastic packet and took out a red silk bed sheet that she covered the metal table with. She made sure the amount of material falling over the metal table was exactly the
same on both sides. Then she turned to me.
The lighting in this room was much better so I got a better look at her. She was at least fifty. Considering Asian people never looked their age, she must have been much older.
‘Please take all your clothes off and put them in this box,’ she said, indicating a plain cardboard box on the floor.
‘You want me to undress here?’ I asked, a little surprised by the whole set-up. Where was the velvet and the sumptuous furniture, the throbbing music? It was all so sterile. So unsexy.