sentiment either. “ Trust me,” he said, indicating that I should sit down again. I almost choked on those words. I was as likely to trust Dominic Caldwell as I was a politician’s promises. Dominic obviously knew where my thought processes were going and I saw his features tighten. “ I would suggest you accept my word in this,” he said grimly. I sat down because I could tell that I didn’t really have a choice. “ Why are you here?” I asked, pulling my hand back from where he was still holding it. He let go grudgingly. “Mr Pollard’s death is quite inconvenient. We had been discussing a possible business relationship.” I couldn’t help the look of distaste that crossed my face. “You were looking into owning strip clubs?” I know that Dominic Caldwell was many things but I hadn’t realized that he was involved in that industry. Dominic’s face matched mine. “Of course not, but that land that the club sits on is quite valuable. Mr Pollard owed me a considerable amount of money and he was considering providing me with the land as compensation.” “For what?” I asked. “ For development. I am an honest businessman and I saw an opportunity to expand into certain areas of Los Angeles. I have found lately that this city holds some attraction,” Dominic said to me, his gaze holding mine. I swallowed. Dominic Caldwell made me nervous, very nervous. “ Why do you want to talk to me?” I asked, keeping my voice low. “Having Mr Pollard pass away like he did, at such an important part of the negotiations. I find that concerning. I am curious as to what happened.” “Why are you asking me?” I said. “Why don’t you just go to the police or a private investigator or anyone else but me.” Yet again Dominic looked at me as if he was having to explain things to a child. “I just want to know what you saw and any thoughts you may have regarding Mr Pollard’s unfortunate demise.” I truly had to stop myself from sighing in exasperation. “I don’t know anything. I was one of the people who found the body last night. I’ve been working at the club for the last couple of weeks. During that time I have found Hammy to be a thoroughly disgusting human being. The fact he was murdered does not surprise me at all. He was strangled with a whip that was used in the dominatrix’s act. I have absolutely no idea who did this. If you are looking for the killer the list could be a mile long.” “Your boyfriend has no problem with you working in a strip club?” Dominic asked in what I felt was a totally unrelated question. “ It’s not like I was stripping,” I said tightly, refusing to answer the question. Dominic studied me carefully. “He didn’t know did he?” “ I am pretty sure that my personal life is none of your business,” I said. “In fact, there is no part of my life that is any of your business. If you have issues with Hammy or if he owed you money then I would suggest that you sort it out with his estate.” “ That is the thing,” said Dominic, as usual completely ignoring the fact that I very obviously wanted to get away from him. “The wife with the old will, it seems a little too convenient. It was my understanding that Mr Pollard had developed a relationship with a young lady recently and had been planning to change his will to leave her the club if something unfortunate happened to him.” “ Really,” I said and wanted to kick myself. Unfortunately Dominic knew that I had an insatiable curiosity. Already my mind was racing trying to work out who the young lady in question could have been. I was assuming that it was one of the girls from the club but maybe Hammy had a hobby that I didn’t know about. People sometimes have a habit of surprising you. For all I knew Hammy could have belonged to a book club. I was doubting it, but I’d been completely wrong about people before. “ I prefer to ascertain as much as I can about a situation before making my