It was Thursday evening and I was sitting in the living room with the detectives listening to my final instructions. Mary and I had been out all afternoon, beginning with the hairdressers and then a couple of hours of clothes shopping. I was in a good mood, because I loved the makeover that had completely changed my appearance.
My hair had been cut short into a bob style with a very low fringe and then bleached. I liked the smooth lines of the cut, especially as the fringe half covered my eyes. Mary was right when she’d said that my own mother wouldn’t know me, for I hardly recognized myself in the mirror!
“Your contact is Tanja Muller who works at the Kaufman Agency in Berlin.” Jack was explaining. “Tanja is the booking clerk at the agency that you’re registered with. The moment you come up on her computer she’ll call you to give you an update on the latest news.”
“When do I get to meet Tanja?” I asked.
“Not until Saturday, probably. You should be at the Hertzberg hostel at 7. 00 tomorrow and registered with the agency by 8. 00. The agency will then get in touch with you at the hostel Saturday morning to tell you what time to start and where your track will be. Tanja will try and keep you away from the escort appointments,” explained Jack.
“If there are no appointments, then you can work the streets for longer hours, where we hope you’ll spot our guy,” Mary explained.
“Am I going to be all on my own?”
“No, you’ll be constantly watched and followed.” She handed me a phone. “And this phone has been modified.”
“Press any button and we’ll be hooked up to you and hear exactly what you’re saying,” explained Jack. “Plus we can track the phone wherever you go. Just behave as you would in Soho and alert us, if you’re suspicious of anyone at all.”
“Everything is noted down for you in a folder, which we expect you to destroy when you land in Berlin tomorrow,” Mary added.
“Mary, this sounds more clandestine than I’d expected. I’m not sure if I can pull it off,” I said, uncertainly.
I was beginning to get anxious as the time of my flight approached. The spectre of seeing the grinning face of the German sadist again, began to play on my mind. Still, I had cash in my bag, along with the promise of more in a new bank account, which Mary had opened for me during the day.
When all things were considered, if the filth paid me enough, I was quite willing to take a risk or two, hoping that in the end they’d catch the murderer without my help.
“Beth, don’t worry. We’ll be watching and following you wherever you go. We and a special section of the Bundespolizei will always be around to protect you, 24 hours a day. This is a massive international investigation and you are our most valuable witness, so rest assured that we’re not going to let anything happen to you.”
“Okay Mary, I’ll give it a go and see how things pan out.” I wasn’t really happy, but working the streets was something I was good at and in the end, I should earn a decent amount of money.
Jack seemed satisfied that I wasn’t going to lose my bottle and chicken out, so said his goodbyes, because he was flying to Berlin that night. Mary, who had seemed to soften in the 48 hours since I met her, poured us a stiff drink and sat down on the sofa with me.
“It’s our last night together Beth, would you like to share my bed with me. I could give your sweet ass another massage if you like…?”
I took a swig of whisky and waited for the burn in my throat to die down. Her stunning green eyes sparkled under the halogen down lights and I thought, compared to all the dykes in Holloway, she was a very attractive woman.
“Sure Mary, just as long as you let me sleep on the right side of the bed!”
We both laughed out loud and took another swig from our glasses…