Read Joe Dillard - 01 - An Innocent Client for Free Online

through the gravel in her three-inch spiked heels. The outfit was definitely on the outrageous side, but her body was good enough to pull it off.
    Landers pulled up beside the BMW, got out, introduced himself, and showed the woman his identification. She shook his hand and said her name was Erlene Barlowe. She owned the place. Said her husband passed away a while back and she took over after he died. She had a pretty face and was wearing a push-up bra that pushed up plenty. But she had to be at least fifty, so Landers figured the bright red hair was bottle-fed.
    ”What can I do for you, honey?” she said after a little small talk.
    ”What time do you open?” Landers was disappointed that the place was closed, since he wanted to talk to some of the employees. Actually, he was hoping to get to see some of her employees in action.
    He’d heard the Mouse’s Tail was a pretty steamy place, but he’d never been in there. When Landers wanted to go to a strip club, he went to the beach or Atlanta. As much as he liked to look at tits and ass, he knew the TBI would probably fire him if they heard he was hanging out at the local titty bar. Those kinds of places were notorious for drugs.
    ”Five,” the woman said. ”We’re open five to two, six days a week. Closed on Sundays.” Her voice was kind of Southern belle-ish, not exactly what he expected to hear from a woman who looked like her, with a syrupy Tennessee drawl. Landers thought it was nice that the titty bar observed the Sabbath.
    ”So you were open last night?”
    ”Wednesday’s usually a pretty good night for us.
    It’s hump day, you know.”
    She had a little smile on her face when she said
    ”hump day.” Landers wondered how much humping went on in there on hump day.
    ”Was it crowded last night?”
    ”Wasn’t anything special, sugar. Do you mind if I ask why you’re asking?”
    As she talked, Landers noticed her mouth. Nice teeth, and candy apple red lipstick. Looked like a color you’d paint a ‘56 Chevy. Landers briefly envisioned those red lips wrapped around his pole.
    ”Just doing my job, Ms. Barlowe,” he said. ”Obviously, I wouldn’t be here unless I was working some kind of an investigation.”
    ”I understand completely,” she said, ”but I’m sure you can understand that I’m concerned when a police officer, even one as handsome as yourself, shows up at my place of business asking questions. Maybe I could help you a little more if you’d let me in on what you’re investigating.”
    Landers stepped back over to his car, reached in, and picked the photograph of Tester up off the front seat.
    ”Were you here last night?” he said.
    ”I’m here every night, sweetie.”
    ”Recognize this guy?” Landers handed the photo to her. She looked at it for a few seconds, then shook her head and handed it back.
    ”I don’t believe I do.”
    ”I think he was here last night.”
    ”Really? What would make you think that?”
    ”Just some information I picked up. He was killed last night.”
    She gasped and covered her mouth. ”Oh, my goodness. That’s terrible!”
    Landers held the photo up in front of her face again. ”You’re absolutely certain you didn’t see him in your club last night?”
    ”Well, now, I don’t believe I could say for certain.
    Lots and lots of men come and go. I don’t notice all of them.”
    ”I’m going to need to interview the employees who were working last night and as many of your customers as I can.”
    ”Well, I swan,” she said. ”You’ll scare my girls to death. And the customers? Honey, they’d run from you like scared rabbits. Most of them don’t even want their wives to know they’ve been here, let alone the police. If you were to come in here and start asking them about a murder, why, I just don’t know what would happen to my business.”
    ”I didn’t say anything about a murder.”
    The phony smile she was wearing stayed frozen on her face, but her eyes tightened the slightest