Lola Lickett - Queen of Porn: Ch. 02

The door opened and Dolores came in carrying a tray with a coffee pot, cups and saucers. She dumped the tray on Devlin's huge desk with a clatter and turned to stomp out.

'You forgot the water,' said Devlin.

'There wasn't room on the tray,' said Dolores and she closed the door behind her. The two men exchanged a look and then Devlin poured coffee for the two of them.

'Anyway, to business,' he said, handing Harrison a black coffee. 'You must be wondering why I asked you here.'

'Kind of,' said Harrison, putting a spoonful of sugar into his cup. He lowered his voice. 'Is everything okay with the, um ... surveillance equipment?'

Devlin frowned. Then he brightened.

'Oh, you mean the bugs in the office?' he said. 'Yeah, they're great. Very entertaining. And it's useful to know what my staff are saying about me.'

'I'll bet. So it's all functioning properly?'

'Oh, yes. But that's not why you're here.' Devlin sipped his own coffee and sat back in his chair. 'Do you remember, Humphrey, when I hired you to find out who Lola's manager was?'

'Yes. Wasn't quite expecting the outcome.'

'No. Who would? Well, basically I need you to do more of the same. You see, Lola's behaviour is getting more and more demanding and it's becoming difficult to keep her in check. I need some kind of leverage.'

'What kind?'

'I don't know. I mean, you're the private detective, Humphrey, so just ... detect. Find something in Lola's background or past that I can use if she starts to get out of hand. She must have skeletons in her cupboard—everybody does. So find one. And then tell me what it is. Knowledge is power, Humphrey. Knowledge is power.'

At that same moment, in the office on the other side of the door, Dolores sat at her desk and went through the files she'd brought with her. One by one, she opened them and scanned the papers within, separating them with her stubby yet nimble fingers. Finally, she found one that caught her attention. Reading through the paper, a malicious smile began to grow on her face. Dolores put the paper to one side and picked up a thin brown folder with a few papers in it. Her smile went from malicious to the sort of smile Dracula might have worn when he saw Van Helsing sneak to the coffin, not realising that the vampire was hiding behind the door.

The words on the folder said: 'Shirley Goober – Fluff girl.'