Whitestone leaned against the wall and folded her arms, staring at Ginger with undisguised contempt.

Edie sat on the desk.

‘You got an address?’ she asked Ginger. ‘A number? Anything?’

‘I’m not police, OK?’ Ginger said.

‘No,’ Whitestone. ‘You’re a pimp, Miss Gonzalez. And for the life of me I don’t understand why we didn’t bust you long ago.’

Ginger looked at me, pleading.

‘There was no way I could get her to stay. I called you as soon as I knew, Max. But when I got back, Kris had arrived and he was talking to her.’ I saw her face flush with embarrassment. ‘Kris thought she was my PA.’

‘And who the hell is Kris?’ Whitestone said. ‘Another lonely heart?’

‘Boyfriend,’ I said.

Whitestone shook her head. ‘And I bet he doesn’t know what you do, does he?’ She glanced at her watch. ‘I bet he doesn’t have a clue, does he? The poor sap! One born every minute. Not married, is he? That would be par for the whore-mongering course.’

‘Why don’t we continue this interview at West End Central?’ Edie said, easing off the desk.

Ginger ignored them.

‘Max,’ she said. ‘Rabia was angry with me. I showed her my standard contract. My usual terms and conditions.’

Whitestone laughed scornfully.

‘I pay my taxes!’ Ginger said. ‘And so do my staff!’

‘Your staff!’ Whitestone said.

‘But Rabia said she had already had an offer of work somewhere else. She was raving. And she kept telling me how much more they would appreciate her at this other place. And she kept repeating the same thing about why it was a much better place to work. No papers. No papers. In the middle of this stoned rant about why she would be better down the road. No papers.’

‘No papers,’ I said. ‘Meaning that if she worked for you, there would be forms to sign and taxes to pay and work visas required. But not at this other place.’

‘Because they use illegals,’ Whitestone said.

We waited.

Whitestone was staring hard at Ginger.

‘What can you do for me, Ginger?’ she said.

‘I think I know where she’s working. Rabia mentioned a name at the other place.’ She hesitated. ‘And it was a name that I know.’

We are used to being lied to in our job. It happens constantly. People will say anything to escape whatever is coming for them. But I believed Ginger was telling the truth, even as Whitestone and Edie looked forward to the moment they shut her down.

‘There’s a woman,’ Ginger said. ‘Madam Theresa.’

Whitestone stirred at the name.