Oh. God! How it burnt!”
Jay thought: “Here it is. Right with the lid off. This is the stuff that I want. I can start somethin’ now.” He said to her, “Grantham? Does he come into this?”
She nodded miserably. “He works for Cruise,” she gasped. “He comes here and they talk. I’ve heard things.
They got houses all over the town. They get girls from Denver, from Springfieldseverywhere. Don’t you understand? They’re good girls. They take them from their homes and they make them do this work. Oh, you must stop it! You must stop it!”
Jay patted her hand. “I’ll stop it,” he said grimly. He got up and reached for the phone. “Give me the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” he said.
10
September 8th, 5 p.m.
GRANTHAM looked round the large room, his face cold and sneering. There were some thirty girls standing around the room. Some of them had on wraps, others just wore knickers and black stockings. They were all looking sullen and were only suppressing their fury because Madam, a big, hard−featured woman, stood behind Grantham.
Grantham said, “You girls’ve got to shake up your ideas. We’ve done badly here this week. I’m going to try a little experiment. Next week you’ll all go on a commission basis. See how you get on with that.” There was a low murmur from the girls. Madam said, “Shut up, you!”
Grantham’s lips twisted into a sneering smile. He turned to Madam. “You’ve been too soft with these bitches,” he said. “Get hold of the ringleaders and turn them over to my men. They’ll knock the starch out of them. What the hell do they think they’re here forfun?”