about the clubs.”
Cody: “What clubs?”
Cluett: “Weird stuff.”
Cody: “Weird stuff?”
Cluett: “Sex clubs.”
Cody: “Did he mention them by name?”
Cluett: “Only once. It was really a disgusting name.”
Cody: “I’m a big boy, Amelie, I’ve heard it all.”
Cluett: “The Tit for Twat Club was one. I remember that because it really upset me. But he had no idea. It was like he was confessing and I wasn’t there.”
Cody: “Did he ever bring people home with him?”
Cluett: “Not that I know about. I’m in bed at eleven and I’m asleep before the news ends. If I start to doze? The ear plugs go in and I’m out for the night. Sometimes I TiVo Letterman and watch it the next night when there’s nothing good on.”
Cody: “Did he mention anyone by name?”
Cluett: “Made-up names. Wonder Woman. Bat Lady. Trapeze Girl.”
Cody: “Trapeze girl?”
Cluett: “That was another club he mentioned. The Sex Circus.”
Cody: “Did he ever say where these clubs were?”
Cluett: “No. But he calls one girl the Staten Island Fairy. Said she’d come if he put a hundred dollar bill under her pillow, whatever that means. Sounds like a mixed metaphor to me.”
Cody: “Was he a switch hitter?”
Cluett: “No. No. It was always about girls. And not all the time. I mean, maybe once a month he’d go off on one of his tantrums.”
Cody stopped the tape.
“The Staten Island Fairy?” Butch Rogers said and there were a few chuckles in the room.
Kate Winters cautiously raised her hand.
“Yes, Kate?”
“Did she know you were taping her?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” she said.
Cody smiled. “Back to the business at hand. Once everybody gets past the freak factor here let’s face the implications. We’ve got a high profile victim, V.P. of a prestigious brokerage firm with offices across the street from the Stock Exchange and engaged to the boss’s daughter. He had a sex jones and was murdered in what looks like an S&M game that was set up for the purpose of smoking him. This case is going to be on front pages and will resonate all over this squad when it does break. What you just heard stays in this room. I know the stuff about the Staten Island Fairy is juicy gossip over a drink but we have to handle this one very tenderly. Kabish?”
“Is the Cluett woman a suspect?” Larry Simon asked.
“I don’t think so. Whoever killed Handley knew what the hell they were doing. This was a very clean homicide scene, including the absence of blood. I doubt that she would have been as frank as she was if she was implicated in any way. But…she was the closest person to him when he was killed so she’s on the list. Witness, not a suspect.”
“Funny she brought up all the sex stuff when she didn’t know how he was killed,” Hue said.
“All she knew—all I told her—was that he was dead and it wasn’t an accident. I think she got started and let it all out. But, you got a point, Vinnie. Si, run a background on her and the maid while you’re at it. She had a key to the place.”
“Already on it,” Simon answered.
“Okay, let’s finish the briefing, there’s more. Cal?”
Bergman ran the timeline:
“Handley stopped by his office on the way home for about twenty minutes. He discharged his limo driver on the east side Hudson Street, the 520 block, that’s between West 10th and Charles Street, at 11:50 p.m. The sign-off slip was in Handley’s coat pocket.”
Hue picked it up: “I talked to the dispatcher at Metro cab who says one of his cabbies was off-duty and driving south on Bleecker between 10th and Christopher when Handley waved him down. Says Handley looked well-heeled so he figured him for a good tip and picked him up. That was at 12:25 a.m. He let him out at the 73 rd Street address at 12:55. Handley gave him a twenty buck tip.”
“And we know the killer was waiting for him when he got there,” Cody added. “We also know he went straight to the bedroom, undressed, showered, and walked
Cody: “What clubs?”
Cluett: “Weird stuff.”
Cody: “Weird stuff?”
Cluett: “Sex clubs.”
Cody: “Did he mention them by name?”
Cluett: “Only once. It was really a disgusting name.”
Cody: “I’m a big boy, Amelie, I’ve heard it all.”
Cluett: “The Tit for Twat Club was one. I remember that because it really upset me. But he had no idea. It was like he was confessing and I wasn’t there.”
Cody: “Did he ever bring people home with him?”
Cluett: “Not that I know about. I’m in bed at eleven and I’m asleep before the news ends. If I start to doze? The ear plugs go in and I’m out for the night. Sometimes I TiVo Letterman and watch it the next night when there’s nothing good on.”
Cody: “Did he mention anyone by name?”
Cluett: “Made-up names. Wonder Woman. Bat Lady. Trapeze Girl.”
Cody: “Trapeze girl?”
Cluett: “That was another club he mentioned. The Sex Circus.”
Cody: “Did he ever say where these clubs were?”
Cluett: “No. But he calls one girl the Staten Island Fairy. Said she’d come if he put a hundred dollar bill under her pillow, whatever that means. Sounds like a mixed metaphor to me.”
Cody: “Was he a switch hitter?”
Cluett: “No. No. It was always about girls. And not all the time. I mean, maybe once a month he’d go off on one of his tantrums.”
Cody stopped the tape.
“The Staten Island Fairy?” Butch Rogers said and there were a few chuckles in the room.
Kate Winters cautiously raised her hand.
“Yes, Kate?”
“Did she know you were taping her?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” she said.
Cody smiled. “Back to the business at hand. Once everybody gets past the freak factor here let’s face the implications. We’ve got a high profile victim, V.P. of a prestigious brokerage firm with offices across the street from the Stock Exchange and engaged to the boss’s daughter. He had a sex jones and was murdered in what looks like an S&M game that was set up for the purpose of smoking him. This case is going to be on front pages and will resonate all over this squad when it does break. What you just heard stays in this room. I know the stuff about the Staten Island Fairy is juicy gossip over a drink but we have to handle this one very tenderly. Kabish?”
“Is the Cluett woman a suspect?” Larry Simon asked.
“I don’t think so. Whoever killed Handley knew what the hell they were doing. This was a very clean homicide scene, including the absence of blood. I doubt that she would have been as frank as she was if she was implicated in any way. But…she was the closest person to him when he was killed so she’s on the list. Witness, not a suspect.”
“Funny she brought up all the sex stuff when she didn’t know how he was killed,” Hue said.
“All she knew—all I told her—was that he was dead and it wasn’t an accident. I think she got started and let it all out. But, you got a point, Vinnie. Si, run a background on her and the maid while you’re at it. She had a key to the place.”
“Already on it,” Simon answered.
“Okay, let’s finish the briefing, there’s more. Cal?”
Bergman ran the timeline:
“Handley stopped by his office on the way home for about twenty minutes. He discharged his limo driver on the east side Hudson Street, the 520 block, that’s between West 10th and Charles Street, at 11:50 p.m. The sign-off slip was in Handley’s coat pocket.”
Hue picked it up: “I talked to the dispatcher at Metro cab who says one of his cabbies was off-duty and driving south on Bleecker between 10th and Christopher when Handley waved him down. Says Handley looked well-heeled so he figured him for a good tip and picked him up. That was at 12:25 a.m. He let him out at the 73 rd Street address at 12:55. Handley gave him a twenty buck tip.”
“And we know the killer was waiting for him when he got there,” Cody added. “We also know he went straight to the bedroom, undressed, showered, and walked
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