Header: Shakedown, Movie Star News

In-text 1: Detail from Holly Learns the Ropes #2, 1983

In-text 2: Detail from ‘The Avengers’ with Linda Thorson

Footer: Detail from cover of True Police Cases

The hot bath did wonders for Melody’s morale, but it was not to last. She had just settled down on a luxurious couch with a large cup of cocoa. Leafing through one of Tilly’s magazines when the phone rang.

Melody’s heart went cold when she heard the voice at the other end.

‘Wh…What do you want?’

‘Miss Hazard. We haven’t finished our little talk about the diamond.’

It was Montague without a doubt. Melody took a deep breath and said, ’Categorically no way I’ll let myself back into your hands, or anywhere near you!’

‘There’s always an exception to every rule, Miss Hazard. What I’m suggesting is a fair swap. A little of your time with us in exchange for that red-headed friend of yours from the boutique.’ He pronounced it ‘bouti-kue.’

‘Why … You’ve got Tilly?’ Melody exclaimed aghast.

‘Oh yes. She’s not very comfortable and she would very much like to go home. But I’m afraid that’s entirely up to you.’

‘Don’t hurt her, please,’ Melody cried with anguish. ‘She doesn’t know anything about the diamond business.’

‘We have a deal then?’ countered Montague.

‘Let me speak with Tilly first,’ said Melody firmly. ‘I have to know from her that she’s all right.’

‘Will do.’

There was a pause of several seconds. Melody thought she heard a sharp cry of pain. Then Tilly’s voice came falteringly over the phone.

‘Melody, dear, I can’t hear what they say because they keep my face wrapped up tight in some sort of bag. But they want something they think you have. If it’s really important, don’t give in to them. They wouldn’t dare hurt me seriously.’

Melody, her heart in her mouth, replied, ‘Tilly, they WILL hurt you. I’ll do whatever I can to get you out of there.’

‘Don’t do anything foolish, Melody, I’ll be all ...’ Tilly’s voice ended abruptly.

‘I think you can guess what’s happening over here, Miss Hazard,’ said Montague. ‘Now do I have your undivided attention?’

‘Yes,’ said Melody in a small voice.

‘Good. What we want is to talk with you some more, in exchange for your friend here. Then we’ll let you go too. That’s a guarantee.’

Melody did not much like her chances over that warranty, but she had little choice.

‘What do you want me to do?’

‘We’ll make the exchange this way, Miss Hazard. Near the warehouse by the docks there’s a lane called End Street. Go there, on your own. I don’t have to warn you not to tell anyone, do I?’

‘N-No.’

‘Right. When you get there walk halfway down the lane. Stop at the only doorway you’ll find. Under a brick there’ll be a plastic bag with a roll of cloth and a pair of handcuffs. You’re to pack the cloth into your mouth, and cuff yourself with your hands behind your back. Then wait. We’ll drive through and hand over your friend - she’ll be left there - and pick you up. After that there’ll only be a few questions then we’ll let you go. A word of warning, don’t try to cross us. Okay?’

‘I-I’ll do what you ask. Only please don’t hurt Tilly.’

Melody lowered the phone with shaking hands. The thought of letting herself back into the clutches of the gang after escaping from them so successfully was galling. It also frightened her horribly. But she could not bear the thought of Tilly at their tender mercies. The young woman knew she had no alternative. She could not tell Brod. He would only forbid her from attempting the risky ploy. And he would be right. Melody was not confident she would find it easy to escape from those people the second time around. It would be useless to try to get out of handcuffs.

With a heavy heart, Melody prepared for the coming ordeal. She matched a pair of white satin panties with a figure-hugging body stocking of the same material. Black sheer stockings were drawn onto her legs to her thigh tops. Over these went a white satin full slip, almost like a light dress in itself. The lingerie was followed by a heavy dark silk blouse and a denim skirt that came just below her knees. They would help to keep her warm. She knotted a small pink silk neck square loosely at her throat and threw on the fleecy lined jacket that had given good service back in the ruined house. She guessed that might become her prison again, but this time without a convenient cutting blade handy.

Melody caught a taxi into the city and from there went on foot to the docks area, consulting a tourist map as she walked. The journey took more than twenty minutes but she arrived only a few minutes late. It was late in the day. The sky was overcast and a sharp wind was blowing in from the bay. The streets were full of empty tumbledown houses. On the skyline she could see the lowering bulk of the warehouse. She had been there before, was probably approaching the site of her former prison from the opposite direction to the way in which she had fled. Melody turned her collar against the biting wind and stepped into the lane.

She found the plastic bag beneath a brick where she had been directed. Melody grimaced with distaste at the tight roll of cloth. It was thick, a torn piece of bed sheet. But it was snowy white, and clean. Melody thought of fleeing, but she was probably being watched that very moment, and a picture of Tilly in the gang’s hands helped her to gather her courage. With a shiver, she raised the cloth to her lips and packed it carefully into her mouth. Endwise or sideways, either way the gag would fill her mouth. Choosing endwise, she allowed a little of the cloth to protrude from between her lips to make it more bearable.

The handcuffs came next. They were small steel circlets connected by a single link of chain. Melody slipped her right wrist into one circlet and clicked it shut. Then, taking a deep breath, she placed her arms behind her back and found the other cuff with her left hand. Carefully, she slipped her wrist into the metal ring, braced herself, then clicked it into place. Immediately her wrists were tightly imprisoned. The single link of chain allowed very little freedom of movement. It was almost like being tied with cinched rope, the way Brentford and Orly had bound her.

Melody looked up the lane, feeling more alone and helpless than she had done on all the other times recently in which she had been bound and gagged. Her captors had used rope before, and not always very expertly. And she had not minded the attentions of one captor in the police center soon after the whole affair of the Duck’s Egg diamond began!

A dark car appeared at the head of the lane. As it purred softly towards her, Melody felt her legs shaking and she almost fell to the ground. She managed instead to prop herself against the wall. The vehicle drew abreast of her. It was a Mercedes, a little up-market for this district, Melody thought ironically. She could make out the bulk of Hudson at the wheel. It was hard to tell because he kept his head down and averted his gaze. She saw the grinning visage of Montague through the side window at the back seat.

Then the vehicle came to a halt. A figure emerged from the rear door on the other side and walked to the trunk. Melody recognized Karl and she shrank back against the wall. They were all cruel men, but he was the most cruel.

‘Oh my God,’ Melody thought as Karl opened the trunk of the car, ‘Poor Tilly’s in there!’

Karl lifted out a large bundle and carried it to the side where he placed it against the wall where Melody stood. He looked up at her with a snicker. Then he bent and unfastened a drawstring, pulling the large bag open. A shock of red hair emerged, then Tilly’s face occluded by layers of cloth, more sheeting, wound about her mouth and covering her eyes. Karl continued to peel the bag from his victim, and when it was finally off he bent down and cut the ropes that held Tilly’s arms to her body at the elbows. Her wrists were tied behind her and these too were cut free.

Melody looked at the heavy canvas bag in Karl’s hands and then towards the open trunk. ‘Now it’s my turn,’ she thought with resignation and a sinking feeling.

But instead it was Johnny Montagu by her side. Melody was taken roughly by an arm and hustled into the back of the car. Montague followed and Karl climbed in on Melody’s other side.

‘Your friend will be okay,’ Montague assured Melody in response to a frightened look from the captive. ‘We’ll just secure you more, then we’ll be off. I see you took our advice. Very wise of you. Just a few adjustments to make.’

A large roll of flesh colored tape came into his hand. Melody’s gag was forced deeper into her mouth and she was made to close her lips together over it. Then the lower part of her face was bandaged up tightly in the wide sticky material. It was wound again and again around the back of her neck and over her face until her mouth was sealed rigidly from just below her nose to overlap the tip of her chin. She was thankful that her nose was free, allowing her to breathe. Next a bag of thick white silk was pulled over her head. It was just large enough to fit, and almost immediately the smooth material clung softly to her face. Melody had to fight for every breath.

As she felt the car move off, the handcuffs were unfastened. Melody’s heavy jacket was pulled down over her arms which were then held behind her by one of the gang while the other - Melody guessed it was Karl - tied her upper arms together with rope. The jacket was then pulled roughly over her shoulders again, her arms no longer in its sleeves. The binding of her wrists followed and, as the car gathered speed, her arms were further pinioned tightly to her body with more rope. She was right in guessing that they were not far from the hideout because the sound of the motor told Melody that the car was beginning to slow down. By the time it had stopped, Melody was bound tightly at her ankles and above the knees.

She felt the car lift and settle on its springs as the gang members climbed out, leaving her on the back seat. There followed a long period of waiting during which Melody found that she had made a mistake to apply her gag endwise. The cloth penetrated deep into her mouth against her tongue, causing a gagging reflex that she had to fight all the time to overcome. She could not move her arms or make a sound beyond a very faint murmur. The tightness about her face and the difficulty she had breathing made her light-headed and she slumped sideways across the seat.

In a daze, she felt herself being carried. There was a sensation of moving downwards when her legs felt lower than her head between the two men carrying her, one at her shoulders and the other holding her legs in an over-familiar embrace.

Then there followed a sense of damp and stale air on her neck and shoulders, where the warm jacket had opened and the top buttons of her satin blouse had come adrift. Melody guessed that she was being carried into a cellar or basement of some kind. Below the house where she was held prisoner before, or was it another house? She was lowered with surprising gentleness onto what felt like a blanket spread upon an uneven cement or stone surface.

One of the men rolled her onto her face, less gently now. Her legs were folded behind her so that her heels rested against her buttocks. Melody felt more rope being tied around her ankles and then between her bound wrists. When the hands came away, her legs sprang back only a few inches before remaining fixed.

Hands pawed at her again, and she was rolled onto her side. There she lay, her body arched painfully. Melody remembered from reading somewhere that this was probably what people called a hogtie. It was cruelly effective. She could scarcely move at all.

With a sudden excess of energy, Melody raised her head and whimpered through the gag and the silk cloth stretched taut across her face. The effort exhausted what breath she had, and she let her head fall back to the floor. She felt dizzy and nauseous. She wanted to be sick but could not because of the gag. Then she felt hands at the draw strings snug at her throat, and after what seemed an eternity to the suffocating woman the heavy silk bag was pulled from her face and head.

The dead air of the cellar felt wonderful after the smothering silk and she breathed it in slowly and luxuriously through her nose. If she could at least breathe in this way, there might be some chance she would come out of the ordeal in one piece. Melody thought about stories of hostages kept blindfolded or hooded for days and she was grateful for the relief that her captors were allowing her.

‘She’ll keep,’ one of them grunted. It sounded like Montague.

‘He-he, we’ll check on her in a few hours. That’ll soften her up for questioning, he-he.’ The giggling man sounded like Karl.

Melody did not want to look up. Keeping a low profile, literally, seemed the best policy. She breathed a sigh of relief when the sounds of the men’s shoes receded and footfalls echoed hollowly on the wooden steps that led down into, and out of, the cellar. A heavy door closed. It felt final. The cellar remained dimly lit by a single light bulb that swung softly in the faint movement of air caused by the opening and closing of the door. Melody had never felt so alone and helpless and a sob somehow managed to escape through the gag that was slowly choking her.

Melody strained uselessly against her bonds. She succeeded in rolling onto her face and then onto the other side of her body. But that was all the movement she found possible. She had no strength to inch her way around on the floor, and anyhow what good would that do, tied as she was?

Instead, Melody lifted her head and tried to explore the extent of the cellar. She was beginning to have the uncanny feeling that she was somehow not alone. A faint movement reached her ears. With a huge effort, she rolled onto her face and back onto the side where she had rested originally.

As her eyes adjusted better to the dim light, Melody could see the outlines of a figure against the wall opposite her. She lifted her head and looked more intently. The figure moved slightly, and entered a little further into a patch of light.

Melody found herself looking up into the dark anguished eyes of one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen.

*

For a long while the two women stared at each other, absorbing the fact that each now had a companion in her captivity. Neither spoke. Melody was scarcely able to make a squeak, so thoroughly had the gag dried out her mouth. It pressed on her tongue and threatened to choke her. And every breath she attempted to take brought on the gagging reflex. She found herself swallowing uncontrollably, but the drooling that had begun earlier was now over.

The other woman’s mouth was free, but her teeth chattered uncontrollably in the cold air. A light black slip of diaphanous silk and lace was all that protected her from the dank cellar. Her bare arms were raised above her head and her wrists were tied together cruelly at the end of a long thick rope that extended above to the dark of the ceiling. Melody thought she could make out the shape of a roof beam. The young woman’s ankles appeared to be tethered about twelve inches apart by another piece of thick rope, so that she could sit sideways on the floor. As her eyes became more accustomed to the gloom, Melody saw with a small shock that the other end of the ankle tether was fastened to an iron ring set low down on the wall behind the prisoner. The ties were not as limiting as the ones that held Melody, but they restricted movement to a minimum all the same. And having to sit with her arms raised, perhaps for hours, must be pure torture. How long had this poor girl been there?

Even in that awful situation, Melody wondered at the young woman’s natural red lips and fresh complexion. Her face was framed by a halo of dark hair that fell to her shoulders. She guessed that she herself looked appropriately haggard in what could be seen of her face above the gag. On the other hand, this exquisitely lovely person had a fresh-faced innocence about her. It was an entrapped innocence and Melody’s heart went out to her.

After a few minutes the dark haired woman managed to control the quivering of her lips enough to give Melody a wan smile.

‘H… Hullo. I … I g-guess you’re Melody?’

Melody could only nod her head weakly. It took a moment for surprise to register at being identified by name.

‘We’re in a pretty fix,’ the girl said. ‘I d-don’t think we’ll be getting out of this easily.’ She shrugged her pretty shoulders. Melody could see the goose bumps on her raised arms.

The girl shifted her position on the stone floor. She could not move very far. She looked down at herself and grimaced. ‘Brand new. One of my best. Very expensive.’ She sighed, and it took Melody a moment to realize the young woman was not really serious about her affronted feminine pride.

Melody lifted her head and shoulders from the floor and mmmphed interrogatively. The girl smiled again.

‘I see we’ll have to communicate by way of monologue and mime!’ she quipped. But the joke ended abruptly as an uncontrollable shiver went through her body. And for a moment she hung limply from the heavy rope that held her upright.

Melody experienced a stab of panic. Was this beautiful young woman going to die in front of her eyes? She strained ineffectually in her bonds. To Melody’s relief, the girl straightened herself, smiled again, and shook her head weakly. Her dark hair cascaded from side to side of her delicately shaped, slightly oval face.

‘It won’t do any good. H- He’s a devil with ropes. But you know that by n-now. They’re tied so tight, aren’t they, you just have to struggle. Anything to g-get out of them!’ Another spasm of shivering shook her. ‘I envy you that heavy c-coat. They say that when hypothermia really sets in, it’s not such a bad d-death.’

The girl lowered her head and her shoulders shook. Melody squirmed helplessly in the hogtie, but her arms and hands had no feeling in them any longer, and her legs felt icy cold.

After about a minute, the girl raised her head again, her face wet with tears. She shook her head angrily and took a deep, shuddering breath.

‘C-Can’t give up now,’ she said. ‘Look, it’s not possible for us to do anything to help each other, tied the way we are. But they won’t keep us always like this. That bastard likes variety with his knots. He’ll likely as not amuse himself with us, while you’re being questioned about the diamond of course. And if we’re left alone together, tied in different ways, it might be possible to help each other with the knots.’

‘Oh I know a little about that business with the diamond,’ she continued in response to Melody’s look of surprise. ‘You’re leading them a merry dance! That’s your trump card. Don’t tell them a thing, whether you know anything or not. Lead them on. It might be our only hope for survival. No. Your only chance,’ she corrected herself. I think it’s a little bleak for me. It depends whether he gets tired of tormenting me.’

Another long period of silence followed. Melody shifted uncomfortably in her bonds. Once more the dark haired young woman’s head was bowed. Her hands hung open and useless in the heavy loops of rope.

The girl lifted her head again. ‘I- I’m sorry. I keep passing out. I’m not being a good host. I know who you are, and I h-haven’t introduced myself properly. My name’s Mia. Mia Chantal. I don’t suppose Brod’s mentioned me to you? No?’

Melody shook her head.

‘Good. Forget it. You don’t know anything about me, if they ask you. Okay?’

Melody nodded.

‘If I keep talking, it might help take my mind off the cold, freezing my butt, and other parts.’ She smiled shakily again. ‘I’d better tell you what happened. But remember,’ she repeated, ‘you don’t know nothing about me.’

The girl seemed to find more strength, and drew herself to her full sitting height. She recited her story to Melody, a little in the style of a schoolgirl at a show and tell. As she spoke, she seemed to gain a little more breath and a light flush began to reappear in her cheeks.

‘We- we were at a loss to know what happened to you. You just disappeared. And Brod was frantic with worry.’

What’s this? wondered Melody. Is this girl Mia a policewoman working with Brod on the case?

‘Then we had a lead,’ Mia went on. ‘Someone made an anonymous phone call. It was very hurried, and the receptionist did not get all the details before the line went dead. But the message said that you were being held a prisoner somewhere in this district. I was the only one in the office, so I decided to do a bit of sleuthing on my own. I should have known better. I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. I posed as a market researcher on a door knock survey, and at first everything seemed to be working out. One householder even said there were strange comings and goings in this street. In a Mercedes no less. And I was just about to report back to the office, but I wanted to see for myself.’

Mia choked back a sob. ‘I- I guess you and I have something in common. Like being headstrong. And wanting to impress our men with derring-do.’

She shifted uncomfortably, and shrugged. ‘Well, it started out okay. When I knocked, a big man answered the door. I was wearing my best red dress and a bright smile. And managed to keep from showing that I was frightened to death. But then the other man appeared, and he recognized me. Yes, I’ve been mixed up with crooks before,’ she added, as Melody cocked her head.

<‘That’s about all there is to say,’ Mia ended sadly. ‘It was over very quickly. He must have had the chloroform pad close handy. I didn’t have a chance. The big man held me while the pad was clamped over my nose and mouth. I fought against it. But they’re very strong and I was just a toy in their hands. I remember him chuckling in my ear as I went under: "We meet again, Mia Chantal. Hoo hoo." Like an ape. I came to in here, strung up like this. He must have got a real kick out of taking my dress off. He really is a dangerous, horrible man!’

Mia choked back another sob. ‘We’re old enemies,’ she went on. ‘He kidnapped me once and held me in the cellar of an old house. It was a lot more comfortable than this place. But the ropes were very real. He called himself Snedley then. He’s Karl now. Karl Knebelgruber. The tall gangly one. I got away from him that other time. And my boyfriend beat him up pretty badly. But he didn’t stay around for the police. And so the psychopath’s still loose in this city. Melody, you’d better pray that one of the other men tie you up. Not him! But I think I see his handiwork on you already, you poor dear.’

You do indeed, though Melody hopelessly.

Mia continued. ‘That tape they’ve put on you looks dangerously tight. Is there packing in your mouth?’

Melody nodded.

‘It’s not much consolation, but I’ve been through that ordeal more than once, tape and packing. At first I was terrified of choking. The only thing you can do is to try to push the wad as hard against the back of your teeth as you can, with your tongue. Get it as close to the front of your mouth as possible, so it’s not going to slip into your throat. Can you do that?’

Melody shook her head. The wad of thickly rolled cloth pressed lengthwise upon her tongue resisted all her efforts to dislodge it. Mia watched with growing concern, forgetful of her own discomfort.

‘Look. When they come, I’ll try to plead for you.’

Melody shook her head violently. She did not want Mia to suffer any more than what she was going through already. But Mia pursed her lips stubbornly.

‘I know what to expect from that bastard. I don’t know why he didn’t gag me too. But I sure as hell know that he’ll do it as just about his first action when he comes in. You might not understand, Melody, but we’re in the hands of a really bad man. And when I say bad, I mean really, really bad! Our lives don’t mean a thing to him. The best way we can cope is to alternately bargain and cooperate with him. I’m someone he can torment to his heart’s content. That’s the only bargaining chip I have. But, like I said before, you have an advantage because you might know about something they want badly.’

Mia lifted her head and listened intently. ‘They’re coming,’ she said after a moment.

Melody’s hearing was dulled by the tight gag and it was several more seconds before she could make out the distant thud of footfalls from somewhere above them.

This is it, Melody thought. Whatever they do to poor Mia, they’ll get to work on me. If only I knew where that diamond was I’d tell them. But no, she thought with a mental start. If they think the gem is within their grasp they’ll probably do away with us. We’ve seen their faces and men like that won’t take any chances.

Melody found herself straining at her bonds in a panic reaction at the approach of the robbers. It was futile. She saw that Mia was struggling too, a look of growing fright appearing on her lovely face. It was no use of course. Their separate bindings kept them helpless. This is how the poor abducted women feel, Melody thought hopelessly.

Then she had another thought. Mia was a treasured ally. She had good sense. She knew the score about one of those men. More than that, Melody realized that Mia was brave and resourceful. If she could escape from Karl, the man she called Snedley, it must have been against all odds. Momentarily, Melody felt less lonely and hopeless. Maybe we can help each other get free, she thought. If the right opportunity comes up.

But would there be an opportunity?

As the heavy door of the cellar creaked open and the men’s boots resounded on the wooden steps, Melody began to have doubts. The ropes were tied cunningly, too tight for any escape. Her gag reduced all efforts to get free because of the dry retching and the weakness that always followed. Melody feared there was nothing she could do to help herself, much less give assistance to her new friend.

Two beauties, one dark haired and dark eyed, the other auburn haired with steady gray-green eyes, watched with growing despair as three large men came down the steps towards them.

Chapter Eight

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