Lisette and the Cyber Geeks
by
Brian Sands
Balko, HtF Didcaps
Chapter Four Vellum and Kidd
The "million dollar house" was as Lisette expected it to be. It rose in three levels commanding a sweeping gravelled driveway and was approached via entrance gates with forbidding rows of bars and spikes hinged between two thick ornate pillars, each pillar surmounted by a hideous gargoyle. An immaculate green faux lawn centred upon a fishpond with a large statue of Neptune spouting fountains of water from all his apertures. What made the aspect more unusual, however, was that between the gates and the lawn the gravel roadway was bounded on either side by trees and shrubs that gave the impression of a natural environment. The natural and the unnatural clashed in Lisette’s eyes.
The young woman drove slowly, looking to either side and making mental notes. At one point she brought the car to a gentle stop and looked closely at a section of the small forest. It was very like the background in the photograph of Chérie sitting bound and gagged. Did they bring her here? Am I getting closer to finding her? Lisette drove on.
The interior of the mansion that was revealed when a maid opened the door was also what could be expected of such a place. More’s the pity, thought Lisette. The main hallway was empty aside from two sculptures in alcoves on opposing sides. They were meant to be water nymphs or perhaps dryads. Lisette wondered whether her hosts would be Mediterraneans of some sort. No, they have to be Europeans, she thought, to be this crass. The central stairway had wide marble steps and thick balustrades. Lisette could not see further because the maid, who was considerably taller and wider than her, stood in her path.
"Good morning," Lisette began breathlessly, "I’ve come to speak with Mister Kidd and Madame Vellum."
"Have you an appointment, Mam’selle?"
"Oh yes, of course." Lisette consulted her pocket diary. "I’m Lisa Rivers. I arranged to see them at eleven this morning."
A suggestion of a smirk passed so quickly across the maid’s face that Lisette only registered it subliminally.
"Oh yes. Mam’selle Rivers. They are expecting you. Pliss come this way."
Lisette followed the maid across the hallway and up the marbled staircase. If the maid had not been wearing her uniform, Lisette would have been hard put to it to decide whether she was a man or a woman.
At the top of the stairway, the flooring gave changed to plush carpet of a bilious green. After walking along the smaller hallway of green carpet, the maid stopped at the third door and opened it.
"If you will enter, Mam’selle? Doctor Kidd and Madame will be with you shortly."
Lisette entered, noting the maid’s emphasis on the title of doctor. She was beginning to feel that something was not quite right. The maid left, closing the door behind her.
The room was as vulgar as the rest of the mansion Lisette had seen so far. What was more, it looked as though it was not used very often. Lisette walked to a huge fireplace and ran a finger lightly over the surface of the mantel, coming away with a thin film of dust. A small writing desk and chair stood against one wall. She approached it, looked quickly across her shoulder at the door, then tried the handle of the single drawer. It opened easily enough but all the drawer contained was some sheets of writing paper and a pen. Not even a Gideon Bible. Lisette turned and walked quickly back to the centre of the room where there stood a coffee table, two heavy armchairs, and a sofa.
She had no sooner sat at one corner of the sofa than she heard a click as the handle of another door was opened. Lisette stood and looked around. Through a door at the far end of the room entered two people. The first was a woman. She was dark-haired, nearly as tall as her maid, and with a narrow pinched face. Perhaps she had once been beautiful. She wore a dark two piece business suit over a white high-collared shirt. They were obviously very expensive clothes, and Lisette was glad that she had dressed well for the occasion herself, in a dark brown crushed velvet cross-over blouse, black slacks held at her waist by a narrow belt, with pantyhose beneath, and black high heeled shoes.
The man who followed was shorter by a good eight inches. He was dumpy, dressed in a badly fitting grey suit, and had obviously enjoyed too many good meals in his life. They walked towards Lisette, but halfway there the man turned off and went to a liquor cabinet against the wall opposite the writing desk. It was left to Madame Vellum to initiate the introductions while her companion poured the drinks.
"Hullo, Miss, ah, Rivers." The woman extended her arm and they shook hands briefly. Madame Vellum had surprisingly strong fingers. "What can we do for you?"
"I’m correcting several taxpayers’ documents, and searching out some that appear to have been lost by the earlier bureaucracy," began Lisette. "I know that personal visits from Revenue officers can never be quite welcome, but there’s nothing to worry about."
Lisette hoped that her cover story sounded convincing, but at the same time she was wondering how to find out whether this unusual couple had anything to do with Chérie’s kidnapping without giving too much away. They were among the last clients on that poor girl’s list. Maybe the best I can do, thought Lisette, is to get a look at their taxation papers, then visit this place at night.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Doctor Kidd pressing a glass of sherry into her hand while taking her other hand in his. Kidd’s hands were clammy and it was all Lisette could do to avoid the revulsion she felt at their touch. She shook hands dutifully and took a sip of sherry.
"I don’t know whether we have the documents right here, have we my dear?" asked the Doctor, addressing Madame Vellum.
"No," agreed Madame, "You must understand, dear Mam’selle Lisa Rivers," stressing the names, "that this old place is only being used temporarily. It’s up for sale and we shall be moving out in a week’s time. All our papers are up-country."
"I see," said Lisette. This was her cue to make a dignified exit. She did not like the look of these people at all.
"And there is of course nothing here that could be of the slightest interest to you," Madame Vellum continued. The woman’s eyes flickered momentarily in the direction of the writing desk.
Lisette’s misgivings increased. They know, she thought. This room must have a closed-circuit television and they saw me snooping.
"Well, that’s a disappointment," Lisette replied. "May I have your forwarding address then, and we shall be in touch with you in, say, two week’s time, when you have moved to your new place?"
"I have a better idea," said Madame Vellum. "Why don’t you come with us and, ah, satisfy your curiosity? The drive to our country estate will only take a couple of hours."
Lisette thought fast. "That shan’t be necessary. Our policy is to intrude as little as possible into people’s privacy. Two weeks is no trouble. And I have another appointment today."
She quickly placed her half-drunk glass of sherry on the coffee table and, clutching her shoulder bag to her side, began to walk towards the door through which she had been conducted. But, when she opened the door, the maid was standing in the threshold barring her exit. Lisette stopped in her tracks.
"I think you understand, my dear Mam’selle Ruisseau," said Doctor Kidd’s voice by her ear, "The cat’s out of the bag so to speak. Or rather, a pretty little bird has been caught."
"Wh- What do you mean? What are you going to do?"
"We are going to do exactly what I offered just now," said Madame Vellum, "and that is to take you with us."
"We can’t very well leave you here," added Doctor Kidd. "You were able to locate us. Obviously, you know too much."
"Sigrid, my bag please."
Madame Vellum stepped past Lisette and took from the maid a small kit bag she was holding. It looked something like a bus conductor’s satchel. The manoeuvre meant that the maid continued to barricade the doorway with her body. Doctor Kidd was standing close to Lisette’s right side leering up at her.
I’m surrounded, she thought. No place to run and the three of them can overpower me easily. And there’s no point in screaming. This place is too far away from neighbours for me to be heard. Lisette tried to put a brave face on it.
"Well then, wh- what do you intend to do with me?"
"I said, you will come with us," repeated Madame Velum levelly.
"Against my will!"
"That doesn’t mean a lot to us, my dear," said the Doctor.
Doctor Kidd made a little dance around the tableau of Lisette and Madame Vellum, while Sigrid the maid looked on with an ironic smile. Then he stopped and became serious.
"I think that Mam’selle Ruisseau, aka Rivers, should be restrained."
"My feelings precisely, Bompsy," replied Vellum.
Madame Vellum opened the kit bag, drew from it a piece of thin cord about three feet long, and handed it to Sigrid.
"You’re a very lucky woman, Sigrid. Tie her hands."
Lisette started to back away, but Doctor Kidd, who she now knew was also "Bompsy," slipped behind her and held her tightly just above the elbows. Lisette fought back the reaction to struggle and stood straight, surveying the two women captors in front of her.
"Tell this little worm to take his hands off me. I won’t struggle."
"Mumsie?"
Madame Vellum nodded. "Yes. Let her go."
The man obeyed with obvious reluctance, his hands running down Lisette’s arms to stroke the sleeves of her brushed velvet blouse before coming away.
Sigrid approached.
"Turn dearie," ordered Madame Vellum aka Mumsie in a bored tone.
That said something for their relationship, thought Lisette. I wonder whether they are really mother and son? There was a vague likeness.
Sigrid dragged Lisette’s arms behind her back and began to loop the cord about her wrists. The woman’s fingers were very strong and hard, even more than those of her mistress, and Lisette knew that she would have no chance against her even if they were alone together. Lisette could do a creditable job of protecting herself in an all-out fight, but she knew it would be suicide against this huge person.
"Not too tight," said Madame Vellum. "Tight enough to discourage any sudden movement, to prevent her from being a nuisance in the car. You can practice your Japanese knots later."
She continued, addressing Lisette. "My dear, cooperate with us and you will be as comfortable as possible under the circumstances."
"You’re kidding! You’re kidnapping me!"
"Yes. Those are the circumstances. But think how much it is within our power to make you a lot more uncomfortable if you are a nuisance."
"I’ll come quietly."
At least this way I’ll find out where they’re holding Chérie, she thought resignedly.
Lisette’s wrists were by now tied firmly together within three loops secured in a double overhand knot. It was a very simple tie. The long ends of the cord were allowed to hang down where they swung to either side with each step, and Lisette thought that, given sufficient time, and if she was alone, it would be possible to work on one or the other loose end to weaken the knot. But when she tested the bonds she found with surprise that they felt very effective. And anyway, she was not alone and she knew that it would be foolish in the extreme to try to get free with her captors right there watching her every move. Even the slight shift and tension in Lisette’s arms as she tested the bindings brought a sharp look from Sigrid and a warning pressure of the tough woman’s fingers around her upper arm.
Lisette was marched out of the mansion between Mumsie and Bompsie with Sigrid in the lead. She recognised that the woman was more than just a maid. While Sigrid commandeered Lisette’s car and disappeared with it around the back of the building, Lisette’s two guards helped her step into their car where she was settled into the back seat. By the time Doctor Kidd and Madame Vellum had taken up the front seats, with Kidd at the wheel, Sigrid had returned and joined Lisette in the back. Vellum handed the kit bag across to the maid.
"Tie her feet as well. We don’t want her getting any ideas about jumping from the car, although the opportunity is not likely to present itself."
Lisette winced as several turns of cord snaked around her ankles and were made fast, at first in the same way that her wrists were bound. The fact that Sigrid took care, however, to cinch the loops between her ankles as well showed an element of professional pride in her work.
As the car pulled out, Madame Vellum leaned over the back of the seat and looked Lisette in the eyes.
"When we are closer to the city, it will be necessary to grace you with a gag. It will prevent sudden outcries to any nice policemen who may be close at hand."
Lisette returned the woman’s gaze steadily, forcing herself not to show fear.
As the big car turned onto the highway and gathered speed, Lisette again tested the effectiveness of her bonds. At first she relaxed one hand and wrist completely and tried to gauge the extent of any slack in the three bands of cord. It was not encouraging. And, when she let both hands go limp, there was only a very small margin, not much to work on if she had the opportunity. Sigrid guessed what she was doing and smiled dangerously.
"Don’ worry, little one. You are ver’ secure with us. But if you start to struggle, an’ if that annoys us, well ..."
She shrugged and left the rest of the threat unspoken, which only made it worse. The bitch isn’t kidding, thought Lisette, and she settled back resignedly into the deep upholstery. At least I’m being abducted in a luxury car, and not in the boot. At least, not yet. She did not want to dwell upon that thought.
"So," said Lisette brightly, "what are you going to show me when we reach your country getaway?"
"What are - ? Oh, you’re a scream," exclaimed Madame Vellum.
"But your documents ..."
"My dear Mam’selle Ruisseau ... Lisa," said Vellum, turning in her seat again to face the prisoner. "Don’t play any more games with us. You know as well as we do that our little schemes are not exactly lawful. You may be a revenue inspector, but in our eyes you’re nothing but an interfering private cop. And we have ways of dealing with people like you."
"I don’t understand."
"Oho, don’t you? I think you have a very good idea."
"All right," said Lisette, "I admit I’m investigating fraud in your company. And your actions so far kind of make it less doubtful."
"Fraud? Who said anything about fraud? You’ve stumbled on something a lot bigger, my dear. That’s why we can’t let you go."
"Yair," contributed Kidd over his shoulder. "We mighta just tied y’ up an’ left y’ back there in th’ house. They woulda found y’ in a few days."
"And we would be in another part of the country and you’d have had to start your search all over again," added Vellum. "But the stakes are too high for us to take more risks than necessary. You will be our guest, kept away in a quiet and remote place and held incommunicado. Sigrid will look after you and, if you give us any trouble during your sojourn with us, I shall allow her to practise her Japanese knots."
"But ..."
"I think our little conversation is over," said Vellum dismissively. "Sigrid, take care of her if she utters another word."
"It vill be a ver’ great pleasure, Madame."
Lisette bit her lip and became silent. The threat effectively prevented her from asking further questions. On the other hand, it might be dangerous for Chérie if the gang knew that Lisette was aware of her disappearance. After all, Chérie worked in a different department and their paths had never crossed, not even via departmental email except very indirectly. Chérie and the legal department to which she belonged were out of Lisette’s ken. That was the key. If she could get in contact with Chérie as a fellow prisoner, the pretty blonde would have a lot of answers. Damn this lack of communication between departments, thought Lisette savagely.
As the car moved on, Lisette sank into a brown study. The gentle rocking of the vehicle appeared to be making Sigrid drowsy. Lisette stored that little weakness of her robust captor in the back of her mind. It might be useful later. But she was becoming less sure with every passing minute that she would be able to get herself out of this scrape without outside help. Oh god, why didn’t I leave a message for Donald? she anguished.
She knew what Japanese knots meant. The technique was called shibari in that country. Once as an experiment, Lisette had defied a security officer she knew, a woman experienced in those things, to make her really helpless. The half-hour that followed had been a very sobering lesson. With ropes tight around her upper body, her hands crossed behind her up between her shoulder blades, and her legs bound snuggly together in a network of rope from thighs to ankles, even an attempt at struggling had proved impossible.
Lisette knew her limits. She knew also that someone who was really serious about keeping her bound indefinitely would do so.
Half an hour later they topped a rise and the city came reluctantly into view through a pall of smog and thin rain that had begun to fall.
"Ahrumph," coughed Sigrid, who Lisette realised with a start had not been asleep at all, "The city’s in sight, Madame. We can put the gag on her now."
"Good idea, Sigrid. Not too fierce though. And choose something that can be lifted out of her mouth quickly and will look natural around her neck, if we are stopped and someone looks closely."
Sigrid opened the kit bag, reached inside, and, after shuffling through the contents for a moment, produced a small flat plastic envelope. From it she extracted a neatly folded golden hued cloth that, when it was shaken out, Lisette saw was a large silk handkerchief. The cloth was folded into a triangle then neatly twice more from the point of the apex towards the base until it was a broad band. As the silk was pushed into her mouth and the ends tied firmly at the back of her neck, Lisette mused wryly upon the element of obsessive anal retentiveness that Madame Vellum’s kit bag revealed. The cord with which she was bound hand and foot was soft, brilliantly white cotton. The golden silk handkerchief was clean, crisp and new, and was that faint perfume she could smell in it? Lisette looked at her captors with wide eyes. Criminals who carried immaculately clean and well-kept bondage materials! She wondered: Did that count as some sort of socially redeeming feature? No. I am being kidnapped, she thought, and their care with me shows that they can be very unpleasant as well. Lisette felt more than ever that it would be very difficult to escape from these people.
The car moved on down into the city. Its windows were tinted. No-one would see by chance the honey-haired passenger in the back seat with a gold handkerchief tied between her lips. Lisette watched gloomily as the vehicle negotiated the city centre and headed onward through the suburbs. When they had to pause at traffic lights, Sigrid took Lisette’s arm warningly, watching her like a hawk. A little further on, the car began to slow down.
"We have to stop awhile at the city house," murnured Madame Vellum. "Sigrid, our young guest does not have to see it."
"Right, Mistress. I’ll take care a’ that li’l detail."
A black silk scarf was bound over Lisette’s eyes.
"Sit back an’ relax, sweetie-pie," whispered Sigrid in her ear. The unconcealed venom behind the words made Lisette’s flesh crawl. As the car moved on, gathering speed again, she fought back tears.
The journey to the other town house did not take long, only a few minutes. Lisette felt the car turn sharply, and the way in which she was pushed back against the seat by gravity suggested that they were negotiating a steep driveway. There was a long pause, then the car moved off again but only for a few feet it seemed, followed by another pause. During the second pause, Lisette heard one of the car’s windows opening electronically and, in the background, she recognised the whine of machinery and the sound of a garage roller door closing.
Lisette’s ankles were untied and she was helped out of the car. None of her three captors spoke as she was led firmly by Sigrid. There was no mistaking that woman’s vise-like grip on her arm. Her shoes clicked over what felt like a cement floor under her feet - she was becoming familiar with cement floors lately - then up several wooden steps.
"Mam’selle Lisette can have her gag off now," said Madame Vellum, "and the blindfold. It doesn’t matter if she sees our living room."
The silk handkerchief was untied and removed from her mouth. Lisette worked her jaw and licked her dry lips. Although it was silk, the gag, tied very tightly, had chafed the corners of her mouth. She blinked in the light as the blindfold came off, and looked around her.
They were standing in a large living room. There were pictures on the wall, a picture-window screened by thin curtains, a flowering fern in a pot plant against one wall, and a large sofa.
Lisette took a deep breath. "You really are making a bad mistake by abducting me like this," she began.
Madame Vellum cocked an eye-brow.
"You have spirit, my dear, I can say that," she drawled, "But you are a foolish and irritating young woman ... Sigrid, seal Mam’selle’s lips."
As Sigrid strapped a very sticky piece of semi-transparent medical tape over Lisette’s mouth, her face gloating with pleasure, Madame Vellum added, "You can stay that way for the rest of our journey."
"Ver’ nice an’ quiet," agreed Sigrid.
Lisette was pushed roughly onto the sofa where she lay amid the cushions looking up helplessly at her captors. They moved from room to room purposefully. Twice Sigrid carried suitcases out to the car. Doctor Bombadil Kidd floated from cocktail cabinet to Lisette’s side and back, on every journey leering down at her with undisguised lust. He became subtly more unsteady each time he visited her. Madame Red Vellum disappeared into another part of the house that was by inference a bedroom, for she emerged some minutes later wearing dark slacks, a purple satin blouse, and a red jacket. In her left hand she held a Webley revolver which she showed to Lisette.
"Just in case you start to get ideas in that pretty head, Lisa Ruisseau, ideas about escaping, for instance, understand that we will not hesitate to kill you."
Lisette nodded to show that she understood.
But she still planned to get away if a reasonable opportunity came up. What was the weak link among her captors? It was not Sigrid’s sleepiness, as she first thought, although that still had to be tested and was not an avenue to dismiss yet. It was Kidd’s partiality to strong drink. That, and the clearly lascivious intentions he held towards her. Given the right combination of elements, Lisette felt, and she could do something to remove Kidd’s chromosomes from the gene pool.
Those thoughts buoyed her up as she was hauled to her feet and marched back to the car for the continuance of their journey.
ã Brian Sands 2004