San Francisco, 1936.

The lights were taking forever to change, and Phoenix Malone cursed in her native French. It had been one of those nights when it seemed that everything was against her. Finally, the traffic began to move and the private eye, not dick, came to a halt outside the nondescript building shrouded in darkness. She got out of her car. A Derby Bentley with a three-and-a-half-litre engine, widely regarded as the most sophisticated car that money could buy, and which was a legacy from her late husband, Piggy. She looked up and saw the light shining in the fourth-floor window and demurred. Her mind wandered back to the previous Wednesday when Henry Masters came to her office on Grand Ave in person.

"You handle divorce cases, don't you?"

"Oui, Monsieur Masters. I..."

The fellow cleared his throat and lowered his voice.

"It's my wife. I can't take any more. It's too humiliating. I have reason to suspect that my wife is cheating on me, and I want you to find out if it is true."

Phoenix took a long drag on her cigarette and sat back in her new leather upholstered chair. The woman was thirty-one years old and looked self-confident. The tall brunette was bright, assertive, undoubtedly beautiful, educated in dance and modelling, and the prime of life. Classy too. She was dressed in a turquoise blouse, with a high buttoned collar and loose sleeves. Her ample breasts pushed out of her bra and seemed to point directly at the man. He explained that he was a wealthy stockbroker and had married Lorna when she had just turned nineteen. He was twenty-five years her senior. he had greying temples, and a sad look, but was respectably dressed.

"Of course, she married me for my money, but I hoped my wealth would be the reason for her to stay loyal. Cars, jewels, travel —whatever she wanted, I gave it to her. We first met when I saw her dancing at the Dawn Club on Annie Street beside the Palace Hotel. Have you ever been? It's the hot music society of San Francisco. The concerts at the club feature a variety of bands and musicians. San Francisco Jazz, they call it. Lorna was undoubtedly gorgeous. Long blonde hair and a body to die for. I just had to have her. When she knew I was loaded, she agreed to wed."

Phoenix steepled her fingers and sighed. It was an age-old story. An older man marries a younger beauty, and wedded bliss follows for about a year. Then boredom sets in, or the girl cheats with other lovers. Infidelity is the usual outcome in these situations.

"If I were you, Masters, I would let her go. No need to waste good money or suffer heartbreak. Take it on the chin and find yourself another bit of skirt."

"Money is no object, and I must know who she is cheating on me with. My wife has become an unbearable burden, and I wish to rid myself of her. I want a divorce. I will pay you handsomely to procure the evidence. Take photographs of her in flagrante delicto! Will you do it?"

"So be it. My fee is twenty-five dollars a day plus gas."

"Agreed. And I want a result by the weekend. If you succeed, I'll throw in an extra C-note.

x

One did not need a detective license in the State of California, so she set about advertising her services straight away. Things had gone as expected. Phoenix had located the errant Lorna and proceeded to follow her movements. On the first day, she had lunched with a female friend and then both had gone shoe shopping in Union Square. It was on day two that Lorna arrived in her brand new Pontiac Coupe and was then seen entering the building on Sacramento Street. This was a shadowy corner of town and not one that seemed to be on a list of desirable locations for the spendthrift girl. Was this her love nest? Things seemed all too straightforward for Phoenix, although something was nagging at the back of her mind. For the next two days, the female PI trailed Lorna to the same address, at the same hour of seven. Lorna would eventually emerge two hours later and drive off toward her palatial home in Pacific Heights.

Even though she had enjoyed the thrill of the new role as a private investigator, she had none of the skills Piggy had. So, on a whim, the leggy ex-model and dancer decided on a direct approach. Absurdly simple in fact. She would go up and knock on the door, pretending to have gotten the wrong address. She would then take it from there. She exited the car and adjusted her wide-sleeved polka dot dress. She then put on her floppy Panama hat and followed her lead. Following her observation, Phoenix made her way from the dimly lit entrance to the stairwell, where she set off to the second floor. There, she found the one-lit room in the dark hallway. She gamely knocked on the door and immediately heard muted, anxious voices from within. After a minute, the door opened and Lorna appeared wearing just a robe of emerald velvet.

"Yes?"

Phoenix peered into the relatively small room and saw the figure of another female reclining on the bed.

"I'm so sorry. I was looking for Mrs. Golightly, the milliner."

"Is that so? Seeing as how this is the only registered room in the building, I find that hard to believe."

"Who is it, Lorna?"

"Shush! Look, my husband hired you to follow me, didn't he? Although I never would have expected a female dick. What? No trench coat?"

"I don't have a dick, and yes. Mister Masters was concerned enough to have me investigate you."

On further inspection, Phoenix saw that the other woman was about the same age as Lorna and was surprisingly in the buff.

"And why?"

"I would have thought that was obvious."

"Thought I was fooling around, did he? Thought I might have another man on the side. Well, he couldn't be more mistaken. You had better come in."

Phoenix shrugged and went inside. She looked around and found the one chair. Lorna shed her robe and joined her presumed lover on the bed. Now they were both naked, and they held hands and bumped thighs.

"Myrna and I met when Henry took me to the Pontiac showroom. He is so suffocating and clingy that I have threatened to leave him on dozens of occasions. Being rich is nice but when it comes to conditions, it is shit. Henry likes me to take it up the ass and then suck him off after. Yuck! Put me right off, men, let me tell you. So when Myrna showed up with the salesman, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was. You can see. She has long black hair that drapes halfway down her back, and she has the sunniest of smiles. We chatted and became quite friendly. After a week, we became lovers."

Phoenix nodded and stole a glance at Myrna. At nineteen, she was in her prime with great legs and butt. Her tanned body and manicured nails made her look very refined. She was sure there were lots of guys wanting a piece of her. Her breasts were curvy and had two hard points.

"The first time we made out was when we went into the stock room at the showroom. What happened next was unbelievable. She removed her bra, exposing her perfect breasts. Then she lowered her panties, revealing her dark bush. I too stripped off and closed my eyes, and she felt me all over. Her fingers spread my pussy lips apart, while the other hand massaged my clit. My orgasm came rather quickly, and I was smitten. I felt no remorse. In my fantasy state, I wondered if I were bisexual, or even a dyke. My sexual energy was always strong, and I constantly fantasised about us being together. I had the perfect plan. We would rent an apartment room where the building would be empty most of the time. I would simply invite Myrna over, and we would make love. Within a month, we bonded and fell in love."

"Lorna? What do you intend to do next?"

The girls looked at each other and kissed.

"I'm leaving, Henry. The money doesn't seem to matter anymore. Myrna and I have each other. If you were married to him, you would feel the same. He's such an old bore. Are you going to tell him about our wicked ways?"

Phoenix spread her hands.

"No proof. No reason to inform him of your love for each other. I'll bide my time and let you two take off first. I'll be gentle with him."

As she spoke she watched enthralled as they felt each other up in front of her, Phoenix stared at Myrna's tits that rose and fell with her increasing ardour. A shudder went through the PI, and her heart thumped on her chest. The passionate woman recalled her younger years in France when she had unashamedly frolicked on the fashion scene. With both men and women. Something the French were open about. As Lorna and her lover got more animated on the bed, Phoenix decided to stick around. With a faint rustle, her dress slid to the floor, followed by her undergarments. She flicked away the clothing with her heel and joined the others on the bed. Lorna placed a hand behind her neck and gently pulled her face toward hers.

"Love us," urged Lorna as Phoenix trailed one hand lightly over both girls.

Myrna smiled, and she found the Frenchwoman's soft down between her legs. Phoenix gasped as a finger swept eagerly up and down the moist furrow of her sex. She felt her pussy quiver from excitement and she closed her thighs as she secreted juices.

"You have a very nice body," she said.

"Thank you. I'm not a lesbian, but I certainly would enjoy exploring other options. If you are okay with it?"

"Great. Let's have some fun."

Each hugged Phoenix, and both kissed her on the lips in turn. Lorna and she exchanged spit as their tongues danced in each other's mouths. Myrna grabbed her tits and circled her areola with a feather-light touch. Then, she put her mouth on her nipple and sucked hard. Phoenix felt her pussy moisten and her breathing became erratic as she wiggled with delight. Light fingertips brushed over her stiff nipples, followed by an eager tongue that encircled the tips of her breasts. The girl began to gently suck the hard bud and drew her tongue back and forth. Phoenix let out another moan and her legs quivered as a hand went into the soft folds of her pussy. Lorna fully inserted her middle finger deep into her muff and proceeded to frig her with a certain urgency. As she writhed on her back, the PI felt the woman use her tongue and lips around her dappled cunt. In her inquisitive youth, when she had begun modelling on the French fashion scene, Phoenix had experimented with sex, and girl-on-girl pleasures had been quite pleasurable.

“Oh, putain! Oui!”

Lorna increased the pressure of her fingering as the other girl sucked in a nipple with audible yummy sounds. Lorna continued to run her tongue up and down her pussy, moving closer along the soft, moist slit, to her clit. Myrna joined in and both of them slobbered and spat on her mons, whilst busy hands fingered her lustrous hair. They alternated between pressing their tongues into the folds of her now-saturated cunt and sucking her clit. As one sucked on her hard nub, the other licked up her seam and dribbled into her folds. Then they switched and repeated more of the same. Phoenix panted hard as they stroked her to orgasm. She undulated and gasped as she climaxed, and even when her orgasm subsided, they carried on licking and sucking as much of her juices as they could.

She then watched as Lorna lay on the bed and Myrna lifted her left leg over her head and straddled her face in a reverse cowgirl position. Lorna let out muffled moans as her mouth was engulfed by wet pubes. Her tongue slipped up into the warm cunt of her lover and she lashed at her slit until her saliva drooled out and ran in a trickle down her chin. Myrna pushed down further to the face of the gorgeous girl and she groaned in pleasure as a pointed tongue stabbed at her clit.

As the two lovers writhed on the bed in ecstasy, Phoenix made a respectable retreat. She would call Masters later that day to inform him that his young spouse had left California for good.

x

Phoenix Malone found herself waking up during the night, imagining that her late husband was caressing her naked body. In the third month since Piggy had been taken from her, she decided to set foot out of the house and start to live again. The next three months saw her begin to take a serious interest in what his business was. That being a private investigator. The job interested her so much that she called Piggy's secretary to tell her of her intention to keep the business running.

Monday morning is still Monday morning, whatever your trade. Phoenix paused for a moment as she studied the sign on the door of what was now her office. As she pushed open the door, she was greeted by the friendly smiling face of her secretary looking back. Phoenix had to admit that the decision to step into her late husband's shoes had gone well. After a hesitant start, the job had been surprisingly plain sailing. The role of PI had far exceeded her expectations, and her choice to keep the office going was beginning to pay off.

"Good morning, Judy. Looks like it should be a fine day."

Judy Morris nodded and followed her employer into her office.

"We had a visit this morning, bright and early. I barely had time to unlock the premises."

Phoenix took off her coat and sat at her desk, welcoming the cup of steaming hot coffee served by her trusty secretary.

"Must make a change from the cleaners. A client?"

"A Mrs. Nadia Durant. She wouldn't stay, but she insisted that you meet with her at Hamman's Turkish Bath. It's ladies' day today."

"Did she give any hint as to what the job might be?"

"No. She said it was for your ears only. And that it would be worth your while."

"'Ow odd. I am as curious as the cat, no? I will grant Mrs. Durant my attendance."

x

By the thirties, there were only three public baths in general use. Hamman's was a privately operated bathing business open for relaxation. In recent times, terracotta coping has been added to the saunas’ interior walls, with steel and brick arches shaping the outside. Unlike the opulent Roman baths before them, the baths of Turkey focused on water rather than steam. The Turkish bather first entered a 'warm room' for relaxation, proceeded to a 'hot room' with higher temperatures, and finally washed with cold water. Phoenix was directed to the locker rooms, where she stripped off and draped a towel around her naked body. She looked around the other bathers and wondered which of them might be her potential client. She entered the warm room and saw only one other woman inside.

"There you are."

The female did not turn her head as she spoke. Stretched out on a wooden bench, she sighed loudly and fanned her face with a copy of Life magazine. There was no question it was Durant. The woman rose slowly to a sitting position and let her towel flop down to her waist level. With clear eyes and a firm jawline, Durant gave off an almost feline look. Her pale breasts, now dappled with perspiration, were curvy and voluptuous. She was slim in the waist, and her top-heavy bust thrust out larger than it actually was. She had raven locks spanned out past her collarbones in layered waves.

"Sit by me."

Phoenix settled down beside the elegant female and fidgeted on her bottom.

"No, it's better if you sit on your towel."

The budding private eye unwrapped her towel and placed it beneath her, thereby exposing her slender form. It felt good, and Phoenix stretched out her toes and felt the warmth soaking into every pore of her stunning naked body.

"Heaven, isn't it?"

Nadia was beautiful, undoubtedly unapproachable, and probably used men like other women's clothes. That is, wearing them and then discarding them. Durant unashamedly looked Phoenix up and down and nodded in approval.

"You look to be in fine fettle."

"Merci, Madam."

"I have had a very rare and very expensive piece of jewellery stolen from me. It was during a liaison with one of my several lovers at a nondescript hotel the night before." Nadia bumped thighs with Phoenix, and her left arm brushed against her right. "Dear Francis had promised me a surprise on his return from a trip to Europe, and he duly treated me to a gift of a necklace with white baroque pearls and a sterling silver heart clasp. I thanked him in the usual manner which is fucking his brains out. It was the kind of rut a married man doesn't enjoy with his spouse. This was hard, wild, and rough. It had been a particularly exhausting coupling, and we both dropped off before vacating the room. It was then that someone came in and purloined my new toy. I awoke in time to catch a glimpse of the culprit as he scurried off."

"Any idea oo the thief might be?"

Nadia opened her legs slightly and idly slid her hand between her thighs.

"I do so love the heat. Rather turns me on. No, but I have an idea that might make him slip up. If you were to flaunt yourself and show off some flashy jewels, he might be drawn out and act."

"Pretend to be you?"

"Precisely. I would be grateful and generous if it were you who caught him in this way."

"I see."

Nadia squeezed the hand of a perplexed Phoenix and moved it to the inviting cleft of her exposed sex. The raven-haired vixen sighed as she pressed the trembling hand of Phoenix to her silky-haired pussy.

"I do apologise, these baths make me so horny. Would you like to come to my place?"

"Some other time, Madam Durant. I must prepare for the charade. What is the name of the otel?"

x

For the third night in a row, Phoenix flaunted herself publicly as she entered the foyer of the Morrison Hotel on 5th and Mission Street. The eagle-eyed brunette looked around like she always did, sizing up anyone and everyone she saw. One man sat alone at the bar drinking bourbon. Another stood on the periphery, reading the Chronicle and smoking a cigar.
Casting her eyes to the public phone booth, she noted a fellow hunched over and engrossed in conversation. One man caught her eye and who was sitting by himself and looking straight at her.

She didn't blame him. The tall beauty had poured herself into a sheath of red satin with a plunging neckline that displayed ample cleavage, and her unfettered breasts rose magnificently. Her long hair tumbled like a cascade about her shoulders, and her full red lips were on perma pout as she blew smoke from her cigarette. Her cheekbones might have been carved from marble; they were so high, and she wore what appeared to be an expensive string of pearls that sat snugly about her throat. Her drop earrings were two diamonds, which matched her diamond-studded bracelet.

She seated herself by the leering man and crossed her slender legs dramatically. The short man ran his fingers through his greasy black hair, and his dull eyes never wavered from her heaving bosom. He leaned over to the graceful private eye and spoke in short breaths.

"How much?"

"Excusez moi?"

"How...much? You're a Sally, right?"

"Future fu! Fuck off!"

"Charming! Bloody lesbian!"

Disappointed Man left with his tail between his legs, and Phoenix approached the reception desk.

"My key, s'il vous plait?" The girl behind the counter smiled, brushed her fair hair from her pretty face, and handed over a chunky room key. "Room number ten," announced Phoenix in a deliberately loud voice.

She turned and took the rickety stairs of the run-down hotel and entered her modest room.

x

The garish light from the street lamps and neon signs attempted to seek a way through the closely shuttered Venetian blinds protecting the bedroom window of the bedroom. The determined brunette beauty peeled the scarlet gown from her lithe body and entered the bathroom. She took a shower quickly and, after a brisk rubdown with a cheap towel, she slipped into a black negligee and lay down on the bed. The muted sound of traffic and car horns made for an odd soundtrack as Phoenix lit a cigarette and made puffs of smoke that wafted up to the filthy ceiling. Her nightgown of sheerest silk served little concealment for her spectacular figure, and the sloping contours of her thighs and calves, toned by years of dancing lessons, were silhouetted by the shards of light that filtered into the unlit room. After she had enjoyed two smokes, Phoenix turned onto her side and closed her eyes, hoping that it would be this night when the jewel would strike.

The room was strangely quiet when Phoenix stirred and looked at the bedside clock, which read 2.15. Somehow, the suspect had entered the room in silence and was now busy rifling through the two black jewel cases she had deliberately left in plain sight on the dresser. The gems were paste, obviously, simply a draw for the miscreant. Phoenix searched under the pillow for her firearm and hit the lamp by her left side. As the room became flooded with light, the masked thief froze in shock.

"May I be of assistance?" asked the PI in an authoritative manner.

After two hours of troubled sleep, the French looker lifted her tousled-haired head and rested on her elbows, the 34 calibre Browning semi-automatic, which had been her late husband's, was held tightly in her right fist. Her shapely left leg was bent at the knee, and as her nightie had risen in her sleep, her nicely trimmed bush was visible.

"Are you going to shoot me?"

Phoenix raised an inquisitive brow at the lightness of the thief's voice and sat up.

"Take off that mask."

The figure removed the domino mask, and Phoenix was surprised to see that it was the same girl from the reception.

"A girl? You came here to steal? Do you do this often?"

The fair-haired girl shrugged and put her hands up.

"I like shiny things," she said in all innocence."

"No, you're too smart for silly talk. Who put you up to this? Is the manager in on it?"

"Him! Ha, don't make me laugh. He's just a male pig. All men are pigs."

Something in the girl's tone made Phoenix feel a flush of arousal in her heated loins.

"What's your name?"

"Ruby."

"And ow old are you?"

"Nineteen. Can I go now?"

"Pardon? You come into my room intending to steal my jewels? I think not. Now spill your guts or I get on the horn to the cops."

"Who are you? You speak kinda funny."

"I'm French. And a private eye. Now, do you have any concealed weapons?"

The girl squirmed in her shoes.

"I don't carry a heater."

"Take off your shirt."

Phoenix jiggled the gun at the girl, who sighed and removed her dark blouse. She wore a black bra beneath it which nicely cupped her pert tits.

"And the pants."

Again, the girl complied and wriggled out of her tight-fitting slacks.

"See? Nothing."

Phoenix nibbled on her lower lip and studied the form of the rather attractive doll. The amorous seductress experienced an exquisite spasm in her muff and stood up.

"And the rest."

"Really?"

"Oui."

"Then you let me go?"

"Maybe."

Ruby looked directly into the eyes of the older lady and unhooked her bra. Phoenix, being the sex-obsessed female that she was, shuddered with a frisson of thrill as Ruby dropped her underwear. A welcome dampness moistened her pussy as she removed her nightie. The two hugged and engaged in a lingering and passionate kiss that lasted a full minute.

Phoenix pushed Ruby back onto the bed, and she fell on top of her with her legs open. Her hands roamed all over the soft flesh of the girl as the Frenchwoman ground her loins against the other. Her hot body responded and she tingled all over as her juices ran out of her pussy. They both jerked their hips with the sultry PI dictating the pace.

Even at her tender age, Ruby knew her way around a dame, and Phoenix found herself turned onto her back and then felt the warmth of a wet tongue sliding up and down her watering gash.

"That's so good."

Although the thirty-year-old loved nothing better than a man between her legs, she did like to be eaten out. By a man or a woman, it mattered not. Ruby squeezed her upper thighs as she lapped away and Phoenix sighed happily as her cunt flowed like a river and soiled the cheap linen.

"Zut!"

Phoenix smiled as she and Ruby rolled so that now the girl was on her back. She squealed as her legs were drawn up and her nether cheeks were exposed and visible. The sudden crack of an open palm on her buttocks was more of an affront than the actual sting of the rapid spanking.

"Bad girl! Bad, bad!"

Ruby bore the brunt of a continuous chastisement and the heat from her raw behind made her want to cum there and then.

"Oh, fuck."

Phoenix dropped her legs and dived in, burying her face in the girl's snatch. Two busy fingers rolled easily inside her quim as a flicking tongue pressed with firmness against her clitoris. Ruby made two fists and grabbed the sheets as she writhed in delight. Her legs were parted wide, and her back ached as she was brought to orgasm.

A wave of euphoria swept over Phoenix as she embraced Ruby and dry-humped her with huge pelvic thrusts. She pounded the girl into the mattress again and again with her weight, and then she suddenly relaxed. They panted hard as they lay in each other's arms in silence. Then the girl spoke.

"You should team up with us. You'll fit in fine."

"Who are us?"

"The team. We're up to five members now, all regimented by our leader."

"And who might that be?"

"Spectre Lady. She's the greatest. She's an expert cat burglar, has a sharp mind, and is beautiful."

"Spectre Lady? 'Ow, intriguing. Tell me more."

To be continued.