Barry climbed into his car and drove to the Bangers Club. Although it wasn’t open for business yet, the staff were there cleaning up from the night before. Barry banged on the club door and eventually the barman opened it.

“Barry, what the hell are you doing here at this time of the day. You know it’s far too early.”

Barry sashayed past him and into the club.

“Jack, I need to ask you some questions about my friend Brad.”

“Brad?”

“My young friend who had his twenty-fifth birthday here in your club and was being ravaged on the bar counter and then you saved him. Then you and I went into the staff room where we had a great deal of fun.”

“Oh, yes! I remember. That was about two years ago, but we did have fun that night. Pity you have never come back for seconds.”

“Now apparently my friend Brad was here last night. However, he never came home, and his partner is worried sick that something might have happened to him. I want you to think long and hard if you saw him talking to anyone in particular last night or saw him leave with anyone.”

The barman thought and tried to revisit the previous night’s scene.

“I do remember seeing him here on his own. I saw him go down into the basement and after some time I saw him back up here. I do remember seeing him with a short, bearded guy who was in leathers and lots of chains and at the time I thought that he didn’t look like your friend’s type.”

“Did you see them leave together, by any chance?”

“No, but I did see your friend seemed a little concerned. I did see them both go down to the basement but didn’t see them come up, so they might have left together.”

“Do you know who the bearded guy was?” asked Barry.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know everyone here except for the regulars, so he couldn’t have been a regular, but hang on Barry, let me ask some of the other staff.”

The barmen went around speaking to a number of staff members who were cleaning up, then he returned smiling for Barry.

“One of the staff was cleaning up down in the basement and saw a young man with a bearded man and the bearded man had the young man attached to the St. Andrew’s cross and was beating him. At the time the cleaning guy thought that it looked very painful and looked more like a beating than a sexual turn on.”

“Did the cleaner know who the bearded man was?”

“No, he didn’t, but one of the other staff went into the toilet and overheard this bearded guy threatening your friend and said, something like you don’t speak to Arnie like that and slapped the young man.”

“Arnie! So we have part of a name,” said Barry. “Thank you, Jack, I owe you big time for that info.”

“Well, don’t forget where I am,” said the barman.