Written for the 'holiday' prompt.
Title: Undercover Blues
"Billy Simpson? Nah, mate."
Clearly his questions had piqued the barman's interest.
"What brings you here tonight?"
What did bring a Ballarat policeman to Toorak? Not a holiday, that was for sure.
"My old friend Billy Simpson," Matthew replied before gesturing towards the stage and clicking his fingers in time with the jaunty beat coming from the three-piece band. "He told me you had the best music in Melbourne."
"If you're such a fan…" The man's chin jutted towards the crowded dance floor. Lucien and Jean were there. The distance between their bodies, or lack thereof, would have drawn attention in most establishments but here no one was blinking an eyelid. "Why aren't you dancing?"
Matthew waved his walking stick.
"How do I know that's truly needed?"
With a grunt, he bent and lifted the leg of his trousers, high enough to expose hollowed out flesh.
Apparently satisfied, the barman moved onto another customer – before Matthew could engage him in further conversation about Billy unfortunately.
So much for Lucien's plan. All he'd done thus far was raise suspicion.
Nursing his beer, he cautiously searched for someone else who might know Billy. Women? The blonde selling cigarettes. The brunette leaning to get hers lit by the beefy doorman. The classy redhead weaving her way purposefully towards him–
He spat out his beer.
There was no way Alice Harvey could ever blend in at some illegal nightclub.
As she got closer, Matthew attempted to even out his weight on the stool. She had a knack of knocking him off balance at the best of times though, let alone when he seemed to be her entire focus.
He took a long gulp of beer. He needed to steady himself or else their cover wasn't the only thing that was going to blow tonight.