Miss Blackstone passed in silence along the corridor then halted before the iron-banded, dark oak door - a door whose solidity declared it the guardian of no ordinary portal. Her leather-gloved hand fell upon the iron ring which she grasped and turned. The door was not locked. The room she entered was, by contrast with the corridor, brightly illuminated, white-walled and set with large mirrors. As she expected, the two nurses stood ready and waiting in white vinyl tunics, both snapping translucent pink surgical gloves onto their hands. Stella Blackstone's first question, 'Has she spilled the beans, dears?' was answered in the negative by Nurse Ashbourne and Miss Blackstone responded, 'Oh, well, it's too late for her to repent now and I must confess it would have made little if any difference in the end.'

As so often she was dressed in black but this time no catsuit graced her curves though her appearance in high-waisted jacket, tight, mid-length pencil skirt, seamed, shadow-shear stockings and patent spike-heel shoes was quite as formidable. It certainly would have appeared so to Janet had Janet been able to see her. Janet, however, was unable to see anything.

Flanked by the nurses, under a circle of spotlights, arose a sturdy wooden structure in the form of a letter X, its limbs padded with black latex. Upon this device was spread and mounted the naked figure of Janet, secured by bands of brass-buckled, polished leather at wrist, elbow, thigh and ankle. About her neck and cupping her chin was fitted a padded collar of rigid leather, deep enough to prevent her head from turning. Her flesh shone under the lights, soft and vulnerable. Her hair, normally clipped back, neat and tidy, fell in disarray about her shoulders. No sound emerged from lips sealed shut by an oblong of metallic tape. The same tape also sealed shut her eyes to deny her the facility of sight. Her sense of hearing rendered all the more acute, she was aware of her one-time employer's approach as metal-tipped heels click-click-clicked across the tiled floor.

'Did she give you any trouble?' asked Miss Blackstone, standing with hands on hips to appraise the helpless figure.

'She was somewhat difficult before her last soap-out,' replied Nurse Calver, 'but Derby ensured her compliance - that's why her arse is a bit red. She calmed down quickly enough afterwards. He's returned to his duties now.'

'Little bitch nearly climaxed when I was soaping around her crotch,' added Nurse Ashbourne, casually, 'but I managed to prevent it.'

Miss Blackstone glanced by the wooden cross to observe the now deflated pink rubber bottle hanging from its chrome stand above the bowl and the discarded straitjacket curled like a sleek, black cat on a chair to one side of the room. Closer, just behind the cross, she eyed with amusement the chrome trolley upon which rested scissors, clipper and electric shaver. Her gloved hand fell lightly upon Janet's nipple, causing the girl to stiffen in her bonds and emit a plaintive, 'Mmmm,' through the tape. The hand continued down, brushing the heat of the prisoner's stomach and making her tense once more when it drifted as fluttering moth-wings across the shaven flesh above her sex. But no further.

'Janet, dear,' cooed Miss Blackstone, 'how lovely you look. Oh, if only you could see yourself in one of those big mirrors. Never mind, soon enough you'll be able to do that and oh, what a treat that will be, I'm sure.' Withdrawing her hand, she took a step back to announce in an altogether harsher voice, 'But right now we're not here for pleasure are we my darling! No, we're here to be punished for utter deceit! Yes, deceit, after all I have done for you in the past! Soon you will become my personal slave and return to your former duties - but more than that, you will be a mannequin to be placed on display with the real ones when clients come to visit us. You'll always be wearing something outrageous and always be as helpless as you are now. But worse, my darling - worse indeed by far - from now on you will be denied the orgasm! You will be a sex object without sex! That is the torment I'm going to inflict upon you until those disks and other things you stole are retuned to me!' With that she turned to Nurse Ashbourne and commented, 'I trust everything is prepared.'

'Yes,' replied the nurse, 'they are laid out in the small room opposite her cell.'

'And there's a good selection of wigs,' added Nurse Calver.

'Then let's get on with it,' said Miss Blackstone, stepping further back. 'You will present her in my office after lunch so she can continue the duties she left off before the fire. I'm not keeping her here just for the fun of it and she knows our business inside out. Doesn't she just!'

Hearing Nurse Calver's last remark Janet trembled, her nostrils flared. She wanted to scream, 'No! No! No!' because she had guessed what they were about to do but the muffled wail did nothing to halt the receding click-click of Miss Blackstone's heels or upon the nurses who now turned their attention to the waiting trolley which they wheeled around to stand before their victim.