by Rosie Clarke
‘Get out of my way, you old hag,’ he said and thrust her to one side. He pushed his way into the kitchen and looked about him. ‘Where is she?’
‘Ellie isn’t here,’ she said and there was contempt in her face. ‘She’s gone where you will never find her. You’ve forfeited the right to be her husband, Peter. She’s left you…’
‘No! She can’t!’ Peter roared and lunged towards her. She backed away, but he was quicker and he had her by the throat. ‘Tell me where she’s gone, bitch, and I might let you live…’
Mabel looked him in the eyes and she was like a lioness protecting her young. ‘I don’t care how much you threaten or what you do – I shan’t tell you, because I can’t. I have no idea where she is – just that she’s gone and she’s safe from you…’ she ended on a gasp as his grasp tightened, blocking her air.
‘Bitch!’ Peter’s hands closed round her throat. There was a red mist in front of his eyes, the anger filling his head so that he hardly knew what he did as he kept on pressing and pressing until she went limp. As he let go of her, suddenly aware of what he’d done, she fell to the floor, eyes bulging and her face purple. ‘Wake up, you old hag…’ Peter kicked at her body, but there was no response. He’d killed her! The bitch was dead…
Suddenly, panic set in and he couldn’t think what to do. He had to get away – away from that staring lump of flesh on the floor. If anyone knew what he’d done he would hang… but no one would know. Ellie wasn’t here. She might guess if she read about the murder in the papers, but she wouldn’t dare to point the finger, because she knew he’d go after her…
Peter’s thoughts were all over the place. His wife was going to get her comeuppance one of these days, but for the moment he had to think of himself. No one had seen him come here, so if he just went he was in the clear…
He rushed from the kitchen and nearly collided with a woman at the end of the alley as he made his escape. Peter vaguely recognised her, but it didn’t register who she was and he just ran blindly. His kit was still at the station where he’d left it in a locker. He would get back on a train tonight and no one would ever know he’d been here.
*
Maureen watched the man running away. He’d knocked into her but hadn’t apologised and she doubted he’d even noticed her. Peter Morris had seemed to be in a panic over something… A chill started at the back of Maureen’s neck because she sensed something was wrong. Ellie was frightened of her husband. Maureen had known it for a while now and she felt anxious about her.
‘Ellie…’ Maureen walked swiftly up the little passageway to the back door of Mabel’s property. It was open and a light was showing through, ignoring the blackout. Her throat tight with apprehension, Maureen approached the door, pushing it back a little to see inside and then she gasped in horror as she saw the body lying on the ground. ‘Mabel…’ she cried and ran to kneel by the side of the woman who had been a friend to everyone in the lane. ‘Oh no…’ The staring eyes and awful colour told Maureen that it was too late. Standing up, she called for Ellie, but there was no answer.
What to do? Tom – She must fetch Tom. She’d just left him in the shop, because he was working late. Tom would know what to do. Maureen could hardly see for the tears in her eyes and her heart was thumping unpleasantly. It was so terrible that she could scarcely believe it. Peter Morris had murdered Mabel – that’s why he’d been in such a hurry to leave.
Maureen left the door as she’d found it and ran down the alleyway. She was feeling sick and dizzy, her hands shaking as she went into the shop on the corner, where Tom was preparing to leave. He’d been stocktaking and had stayed late, which was the reason she’d been with him until this hour. If Peter hadn’t come rushing out and nearly knocked into her, she wouldn’t have thought of going to Mrs Tandy’s back door, because she was already late for the children’s bedtime.
‘What’s wrong, Maureen?’ Tom asked, looking at her intently. ‘Are you ill?’
‘We have to telephone the police,’ Maureen gasped and sat down in a chair. ‘I just saw Peter Morris rushing out of Mabel’s passage, so I went to investigate… She’s dead… he’s strangled her…’
‘Bloody hell!’ Tom said and looked shocked. ‘I knew he had a temper, but I never dreamed— Should I go round…?’
‘No, we’ll just ring the police,’ Maureen said. ‘I shouted Ellie, but there was no answer. She may simply be out but…’
‘He might have killed her too…’ Tom looked sick. ‘You sit there, Maureen. I’ll ring the station myself and get them out – and then I’ll ring your gran and let her know you won’t be back for a while, because the police will want to know everything’
Chapter 22
Peggy looked at her friend in disbelief as Maureen told her and Janet the terrible news the next morning. It was just so shocking that a murder could happen in their lane – and awful that it should be a woman everyone liked.
‘Mabel never harmed anyone. How could he do such a thing?’
‘He looked wild, like a man possessed, when he knocked past me,’ Maureen said and sipped the little glass of brandy Peggy had given her, because she’d been shaking when she told her, haunted by what she’d seen, even after a night spent without sleep. ‘He’s always had a temper, but I never thought he could do something like that…’
‘It’s a mercy Ellie and Beth were not there,’ Janet said. ‘Does anyone know where she is?’
‘No – but the police say she must have packed a case because things had been taken out of drawers in a hurry, and the pushchair was gone. They think it may have been a row over her leaving that resulted in the murder.’ Maureen gulped, still visibly in shock despite the hours that had passed.
‘I feel sick,’ Peggy said. ‘I was only in the wool shop yesterday morning, talking to Mabel. She was sayin’ that business had picked up a bit recently. She’d sold a few knitted things that she’d made herself – and some of the bits you took her, Jan. You know, she gave me two pounds for you for Maggie’s things…’
Maureen was crying now. ‘I can’t believe she has gone, Peggy. She was such a good friend to me, to everyone. I called in most days to have a chat. She was so happy with Ellie and the baby and talking about what she planned to buy for Beth… she loved that child…’
‘What will Ellie do now?’ Janet asked. ‘She can’t live there again…’ A shiver ran through her. ‘Who would want to live there after what has happened? It was bad enough when Violet’s son attacked his own mother, but she got better – but poor Mabel is dead…’
‘It’s horrible,’ Peggy agreed and looked at Maureen. ‘You must have had such a fright, Maureen. Are you all right? I mean in your condition…’
‘Gran insisted on calling the doctor to me when I got home just in case,’ Maureen admitted, ‘but he said there was no harm done. He advised me to rest, but I couldn’t stay in bed. I just kept walking about all night, making tea I didn’t drink. Life has to go on, as we all know – and Gordon is being moved to the London today, so I shall want to visit him this evening, if he’s up to it…’
‘You’re very brave,’ Janet said. ‘I think it would give me nightmares…’
‘Don’t be silly, Janet.’ Peggy gave her a warning look. ‘Maureen isn’t goin’ to let this upset her – are you?’
‘I shall try not to for the sake of the children and Gordon,’ Maureen said. ‘Gran was upset enough over Violet – and she knew Mabel better than any of us really. They were friends years ago. She was very upset last night and I had to comfort her, but what can I say to her? A murder in Mulberry Lane is something no one wants to hear about.’
‘It was strange about Knocker James last year,’ Janet said. ‘He’d been causing us all a lot of bother, but then someone killed him… I’ve always wondered about that.’
‘The police thought it a gangland killing…’ Peggy reminded her.
‘Yes, but it was odd…’
‘I wondered if Peter had anything to do with that,’ M
aureen said. ‘Well, you know how nasty he was to Ellie… and he does have a violent temper. And now Mabel had been murdered!’ The friends looked at each other anxiously.
‘If he could kill once he would have no trouble killing again,’ Janet said, nodding. ‘He’s a dangerous man. I just hope he doesn’t come back here…’
‘The police said they would interview him, that’s if they can find him. Of course, they aren’t saying he was the one that murdered her – although I saw him rushing out like that and – and she was still warm. They said it could only just have happened when I found her…’ Maureen looked sick. ‘And they want to interview Ellie – but no one knows where she is either…’
‘I should’ve thought your testimony was proof enough,’ Janet said, looking angry. ‘Besides, if he was innocent he would go to the police himself.’
‘Not according to the inspector I spoke to last night. He says it may constitute a case for prosecution, but the evidence is only circumstantial at the moment…’
‘Poor Ellie,’ Peggy said. ‘If she ran away in fear, she will feel dreadful when she knows about Mabel.’
‘But where has she gone?’ Janet asked. ‘Has he murdered her as well?’
‘Oh, don’t!’ Maureen begged.
‘Where would she go?’ Janet demanded. ‘I didn’t think she had a family.’
‘She had an aunt, but they never got on. Besides, Peter could easily have found her there.’ Maureen looked thoughtful. ‘I don’t know of anyone else – unless…’ She shook her head as the others looked at her. ‘No, I shan’t say yet, because I don’t want to get anyone else into trouble… but I know that Ellie will feel this is all her fault.’
*
‘I came down as soon as I knew, because I didn’t want you to hear it on the wireless or read it in the paper,’ Sid said and took Ellie’s trembling hands in his own. They had gone for a walk towards some woods, leaving Beth in his sister’s big friendly farmhouse. It was cold but bright and the earth in the fields was hard beneath their feet, because of an overnight frost. ‘I’ve spoken to my general and he’s given me a couple of days off. I can take you back to London if you wish…’
‘I couldn’t go to her house…’ Ellie’s eyes were drenched in tears as she looked up at him. ‘Mabel was so good to me – like a mother – and he has killed her. He told me he would if I defied him, so it’s all my fault…’
‘No, my dearest girl, it isn’t,’ Sid said. ‘I’ve spoken to the police and they say the man who attacked me the other night is a known killer, though they’ve never been able to pin anything on him. He kills to order, Ellie – and he confessed that he was paid to attack me. He wouldn’t name the man who paid him, but they think it may have been Peter.’
‘Why?’
‘Because they were known associates before the war – Peter was a member of a gang, Ellie. They worked for a man who extorted protection payments from nightclub owners and bookies, market traders – and just before the war started their boss was murdered in his own club. They think someone wanted to take over his patch. No one was arrested for it, but Peter and his friend Herbie – or Scarface as he liked to be known – were suspected, though no proof was found – and then Peter joined the Army and his friend disappeared.’ He paused and looked serious. ‘The police know I had an interest in you – and they’re half convinced he is Mabel’s murderer, but the wheels of justice are always slow. They’ve got a warrant out for him, but until they have the proof they won’t commit themselves.’
Ellie shuddered. ‘I knew he had a temper, but when I first met him he was lovely to me. I never suspected anything like that – and he was always buying me things…’
‘You didn’t wonder where he got the money?’
Ellie shook her head. ‘He said he had a good job working for a man who needed him at all sorts of strange hours…’ Her eyes widened as she looked at Sid. ‘He was a gangster, wasn’t he? That’s why his mother warned me not to upset him… Did Peter have Knocker James killed?’ Ellie remembered the way Peter had acted when he’d discovered she’d been raped, furious at first, ranting about killing the man who’d violated her, and then was suddenly all smiles. It made sense if he’d arranged for Knocker to be murdered. ‘Perhaps, we’ll never know.’ Sid put his arm about her, comforting her as she trembled. He frowned. ‘Herbie Collins died of his wound the same night as Mabel was murdered. I killed him, Ellie. I’m a bodyguard, as I told you before, and I carry a gun. I was attacked and so I shot him in the shoulder. I called an ambulance and thought he might live, which he did for long enough for the police to confirm my story – but then he died… it turns out he had a terminal illness and he wasn’t strong enough to fight the trauma. I doubt if he even knew he had the cancer; the doctors told me it is a silent killer until the last weeks.’
‘Oh, Sid…’ Ellie brushed away her tears. ‘I don’t blame you for what you did. They would’ve killed you if they could…’
‘Yes, I know. Yet I could be killed any time while on duty, Ellie. I do a dangerous job, even if it doesn’t seem that way – but I’m good at it, which is why I was given the job. I didn’t intend to kill that man, just to take him down – but I don’t regret it. If anyone attacked my general when I was on duty I would shoot to kill.’
‘It’s your job…’ Ellie looked at him uncertainly. ‘What about Peter – would you kill him if he came after you?’
‘I should defend myself – and you,’ Sid said. ‘I told you I wasn’t afraid of him, Ellie, but I don’t like killing for its own sake. I would maim rather than kill if I could, as I intended with Scarface…’
‘I think Peter may try to kill me if he knows where I am…’
‘The police in London want to talk to you,’ Sid said. ‘I told them I would fetch you rather than have them come here to my sister’s home, and you can stay at the house with Tom and me – he has another bedroom you can use. Once you’ve cleared this mess up, I’ll fetch the rest of your things and I’ll bring you back here – or I could find you a home of your own if you’d rather.’
‘Your sister is lovely. She was so kind to me when I arrived after all those hours changing trains,’ Ellie said, ‘but she couldn’t keep me here for long, because she has her own family. I have a job and friends in Mulberry Lane – but I’m not sure what to do. I’m afraid Peter will come after us again.’
‘The police want to question him,’ Sid said. ‘You’ll be safe enough with Tom and me … and you can come back to Christine afterwards, if you want. She’s told me she will be happy to have you.’
‘I’ll return to London if I can stay with you and Tom,’ Ellie said, but she was nervous. ‘I can’t go to the house again, Sid. I can’t bear to think of Mabel lying dead on the kitchen floor – and it was my fault. If I hadn’t run away, she would still be alive…’
‘You mustn’t blame yourself,’ Sid said. ‘You were the one in immediate danger. No one would have expected him to murder an innocent woman…’
‘I’ll never forgive myself. She loved me…’ Ellie sobbed.
‘I know,’ Sid put his arms about her, holding her close as she wept. ‘I’m so sorry, love. The police will get him and he will pay the price, believe me.’
‘It won’t bring her back, though, will it?’ Ellie looked up at him. ‘I’ll never forgive myself for leavin’ her alone that night.’
Sid nodded, understanding what she didn’t say. She blamed him for insisting on taking her away, because if they’d been together perhaps the tragedy might have been avoided.
*
Peggy was making jam tarts when Maureen called in one morning later that week. Everyone in the lanes was still shocked by the news of Mabel Tandy’s murder. It had been in the newspapers, side by side with an article banning people from going to within ten miles of the coast from the Wash to Land’s End. The whole country was on high alert, some folk said from fear of imminent invasion, others said the numbers of armed forces were so large that some big offensive was being
planned. Either way, tension was in the air and with men in uniform wherever you went it felt like being in a military camp. Some folk were even whispering that Mabel had been murdered by an advance party of German infiltrators!
Maureen had Robin in his pushchair and he was sucking at a biscuit she’d given him. Peggy made her welcome, as usual, telling her to put Robin in the playpen with Freddie and Fay.
‘How are you feeling now, love?’ she asked.
‘A bit better,’ Maureen said and grimaced. ‘I’ve stopped crying all the time, but I feel numb now… as if I’m in limbo.’
Maureen released the straps and lifted her son into the playpen, where he started to grab at some bricks until Fay snatched them away from him. He stared at her and moved away, turning his attention to Freddie, who handed him a rather sad-looking teddy bear.
‘Fay doesn’t like sharin’ her toys. I think she’ll be a right little madam in a couple of years…’ she broke off as Laurie entered the kitchen.
‘Hello, Maureen,’ he said. ‘I was sorry to hear about Mabel – that was a terrible thing.’
‘Yes, I couldn’t believe what had happened…’
‘Must have been quite a shock,’ he said and picked up the newspaper. ‘Anyway, how is your husband? I like Gordon; he’s a decent chap…’
‘He was very tired the first night he arrived, as you may imagine. I only stopped for a few minutes, but I visited yesterday and again this mornin’ and he seems better. He’s still on penicillin and he says it makes him feel a bit sick, but it is marvellous at dealin’ with infection. His leg is so much easier than when I saw him in Portsmouth.’
‘That’s wonderful. I did read about a marvellous new drug that was savin’ lives in the papers. It will make such a difference to the treatment for our troops,’ Peggy said and placed a tray of plum jam tarts in the oven as her husband left them to return to the bar, where he was changing barrels. ‘Has Tom told you that Ellie is stoppin’ with him and Sid for a while? I was so relieved when Sid told me she was safe. They arrived late last night. Sid popped in to tell me before he left for work this mornin’…’
