The Midwives of Lark Lane

by Pam Howes

  Gianni thanked them and gave them Alice’s phone number so that they could let him know as soon as possible. They said their goodbyes as he showed them out of the caravan.

  Tears ran down Eloisa’s face as a kind police officer drew up a chair and sat down by the side of her bed. A nurse had told him that he couldn’t be too long; her head injury was severe and she needed to rest. Eloisa was in a small side room and he closed the door to give them privacy.

  ‘Now, in your own time, Eloisa, just tell me what you can remember,’ the officer said quietly, taking out a notebook and pen.

  ‘Not a lot,’ Eloisa said, sniffing. ‘I know who it was though, and I don’t understand why he would do this to me when all I’ve ever done is be nice and loving towards him.’

  ‘I spoke to your mother earlier and she said you’re convinced it was a man called Dougie Taylor that attacked you?’

  ‘Yes. He was sort of my boyfriend. We’d been seeing each other since he joined the fair in York. But on Sunday morning I saw what I thought was a prowler or something near the caravans. Then I realised it might be Dougie and that he was leaving without saying goodbye to me. I was upset so I followed him. Then he turned on me for no reason and hit me several times. He was saying things in a funny accent, like a Scouser, but very deep and nasty. It was almost like he was a madman and wanted to kill me.’

  ‘Did this man tell you anything about himself while you were, err, seeing him?’

  ‘Very little. He told me one thing and then changed it to another. He said he got confused because he’d been on medication for his injured foot and he did like to drink a bit too much.’

  She frowned and gasped as something came back to her from that night. ‘I’ve just remembered something a bit odd that I saw before I passed out. His right sock had rolled down. I was lying on the ground by his feet and he lifted his trouser leg and pulled the sock up over his ankle and up his calf. Where his leg joined his foot it didn’t look right. Sort of brown and shiny not like real skin – which is why his sock slipped down maybe. Does that make any sense to you? It sounds weird, I know, but I did see it, I’m sure.’

  The officer nodded. ‘It does make sense, thank you. I’m going to leave you now to rest. But can you just take a quick look at this picture and tell me if you think this is Dougie Taylor?’ He held a mugshot of Jack Dawson in front of her.

  She frowned. ‘I’ve seen that before. Officers came to the fair to ask if we’d seen him. He’s Jack Dawson.’

  The officer nodded. ‘That’s right. He’s a wanted man. Does he resemble Dougie Taylor in any way?’

  Eloisa studied the picture again. ‘I’m not sure. Maybe. But Dougie had long hair and a beard and a missing front tooth at the bottom. His face is a bit thinner too.’

  The officer took a deep breath. ‘This man also has a missing front tooth.’ He tapped a bottom tooth with his pen. ‘This one.’

  Eloisa frowned. ‘Same as Dougie’s.’

  ‘This man could have grown his hair and a beard and he may also have lost weight. He also has a right foot missing, which has been replaced by a wooden one.’

  ‘But what about his accent? Jack’s from Liverpool. Dougie’s from Edinburgh and has a Scottish accent; well, he did have until the other night. He and that Jack fella can’t be the same man, surely?’ She yawned loudly and the officer got to his feet.

  ‘I’ll leave you for now. Get some sleep and if we need to speak to you again we’ll come back. Rest assured we’re doing our best to catch the man responsible for attacking you, Miss.’

  Gianni took a call from the police station just after twelve noon on Monday. Officers would be calling at the house within the hour.

  ‘I’m glad I’m on a late one today,’ Cathy said. ‘I don’t start until three, so I can hear what they have to say first-hand before I head for the bus.’

  ‘The chap I just spoke to said there will be a heavy police presence in the area around the park for the next few days. It’s a shame – it’ll put punters off coming to the fair.’

  ‘Only if they’ve got something to hide,’ Cathy said. ‘I wonder how Eloisa is doing. I don’t like her that much, as you know, but what’s happened to her is just awful. Did they say if they’ve got any news on your dad’s car yet? That was really odd how it vanished from here but the keys were taken from your pocket in the caravan. How would a random thief know that?’

  Gianni nodded. ‘I don’t know, but it is indeed very odd.’ He had his own theory on who was responsible for attacking Eloisa and stealing his dad’s car, but until he knew for certain, or the police confirmed it, he didn’t want to scare Cathy half to death with his thoughts.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Cathy felt her face draining as she stared at the two officers seated opposite her on the sofa in the front sitting room.

  ‘We’re certain, Mrs Romano,’ one of them said. ‘Fingerprints on the cover of your husband’s sketchbook match up to prints held in our system of the escaped prisoner Jack Dawson.’

  ‘But this man from the fair, Dougie Taylor, how is he involved?’

  ‘He and Dawson are one and the same. After escaping from a prison van in Leeds, he grew his hair and a beard and adopted a Scottish persona, including the accent.’

  ‘So he’s been living that close to us since the fair arrived in Liverpool.’ Cathy shuddered and felt sick. ‘Why on earth would he come back here when he knows he’s wanted and people are on the lookout for him?’

  ‘That’s what we’d like to know, Mrs Romano. The reasons for his return are a mystery. However, he’s taken Mr Luca Romano’s car so will no doubt be out of the area by now. It’s a distinctive car, so we’re hoping the TV bulletin on tonight’s news and a report in all tomorrow’s papers will bring us some results. That car is easy to spot anywhere. Our main worry is that he’ll abandon it.’

  Gianni shook his head. ‘I’ll come and meet you from work tonight,’ he told Cathy. ‘It’ll have to be on my motorbike though now we’ve no car. But I’m not having you trying to get home on your own on late-night buses.’

  Cathy blew out her cheeks. ‘I don’t care what you meet me on, just as long as you do. Mam is going to be so worried when she hears he’s been near the house, but I’ve got to warn her. I’ll get off now to the hospital and tell her.’

  ‘Can we offer you a lift?’ one of the officers said. ‘We’re just going to speak with Eloisa again. You might as well as come with us.’ He scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Gianni. ‘Any sightings or anything at all that you think will help us, please ring that number right away.’

  ‘Thank you for the lift offer.’ Cathy got to her feet. ‘Just let me finish getting ready and I’ll be with you in five minutes.’

  Twenty-One

  Cathy hurried down the main corridor of the Royal and headed towards the staff canteen. She hoped her mam was still on her dinner break as it would be easier to speak to her here than on the children’s ward. She pushed open the canteen door, scanned the tables and spotted her sitting with another of the auxiliary nurses.

  ‘Hiya, love,’ her mam greeted Cathy. ‘What up? You look mithered to death. Sit down and I’ll go and get you a cuppa.’

  ‘I’ve no time, Mam. I’ll have one on the ward later.’

  The other nurse got to her feet. ‘I’ll leave you two to talk. See you later, Alice. Nice to see you, Cathy.’

  ‘You too,’ Cathy said.

  ‘Right, tell me what’s wrong,’ Mam said as the nurse walked away.

  Cathy told her that two police officers had called on them earlier and why.

  Alice’s eyes opened wide and her hand flew to her mouth. ‘It was Jack? Oh my God, what the heck did he think he was he doing, holing up with the fair like that?’

  Cathy shook her head. ‘No idea. Probably just luck on his side that it was in York when he escaped in Leeds and made his way there. He’s been in disguise with long hair and a beard and he’s been having a relationship with Eloisa. It makes me sick t
o think he nearly killed her, perhaps because she tried to stop him from leaving. He’s a really dangerous man. It terrifies me to think he’s on the run out there again. It’s definitely him though, because they’ve matched his fingerprints, and Eloisa saw his wooden foot.’

  ‘She’s lucky to still be alive,’ Alice said, shaking her head. ‘We all need to be on our guard now. I can’t see him getting far with Luca’s car. He’s going to struggle to drive it. I would have thought it was almost impossible that he could, so he may just dump it.’

  Cathy nodded and got to her feet. ‘I’ll see you later tonight. Gianni’s going to meet me. His dad brought his bike down here in one of the trailers, so he’ll pick me up on that.’

  ‘You just be careful on the back of that bike.’

  ‘I will. Better the bike than walking home after dark though.’

  Alice nodded her agreement. ‘I’ll ring Johnny to come and collect me later.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ Karen said as Cathy told her the events of the last few hours. ‘I can’t believe it. We saw that girl on Saturday when we had a go on the hook-a-duck stall. Hope she’ll be all right. Ellie’s on nights tonight so we’ll warn her as soon as she comes on duty. We should let Sister know as well and she can get the news over to other ward sisters so their staff can be warned. No one should take any chances. Unlikely he’ll put in an appearance here, but best to be on the safe side in view of what happened to Ellie.’

  ‘Better go and find out what’s been happening on here today,’ Cathy said. ‘Get some work done to take our minds off things.’

  Karen nodded. ‘Hopefully there’ll be something in my pigeonhole when I go off duty from the powers-that-be about our venture. I didn’t have time to check before I came up here.’

  Jack sat in the car near the Dock Road and pondered on what to do next. He would need to abandon the car soon as after the first few miles he had been finding it too much of a struggle to drive. He knew he’d be at risk of an accident and that would attract unwanted attention, which was all he needed. Plus the car stuck out like a sore thumb.

  He debated using his stolen money to take a steamer from the docks across to Douglas on the Isle of Man, until things calmed down a bit here, but then how would he get back? It looked like he had no choice but to go back to living in allotment sheds again and stealing food as and when he could find it. His plans had all gone to pot. It had been a big mistake coming back to Liverpool and now he would be in even deeper shit when they found Eloisa’s body. His picture would be everywhere once they realised he was missing, and who he was.

  That coupled with the shooting of the prison officer might warrant a death sentence. Taking Luca’s car had been a final moment of madness. Who else would have known which house it would be parked outside? He wasn’t cut out to think like a criminal. He knew he liked to have his way with women, and he was an accomplished petty thief, but anything else he was rubbish at. He should have gone up to Scotland with Andy and the lads. They’d have taught him a thing or two. He’d been so obsessed about finding Cathy that nothing else had mattered.

  He needed a plan of action and had no idea now whether he should speak with a Scottish accent still or his normal Liverpool one, or try something else altogether. Who would the police be looking for? Dougie Taylor? Or had they worked it out by now and were looking for Jack Dawson? Life was shit at the moment and he couldn’t see how it would ever get better, but he really needed to get pissed tonight. He started up the engine and drove further up the road until he spotted an open off-licence, where he nipped in and stocked up on booze and fags. There was a small chippy next door and he bought a fish supper, then walked back to the car and drove to a nearby fire-damaged factory and pulled into the deserted car park. He switched off the engine and lights, ate his supper, and washed it down with a few good slugs of whisky. He had a quick pee up the side of the car, got back in and, unzipping the sleeping bag, curled up on the back seat, his mind working overtime. There was one place he could go where he might be able to hide for a while.

  The old house he’d stayed in as an injured soldier had an outbuilding that was never used. It had an upstairs room accessed by a wooden staircase that he might be able to manage, and was situated at the bottom of the garden. Maybe the people who had owned it back in the forties were still there, or more likely it had been sold on – they’d probably be dead by now. It was worth a try as he was unsure if there were any allotments nearby where he could take shelter.

  Tomorrow he’d dump the car near the docks and take a very early bus back to Aigburth. He could be hidden away before people started to get up for work. He could do with a haircut and a trim to his beard. But then if he did that he’d be more recognisable as Jack. The one good thing if he hid up that way was that Cathy was almost around the corner. He smiled and closed his eyes, remembering her curves and her beautiful full breasts in Gianni’s sketches of her. What he’d give to get his hands on them, and show her who was boss.

  Gianni met Cathy after work and the pair walked Karen across to the nurses’ home.

  ‘Any more news?’ Cathy asked as they headed back to where he’d parked his motorbike. This was the second night running that he’d come to pick her up, and she was so grateful that he was here.

  ‘Nope, not a sighting of him anywhere yet. But Dad’s car was found abandoned on the Dock Road today. It’s been taken to the station and is being checked for fingerprints right now.’

  ‘So he didn’t get very far then?’

  ‘Unfortunately he’s probably still in Liverpool, so we need to make sure we are extra careful. Dad has closed the fair for the time being. No one has got the heart to work. Everyone is in a state of shock. He said they’ll all stay on Seffy Park for now in case the police need them for further questioning. Maria needs to be close to Eloisa so she can visit as often as she likes.’

  He sighed. ‘Cathy, even if Jack has been caught, when it’s time to move on I’m not going with them. I’ve made up my mind.’ He grasped her hands and looked straight into her blue eyes. ‘I love you. You and Lucy need me more than the fair does. I’ll do a bit of work helping Johnny and Jimmy to get Woodlands ready. And we can get the bungalow sorted and move in sooner now. Give your mam a bit more space in her own home.’

  Cathy flung her arms around him. ‘Thank you. I would never have asked you to do that, but I am so glad you’ve decided to stay with us.’

  When Cathy and Gianni arrived back at Lucerne Street the TV news was on.

  ‘You’re just in time,’ Johnny announced from the sofa, where he and Alice were seated, as they walked into the back room. He pointed at the screen. ‘They’re just coming up to the bit we’ve been waiting for.’

  Cathy and Gianni sat down on dining chairs as the newsreader began his report.

  Liverpool Police have issued another warrant for the arrest of an absconded prisoner. Jack Dawson, who also goes by the name of Dougie Taylor, is wanted in connection with a serious assault on a young woman near a Liverpool fairground, the newsreader said, adding that he was also wanted for questioning in relation to the murder of a prison officer. An enlarged copy of Jack’s mugshot and an artist’s impression of how he looked now filled the screen. ‘A team of police are searching the area near the Dock Road where a vehicle, believed to have been stolen by Dawson, has been found abandoned.’

  Cathy remained silent and chewed her lip anxiously as Gianni shook his head and picked up the Echo newspaper from the dining table. The headlines were accompanied by Jack’s old mugshot side by side with the same artist’s impression that had just been shown on the TV.

  ‘Hopefully by tomorrow someone may realise they’ve seen him,’ Gianni said as he read the report. ‘That artist’s impression is a really good likeness.’

  ‘Let’s hope so,’ Alice said with a shudder. ‘The thought of him out there makes me feel ill. Seeing his picture on TV has given me the creeps.’

  Olive Gould put down her empty cup and pushed her glasses further up h
er nose as she watched the news on the TV. She picked up a pen and the Radio Times from the coffee table and scribbled down the phone number the newsreader was giving out. She squinted again at the picture of a man on the screen. Yesterday, just before locking up for the night, she’d served a man a bottle of whisky and twenty Woodbines. He’d been a scruffy-looking type but his money was as good as anyone else’s. Times were hard, so beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  ‘Gerald,’ she called to her husband, who was making a cuppa in the kitchen.

  Gerald appeared in the adjoining doorway, wiping his hands on a tea towel. ‘Yes, my love?’

  Olive pointed at the television screen. ‘There’s a report of a man wanted by the police and I’m sure he came in the shop last night. They’ve just given out a number. Shall I ring it and let them know?’

  Gerald frowned. ‘Are you sure it’s the same man?’

  ‘No, not really. But the artist’s impression they showed looks a lot like him. He’s wanted in connection with the shooting of the officer in Yorkshire a few months ago and an attack on a young girl recently left for dead in Sefton Park.’

  ‘Then yes, you’d better let them know he might have been around these parts. No doubt he’ll have left the area by now though.’

  Olive jumped to her feet and turned up the sound on the TV as the newscaster with the stern face repeated the number. A stolen car had been found abandoned on the Dock Road and police believed there was a possibility that the man may have taken a ferry either to Ireland or the Isle of Man. The broadcaster stated that the man should not be approached as he was deemed dangerous, but any sightings should be reported immediately.