She's Out

by Lynda La Plante

  DCI Craigh beckoned him out of the car, pressing his earpiece into his ear, listening. “Okay, Jimmy. She moved to the hoopla stand or something, so you start walking in by gate B, the one closest to us. Just act nice and casual, and don’t keep looking round. Off you go.”

  Donaldson shook his head. “She’s not gonna like it, me not having them with me.”

  Craigh sighed. None of them liked it, but they couldn’t do anything about it. “Just do the business. Tell her to meet you back at your place, it was unsafe to bring them here—tell her anything.”

  “This is entrapment, you know,” Donaldson whined.

  “You fuckin’ do the business, Jimmy, or you’ll be trapped all right, and for longer than you got in the first place.”

  He moved off with a scowl. When he got to the hoopla stand he couldn’t see Dolly so he went over to the shooting arcade and handed over two quid for three shots. “Let her find me,” he said to himself as he took aim. “Let her bloody find me.”

  Dolly walked casually around, enjoying the stands, marveling at the amazing rides. It was all beyond anything they had when she was a kid, and it all cost a hell of a lot more, too. She fingered the hoops, fifty pence a throw. In her day it had been threepence but she paid over her money and took aim with the wooden hoop.

  “Rawlins is at the hoopla stand. She’s throwing hoops now.” Palmer wandered past, not even looking at Dolly as she threw her third hoop and was presented with a goldfish in a plastic bag. As she reached for the fish, she caught sight of Julia, hovering at another stand. She did a double-take.

  Julia sighed. No matter how hard she tried to stay in the background she was so tall she stuck out like a sore thumb. As Dolly walked toward her, she smiled weakly.

  “Hello, Julia. You just won yourself a prize,” said Dolly, handing over the bag. “Here, take it back to the manor.” As Julia took the goldfish bag, Dolly looked up at her. “So why you following me?”

  “Ester told me to.”

  “Oh, I see, and what she tells you to do, you do, right?”

  “Yeah. Well, now you’ve caught me at it, I’ll push off.”

  “You do that, love. I’m only here for a bit of fun.”

  Julia couldn’t help but smile but Dolly remained poker-faced, watching the tall woman as she threaded her way out of the area. Dolly was piecing it all together: they were definitely after her diamonds. Well, they were going to be in for a shock. As soon as she had them, she would be on her way and they could all rot in hell as far as she was concerned. Apart from Angela: she liked that little kid.

  Dolly wondered if she’d missed Jimmy Donaldson—maybe he’d got tired of waiting.

  “She’s looking around now, handed a fish to a woman who’s walked out. Should be coming through exit E. Check her out.”

  Julia made her way to the courtesy bus stop, thinking she would go and see her mother. It had been a long time.

  Dolly finally spotted Donaldson and walked off in the opposite direction toward a Ferris wheel.

  “I think she saw him but she’s walked off, straight past him. Now at the Ferris wheel. She’s talking to the boy on the ticket box.”

  Dolly smiled at the spotty young kid and slipped him a tenner. “I’ll be back for a ride in a bit and you’ll get another tenner if you make sure I get a nice view from the top of the wheel. Say about five minutes’ worth of view, all right, love?”

  He grinned. It was not unusual to get requests like that, and for twenty quid, why not? He watched as she strolled back into the crowd.

  Donaldson had another three shots. On his last he got a bull’s-eye and the stall owner begrudgingly handed over a stuffed white rabbit. He turned to see Dolly standing directly in front of him.

  “Okay, they’re together. He’s just won a white rabbit so we can’t miss them. He’s walking off with her to the other stands.”

  “You’re looking well, Dolly. Long time no see.”

  “I am well, Jimmy, very well. How’s your wife?”

  “Oh, she’s her usual. Gone to see her sister in Brighton.”

  “That’s nice for her. Would you like a ride?”

  He looked at the Ferris wheel. “No. Can’t stand those things.”

  “Oh, come on, it’ll be fun. Might as well enjoy ourselves now we’re here. I saw an article saying Princess Diana brings the princes here. Did you know that?”

  He nodded. “That’s the big theme rides over the other side. This is just the fairground. It’s not part of the main park.”

  “I fancied that water ride, down a chute. I saw it in the paper. Never mind, we’ll make do with this.”

  Dolly winked at the spotty boy and slipped him another tenner. He unbuckled the seat bar and helped her sit down.

  “Dolly, I’ve not got a head for heights.”

  “Oh, get in, Jimmy, I want to see the view.”

  Donaldson was ushered into the seat and locked into his safety harness; below, the static interference was breaking up on the radios. Jimmy’s and Dolly’s voices were coming and going with a crackle and a buzz.

  “They’re on the Ferris wheel,” an officer said into his radio.

  “We can see that,” DCI Craigh muttered back. They could hear them too, just about, but so far not one word about the diamonds. Mike was in the car, listening on the radio, clocking the time, wondering if his mother had picked up the fakes yet, getting more and more agitated. He hadn’t even seen Dolly Rawlins yet, and he didn’t know how he’d deal with it if he did.

  “They’re on the ride,” crackled his radio.

  Mike pushed his earpiece further into his ear, wincing as the static caused by the steel girders on the Ferris wheel deafened him.

  Donaldson clung to the safety bar as the wheel turned slowly. “There’s nobody else getting on,” he panted.

  “Oh, there will be,” she said, smiling.

  “Why are they doing it so slowly?” he gasped as they inched higher.

  “They got to allow for the punters to get on. So, have you got them for me?”

  She said it so casually, he felt even sicker. “Er, not with me, it’s too dangerous.”

  She stared ahead, and the wheel turned higher until they were almost at the top.

  “You’ve not got them at all, is that right?”

  “Yes—no—I’ve got them but not on me. You crazy? I couldn’t carry them around . . . Oh, oh, holy shit, is this bleedin’ thing safe?”

  They remained poised at the top of the wheel and Dolly leaned forward, looking around at the views. “Isn’t it lovely, Jimmy?”

  “No, I’m gonna be sick.”

  She faced him, her eyes hard. “You will be sick, Jimmy, if you’re trying it on. Are you trying it on with me, Jimmy?”

  “No, no, I swear. Listen, is there an alarm? I’m feeling sick, really I am. I hate swings, I hate heights, I’m dying, Dolly.”

  She pushed at the seat with her feet. It swung backward and forward. “Where are they?”

  “At home! I got them at home!” He was shaking in terror, his knuckles white from gripping the safety bar.

  She looked down, waving to the boy, and the wheel began to move down. “I’ll come for them tomorrow, then. I’ll call you.”

  “All right, all right, anythin’ you say . . .”

  She nodded, and then leaned closer. “Life is too short to mess around. You won’t mess with me, will you, Jimmy? I’ve been waiting eight years.”

  “Yeah, well, I got to get a good fence. I mean, you’re talking millions so you’ll need the very best.”

  “No, love, you don’t need to get anything but what belongs to me. I’ll do the rest and then you’ll get your cut.”

  DCI Craigh was ripping his hair out. They still hadn’t mentioned the word “diamonds.” “Jesus Christ, say it, woman, say it.”

  Dolly left a white-faced Jimmy Donaldson leaning against the fence, throwing up, as she went out of the exit, carrying the white rabbit. They could follow her all day, but she hadn’t
said the word “diamonds,” and neither had the stupid bastard Jimmy Donaldson.

  Julia arrived at the station and put in a call to Ester, who instantly went into a screaming fit. Julia yelled back, saying she should have followed Dolly herself. “I’m going to see my mother, okay?” Then she slammed down the phone, picked up the bag with the goldfish and walked onto the platform to wait for the train. She wished she’d never agreed to the Dolly Rawlins business. She wished she’d never met Ester, she wished she hadn’t fucked herself up so badly, she wished she could start her life over again. She was such an idiot, such a stupid bitch to have got herself into such a mess.

  It was after eight by the time Gloria arrived at her old place, which looked even more rundown in the dark. Mrs. Rheece was coming out of the front door. Gloria ran up the path. “Mrs. Rheece, it’s me, Gloria Radford. I just come to pick up my stuff. Is that okay?”

  “You can do what you like, no business of mine. I don’t give a shit what anyone does. The council have been round askin’ after you and that bloke was here last night again, the one with the squint. I said to him you wasn’t here and he was fuckin’ abusive.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. You tell him to sod off the next time.”

  “There won’t be a next time, Mrs. Radford, ’cos I’ll call the law on him.”

  The old woman went off with her shopping trolley down the road, still muttering to herself about the council, as Gloria slipped round the back of the house to the old coal hut. It had been used as a bike shed, and rubbish bins were stacked up inside and out. She shone a torch round and began to move aside all the junk, swearing as she ripped her tights in the process. She squeezed her way into the back of the hut and then eased away some old wooden boards. Scared of being disturbed, she switched off the torch and fumbled around in the inky darkness. Soon she felt the big canvas bag and began to heave with all her might. It was very heavy, but she finally managed to drag it out. She went back for two more bags before she shut the coal-hut door. She dragged each bag out to the Mini Traveller and hauled it inside, terrified that someone would see her. Then she went up into her old flat, washed her hands and face, and collected a suitcase full of clothes.

  She drove slowly, frightened of every passing police car. She knew that if she was stopped and the car was searched, she’d be arrested. Eddie’s stash, Eddie’s retirement money, was all in the back of the Mini: thirty thousand pounds’ worth of weapons.

  She got onto the motorway toward Aylesbury, her hands gripping the wheel tightly, her whole body tense. “Please God, nobody stop me, please God, don’t break down, please God, let me get to the manor.”

  Ester heard the front door slam and looked over the banisters. Connie, still wearing her dark glasses and headscarf, was dragging in her case.

  “Where the hell have you been all day?”

  “I need a fiver for the taxi, Ester.”

  Ester thudded down the stairs. “I’m not a bloody charity, you know. I paid for everyone’s taxi yesterday.” Ester stopped in her tracks as she saw Connie’s face. “What the hell happened to you?”

  Audrey was in a right state. She had twice paged Mike on his mobile and he’d not returned her call. She now had the fake diamonds from Tommy and just having them in the flat made her freak. She kept on opening the pouch and looking at them. She’d never seen the original diamonds properly, but Jimmy had seen right away they were in gold or platinum settings, some from around 1920. She closed the pouch up again, and stood over the telephone. “Ring, come on, ring me. I’ve got them, I’ve got them.”

  Mike didn’t call until after ten, saying he was just coming off duty and he’d come round to collect them. As he put the phone down, Angela paged him. He arranged to meet her outside Edgware Road tube station, then called his wife to tell her he would be late home. He had just finished the call when DCI Craigh wandered over to his desk.

  “We’ve got Donaldson back at his place. He says that maybe we should take him over to his shop, maybe they’ve not been looking in the right place. I said to him, ‘You drew the map, Jimmy, we’re looking just where you told us to look.’” Jimmy got very evasive and described in detail how he’d removed the bricks from one of the walls, scraped out the cement and stuffed the jewelry bag inside. He replaced the bricks and cemented them in.

  Mike could feel the sweat trickle under his armpits. “You want me to go over there and have a look?”

  Craigh rubbed his nose. “Yeah, okay, I’m taking myself off home. We’ve been over all the tapes from the fairground. Useless. They could have been talking about anything. He’s a smart-arsed prick, you know, Donaldson.”

  Mike nodded. “Yeah, well, we know what she meant though, don’t we?”

  “Yeah, we know, but it wouldn’t stand up in court. Still, we’ll see what we get tomorrow—she’s calling him again then.”

  Mike put his coat on. It was another hour, sitting in traffic, before he picked up Angela. She told him as far as she knew the women were all still together at the manor; Dolly had bought it from Ester, paid her by check. She hadn’t heard any mention of diamonds but they were all edgy, especially Ester.

  Mike paid her a tenner. She wanted him to take her out for a burger, but he said he didn’t have the time. “When will I see you again, then?” she asked him.

  Mike cleared his throat. “Soon as I get some free time. It’s getting a bit heavy with Susan right now—she’s asking a lot of questions about where I am. We just have to cool it for a bit.”

  She started to sniffle and he hugged her. “Come on, now, don’t start. I’ve got to be on duty in half an hour.”

  “You just used me.”

  He turned away from her. “I’m sorry if it feels that way but you knew I was married right from the start, Angela, I got kids.”

  She sniffed again and opened the car door. “All the same, you used me, Mike. I give you all that information and you can’t spare ten minutes for me. How do you think that makes me feel?”

  “Look, let me get this Rawlins business sorted, then I promise I’ll call you, okay?”

  He reached over and squeezed her hand and she watched as he drove off. She felt cheated but also slightly guilty. Mrs. Rawlins had seemed quite nice, not like the others. She hunched her shoulders and went back into the tube station, heading for her mother’s place.

  Audrey showed Mike the fake diamonds. “Two grand, I paid. Tommy’s a real professional. What do you think?”

  Mike was tired out. He stuffed the bag into his pocket without looking inside it. “Okay. Now you should get packed and out of here as soon as you can. I’ll stash these tonight.”

  “Did she meet up with Jimmy, then, today?”

  “Yeah, but they played games.”

  “She’s clever, Mike. Don’t trust her.”

  He looked at his mother. “You mean like I trusted you?”

  “How can you say that? You know why I did it! You know why!”

  He pursed his lips. “You did it for the money so don’t give me the sob story about Shirley because it won’t wash anymore. I’m doing this tonight and then that’s it, you hear me? I want you out of here, out of my life.”

  “You don’t mean that, do you?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “But the villa! You and the kids can come for holidays.”

  “No, Mum, I don’t want to know about the fucking villa. You got it, you stay in it. Now pack your bags.”

  Audrey burst into tears and started talking about how she had every right to do what she did, how Dolly had killed Shirley. Mike couldn’t take any more.

  “You lost that baby because you downed a bottle of gin every night, so don’t give me that crap. I’m only doing this for Shirley and I never want to see you again.”

  He ran down the stone steps, his mother’s screeching voice in his ear, and he hated her. At that moment, he even hated his sister. But there was one person he hated even more. If he was caught replacing the stones at Jimmy Donaldson’s antique shop he’d
be arrested and it would all be Dolly Rawlins’s fault!

  Crashing the gears, he sped off down the road, the pouch of fake diamonds feeling like a red-hot coal in his jacket pocket.

  Chapter 5

  Julia kissed her mother’s soft powdery cheek and then stepped back, holding up the goldfish. “I got you a present.”

  Mrs. Lawson smiled, gently stroking Bates the cat, who eyed the bag hungrily. “Well, I’ll have my work cut out watching Bates to make sure he doesn’t eat it.”

  “We used to have a fish bowl somewhere, didn’t we? I remember it.” Julia searched in the kitchen and eventually found it, filled it with water and tipped in the fish. Then she carried it into the drawing room. Her mother was still stroking Bates, sitting in her wheelchair, a cashmere shawl wrapped round her knees. The room was oppressively hot, the gas fire turned on full.

  “So, how are you?” Julia said as she sat down, peeling off her sweater.

  “Oh, Mrs. Dowey takes good care of me and her husband still looks after the garden.”

  Julia could think of nothing to say so she got up and looked over a stack of bills placed in a wooden tea-caddy on the sideboard. “Are these for me?”

  “Yes, dear. I was going to send them to your accountant as I always do, but as you’re here . . .”

  They were the usual telephone, gas and electricity bills, Mrs. Dowey’s and her husband’s wages, and bills for repairs and maintenance to the house. Julia even paid for the groceries.