“My informant.”
“Oh yeah? Which one?”
Mike explained about Angela, how he’d busted her along with Ester Freeman.
“You booked her, did you?”
“No, she was never charged. She wasn’t on the game, she was just serving drinks at the house for the tarts and their punters.”
“So she told you all about Rawlins, and her buying the manor?”
“Yes.”
“So what about the diamonds? Same source? You said it was a kid in Brixton with Donaldson. That’s the only name I’ve got down as an informant.”
“Yes, that’s true. When he told me, I contacted Angela and that’s how I knew all the women were staying there.”
Craigh pushed his chair back and walked around the office, hands stuffed in his pockets. “Anything else? I mean, is there anything else you’ve not told me?” Mike licked his lips nervously as Craigh leaned down so his face was almost touching Mike’s. “What about that diamond robbery, Mike? You want to tell me about that? Better still, tell me about Shirley Miller.” Mike closed his eyes. Craigh prodded him and he flinched. “This was personal, wasn’t it?” Mike nodded. “Your sister was killed on that diamond raid.”
“Yes.”
“Not on your original application form, Mike. There is no mention that you even had a fucking sister.”
Mike gave a half-smile. “I didn’t reckon it’d look good on my CV, Gov.”
“Don’t you fucking joke with me, this isn’t funny. Let’s go from the top again. Your sister worked with Dolly Rawlins and—”
Mike interrupted. “She used her, she manipulated her, she was only twenty-one, a beauty queen and . . .”
Craigh returned to his desk. Mike was close to breaking down, his voice faltering. “I didn’t have all that much to do with Shirley. I was in the Army, stationed in Germany, when she was killed. Then when I joined the Met it was, like, all in the past, but my mum, er . . .” He was floundering, trying not to implicate Audrey. The sweat was pouring off him. “I saw her grave, right? And I felt guilty that I’d never come home, never even sent flowers, and . . . my mum was always on and on about Dolly Rawlins. I’m sorry, I am really sorry . . .”
Mike sniffed, trying to hold on to his emotions because he wasn’t acting anymore. The more he tried to explain about Shirley, the more her face kept flashing into his mind and in the end he bowed his head. “I loved her a lot. She was a lovely kid.” Craigh remained silent, staring at him. “I know Rawlins instigated that robbery, I know it.”
“Mike, son, Rawlins was sent down for murder, she killed her husband. It was never proved that she had anything to do with that diamond heist.”
“But she had.”
“You don’t have any proof.” Craigh pursed his lips. “Listen to what I’m saying, Mike. Dolly Rawlins was never charged with anything to do with that heist. There was never a shred of evidence to link her to it. But your sister was no angel, her husband was a known villain, so don’t give me all this whiter-than-white Mother Teresa stuff. All I know is you instigated a full-scale operation from personal motives, drawing me, DI Palmer, the whole team in on a crazy caper that has landed us in shit, making us all look like prize fucking idiots.”
“I know she was going for those diamonds,” Mike insisted.
“No, you don’t. You don’t know anything. It’s all been supposition because you had a personal grudge against Rawlins.”
“She got away with murder.”
“No she didn’t. She served her sentence, and as far as being implicated in the Donaldson business is concerned, she has an alibi, and a very strong one, saying she wasn’t anywhere near Ladbroke Grove the day he was run over.”
Mike frowned. “We had any joy tracing the car?”
“What car? How many red Rovers or Volvos are there in London?”
Mike remained silent as Craigh jangled the change in his pockets.
“We’ve got Traffic running around like blue-arsed flies—they always love a challenge. But we got nothing from the road where Donaldson got hit, we’ve not got one decent eyewitness. In fact we’ve got bugger all. But we do have a nasty, dirty mess that I’ve got to clear up.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I hope to Christ you are. And from now on you stay clear of this Rawlins bitch or I’ll have you back to wearing a big hat in seconds flat, understand me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now piss off and I’ll see if I can iron all this out.”
Craigh watched Mike walk out with his head bent. Picking up Rawlins’s file, he stared at her harsh expression in the mug shots and began to flick through her record sheet. He put in a call to the Aylesbury social services to double-check one more time that Rawlins was, as she had stated, being interviewed by the board members.
Angela knew something was very wrong when Dolly walked stiffly back to the taxi. She opened the door and got in. “Go back to the manor—get the train home.”
“Aren’t you coming with me?”
“No. Just get on your way. I’ve got someone to see.”
“Well, don’t you need a lift?”
“No, I want to be on my own for a while.”
Dolly passed over a ten-pound note and walked off down the road as Angela directed the cab driver to take her to Marylebone Station.
Mike let himself in and called out to Susan, but the house was silent. He checked the time, assuming she was collecting the kids. He sat down in the hall, knowing he’d had a narrow escape. The phone rang and he jumped.
Angela was at the station in a phone booth. She was relieved when Mike answered but shocked when he yelled at her never to call his home again.
“Well, I needed to speak to you. I’m in London, I came here with Dolly. She got the diamonds, Mike, she had them with her.”
Mike stood up, trying to keep his voice calm. “You sure? Where is she now?”
Angela told him where she had been, and then Mike said he had to go, he couldn’t talk any more. His head felt as if it was blowing apart. If Dolly Rawlins had the diamonds then she had to have run over Jimmy Donaldson, and she had to know by now the diamonds were fakes. It seemed that any way he moved he just sank in deeper and deeper into the mud. There was one thing in his favor: she wouldn’t go to the law. But he knew one place she would go and his panic went into overdrive. He hoped to Christ his mother was out of the country. He grabbed the phone and dialed her number.
Angela sat on the station platform. She had tried to call Mike again but the number was engaged. She kept trying but it was constantly busy. She was near to tears, sure he’d taken it off the hook. There was something else she had to tell him: she’d missed two periods.
Audrey picked up the phone and Mike started yelling before she’d even said hello. “She knows about Tommy. She’s been to see him about the diamonds this afternoon.”
“Who?”
“Who the hell do you think? Dolly Rawlins. She got the diamonds then went to Tommy Malin.”
Audrey’s legs were like jelly. “I’ve got me ticket, but I don’t leave until tomorrow.”
Mike rubbed his chin. “You’d better go tonight.”
“You think she’ll come here?”
He closed his eyes. “Look, the best thing you can do is go away, just clear out.”
Audrey burst into tears and he yelled at her to pull herself together. He said he’d see if he could come round later, and hung up.
She sat for a moment, still cradling the phone before shakily going back to her packing. Half an hour later the doorbell rang shrilly and Audrey dropped her case as she ran to the door. She thought it would be Mike but when she swung the door open she froze.
“Hello, Audrey. It’s Dolly—Dolly Rawlins.”
Audrey forced a smile. “Good heavens! So you’re out then, are you?”
“Yes. You going to ask me in?”
Audrey swallowed and held the door wider.
Dolly walked past her, straight into the sitting
room. The first thing she saw was the big eight-by-ten color photograph of Shirley. She reached out, touched it, and laid it face down on the sideboard. Then she spotted the passport and plane ticket. “Going away?”
Audrey could hardly breathe. She gestured to the half-packed suitcases in her bedroom. “Just to Brighton, to see a friend for the weekend.”
“Taking a lot of gear for just a weekend, aren’t you?” Audrey flushed as Dolly held up her passport. “Won’t be needing this then, will you?”
Audrey’s eyes almost popped out of her head as Dolly slipped it into her pocket. “Why did you do that?”
Dolly sat down on the settee, unbuttoning her coat. “Because, Audrey, we’ve got to talk. Sit down.”
Audrey moved to a hard-backed chair and perched on the edge of the seat.
“How long have you been out?”
Dolly gave an icy smile. “I bet you know the exact minute. Come on, Audrey, how much did you get for the diamonds?”
She knew it was pointless to deny she’d taken them. “It’s not the way it looks.”
“I’m all ears.”
Audrey gulped. “Well, when I read that Jimmy Donaldson had been arrested—”
Dolly interrupted, “You went round and collected. But you never thought to contact me, did you?”
“Well, it was too risky, wasn’t it?”
“How much did you get?”
“Not a lot.” Audrey cleared her throat.
“How much?”
“Four hundred and fifty thousand.”
Dolly leaned back and gave a short humorless laugh. “Don’t mess me around. How much?”
Audrey began to blubber, swearing on her life that was all she got, and said Dolly could even check it out with Frank Richmond.
“Frank Richmond? You fenced them through him, that cheap bastard? Why didn’t you fence them with Tommy?”
“I didn’t think—I was scared—I mean, they were here in the flat.”
Dolly leaned back and closed her eyes. “Eight years I waited, Audrey, eight years . . .”
“Shirley’s been dead eight years,” Audrey said. Then she got even more scared as Dolly went rigid, her eyes shut tight, hands clenched. “I’ve only got a few thousand cash I can give you. I put the bulk of it in Spain.”
“Spain?”
“I bought a villa and . . . it was all done in such a hurry because I was terrified I’d be nicked.”
“I was, Audrey. I did almost nine years for killing Harry and right now I’d do ten for you. You get me my share and I want it by tomorrow.”
“But I haven’t got it.”
“Then get it! And when you have, call me. This is my number.” Dolly opened her bag and scrawled her phone number. She stood up to pass it to her, leaning in close, her face almost touching Audrey’s. “Until I get it, I’ll hold your passport. You call me by tomorrow or, like I said, I’ll shop you, go down for you and don’t think for a second I don’t mean it.”
Mike listened in stunned silence as Audrey told him about Dolly’s visit. “I got to get money, Mike, or she’ll shop me.”
Mike could feel that mud turning into cement round his ankles now. “Does she know about me?”
“She thinks it was just me. Mike, I got until tomorrow to get the money.”
“What the fuck do you want me to do?”
“I’ll need the money I put in the kids’ building society savings accounts.”
“What? Are you telling me some of that cash is in my kids’ accounts?” Audrey started sobbing. He couldn’t make any sense of what she was saying. “Mum, get in a cab and come round. Now.”
Mr. Crow looked out of the window as he drove up the Manor House driveway. Mrs. Tilly sat in the back seat with Mr. Simms, another member of the board.
“There’s a lot of land. A wonderful place for kids,” he observed.
They drove slowly up to the front door, where workmen’s tools were lying around.
“Looks like work has already started,” mused Mr. Crow, looking up at the scaffolding.
They got out and looked over the grounds again before walking to the front door. Mrs. Tilly had wanted to warn Dolly of their arrival, but they had been to visit another foster family and only just decided to make an on-site visit to the manor.
As the door was open they all entered the house. Mrs. Tilly called out for Dolly and, receiving no reply, peered into the lounge. “It’s huge. I had no idea it was such a big property,” she said.
“Hello? Anyone at home?” Mr. Crow called as he looked into the kitchen. The others followed him and stood in the doorway, impressed by the size of the old-fashioned kitchen. They were about to leave the leaflets and documents they had brought on the hall table when they heard the screams and laughter from the cellar.
Kathleen tried the first shower but nothing came out except a low rumbling from the pipes. She banged the pipes with a shoe as Gloria came out of the sauna. “Showers aren’t working,” Kathleen said, grinning when she saw the hosepipe. “How about bein’ hosed down, shall we try that?”
Gloria pulled a face. “Forget it. I’m gonna have a bath in me own room.” She hitched a towel round her and wandered out, heading up the cellar stairs. Mr. Crow and his party were just coming out of the dining room when she appeared. She took one look, shrieked and dived back down to the cellar.
“Was that Mrs. Rawlins?” Mr. Crow asked.
Mrs. Tilly shook her head on her way to the cellar door. She called again for Dolly but could hear only more shrieks from below.
Connie, stark naked, had her hands up as Kathleen turned the hosepipe on her full blast. Gloria yelled for her to switch it off but Kathleen pointed the hose at her just as the three visitors appeared in the doorway, spraying them with water as the women screamed and yelled like schoolgirls. There was a lot of fumbling for towels as Gloria shot out past them.
Mrs. Tilly was red-faced with embarrassment as she opened the sauna door. She gasped and slammed it shut.
“I think we should leave.” She hurried out, appalled at what she had just seen: Ester and Julia, both naked, locked in each other’s arms.
Ester grabbed her towel and ran out after them as they disappeared up the cellar stairs. “Just a minute! Wait! Wait a minute.”
But they couldn’t get out fast enough.
Esther called down the stairs to Julia, “I think they were from the social services. Better not mention this to Dolly.”
It was getting dark when Angela appeared. When they saw her alone the women downed tools and asked her where Dolly was.
“I don’t know, she sent me home.”
“Shit!” Ester marched over. “Where did she go? She’s coming back, isn’t she?” she demanded, her heart sinking. Would Dolly just up, take the cash and leave them all here? She went into Dolly’s room. All her belongings were there, including the deeds of the house, so she felt a little easier.
By the time Dolly did come back, a few hours later, the women were all having supper. When she walked in, they all started talking at once about how much work they had been doing, how they loved the house, but slowly their conversation petered out as Dolly chucked the pouch onto the table.
“Take a look. They’re worthless, glass, all of them.”
They fingered the glittering stones, before looking at Dolly in confusion.
“There’s no money, so you all get a cut of nothing.”
Kathleen picked up one of the biggest stones, holding it in her pudgy hand, then pressed it against her cheek. It felt cold but quickly warmed up. She hurled it against the side of the Aga where it shattered into tiny fragments. “Fucking glass, all right.”
Each one of them would have liked to smash something, anything, as their initial confusion turned to anger, their dreams shattered just like the fake diamond. Gradually their anger subsided and a dark depression hung in the air. Dolly slowly sat down and picked up a piece of bread, picking bits off it as she looked from one crestfallen face to another. “So, will y
ou be staying on, Ester?”
“Well, I’ve got to admit it, Dolly, I’ve never been one for kids so I guess I’m out of here.”
“What about you, Julia?”
Julia shrugged her shoulders, then looked at Ester. “I guess I’ll leave with Ester. That’s not to say I don’t love this place because I do but—”
Dolly interrupted, looking at Connie. “What about you?”
Connie flushed. “Well, to be honest, I know I’ve got this problem with Lennie and I need a place to lie low for a while, but as a long-term thing I want to start off my career proper, you know, get an agent and . . .” She trailed off, head bent, not able to meet Dolly’s eyes.
Kathleen coughed. “I’ll stay put with you, love. I need a place, I got nowhere else.”
Angela reached out and touched Dolly’s hand. “I’ll stay too. I’m sure we can . . .”
Dolly held Angela’s hand tightly, as Gloria pushed back her chair. “I’ll be here for a few weeks.” Dolly looked up at her, surprised. “You got Eddie’s gear someplace and we’ll have to sort something out about that.”
“I see,” Dolly said quietly. “Well, at least I know where I stand. So, those of you that are going, pack up and leave. It’ll save on food bills. Goodnight.”
Dolly stared at her reflection in the dressing-table mirror. She calculated that with the money from Audrey she might still be able to pull off something. It might even be better that it had worked out this way—at least she knew who she could trust, now that she’d found out it was Audrey, poor Shirley Miller’s mother, who’d grassed on her.
Chapter 9
Dolly had only just come down to breakfast when John asked to speak to her. He was obviously angry: the men wanted paying; he wanted paying. She had successfully put off the first installment but now it was Friday and there was still no cash.
Guiltily, Dolly said she was having problems releasing the cash but assured him that he would have it by the following morning.
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