The Reluctant Sinner

by June Tate

  East Street that morning was a scene of great excitement for some. News soon spread that the gown shop had been broken into. Members of the public lingered outside. Police milled around and clients called and were sent away. Daisy was despondent. They had worked so hard to get the business off the ground and it was in ruins.

  One of the detectives on the scene took her aside for questioning.

  ‘Miss Gilbert, do you know anyone who would have such a grudge against you that they would want to harm your business?’

  ‘I can’t imagine,’ she said.

  ‘What about clients? Was there one perhaps who wasn’t happy with your work?’

  ‘No, they have all been absolutely satisfied.’

  ‘What about your personal life?’ he asked.

  With a frown she said, ‘What ever do you mean?’

  ‘Forgive me, but your past is no secret. Is there anyone from those days who would hold such a grudge?’

  Daisy’s eyes widened. Of course, how could she have forgotten? ‘Yes there is. Bert Croucher. He used to come into the Solent Club. He did approach me recently and offered marriage. I refused of course and he was furious! I’d forgotten all about him.’

  ‘Do you mean Croucher the butcher?’

  ‘Yes, that’s him!’

  The man looked concerned. ‘We’ve had dealings with him in the past. He’s a nasty piece of work. Has he been back to see you since?’

  ‘No, I’ve not seen him at all.’

  ‘Of course we have no proof as yet but it does give us a suspect. We’ll have to search the premises for fingerprints and any kind of evidence that might help us. I’m afraid you will be unable to use the workroom today.’

  Grace sent the girls home and she and Daisy waited as the police did their job. Daisy told Grace what she’d told the detective. ‘It’s got to be Croucher,’ she said. ‘He’s mean enough to do this just because I turned him down. I mean who else would do such a thing?’

  ‘The back entrance was forced,’ Grace informed her. ‘That’s how he or someone got in.’

  ‘What are we going to do, Grace? Several gowns have been ruined beyond repair and will have to be made again, but we have no machines.’

  ‘I’m not an army wife for nothing!’ Grace declared. ‘I have a battle plan. I’ve been on the phone to a firm who will let us hire three machines to tide us over. Fortunately I have several rolls of cloth at home, so we do have some material. Cheer up, Daisy, we’ll get over this.’

  ‘But at what cost?’

  ‘It will be our loss, unfortunately. We’ll all have to work doubly hard to make up the financial loss, but the staff are willing I’m sure.’

  ‘If it is that bastard Croucher, I hope the police can prove it.’

  Bert Croucher was working away in his butcher’s shop whistling as he cut up the sides of beef ready for the counter. He was wondering how that bitch Daisy Gilbert was feeling this morning? He’d broken into her shop in the early hours and vented his frustration on everything he could get his hands on in the workroom. He’d taken a sledge hammer to the sewing machines, scissors to the gowns he could find and caused as much mayhem as he could in the workroom, keeping clear of the shop front in case he was seen there. It had felt great. Consequently, her business would suffer and she’d be forced to close. Serve her right! He was the wrong man to mess with and what’s more, there was no way he could be blamed for it. He’d been very careful to wear gloves and no one had seen him at that hour. The streets had been empty. Now she may think twice about his proposal – with no business, how would she make a living?

  The next morning, the staff at the gown shop cleared away the debris. Giles came in with Grace to help move the heavy stuff after she rang and told him what had happened. All broken machine parts had been kept together in boxes, just in case they were repairable. The torn gowns were carefully examined to see if there was anything that could be salvaged for future use and the room cleared. Later in the afternoon, the rented sewing machines arrived and once they were installed, work commenced. All the girls stayed late to try and make up for lost time, but they were having to remake several of the gowns. It was soul destroying for them all.

  Giles went to a local cafe and provided sandwiches and tea to keep them going. He handed a cup to Grace. ‘You must be exhausted,’ he said. ‘Drink this, it will do you good.’

  She looked tired. ‘Oh, Giles, how could anyone be so cruel as to do this?’

  Shaking his head he said, ‘I can’t even begin to understand the mentality of such a person, but, Grace, it does worry me. For anyone to do such a thing, they must have really got it in for you or Daisy. She thinks it is this butcher chap.’

  ‘I know, but what else can we do but carry on as best we can? At least the police are looking into it.’

  At that moment the new back door arrived and was fitted and heavily barred to stop another break-in. But the damage had been done. The business had lost a lot of money. They hadn’t taken out any insurance to cover the loss as both Daisy and Grace had agreed it could wait. Neither one had envisaged the need and thought it would save money. Now they both realized how foolish they had been.

  ‘It’ll take months of work to cover the costs,’ Daisy stated wearily.

  ‘Never mind,’ Grace told her. ‘It just means that we will have to work for a longer time before we make any money.’

  ‘I feel dreadful,’ said Daisy. ‘You have so much more invested than I do, so you will be the main one to bear the brunt, financially.’

  ‘We’re in this together, Daisy. Your money was earned the hard way, mine was an inheritance. In my mind that makes you equal in the loss.’

  At that moment, a worried-looking Steven hurried into the shop.

  ‘I read in last night’s paper about your break-in,’ he told them. ‘Are you both all right?’

  They told him what had happened and introduced him to Giles who was just leaving.

  ‘Who on earth would do such a thing?’

  Grace said nothing but looked at Daisy wondering how much she wanted Steven to know. But Daisy told him about Croucher being a suspect – and why.

  ‘He asked you to marry him?’ Steven was incredulous.

  ‘He said he wanted to make an honest woman out of me because no man would want me and he didn’t mind about my past.’ The words spilled out of her mouth.

  ‘What a damned liberty! Who does he think he is? That man isn’t good enough to clean your shoes!’

  Daisy burst into tears.

  Steven took her into his arms. ‘Come on, darling, there’s no need to cry.’

  ‘Then stop saying such nice things about me!’

  Steven shook his head, smiled at Grace and said, ‘I’ll never begin to understand women. Now, is there anything I can do?’

  ‘Not really,’ said Grace. ‘The sewing machines were smashed up and we have some rented ones to tide us over. A few gowns ready for sale are ruined and will have to be made again and that will put us behind with our orders, but we’ll get there, eventually.’

  Having regained her composure, Daisy said, ‘We won’t let that bastard finish us.’

  ‘Do the police have any evidence to prove that it was Croucher?’ asked Steven.

  Daisy shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. I don’t know if they’ll question him, but if they do he’ll deny it and without evidence what can they do? And of course, it may not be him at all.’

  Looking at his watch, Steven said, ‘I have to get back to the ship, but I’ll call round and see you tomorrow.’ He kissed Daisy goodbye. ‘Croucher was quite wrong,’ he said, then walked out of the shop.

  Daisy looked puzzled at his remark. ‘What do you think he meant?’ she asked her friend Grace.

  ‘I think he was paying you another compliment,’ she said smiling. ‘He really is a very nice young man.’

  ‘Yes, he is,’ Daisy said. ‘It would be nice if he stayed around for a while.’

  ‘Why only a while?’


  ‘Don’t be silly, Grace. Steven is a good friend and I don’t expect anything more from him than that. Come on, let’s get on.’

  But Grace Portman had her own thoughts on the matter.

  Thirty

  The detectives in charge of the break-in were sifting through the evidence they’d collected, searching for fingerprints. ‘There are masses of prints, guv. We’ll have to take all the staff’s prints and then compare them, but if whoever did this wore gloves, we won’t get anywhere.’

  ‘Keep looking,’ said Chief Inspector Riley, ‘just in case they got careless. The perpetrator was obviously livid when he did the damage; you can tell, it was like a frenzied attack.’ He paused in his work. ‘I feel sorry for young Daisy Gilbert. She’s been through the mill one way and another – and she managed to pull herself up by her shoe strings – and now this! Doesn’t seem fair somehow.’

  ‘When you look at her, guv, it doesn’t seem possible that she was one of Flo Cummings’ girls. She looks so wholesome.’

  ‘What did you expect, sergeant, all garters and lace?’

  The man blushed. ‘No, but you’ve seen some of the brasses. A lot of them are as hard as nails – but not her.’

  ‘Never judge a book by its cover; you should know that better than anyone,’ Riley chided.

  And the men continued with their work.

  Bert Croucher was serving a customer the following morning when DI Riley called. Croucher recognized him immediately. When the customer had left, he glared at the policeman.

  ‘Not here to buy meat I suppose?’

  ‘No I’m not. Where were you in the early hours of Monday morning?’

  ‘In my bed of course, where else would anyone be? And anyway what’s it got to do with you?’

  Riley just stared at the man. ‘Wouldn’t have been anywhere in East Street I suppose?’

  Shaking his head, Croucher said, ‘No, why on earth would I go there?’

  ‘To turn over a business belonging to a young lady, the same young lady who turned down your proposal of marriage? You wouldn’t have liked that, Croucher, would you?’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Now you’re being stupid. I know you proposed to Daisy Gilbert, there were two witnesses to the fact.’

  ‘What if I did?’

  ‘Piss you off did it, Daisy telling you to sling your hook?’

  There was a thunderous expression on the face of the butcher. ‘That’s none of your business!’

  Riley could tell he was getting under the skin of the other man and he pushed him even further. ‘You couldn’t have her at the club could you? I know that Flo barred you from hiring any of her girls because you have a reputation of beating up your women.’

  Croucher didn’t answer but his face reddened with anger.

  ‘And Daisy didn’t want anything to do with you once she was no longer on the game, so you offered marriage. She’d belong to you then, you could do what you liked to her and as often as you wanted. That’s right isn’t it?’

  ‘What if it was?’ Croucher roared. ‘Nothing wrong with that. No other man would want her with her past. She’d have been an honest woman married to me.’

  Riley laughed. ‘She’s far too good for you and I bet she’d rather die than share a bed with you! The whole idea is laughable!’

  Croucher grasped the handle of a meat cleaver, but didn’t lift it as he leaned against the butcher’s block. ‘Get out of my shop, Riley. You’ve asked your questions, now sod off!’

  The detective gave a sardonic smile. ‘I’ll be seeing you in the future, Mr Croucher. You can bank on it.’

  When he returned to the police station, Riley arranged for a twenty-four-hour watch to be kept on Daisy Gilbert and another on Croucher. ‘I lit a fire under him today and if my instincts are correct he’ll find out that Daisy is still in business and he’ll not be able to rest there.’

  His sergeant looked at him with horror. ‘You’ve set her up as bait!’

  Riley didn’t change his expression. ‘Yes, you could say that, but we have no evidence against him at the moment and after today’s visit, I’m certain he’s our man. Now we have to watch them both. Croucher isn’t a man to cross. The police have had dealings with him in the past. He’s been fined before now for causing a public disturbance and there was a rumour that he beat up a prostitute in Canal Walk one night.’

  ‘What do you mean, a rumour?’

  ‘The woman didn’t make a complaint and it’s believed he paid her to keep her mouth shut. He’s a bad bastard.’

  ‘Then Daisy Gilbert could be in great danger?’

  ‘I’m sure she is, with or without our protection. But after today I don’t think Croucher will hang around before he makes his move and that puts us in control.’

  ‘Right,’ said his colleague, ‘I’d best get on with arranging a watch. It’ll mean overtime, guv.’

  ‘If it gets that man off the streets, it’ll be money well spent. I know he was running some racket with Woods when he was alive, but we couldn’t finger either of them.’

  Harry the barman was the next caller at the gown shop. He’d been away visiting relatives and had only just heard about Daisy’s shop being broken into.

  ‘Any idea who it was?’ he asked her as they sat talking at the end of the day.

  With a worried look she said, ‘I think it was Bert Croucher,’ and she explained why.

  ‘Bloody hell, girl! Being married to that nutter would be madness.’

  She agreed. ‘Can you imagine the shock when he asked me? He came in here with a bunch of flowers would you believe!’

  Harry doubled up with laughter. ‘Sorry, love, it isn’t really funny but the picture I have of that big ugly brute, clutching a bunch of flowers like a lovesick fool, is just too much.’

  ‘He certainly wasn’t like any lovesick fool when I turned him down, he was livid. That man scares me to death; he always did when he used to sit and watch me in the club.’

  As Harry walked home, he couldn’t help but worry about his conversation with Daisy. Bert Croucher was a dangerous bloke and whereas he had been in a position to threaten Woods into leaving Daisy alone, there was nothing he could do about the butcher.

  During the next few days, the staff in the workroom worked extra hours to try and make up time to enable them to fulfil their orders, although it did make delivery of them later than was planned. Their clients understood their difficulties and the majority of them were very understanding. Only two of their clients complained bitterly at being kept waiting, but Grace dealt with them in a firm but ladylike manner.

  ‘Now, Mrs Frampton,’ she said to one who was causing a scene in the waiting room, ‘as you are aware, there’s absolutely nothing I can do about you having to wait for your gown. However, if it is so very inconvenient, perhaps you’d like to cancel and go elsewhere?’

  The woman huffed and puffed but in the end she decided to wait.

  Grace smiled sweetly at her. ‘I’m sure the wait will be worthwhile, after all, Miss Gilbert does have a waiting list, she’s so much in demand.’

  As the woman left the shop, Grace chuckled. ‘Selfish old trout!’ she murmured.

  ‘Who’s a selfish old trout?’ asked Daisy as she walked into the reception.

  ‘Mrs Frampton. She has nothing to do in this life but spend her husband’s money and she was complaining at having to wait. She has absolutely no consideration for others.’

  ‘But she spends a fortune, don’t forget,’ Daisy chided laughingly. ‘We’ve finished for the day and the girls have just left. Are you ready to lock up?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Grace. ‘I’m staying with my parents in Southampton for the next few days. The journey to Brockenhurst every night when we’re working late is very inconvenient. Besides, mother spoils me and I love it; it’s like being a child again.’

  They locked up and parted outside, each going in a different direction.

  ‘Are you all right to
walk home?’ Grace asked.

  ‘Yes, why ever not?’

  Grace refrained from voicing her concerns, but in the back of her mind she wondered if they were now free from the vengeance of whoever it was that had trashed the shop. Giles too shared her concerns as he’d told her. She herself was very careful to make sure no one was following her.

  Daisy wasn’t blind to Grace’s concern for her safety and she wouldn’t admit to her friend that she was nervous once she’d left the shop, but as each day passed, she began to relax a little.

  The plain-clothes policeman who followed her was good at his job as never once was Daisy aware of his presence, and neither did she notice a man keeping watch outside her house.

  Bert Croucher, however, cottoned on to the fact that he was under surveillance. He was from the old school of criminals, always aware of a police presence and after the visit to his shop by DI Riley, he’d been very watchful. It amused him. He’d clocked the man watching his shop almost immediately. Did the police think him a fool? Well he could play them at their old game.

  Each evening, he went from one pub to another, giving the officer assigned to him the runaround. It became a game. He even stopped one and asked him for a light. The man had been leaning against the wall outside the Lord Roberts waiting for Croucher to come out. He was more than a little startled when Bert stopped in front of him waving an unlit cigarette. The look of amusement in the butcher’s eyes made him realize he’d been noticed. The next night a different man took his place. One with more experience.

  After a couple of days, Bert Croucher was convinced that the police, realizing he knew they were watching him, had dispensed with their man. He didn’t see anyone watching the shop and although when he was out in the evenings, doubling back on his tracks to catch any tail out, he wasn’t able to see a police presence, which gave him a false sense of security.