‘She wanted you to close the shop today.’
‘We had customers to serve, Ruth. We can’t turn people away.’
She recoiled from another burst of cheering.
‘The noise is getting louder — they’re coming this way.’
‘Stand away from the window,’ he said, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice. ‘Let’s do some work.’
‘Look,’ she cried, pointing a finger. ‘You can see them now — dozens and dozens of them. They’re heading up the street.’
Stein looked over her shoulder. The crowd was large and volatile. Its jostling members were either inflamed or drunk or both simultaneously. They were chanting obscenities about Germans that made his daughter blush. He pulled her away. The baying got louder and louder until it was directly outside. Stein quivered in fear. The mob had not stopped in order to read the two posters in the window. The only thing that interested them was the name painted in large capitals above the shop — Jacob Stein.
‘German killer!’ yelled a voice. ‘Drive him out!’
Someone threw a brick at the window, smashing it into myriad shards. The first people to clamber into the shop grabbed the suits on display on the models, expensive garments that were well beyond the reach of low-paid working-class men. There were shouts of triumph as more looters climbed into the premises.
‘They’ve got in!’ cried Ruth in alarm.
‘Leave at once,’ ordered her father.
‘But they’re stealing your property.’
‘Go out by the back door. Run to the police station.’
‘Why not ring them?’
‘The telephone is downstairs. I’d never reach it. Off you go. I won’t be far behind.’ He scurried across to the safe and pulled out a bunch of keys. Aware that she was still there, he adopted a sterner tone. ‘Don’t just stand there — get out now! There’s no telling what they’ll do if they catch us still here. Run, girl — run! This is an emergency.’
Snatching up her handbag, Ruth did as she was told and ran down the stairs. From inside the shop, she heard the bell tinkle as the till was opened, followed by a groan of disappointment because it was empty. A far more ominous sound ensued. When Ruth heard the first crackle of fire, her blood froze. They were going to burn down the shop. She opened the back door and fled, intent on racing to the police station to raise the alarm. But she got no further than the end of the alley. Two scruffy young men were lounging against the wall, taking it in turns to swig from a flagon of beer. When they saw Ruth, they stood up to block her path.
‘Let me pass,’ she said, bravely.
‘What’s the hurry, darling?’ asked one of them.
‘They’ve broken into our shop.’
‘Who cares?’ He leered at her. ‘Give us a kiss.’
‘I have to get to the police station,’ she wailed.
‘All in good time,’ he said. ‘Come on — what about a farewell kiss for Gatty and me? We’re sailing off to France with our regiment tomorrow. This is our last chance for a bit of fun.’
‘Yes,’ added his friend. ‘One kiss is all we want.’
‘I’m first,’ said the other, putting the flagon down.
He lunged forward. When he touched her shoulder, Ruth lashed out on impulse, slapping him hard across the face. It stung him into a rage. He grabbed her with both hands.
‘We’ll have a lot more than a kiss for that,’ he warned, pulling her to the ground and knocking her hat off in the process. ‘Come on, Gatty — hold her down.’
His friend hesitated. ‘Don’t hurt her, Ol,’ he said, worriedly. ‘Let her go.’
‘Not until I’ve had my money’s worth. Now hold her down.’
The friend reluctantly held Ruth’s arms but she did not struggle. In a state of shock, she was unable to move. She could not believe what was happening to her. Her skirt was pulled up and her legs were forced apart. As the first man loomed over her, she could smell the beer on his breath. He was giggling wildly and undoing the buttons on his trousers. When he pulled them down, he was already aroused. Ruth was aghast. She didn’t hear the explosion in the shop or wonder if her father would escape in time. She forgot all about the fire. Held down by the sheer weight of her attacker, she was revolted by the taste of his lips when he took a first guzzled kiss. Fondling her breasts, he plunged his tongue into her mouth and rolled excitedly about on top of her.
‘That’s enough, Ol,’ said the friend. ‘Somebody will come.’
‘I haven’t even started yet.’
‘Be quick — we’ve got to go.’
‘She asked for this.’
Using a hand to widen her thighs still further, he manoeuvred into position then suddenly forced his erect penis into her. The stab of pain made Ruth cry out. He silenced her with another kiss and pumped away madly inside her. It was excruciating. She was pinned down and groped all over. She was being defiled, yet nobody came to her aid. Torn between agony and humiliation, all that she could do was to lie there and endure the ordeal. The only consolation was that it was short-lived. Panting heavily from his exertions, the man soon reached his climax, arching his back and letting out a long howl of pleasure. After a final thrust, he needed a minute to recover before pulling out of her with a grunt of satisfaction.
‘Your turn, Gatty,’ he said, rising to his feet and yanking up his trousers. ‘You’ll enjoy it — she’s nice and tight.’
‘We’ve got to go, Ol,’ urged his friend. ‘Leave her be.’
‘Don’t tell me you’re scared to do it.’
‘We don’t have time. That place is on fire.’
As if to emphasise the point, the wail of a fire engine could be heard approaching from the distance. The first man nodded his head then looked down at Ruth.
‘Goodbye, darling — remember me, won’t you?’
His friend tugged him away. ‘We’ve got to go.’
The two of them skulked off, leaving Ruth still on the ground. She was too stunned even to move. She’d been raped less than twenty yards from the family shop. Pain, confusion, fear and shame assailed her. She was in despair. At that moment in time, Ruth felt as if she’d lost absolutely everything. She’d lost her virginity, her innocence, her respectability, her confidence, her hopes for the future and her peace of mind. Unbeknown to her, she’d suffered a further loss as well. Stretched out on the carpet in the room above his burning shop was her father. Jacob Stein had never lived to hear about the brutal assault on his only daughter.
CHAPTER THREE
‘I want you to take charge of this case, Inspector.’
‘Yes, Sir Edward,’ replied Harvey Marmion.
‘Initial reports say that the shop was broken into then set alight. Anything that was not stolen was destroyed in the fire. More worrying is the fact that a body has been seen in an upstairs room. The fire brigade has been unable to reach the corpse in order to identify it but the likelihood is that it belongs to the proprietor, Jacob Stein.’
‘I’ve walked past his shop many a time.’
‘You won’t be able to do that anymore,’ said the commissioner, sadly. ‘From what I can gather, the place will be burnt to a cinder.’
‘Was it another mob out of control?’
‘Yes, Inspector, and I won’t stand for it. I’m not having the capital city at the mercy of roving gangs with a grudge. Somebody must be caught and punished for this.’
‘That may be difficult, Sir Edward,’ warned Marmion.
The older man smiled. ‘Why do you think I chose you?’
They were in the commissioner’s office at New Scotland Yard, the red and white brick building in the Gothic style that was the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Force. Now in his mid sixties, Sir Edward Henry, the commissioner, should have retired but his patriotism had been stirred by the outbreak of war and he’d agreed to stay in a post he’d held for twelve productive years. Marmion had the greatest admiration for him, not least because the commissioner had survived an attempted assassination three years earlier and, though wounded by a bullet, had soon returned to work.