Eddie’s parents lived in Bonnington Tower, a 1960s high-rise block in Turpington Lane, near Bromley Common. It was eleven storeys high with fifty-four flats and was in surprisingly good repair, unlike many of the high-rises Jane had been obliged to visit in the course of her work as a police officer. There was a slightly rundown feeling in the large reception area, but the lift was in good working order and didn’t have the appalling stench of urine of so many council blocks.
Eddie pressed the bell on number 35, passing the flowers to Jane to give to his mother. Linette Fraser opened the door wearing a floral-print apron and sporting a perm even Pam would be proud of. Eddie gave his mother a huge hug, kissing her on both cheeks and putting his arms around her shoulders as he introduced Jane.
‘Mum, this is Jane Tennison, the lady I’m working for. Jane, this is my mum, Linette.’
‘He’s told me all about you,’ Linette said with a nervous smile.
‘Thank you so much for having me to dinner,’ Jane said as she rather sheepishly handed over the flowers, which had already begun to wilt.
‘Everything is ready to be served,’ Linette said, ushering them in. ‘So, you two sit down and I’ll pry Tony away from the TV.’ Jane could see the small dining room had been set out with great care, the table laid with cut glasses, lacy white napkins and a white lace tablecloth.
Eddie pulled out a chair for Jane to take a seat and held up the bottle of wine.
‘Get Dad to open the wine, would you, Mum?’
‘No, you do it, Eddie. You know what he’s like... he’ll either push the cork in too far or break it.’
Eddie crossed over to a sideboard, opened a drawer and took out a corkscrew. Jane looked around the room. There was a large fake coal fire and a pretty, tiled fireplace with a row of framed photographs on the mantelpiece, and a five-bulb modern chandelier lit the room brightly. She couldn’t help thinking it was all very neat and uncluttered compared to her parents’ house. Jane heard Linette calling out for her husband to come to the table and asked Eddie if she should go and help his mother in the kitchen.
‘Good God, no. That’s her domain. She’ll probably want to show off her new appliances after supper, though, especially her dishwasher.’
‘That’s me,’ Tony said, as he burst into the room with a grin. ‘Top bottle washer and dish dryer.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ Linette said, carrying in a tray of covered vegetable dishes. ‘Put these out, love.’
Eddie poured the wine, as Linette, now minus her apron, carried in the large roast chicken and sat down as Tony began to carve.
From then on the dinner was easy-going. Tony dominated the conversation with a barrage of funny anecdotes, mostly about when he used to run a market stall — and then became a window cleaner. Then he explained how he got into the home decorating business. By this time, the main course had been removed and Linette brought in a home-cooked apple pie and custard. Tony waved his spoon towards his son.
‘He’s the first in my family who went to college. Got a degree in electrical engineering.’
‘When did you start your business together? Jane asked.
‘As soon as he finished his degree, we became business partners.’
There were further amusing stories about their partnership, and it was not until coffee was brought in that the focus turned to Jane. Linette asked how she had got into the Metropolitan Police.
‘I read an article, I think it was in The Times, about the Met police recruiting more women... and I just somehow knew that was what I wanted to do.’
Tony nodded towards Eddie. ‘You’ll need to watch yourself, son! Better make sure you do a good job or she’ll have you in handcuffs!’
‘He works hard for everybody,’ Linette said, defensively. ‘You look around this flat. It’s not all down to his father. Eddie has done so much work here.’
Throughout the dinner, Eddie seemed content to let his parents dominate the conversation and was obviously proud of them.
‘My mum had it tough growing up,’ he said, turning to Jane. ‘She came from a really rough area in the East End that was flattened in the Blitz; the whole street she lived on was a bomb site.’
Linette smiled at him. ‘Oh, it wasn’t all bad, you know. In those days there was more friendliness with your neighbours. We were all in the same boat, and everyone helped everyone else. Nowadays, most people don’t even know who their next-door neighbours are — us included.’
‘Did you live anywhere near Stockwell?’ Jane asked.
‘No, we was near the sound of the Bow Bells, darling, but that area got badly hit too. Why do you ask?’
‘Oh, it’s just a case I’ve been working on.’
‘She’s on that murder you was reading about last weekend,’ Tony said.
‘Oh yes, what a shocking thing. That girl starved and then they found her baby.’
‘Actually no, that’s not quite true. The girl that was found in the old air-raid shelter had tragically died because we believe her father was trying to get her off drugs... but then he was murdered and nobody else knew she was there. Then we found the body of a newborn baby, but the forensic and pathology teams determined that it had been left there possibly thirty years ago.’
There was an uneasy silence around the table, then Linette reached over to take Jane’s coffee cup.
‘You know, when I was a young girl, there was quite a lot of that. There was such a terrible stigma if you were pregnant and not married. You know, there were these women doing illegal abortions because there wasn’t any healthcare like there is today. But families where I come from, if they found out you got yourself up the spout, all hell would break loose. There was a girl my mother knew, and she got herself pregnant by a GI and her dad beat the living daylights out of her. Is that what the father did to the girl you found starving?’
Jane shook her head. ‘No, no... they are two entirely different cases and there’s twenty-five years between them. What I’m trying to do is discover who killed the baby.’
‘What’s the point after all this time?’ Tony said. ‘Isn’t there enough crime going on right now for you to work on?’
Jane could feel her hackles rising. ‘Mr Fraser, I don’t think it matters how long ago it was. To extinguish a life is a crime and I believe that it deserves justice.’
Tony carried on regardless. ‘I tell you what I believe is justice... when you get garbage like Peter Sutcliffe, that Yorkshire Ripper, who killed at least eleven poor women and God knows how many more. Those victims deserve justice. But to me, some poor young woman who had a baby she didn’t want and couldn’t afford to look after it... she’s not a criminal. What good’s it going to do putting her in jail after all these years?’
Eddie stood up. ‘I think it’s probably time I took Jane home.’
Linette smiled at Jane, shaking her head. ‘Don’t mind Tony, dear... just don’t get him on to hanging. I’m very pleased to have met you, and I hope Eddie brings you to see us again.’
Jane looked over at Tony and gave him a warm smile to show she wasn’t upset by his remarks. ‘That would be lovely.’
Eddie ushered Jane into the hallway as Linette hurried after them, gently touching Jane’s arm. ‘Have you found out who did it?’
Jane shook her head. ‘Not yet, but I will. Thank you for a lovely dinner.’
In the car, Eddie started apologising for his father.
‘It’s fine, Eddie,’ Jane said. ‘Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.’
‘Well, he’s got strong opinions about crime because of his background. He didn’t mention why we got out of the East End — it was because all the villains he knew there were beginning to draw him into doing bad stuff. I was surprised he didn’t mention how well he knew the Kray brothers.’