‘There’s a changing room with full-length mirrors. Now, shoes… I do have a selection but they’re mostly either dyed to match a gown, or I have them for when you try something on so that you can see what it’s like with high heels.’ Mrs Hunt moved back towards the door. ‘I’ll leave you both to it… just call me when you’re ready.’
As Mrs Hunt closed the door, Jane let out a sigh. ‘My God, Natalie! They’re all far too expensive, even just to hire out!’
‘Don’t worry, we’ve not got to the end rail yet.’
They began sorting through various styles. Natalie kept on selecting dresses and taking them off the rail, whilst Jane constantly checked the price tag to make sure it wasn’t too much. They had eventually pulled out seven possible dresses and Jane took them all into the curtained dressing area to start trying them on.
Jane stripped down to her bra and knickers, then found a pair of high-heeled silver strap shoes to start trying on one gown after another. She quickly discarded the dresses she didn’t like, until she tried on a pale blue chiffon with a fitted bodice and wide layered skirt. She drew the dressing-room curtain aside and stepped out.
Natalie screwed up her face.
‘Oh, no… I think it’s a bit old-fashioned, Jane… and it’s loose over your waist and too high over your boobs! I’ve got some other dresses I’ve picked out that I think are gorgeous.’
After almost an hour of trying dresses on, Jane still hadn’t found one that she liked, or that Natalie approved of and she was beginning to feel tired.
‘Oh, Jane, look at this one… it’s just gorgeous! It’s Chanel… look at the beautiful bodice, and the tiny buttons and bootlace straps. It’s your size, and the skirt has wonderful frilled layers of lace and silk.’
‘How much is it?’
‘One hundred and fifty… It’s worth it. You’ll look stunning… please try it on. And if you do your hair up in a chignon…’
Jane sighed and went back into the dressing-room area, taking off a Mary Quant dress that was far too tight across her chest. She stepped into the Chanel gown and drew it up, putting her arms through the tiny satin straps. She needed Natalie to do the buttons up at the back of the bodice and by the time they had all been fastened she still hadn’t had a look at herself in the mirror. In truth, she felt unsure about wearing black.
‘Oh my God — it’s perfect!’ Natalie exclaimed, clapping her hands and hovering behind Jane as she stood in front of the full-length mirror. ‘Maybe you need a push up bra… but honestly, it fits like a dream and shows off your lovely shoulders.’
Jane chewed her lips, turning backwards and forwards in front of the mirror. It was a perfect fit and the tight velvet bodice showed off her breasts and small waist. The layered frilly skirt was just the right length and moved beautifully as she swayed and turned. She thought she could wear a small pearl necklace, which she knew her mother treasured.
‘All right… I think this is the one. I’ll need Pearl to help me into it with all the buttons.’
It was a further three quarters of an hour before the dress was finally wrapped carefully in tissue paper and packed into a large box. Mrs Hunt had given her a receipt for the dress to be hired out for two weeks, and suggested that she bought a small wrap or bolero jacket to go over it. She made it clear that the dress had to be returned on the date on the receipt, but she always liked her customers to have the dress for a while before the occasion so that they had time to accessorise.
‘It’s not until Good Friday,’ Jane said, hesitant about the cost of hiring it for two weeks.
‘So, you can spend time deciding, and can get used to wearing it. I have to say, you looked quite stunning.’
Mrs Hunt didn’t mention that the Chanel dress Jane had chosen was such a low price because the fragile frilly hem had been repaired a few times and the bodice had been stained under the armpits.
Jane and Natalie walked into Sloane Square together, and Natalie suggested that they could go and have dinner somewhere. Jane declined saying that she felt tired and needed to go to the late-night grocery shop to get all the ingredients for the dinner with Michael.
‘Why don’t you come over at the weekend and I can give you another cookery lesson?’ Natalie asked. ‘I enjoy cooking, but never really bother when it’s just for me.’
‘I’d love to, but let me get back to you… I need to check the duty rota, and I also want to go and see my parents.’
‘OK, just call me when you know. Listen, you made the right decision with the dress… you’re going to knock them sideways.’
By the time Jane had bought all the groceries she needed, and had carried those and the large cardboard box containing the dress up the stairs to her flat, she felt exhausted. She left the box on her bedroom floor, not even unpacking the dress before she went into the kitchen.
Pearl was sitting on one of the stools, eating pasta and reading a thick paperback volume of War and Peace.
‘Hi there. What was in that big box?’
‘My dress for the Good Friday dinner.’
‘Would you like a bowl of my pesto, onion and pasta mix? There’s plenty left.’
‘I’m going to make the bolognese sauce for my dinner tomorrow, then have a long bath. But thanks anyway.’
‘I’ll leave you to it then, and finish this in my room… Not the book, my pasta!’ She laughed as she carried the bowl out to her bedroom.
Jane made the sauce and ate a spoonful just as a taster. It was delicious. She cleared up the kitchen and made a mental note to buy the wine when she came home from work the next day. It was nearly eight and she decided to have a bath before trying some of Pearl’s pasta mix as she was still hungry.
While the bath was filling, she took out the dress and hung it in her wardrobe. She would need to get a strapless bra, a pair of shoes, and some sort of wrap. She was just turning off the taps when the phone rang. It was DCI Crowley.
‘We’ve had information from the Intelligence Services in Northern Ireland that the ASU is possibly holed up at an address in Kentish Town. I’m putting a raid team together and I want you to be there to see if you recognise the man you saw at Covent Garden.’
‘Tonight? Right now?’
‘Yes, right now, Tennison. Get yourself to the CID office at Kentish Town nick ASAP for a briefing.’
Jane replaced the receiver. ‘I don’t believe it.’
She turned and saw Pearl standing in the hallway.
‘Is it all right if I have a bath?’ Pearl asked quickly. ‘Only I’ve been waiting because I thought you were having one.’
‘I’ve just run one, but now I’ve got to go to Kentish Town on a search.’
‘Ooh, anything interesting?’
‘I hope so, I really hope so.’
Jane was no sooner out of her flat door when Pearl came out of the bathroom naked. She was just about to pick up the phone and make a call when it rang. She jumped, hesitating before she answered.
‘Hi — it’s Natalie. Is Jane there?’
‘No, she just got called out to Kentish Town. Do you want to leave a message?’
‘It was just about her outfit for the dinner dance. I’ll call again tomorrow.’
Pearl replaced the receiver. A couple of seconds later she picked it up again and dialled a number.
Chapter Fourteen
As Jane entered the CID office, she saw DCI Church with about twelve plain-clothes officers, who were all male. Through a window she spotted Crowley in a separate office, having a conversation with Dexter and DS Lawrence.