‘Just wait here, Mum.’
Harry had his coat on and was ready to move out. He’d already tidied up the desk and wiped it down. He let himself out of the office and walked toward the fire exit on the landing.
‘Excuse me, is there a ladies’ up here?’
Harry turned to see an attractive blonde at the top of the stairs. For a second there was a spark of recognition between them, but he didn’t have time to think about it.
‘Sorry, love.’ He pushed open the fire exit and walked through.
For a moment Shirley couldn’t move. She felt her mouth go dry and her knees almost gave way; then she turned and ran back down the stairs.
When she got to the bottom, Ray and Audrey had gone. Shirley didn’t wait for them. She wasn’t going to spend another second in this place.
Micky raised his glass and smiled over the rim. Fuller released Arnie’s arm and picked up his beer.
‘Don’t fancy a glass of bubbly, Inspector? Compliments of Harry Rawlins.’
Kevin White, leaning against the bar, looked over with a smile, lifted his hands in the air and started singing: ‘Why was he born so beautiful’ at the top of his voice. Others nearby picked it up, and soon a raucous chorus was echoing through the club.
Fuller put his beer down and pushed his way through the crowd of laughing faces.
‘Come on, Reynolds. It’s time we took a look upstairs.’
Shirley tried hailing two cabs but they drove straight past her. She was about to try for another when she saw a figure slip from the alley running alongside the club, collar turned up, carrying a briefcase. She stared, trying to make out his features in the dim street lighting. Maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe it wasn’t Harry after all.
The figure continued up the road and disappeared.
‘You want a cab, darlin’?’
Shirley got into the taxi, gave her address and sat back with her eyes closed. What an awful evening. First Micky, and then literally bumping into that dreadful policeman, the one who had searched her house. It brought it all back again — Terry, the robbery. And then that man at the top of the stairs...
It was all too much. She hoped Bella was in bed when she got home. She wasn’t sure she was up to talking to anyone. She just needed to be alone.
Dolly shone the torch round their lock-up. They had waited long enough; it didn’t look as if Harry was going to show. They’d come back in the morning.
Bella followed the beam of Dolly’s torch. Dolly had laid rat poison in every corner of the lock-up but there certainly wasn’t a single one to be seen now. Then Bella felt it, crawling over her foot. She gasped and pulled her foot away. Instead of scuttling away, the creature just lay there, twitching. Bella took one look at it and let out a shriek.
‘Let’s get out of here, Dolly.’
Vic Morgan couldn’t hold it any longer: he had to take a leak or he was going to wet himself. He was just doing up his zipper again when he heard the scream. It gave him such a shock he almost caught himself. He moved back into the shadows.
Dolly came out of the lock-up and followed Bella to her car. A few rats didn’t bother Dolly. She unlocked the car.
‘You got to control yourself, Bella,’ she chided her. ‘You could have brought half the neighborhood out.’
Bella just shivered, thinking about the rat crawling over her foot.
‘I’ll bring a hammer next time. A quick knock’ll finish them off,’ Dolly assured her. She shook her head. ‘Rats are nothing to be afraid of.’
Bella gave her a look. ‘Yeah, well, I guess you should know — you married one!’
As they drove away, Vic Morgan pulled out to follow them. He’d stopped being so cautious, keeping well behind them with at least one other car in between. He’d been on their tail all night and it didn’t look as if it had occurred to them that anyone would be on to them that fast.
‘Where are you staying?’ Bella asked.
Dolly reluctantly gave her the address. She felt safer with the girls not knowing her whereabouts.
‘It’s not much, just a rented place.’ At least now she’d given it a good clean, she thought.
Bella nodded. ‘Maybe I’ll call round and take a look at it.’
Dolly dropped Bella off at Shirley’s and drove home.
Vic Morgan followed her all the way, then took off to an all-night hamburger joint. He got his double-decker and crossed to a window seat, feeling conspicuous among all the punk kids. He sipped his chocolate milkshake and pondered his evening’s work. It seemed he’d put in a lot of hours without being able to piece together what in the hell’s name was going on. He hit the tomato ketchup hard. He’d better pay another visit to old Resnick, see if he could make any sense of it. One thing was sure, in all the time he had tailed Dolly, she had made no contact with her husband. Maybe she’d been telling the truth; maybe she didn’t know where he was.
Dolly slept like a log and woke up feeling much better. She brewed herself a pot of coffee and was just sitting down to it when the doorbell rang. She moved quickly to the door.
‘It’s me, Bella,’ came an urgent voice from the other side of the door.
Dolly sighed. She knew it had been a mistake to tell Bella where she was living, but there was nothing she could do about it now.
Dolly hadn’t even closed the door behind Bella before she started slagging off Shirley.
‘She wasn’t even at home when I got back. I waited up for her, but I was so tired I passed out — then when I wake up she’s already pissed off again.’
Bella chucked the note onto the table: Gone to rehearsals.
‘It’s all right for her, Dolly. She’s out all the time, doing her bleedin’ classes, going out with her fella — while I’m stuck here, just doing what you tell me. “Don’t go out. Keep a low profile.” It’s driving me nuts.’
Dolly put a mug of coffee in front of her.
‘I want my cash, Dolly. I reckon we’ve hung round long enough. All right, we’ll shop Harry — but I want my cash now. Soon as that’s done, I’m off.’
Dolly started to say something but Bella interrupted her.
‘Different for you, though, isn’t it? You already got more than enough. How much you got stashed away, then, Dolly? You don’t even need the money from the drill hall.’
Dolly bristled. ‘Whatever money I’ve got is my business.’
Bella wasn’t going to stop, though. She was on a roll.
‘It’s not about the money for you, is it? It’s just about getting Harry put away. You don’t care what happens to me and Shirley.’
Dolly had had enough. First Shirley was driving Bella mad. Then it was all Dolly’s fault. When would Bella ever take responsibility for her actions? She was about to give Bella what for when the doorbell rang.
They both froze. Then Bella got up.
‘That’ll be Shirley. I left her a note to meet us here.’
Vic Morgan was leaning against the doorframe with a cheeky grin. He quickly straightened up when Bella opened the door. Dolly pushed her out of the way.
Vic recovered himself. ‘You forgotten our lunch date?’
Dolly had indeed forgotten.
‘I’m double-parked so we ought to get a move on,’ Vic said, trying to get a second look behind Dolly at Bella.
Dolly eased him out. ‘Just give me a moment, will you?’ She shut the door and leaned against it. ‘Shit.’
‘What’s that all about?’
Dolly filled Bella in about Vic Morgan while she dressed, flinging clothes out of the wardrobe.
‘So what do I do all day then?’
‘I won’t be more than an hour. I’ll see you back at Shirley’s.’
Bella bit her lip. ‘Maybe I’ll go to the lock-up. See if anything’s going on.’