The WPC could feel tears welling up, while the male officer looked away. Now they could go.
As they let themselves out, the WPC couldn’t help but notice the large black and white photograph of Shirley Miller, standing with Miss Paddington, and wearing a ‘runner-up’ sash on her white swimsuit. The girl was blonde, beautiful and, with her smiling face, she looked as if she knew she had the whole world in front of her. The photo had scrawled across it: To the best mum in the world, love Shirley.
Dolly was sitting in her car, numb. She had heard the news about the diamond robbery on the radio, reporting that a model, identified as Shirley Miller, had been shot dead. Dolly had the jewels in a carrier bag and was contemplating what she should do.
She saw Greg leaving his mother’s house and although she was shocked to the core, time was against her and there was nobody else she could trust. She waited a further fifteen minutes before she picked up the carrier bag and walked into the estate toward Audrey’s front door. She was still unsure about what she should do, but in reality she had run out of options. Her hand shook as she rang the doorbell.
As soon as Greg had left the house to go to the pub, Audrey got out of bed. She needed a drink as much as her son, and had already had half a tumbler of gin when the doorbell rang. She was certain it was Greg coming back to check up on her, and he certainly wouldn’t approve of her inebriated state. The last person she expected it to be, or ever believed she would see again, was Dolly Rawlins.
Audrey stepped back from the open door to let Dolly in.
‘I had no one else to turn to, Audrey... I need to talk to you.’
Audrey could not even bring herself to speak.
Dolly continued. ‘Can we go into the kitchen? I don’t have long...’
Audrey was dumbfounded at the audaciousness of this woman who she so despised, but she led the way to the kitchen.
Dolly put the carrier bag down on the kitchen table, not looking at Audrey. Her voice was hoarse.
‘I’ve just heard about Shirley...’
Again Audrey remained speechless.
Dolly bowed her head and, barely audible, whispered, ‘I am so sorry... I am so sorry...’
It was so unexpected when Dolly reached out with both arms and drew Audrey close to her, hugging her tightly.
‘I didn’t know where else to go.’
Audrey was tight-lipped, her hands clenched into fists as Dolly stepped away from her.
‘I need you to do something, Audrey... But it’s up to you. I want you to take this bag to a man I know I can trust, Jimmy Donaldson.’ Dolly pulled out a note from her coat pocket. ‘This is his address. You want to instruct him to keep this bag safe for me. He is not to open it, and must find a good hiding place. He’ll do whatever you ask because Harry controlled him, and he still does — so he’ll be too afraid not to go along with it. I could get him put away for life.’
Dolly looked at Audrey.
‘Are you all right?’ she asked softly.
Audrey spat her reply. ‘Am I all right, you two-faced bitch! How dare you show your face here! I’ve got a good mind to call the cops! I’d like to take a carving knife to you myself...’
Dolly took her by the shoulders and gripped her tightly. ‘Listen to me, Audrey: I don’t know the facts about what happened.’
Audrey pushed her away. ‘What happened is you got my daughter killed, you two-faced bitch!’ she shrieked.
Dolly took a few deep breaths before she replied. ‘Audrey, I can walk out of here now if you want me to. But if you do what I ask you to, I’ll get you a cut of the diamonds and you’ll be secure for the rest of your life.’
It was only then that Audrey realized the carrier bag contained the stolen diamonds.
Years later, she would be unable to recall the rest of their conversation. In the space of one night she had lost her daughter and the father of her unborn child was going to prison, probably for the rest of his life. She hadn’t agreed to Dolly’s request straight away, and would never forget the fact that Dolly’s icy blue eyes were brimming with tears.
After Dolly left, Audrey had another half tumbler of gin and opened the carrier bag. She put the note with Jimmy Donaldson’s address in her handbag, and then carried the bag up to her bedroom and hid it under her mattress.
Mixed emotions flooded through her, but the words ‘you’ll be secure for the rest of your life’ made her wonder just how great that security would be.
Vera had made up the sofa bed in their lounge. Trudie had arrived exhausted and had done nothing but cry and was refusing to tell Vera what on earth was going on. She just asked Vera if she would look after the baby as she needed to get some sleep and she would explain everything once she had had a rest. Vera sat in her kitchen with a cup of tea and a cigarette, pushing the baby in a stroller up and down with her foot. She had seen the luggage tag on Trudie’s suitcase. Bloody Australia, that’s where she’s been. Vera was determined that she was going to interrogate Trudie when she woke up. She had become quite hysterical when told the man had called again but had left no number. It definitely wasn’t her husband, and whoever it was made Trudie repeat, ‘Thank God, thank God.’
Vera would be thanking God when Trudie left as she had two children of her own and her husband was not happy with this arrangement. It was only a small, overcrowded council flat, after all.
Morgan watched as Fuller and Reynolds went over Dolly’s flat. A few clothes still hung in the closet, some sweaters and underwear in the chest of drawers. There was also a suitcase on top of the wardrobe. It didn’t look as if she had gone, but there was no sign of Rawlins, no men’s clothes, nothing. If she had been working with him, he hadn’t been living with her.
A withered bunch of flowers, dead, their petals stiff and dried, were in a small cracked vase. He remembered when he’d given them to her.
‘Maybe we’ll hang around for a while, see what turns up,’ Fuller said.
Morgan wanted to get out. He watched Fuller sifting through the waste bin. He felt uneasy, as if he had betrayed a confidence. Still he refused to believe that Dolly would have lied to him.
‘You mind if I push off?’
Fuller shrugged. ‘Just be sure you call me if she gets in contact.’
Dolly had driven away from the house, unsure if she had been right to rely on Audrey. She still couldn’t believe that Shirley was really dead and wondered whether perhaps the news report she had heard on the radio was inaccurate. Now she was making her way to the only other person she needed.
Dolly rang and rang Morgan’s doorbell, then peered through the letterbox. Where could he be? She rang again, and was just about to turn and go back down the stairs when she heard footsteps, slow and heavy. He rounded the bend in the stairway and stopped.
‘You said if I ever needed you...’ Dolly began.
Morgan smiled. He took out his keys, noticing that she had no luggage, just her handbag. He pushed the door open.
‘You’d better come in then, hadn’t you?’
Dolly followed him into his flat.
‘You hungry?’
Dolly hadn’t realized it until now. She hadn’t eaten all day.