Morgan got up and handed her the phone. ‘Why not try again?’
Dolly stalled for time. She hadn’t worked it all out yet. What she didn’t want was the police brought in — not yet. He could slip through the net again.
‘My husband’s very clever. How many men do you know, living like he did, who’ve never been sent down — not once. Only for six weeks when he was a kid. Harry is careful and he’d smell a set-up. The thing is... I have the money, and right now he must need it.’ She looked at him. ‘He’ll come to me.’
Harry finished the quiche and pushed his plate aside. He had shaved, but was still wearing only his boxers. He got up and began to put on one of Eddie’s shirts. The phone rang. It was now 2:15 in the morning. Jackie looked to him for instructions. He gave her a nod and she picked up the phone.
Harry kept his eyes on her. She didn’t even speak, just listened and then covered the mouthpiece.
‘She’s asking for you.’
Harry took the phone. He glanced at the closed door.
‘Kid’s crying.’
Jackie gave him a look and left the kitchen.
Harry spoke in his gentlest voice, almost caressing. ‘Hello, Doll. So... you got the jewels, then?’
Morgan was standing right behind her. Dolly nodded to him, whispered, ‘He’s there,’ then, turning her back, she spoke.
‘Hello, Harry...’
After she hung up, Dolly was still shaking like a leaf. Morgan put his big hands on her shoulders and gave her some time to compose herself.
‘So?’
Dolly let out a breath. ‘I said let’s meet up west somewhere, but he wasn’t having any of it.’
‘Where then?’
‘Kenwood House, on Hampstead Heath, by the old footbridge.’
Morgan nodded to himself. ‘Smart. Plenty of cover. Hard for anyone to run him to ground. OK, what time?’
‘Four o’clock,’ Dolly said.
Morgan smiled. ‘Well, at least that gives us plenty of time to set something up. What we’ll—’
‘No,’ Dolly interrupted. ‘Four in the morning. Today. Now.’
‘Crikey. Right. I’d better get on it then. Dolly, you stay here in the flat and don’t move until I’ve arranged things. My God, they’ll have to move fast. And don’t worry, I’ll cover for you — do a deal if I can. After all, you gave them the tip-off in the first place. Call me at the Yard.’ He paused and held her face in his hands. ‘I can trust you, can’t I? Because it’s me on the line too.’
In answer, Dolly kissed him, a gentle kiss on his lips.
‘We’ll go on, Dolly, you and me — that’s a promise.’
Dolly touched the big man’s cheek and smiled up into his face. ‘We can only go on with Harry caught.’
She brushed the shoulders of Morgan’s jacket, just like his wife used to do before he went off for an important meeting. Then, at long last, the door closed behind him, and Dolly leaned against it, her eyes closed.
She knew that Harry had chosen that specific place because it was where he had proposed marriage to her, all those years ago. He’d taken her there on a picnic and they had walked round the house together. She’d been surprised, not thinking that tearaway Harry Rawlins would even know about such a place. There had been a concert playing in the outdoor theater — classical music. She had liked it, and from then on they’d begun to listen to classical music together.
She pulled herself together. It was now 3:15. She didn’t have very long to get to Kenwood House.
Harry knew Jackie was upstairs and made sure the door was closed. This was the last time he was going to attempt to talk to her. He dialed the number and waited. Vera snatched up the phone and snapped ‘Yes.’ This was getting to be ridiculous. It was three o’clock in the morning.
‘I’m sorry to disturb you,’ he said softly. ‘Is Trudie there?’
Vera told him to hang on. She went into the sitting room and roughly pushed Trudie to wake her. ‘That bloody man is on the phone again. I don’t know if either him or you can’t tell the time, but it’s 3 a.m.’
Trudie pushed Vera away and ran from the room to pick up the phone in the hall. Harry was about to hang up. ‘Is that you?’ Trudie said. ‘Is it really you? Dear God, I’ve been waiting for you to contact me for so long.’
He interrupted very quietly. ‘I haven’t got long, Trudie, but make sure you never mention my name to anyone. The police are very close, but everything is going to be fine. I’m going to be a rich man. I will call you first thing and we’ll go and you, me and my son will start a new life. Is that what you want?’
‘What I want?’ she screeched. ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’
‘I’ll call you tomorrow.’
Trudie could hardly catch her breath. She felt hysterical, but before she could say anything the phone went dead. She turned to her sister and said, ‘Everything is going to be all right now, Vera. I’ll be leaving.’
Vera couldn’t believe it. Trudie was like a kid, spinning around the hall laughing and crying at the same time.
Harry rested his hand on the phone. Just hearing the way she reacted made him doubt very much that he could keep his promise. In reality, if she did not have his son, he wouldn’t want anything to do with her. He knew he could easily get rid of her if he needed to and take the child.
He went back to check his appearance in the mirror and straightened his tie. Standing behind him, Jackie watched. She couldn’t believe Dolly was meeting him, after all he had put her through. And what’s more, Harry seemed to be dressing himself up for it like a date he had waited for, longed for. He had changed his shirt twice, even put on cologne.
‘Do you still love her, Harry?’
He was whistling. Even at this hour in the morning he was fresh, bursting with energy. But he didn’t reply to her question.
He took her car keys. She’d tried to persuade him not to, but he had made her a promise that she would have the car back, and a lot more besides. She knew he was probably lying; he had said he was going abroad, and he would have to stay away for a long time. In a way, it was a relief; she could live with Harvey in peace, without having to worry about Harry ever coming back, ever having contact with Jason, the son he didn’t know he had. Jackie just wanted him gone, and when the door finally closed behind him, she almost collapsed with relief.
Now all she wanted was for Harvey to come home. She had no idea that at that moment he was sitting in a cell, charged not only with robbery but with the murder of a security guard.
Harvey Rintle would not be seeing Jackie for a very long time.
Dolly let herself out of Morgan’s flat. She’d remembered that when he had taken the gun from her — the one Linda had gone to the lock-up for — he had put it into one of the little drawers on the top of the dresser. And there it was, nestled between his handkerchiefs and socks.
She picked it up and put it in her bag.
Reynolds had been having an uncomfortable kip in one of the interview rooms, his head resting on his coat, when Fuller started barking from the doorway.
‘Get your arse up to the office! Things are moving.’
Morgan was sitting smoking. He had laid out the deal. Dolly had arranged to meet Harry Rawlins on the footbridge at Kenwood House, Hampstead, at four o’clock. She wanted the police there, and she wanted Rawlins picked up. It had been Dolly who had given the tip-off, and Morgan was able to give Fuller the exact time Kensington had received the call to verify her story.
Morgan took another drag of his cigarette. Time was running out. Fuller was still skeptical. He couldn’t just go on a story from Morgan; he wanted Dolly Rawlins brought into the Yard. What if he got half the police force surrounding the place and nobody turned up?