Linda hadn’t meant to embarrass Shirley, but could see that she had. The truth was that Linda felt totally out of her depth in these elegant surroundings. She looked around: these women were all self-indulgent, toffee-nosed, snooty, skinny bitches with more money than they knew what to do with. She was about to leave when she saw Dolly walking casually toward them wearing a matching bath towel and turban. Dolly nodded her acknowledgment to a couple of attendants as she moved up the steps toward the sun beds. ‘Gawd almighty,’ Linda snorted to Shirley and jabbed her with an elbow, ‘Lana Turner’s alive and well and living in London — take a look.’
‘Hello Linda, hello Shirley. I’m sorry I didn’t send flowers.’ Dolly said with a smile. Linda chewed her lip. Dolly’s patronizing voice and glib reference to their husbands’ funerals instantly annoyed her. It was hardly appropriate as an opening line. Linda would have preferred: ‘How are you?’ or, ‘Long time, no see,’ or, ‘So sorry that my husband got your husband killed!’
‘Let’s go into the sauna — we won’t be disturbed there.’ Dolly said and walked off ahead of them. Shirley and Linda followed Dolly in exactly the same obedient manner as Wolf — as though they instinctively knew that following would be more beneficial to them than not.
Linda had never been in a sauna before. She was sweating profusely and worried that the color would run from her red satin bra and show through the pristine white towel. Shirley, who was well used to saunas, immediately lay flat out along the top bench.
‘How are you both?’ Dolly asked, as though it was the most innocent question in the world. Nothing Dolly did was innocent anymore — and knowing what she did now, she wanted to find out a little more about these widows before sharing her latest thoughts. Dolly had also remembered the cocktail party from two years ago. It had been brimming with villains from the four corners of London. If she was totally honest, Dolly hadn’t remembered Shirley and didn’t recall her saying a word all night; Linda, on the other hand, had been entirely memorable.
‘Terry didn’t leave any cash for the mortgage, so if I don’t win Miss Paddington next week, I’m going to have to get a job.’ Shirley seemed genuinely distressed by this; but then she was a girl in her mid-twenties with no education and no real life skills. She’d always been looked after and had no clue how to survive on her own.
‘My heart bleeds,’ Linda mocked. ‘Try doing three jobs at once. That’s how many I had when Joe was inside the last time. And what the fuck is Miss Paddington?’
‘Oh, it’s a beauty contest!’ Shirley beamed as she explained. ‘Mum entered me for it. I was ever so mad at her at first, cos of just losing Terry. But there’s a thousand pounds prize money for first place and a holiday for two in Majorca. And the winner goes forward into the next Miss England competition!’
‘Then Miss World I suppose?’ Dolly said, her sarcastic tone unnoticed by Shirley.
‘That’s right.’ Shirley’s eyes glazed over as she dared to dream. ‘This could be the start of something big for me.’
Dolly turned her attention to Linda. ‘And how are you now?’
‘Well, you know Joe. Easy come, easy go. God, it’s bleedin’ hot in here.’
Dolly poured more water on the coals, adding to Linda’s discomfort. ‘Sit low down. It’s hotter if you stand or lie on the higher seats.’ The casual chat was over. Dolly moved on to why she had brought them both here.
‘You know the Fisher brothers have taken over Harry’s patch, don’t you?’
‘I heard the rumor,’ Linda panted as she began to overheat.
‘You had any trouble from them?’
‘Not from them, no.’ Linda confirmed. ‘The pigs did my place over though and they’re a real pain in the arse, keep hanging round the arcade. If they don’t leave off, I’ll get the sack.’
Dolly glanced at Shirley and raised her eyebrows.
‘They’ve done my place over four times,’ said Shirley. ‘I’ve not seen the Fishers though.’
Linda, for now, wasn’t remotely curious about Dolly’s questions. She was just focused on not melting, ‘God, it’s boiling in here. Is it meant to be good for you?’
Shirley wasn’t good with many topics, but she knew about spas. ‘Saunas are designed to sweat out all of the impurities from your body,’ she explained.
‘I can think of a better way—’ began Linda. Dolly held up her hand to interrupt.
‘Now look — I want to talk to you both. The Fisher brothers and the law are sniffing around for information.’
Linda tried one last joke. ‘And I thought they just fancied me...’ She saw a tiny, split-second smile appear on Dolly’s face before it disappeared again behind tight lips and unreadable eyes.
‘You know how Harry worked,’ Dolly continued. ‘He kept records of everyone who ever worked for him. He listed names: informants, gun merchants, bankers. Money in, cash paid out. All logged and dated. He used his books, his ledgers, as protection if anyone grassed or cheated on him.’
‘I dunno what you’re talking about, Doll,’ Linda said, feeling a bit dizzy from the heat.
‘Then listen!’ Dolly snapped. ‘And don’t call me that. I don’t like it. The Fisher Brothers want Harry’s ledgers.’
‘Why?’ Shirley asked.
‘I reckon it’s cos they’re named inside, along with their dodgy deals, and they’re scared that if the law gets their hands on ’em they’ll be in big trouble.’
‘Who’s got them?’ Considering that Shirley wasn’t the sharpest girl in the sauna, Dolly was impressed that she was the one asking the sensible questions.
‘I have,’ Dolly said calmly. As she began to explain, she spoke slowly and deliberately, emphasizing every word so the women couldn’t possibly misunderstand. Shirley visibly hung on Dolly’s every word, while Linda tipped her head back, closed her eyes and quietly listened, still panting a little in the unbearable heat. ‘Harry always said that if anything ever happened to him, he wanted me to be all right. He wanted his team to take over and look after all of us. One time he joked that if he died, as long as his team had the ledgers they could run the business without him. But Joe and Terry went with him, so it’s up to me now. I’m going to look after us. I’m going to look after all of us. Just like Harry wanted.’
Dolly, with hardly a bead of sweat on her, looked at Shirley’s attentive face. She wasn’t entirely sure if Shirley knew what on earth she was talking about, but at least she seemed to be listening. Then Linda sat bolt upright.
‘I can’t stand this heat much longer, I’m flaking out!’ she said.
Dolly glared at Linda, a look of seething fury on her face. Here she was, bearing her soul and Linda didn’t even have the decency to listen. She got up, gathered her towel around her and stormed out before she did something stupid, like shove Linda’s head in the sauna coals.
‘What did I do wrong?’ Linda asked Shirley. But the look on Shirley’s face was just as angry as Dolly’s.
‘Can’t you see she’s upset?’ Shirley said, ‘It must have been terrible for her, even worse than it was for us. Her old man was blown to bits and unrecognizable. They’d been married for twenty years.’
Linda jumped up from the bench. ‘An’ I ain’t upset, is that it? Just cos I don’t show it don’t mean I don’t feel things.’
Shirley tried to calm Linda, but she wasn’t having any of it, pacing and threatening to give Dolly a piece of her mind. She could easily have left the sauna and gone after Dolly, so Shirley thought it was all bravado — and then suddenly Linda stopped shouting and crumpled up on the seat, hugging her knees and burying her face in her hands. She spoke in a muffled voice.