She’s Out

Chapter 8

Craigh sat with his notebook open as Dolly drank a cup of tea, never offering him one. She had agreed that she knew James ‘Jimmy’ Donaldson immediately, and seemed shocked when told he was dead.

‘Dead? But he can’t be. I only spoke to him yesterday. I met up with him a few days ago.’ She sat sighing, asking how it had happened.

‘Would you mind telling why you met Mr Donaldson?’

‘Er, no, no, I don’t mind. You see, he was keeping something for me. I’ve been in prison, you see, and, oh, this is a shock...’

Craigh tapped his pen on the table. ‘What was he holding for you, Mrs Rawlins?’

‘Well, they were nothing to look at, really. You wouldn’t even think they were valuable, but they are, they’re worth a lot of money.’

He leaned close. ‘What exactly, Mrs Rawlins?’

‘They used to be in my front garden at Totteridge, gnomes, two Victorian garden gnomes. Not the bright plastic things but old carved stone ones. Jimmy Donaldson was holding them for me until I got out. I called him about them, asked him if he still had them and told him I was going to collect them today, as a matter of fact.’

Craigh wrote down every word, gritting his teeth. ‘Did you collect them from Mr Donaldson?’

‘I couldn’t get away because I had a very important meeting at the town hall.’

‘What time?’

Dolly slowly repeated that she was at the town hall from three fifteen until after five — in fact up to shortly before they had arrived: she had been there for an assessment interview.

‘Can anyone verify that, Mrs Rawlins?’

‘Oh, yes.’

Craigh dug the pen in deeply as he wrote one name after the other. He had a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had been well and truly stitched up.

The officers searched every room, lifted the floorboards, opened cupboards and cases. They went into the attic, they were out in the stables. Kathleen remained stuck on the roof, half hidden by the gables, and didn’t move a muscle. They searched the grounds, the swimming pool and the cellars for eight hours, with fifteen men.

Kathleen inched back to the room from which she had escaped and fell asleep under the bed. The police were now concentrating on the sauna and steam room and the lockers. The women waited, expecting any moment the scream to go up but it never came. They smelt bacon being cooked and, to their amazement, Dolly walked in with a tray of bacon butties. Gloria was about to blurt out to Dolly that they were in trouble but Dolly shoved a sandwich into her hand. ‘Eat it and say nothing.’

Gloria rammed the sandwich into her mouth and sat down.

Craigh was looking over the sauna when Mike joined him. ‘They’re searching the grounds now but so far nothing.’

Craigh felt knackered and, even worse, foolish. ‘We’ve fuckin’ been had, you know that, don’t you? She’s got about eight or nine names as alibis. She was at the ruddy social services.’

Mike didn’t know whether this was good news or bad but he was as tired out as Craigh.

‘This all stinks, you know that, don’t you?’ Craigh paced up and down, then jerked his head for Mike to come close. ‘The Super’s gonna have a seizure about the whole cock-up — Donaldson was in our custody.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Mike muttered.

‘You’re sorry. Jesus Christ, sorry? Have you any idea what a mess we’re in? Donaldson dead, no sign of the diamonds...’ Craigh hesitated and then licked his lips. ‘Look, until we’ve sorted this, keep schtum about those stones. I never put it in the record sheets so maybe we can—’

‘Fine by me,’ Mike said quickly.

Craigh stared at him. ‘Nothing’s fine, Mike son. We have big problems and we’ve got to sort them.’

Mike nodded, his brain ticking away. He thanked God nothing had been found as it let him off the hook, but all he could do was look as glum as Craigh obviously felt.

Dolly watched the London mob, as she referred to Craigh and Withey, leaving, then let the curtain fall back into place. She yawned and said she was going to bed.

‘Sleep? You can sleep, can you?’ Ester said.

‘Not easily, but I need to do a lot of thinking.’

Gloria was pulling at a piece of sodden tissue. ‘Did you move them, Dolly? Did you?’

She turned her face, hard. ‘What the hell do you think, you stupid idiot? Of course I bloody moved them — and thank God I did or we’d all have been arrested. I’ve been waiting for you to talk about them. I saw you and Ester carrying them into the house.’

‘I got nothing to do with them,’ interrupted Ester.

‘But you bloody knew they was in the house.’

Ester turned away. It was always the same: instead of being grateful to Dolly, she said nothing, whereas Gloria would have kissed her feet. But none of them was prepared for Dolly’s next admission, dropping the line in quietly, with that smile of hers on her face. ‘I also got the diamonds but I’m not talking about them yet. Like I said, I need to sleep, get my head straight.’

‘You got them?’ Ester said in wonder.

‘Yes, Ester, I got them but they’re not here. What is here smells, because someone had to tip them off. Somebody here’s grassing on me — one of you. One of you hates me enough to get me put back inside and I’m going to find out which one of you it is.’

She walked out, slamming the door, and they stood there in mute silence, not believing what they had heard her say, hardly daring to believe they still had a chance of a cut of the diamonds. Then Gloria said, ‘Grassin’? What she friggin’ talkin’ about? None of us’d do it, I mean, we want them diamonds as much as she does. She’s nuts if she thinks it’s one of us! None of us’d do it.’

Angela started to cry again and Julia looked at her angrily. ‘Oh shut up howling, Angela. You’re a pain in the arse.’

Angela ran out of the room, bumping into Kathleen, who was creeping down the stairs as the last of the Thames Valley police drove away. She walked into the drawing room and they all turned on her.

‘Where the hell have you been?’

Dolly hunched the pillow up beneath her shoulders. She couldn’t sleep. She stared at a stain on the wall, wondering. Who would hate her enough to want to put her back inside? Because that’s what it came down to. If she’d been picked up with the diamonds, virtually holding Donaldson’s hand, the cops would have got her. Even if they couldn’t pin the old robbery on her, they’d have her for fencing the stolen diamonds. Either way, with her out on licence, she’d have been back in a cell and with no hope of bail. Was it just that dirty little conman, Jimmy? If it was, then he’d got his just deserts but something inside her said there had to be more to it than that. Harry had taught her, ‘Always remember, sweetheart, it takes two to tango. One leads, the other follows.’ So who was in with that rat Jimmy Donaldson? If it was one of the women she would find out and God help them.

Dolly left the house and drove straight to the town hall. She hurried into the ladies’ and found the pouch bag exactly where she had left it. She kissed it with relief. She then got down, straightened her skirt and slipped out, bumping into a surprised Mrs Tilly in the corridor. ‘Mrs Rawlins?’

‘I was just passing. I know there’s no possibility of you having any answers for me yet but I just wanted to ask you how I did. Was I all right?’

‘Yes, you were. I thought you handled yourself very well but it’ll be some time before we have any definite news. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.’

‘Thank you. I really appreciate all your help.’

Dolly hurried out and Mrs Tilly went in to speak to Mr Crow.

‘You know, Mrs Rawlins is so keen, I think we should push forward an on-site visit. I worry she may spend too much money without approval and I don’t want her to waste her savings.’

He looked up from his diary. ‘Well, we’ll have to get some appraisals from her probation officer and the prison authorities. And we’re nowhere near ready even to discuss the project yet.’

‘Well, I would just like us to inspect the manor house. She was so enthusiastic’

He smiled, flattening down his few strands of hair. ‘I’ll see what I can do. If we’re visiting anyone near the location we can possibly have a look over the place as well. You like her, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I do. That said, far be it from me not to do everything through the correct channels.’

‘As I said, I’ll see what I can do but I was also impressed by her. I very much doubt if she will ever be allowed access to very young children, not enough experience, but she may be useful for the older children, the problem ones particularly. Leave it with me.’

Mrs Tilly smiled and left the office. She doubted if Mr Crow would show Dolly Rawlins any favours. He showed nobody any as he was a stickler for rules and regulations, but she knew he had been impressed by her. Everyone had.

Dolly stopped at a phone booth and called Tommy Malin. She asked if he was still in business, unlike Jimmy Donaldson. They had a few laughs, and she said she would be around later in the afternoon as she had something that might interest him. He agreed to meet her but she made no reference to what it was. She then returned to the manor. As she came in she saw Angela on the telephone. ‘Who you calling, love?’

Angela spun round. ‘Oh — my mum. I’ve not told her where I am.’

‘Don’t, and don’t make private calls — that goes for all of you. Fewer people who know what’s going on here the better.’

‘Okay.’

‘I’m going to London. You want to come with me?’ Angela nodded. ‘Good, in about an hour, then.’

The others, who had overheard the conversation in the kitchen, whispered and nudged each other, sure that Dolly was going to fence the stones. Ester gave them all a quiet talking-to: they were to show a lot more willing, they were to get out to that vegetable patch and look like they were working and loving every minute of it. They got to their feet, went out and trudged around with wheelbarrows, spades and rakes, and when Dolly and Angela left in the local taxi, they appeared to be too intent on their labour even to see them go.

As the cab passed them, Dolly laughed. ‘Amazing what a bit of incentive can do, isn’t it?’

‘I don’t understand,’ Angela said, looking towards the women.

‘Well, they all know I’m going to fence the diamonds this morning and they all want a slice so “Let’s show Dolly how hard we’re working!” Understand?’

‘Oh, yes, I see what you mean.’

Mike had waited when Angela put down the receiver. He was hoping she would call back directly but after waiting half an hour he gave up. It had unnerved him to be told that Dolly Rawlins had the diamonds but he didn’t know what the hell to do about it. He could tell Craigh but it was all getting like treacle and he felt his shoes sticking to it.

Susan walked in from the front door with a bag of groceries and looked at him. ‘Hi, I didn’t wake you when I went out, did I?’

‘No, I’m up, had something to eat. I was just going to go actually.’

‘Oh, were you? You stayed out all night. Surely they can’t expect you to work today?’

He sighed. ‘Yes, they can.’

‘There was another call from your girlfriend yesterday — I tried to contact you, she seemed upset.’

‘What?’

‘Angela, she was crying, in a terrible state.’ She stared at him, waiting. ‘She said her name was Angela.’

‘I heard you,’ he snapped.

‘What’s going on with her, then?’

He took a deep breath. ‘She’s a tart, sweetheart, a young kid I helped out a while back when I was on Vice. Now sometimes she acts as an informant. There is nothing going on between us, it’s business, all right? Is that all right with you?’

‘I don’t like tarts having your home phone number or ringing me up screaming and yelling. Is that all right with you?’ Susan went into the kitchen. He dithered, knew he should talk to her, straighten it out, but instead he grabbed his car keys and left very quietly.

Dolly was feeling pleased with herself as she and Angela hailed a taxi heading for Tommy Malin’s address. ‘That Mrs Tilly is such a nice woman, I really like her. You know, Angela, if I get the manor opened as a kids’ home it’ll be my dream come true. It was all I used to think about when I was in Holloway.’ She took the girl’s hand. ‘Don’t worry about that hit-and-run. Gloria said there wasn’t a mark on the car and if they’d got anything on you — on any of us — we’d have been copped last night.’ Angela clutched Dolly’s hand tightly. ‘Will you want to stay on, help me?’ She nodded. ‘Good, I’ll be able to pay you a decent wage and you can have cookery classes. Would you like that?’

‘Yes, I would.’

She wanted to tell Dolly about Mike, about everything. She liked her so much, felt protected by her — but how could she tell her? And now, with that poor man she’d run over, it was all so complicated. She wanted to talk to Mike, needed to ask his advice.

The cab headed towards Elephant and Castle and then veered off down a small one-way road, stopping outside a paint-yard. Dolly got out, saying, ‘You wait here, love, I shouldn’t be too long.’

Angela watched as Dolly tapped on the door and disappeared inside the yard.

A young kid in filthy overalls pointed Dolly to the office and then rejoined his colleagues who were stripping down pine furniture.

‘Dolly Rawlins,’ wheezed Tommy Malin, leaning against the doorframe.

‘Hello, Tommy.’ She shook hands and he gestured for her to go in ahead of him. He waved at the workmen and closed the door.

‘I’ll put the kettle on.’

‘Tha’d be nice,’ she said, looking around, taking in the cheap desk, rows of bulging and dented filing cabinets and the massive cast-iron safe. Dolly eased herself on to a newspaper-filled chair. She looked over the equally cluttered desk: the scales, the rows of diamond cutters and pinchers, and rolls of velvet cloth, the only indication that perhaps Mr Malin’s paint and pine-stripping factory was used for other purposes. Tommy Malin would deal in literally anything he could turn round fast. He was famous for his high percentage and his ‘no risk’ attitude. He would deal in hot stuff but always insisted on a long chilling period. That was why he was so wealthy and had so far avoided arrest. He was very, very careful.

The women had done a half-day’s work. Rods had been fixed up, more seeds sown, and the rubbish was now tipped into a skip left for them by the builder. Big John was getting a bit edgy; it was almost payday, he’d laid out all his savings to buy the materials, and still Mrs Rawlins hadn’t given him the down payment. He’d seen all the women working out in the garden but Mrs Rawlins was not with them. He had even looked for her inside the house.

Connie was testing the sauna temperature when he asked if he could have a word with her. She turned and gave him a wonderful smile that made him flush.

‘I’m sorry to bother you but is Mrs Rawlins around?’

‘No, I’m sorry, she’s gone into London. Can I help at all?’

He could feel his cheeks burning. ‘Well, it was just we had an arrangement and Mrs Rawlins is a bit behind in the first instalment, you see, and I have to pay the men, pay for the materials and—’

‘Oh, she’s gone to get some money this afternoon.’ Connie gave another wide smile. ‘You couldn’t have a look at the sauna for me, could you? I think I’ve got it working but I’m not sure.’

He nodded and she brushed against him as they went into the small Swedish sauna hut. John checked the temperature dials and the coals. ‘Do you like it hot?’ he asked seriously.

‘Oh, yes, as hot as you can give it to me.’ He flushed again but she seemed to be concentrating on the temperature gauge. ‘Do you work out?’

He stepped back — he couldn’t deal with her closeness. She was the most glamorous woman he had ever seen or been this close to in his entire life. ‘Yes, there’s a good local gym, very well equipped.’

‘Ah, I thought you did, I can always tell. You’ve got marvellous shoulders.’

Now the heat of the sauna was making him sweat but he didn’t want to leave, didn’t want to move away from her. He was automatically flexing everything, tightening his bum cheeks.

She leaned close, touching his biceps. ‘What’s your name?’

John breathed in gratefully as she opened the sauna door. He was getting dizzy. ‘John Maynard.’

She started to swing her arms from side to side. ‘Thanks for your help, John.’

When Connie joined the others, they were sweating and filthy. ‘Sauna’s working, it’s really hot. Do any of you want to work out first?’

She received a barrage of abuse — as if after digging and wheeling the barrows they needed to work out! All they wanted was a cold drink and a long afternoon in the sauna.

Ester pushed Julia ahead of her. ‘Don’t worry about Dolly, she’ll be gone ages. She’ll only just have got there. We got hours.’

Tommy’s wheezing breath and halitosis were overpowering. The drawn blinds, the bolted door and the hissing gas fire made Dolly feel dizzy. She took off her coat. Tommy’s thick stubby fingers began to unfurl the cord round the pouch bag. He pulled it open and laid it out flat.

‘Is this some kind of joke?’

‘No. Why?’

‘I just made these up for somebody.’

‘What?’

He turned his lamp out and pushed his eye-glass on to his forehead. ‘You didn’t pay a bundle for these, did you, sweetheart?’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘I made them up. They’re glass, good settings... I mean, I did spend quite a few hours—’

‘You made these?’

Tommy stared at Dolly, whose face was chalk white.

‘Who for, Tommy?’

He wouldn’t usually have said — clients are clients, and he was always a man to keep his mouth shut — but he knew she wasn’t going to leave his office until he told her. He hedged as she leaned across the table, picking up a handful of the stones.

‘I nearly went back inside for this crap, Tommy, so you tell me who ordered you to make them up.’

Mike knew something was up the moment the Tannoy rang out for him to go into DCI Craigh’s office. Craigh looked up at him as he knocked sheepishly and entered. He pointed to the chair in front of his desk and told Mike to sit down. Mike could see a stack of files on his desk, one with Dolly Rawlins’s name printed across it. ‘Right, let’s go from the top and don’t bullshit me.’

‘I don’t follow.’

‘I think you do. I am in it right up to my fucking ears over this Donaldson business. I’ve got the Super, the prison authorities, Donaldson’s wife, his parole officer, all breathing fumes all over me so I’ll kick it off, shall I? How did you know that Rawlins had bought the manor house?’

‘My informant.’

‘Oh, yeah? Which one?’

Mike flushed and explained about Angela, how he’d busted her along with Ester Freeman.

‘You booked her, did you?’

‘No, she was never charged. She wasn’t on the game, she was just serving food at the house for the tarts and their punters.’

‘So she told you all about Rawlins, her buying the manor?’

‘Yes.’

‘So who was the informant on the diamonds? Same source? You said it was a kid in Brixton with Donaldson. That’s the only name I’ve got down as an informant.’

‘Yes, that’s true. When he told me, I contacted Angela and that’s how I knew all the women were staying there.’

Craigh pushed his chair back and wandered around the office, hands stuffed in his pockets. ‘Anything else? I mean, is there anything else you’ve not told me?’ Mike licked his lips as Craigh came to stand close, leaning down so his face was almost touching Mike’s. ‘What about that diamond robbery, Mike? You want to tell me about that? Better still, tell me about Shirley Miller.’ Mike closed his eyes. Craigh prodded him and he hunched away. ‘This was personal, wasn’t it?’ Mike nodded. ‘Your sister was killed on that diamond raid.’

‘Yes.’

‘Not on your original application form, Mike. There is no mention that you even had a fucking sister.’

Mike gave a half-smile. ‘I didn’t reckon it’d look good on my C V, Gov.’

‘Don’t you fucking joke with me, this isn’t funny. Let’s go from the top again. Your sister worked with Dolly Rawlins and—’

Mike interrupted, ‘She used her, she manipulated her, she was only twenty-one, a beauty queen and...’

Craigh returned to his desk. Mike was close to breaking down, his voice faltering. ‘I didn’t have all that much to do with her. I was in the army, stationed in Germany when she was killed. Then when I joined up with the Met it was, like, all in the past, but my mum, er—’ He was floundering, trying not to implicate Audrey. The sweat was pouring off him. ‘I saw her grave, right? And I felt guilty that I’d never come home, never even sent flowers, and... my mum, always on and on about Dolly Rawlins. I’m sorry, I am really sorry...’

Mike sniffed, trying to hold on to his emotions because he wasn’t acting any more. The more he tried to explain about Shirley, the more her face kept flashing across his mind and in the end he bowed his head. ‘I loved her a lot. She was a lovely kid.’ Craigh remained silent, staring at him. ‘I know Rawlins instigated that robbery, I know it.’

‘Eh, Mike son, Rawlins was sent down for murder, she killed her husband. It was never proved that she ever had anything to do with that diamond heist.’

‘But she had.’

‘You don’t have any proof.’ Craigh pursed his lips. ‘Listen, to what i’m saying, Mike. Dolly Rawlins was never even charged with that heist. There was never a shred of evidence to link her to it. But your sister was no angel, her husband was a known villain, so don’t give me all this whitewash Mother Teresa act. All I know is you used personal motives to instigate a full-scale operation, drawing in me, DI Palmer, the whole team on a mad caper that has landed us all in shit, making us all look like prize fucking idiots.’

‘I know she was going for those diamonds,’ Mike stuttered.

‘No, you don’t. You don’t know anything. It’s all been supposition because you had a private and personal motive against Rawlins.’

‘She got away with murder.’

‘She didn’t, she served her sentence, and as far as being implicated in the Donaldson business she has an alibi, and a very strong one, that she wasn’t even near Ladbroke Grove the day he was run over.’

‘We had any joy tracing the car?’

‘What car? How many red Rovers or red Volvos are there in London?’

Mike remained silent as Craigh jangled the change in his pockets, relenting slightly.

‘We’ve got Traffic running around like blue-arsed flies — they always love a challenge. We got nothing from the road where Donaldson got hit, we’ve not got one decent eyewitness. In fact we’ve got bugger all. But we do have a nasty, dirty mess that I’ve got to clear up.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘I hope to Christ you are. And from now on you stay clear of this Rawlins bitch or I’ll have you back wearing a big hat, understand me?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Now piss off and I’ll see if I can iron all this out.’

Craigh watched Mike walk out with his head bent. Picking up Rawlins’s file, he stared at her hard profile in the mug-shots and began to flick through her record sheet. He put in a call to the Aylesbury social services to double-check one more time that Rawlins was, as she had stated, being interviewed by the board members of the council.

Angela knew something was very wrong when Dolly walked stiffly back to the taxi. She opened the door and got in. ‘Go back to the manor — get the train home.’

‘Aren’t you coming with me?’

‘No. Just get on your way. I’ve got someone to see.’

‘Well, don’t you need a lift?’

‘No, I want to be on my own for a while.’

Dolly passed over a ten-pound note and walked off down the road as Angela directed the cab driver to take her back to Marylebone station.

Mike let himself in and called Susan, but the house was silent. He checked the time and assumed she was collecting the kids. He sat down in the hall, knowing he’d had a narrow escape. The phone rang and he jumped.

Angela was at the station in a phone booth. She was relieved when Mike answered but taken aback when he yelled at her never to call his home again.

‘Well, I needed to speak to you. I’m in London, I came here with Dolly. She got the diamonds, Mike, she had them with her.’

Mike stood up, trying to keep his voice calm. ‘You sure? Where is she now?’

Angela told him where she had been, and then Mike said he had to go, he couldn’t talk any more. His head felt as if it was blowing apart. If Dolly Rawlins had the diamonds then she had to have run over Jimmy Donaldson.

She had to have killed him. She had the diamonds, she killed Donaldson, she must know by now they were fakes. It seemed that any way he moved the shackles were on him, getting him in deeper and deeper. One thing, there wasn’t a lot she could do about it. She wouldn’t go to the law, but he knew one place she would go and his panic went into overdrive. He hoped to Christ his mother was out of the country. He grabbed the phone and dialled her number.

Angela sat on the station platform. She had tried to call Mike again but the number was engaged. She kept trying but it was constantly busy. She was near to tears, sure he’d taken it off the hook. There was also something else she had to tell him: she’d missed two periods.

Audrey picked up the phone and Mike started yelling before she’d even said hello. ‘She knows about Tommy. She’s been to see him about the diamonds this afternoon.’

‘Who?’

‘Who the hell do you think? Rawlins. She got the diamonds then went to Tommy Malin.’

Audrey’s legs were like jelly.

‘Have you got your passport yet?’

‘Yes, it came today, and I’ve booked my ticket, leave tomorrow.’

Mike rubbed his chin. ‘You’d better go tonight.’

‘You think she’ll come here?’

He closed his eyes. ‘Look, the best thing you can do is go away, just clear out.’

Audrey burst into tears and he yelled at her to pull herself together. He said he’d see if he could come round later, and hung up.

She sat for a moment, still cradling the phone before shakily going back to her packing. Half an hour later the doorbell rang shrilly and Audrey dropped her case as she ran to the door. She thought it would be Mike but when she swung the door open she froze.

‘Hello, Audrey. It’s Dolly — Dolly Rawlins.’

Audrey forced a smile. ‘Good heavens! So you’re out then, are you?’

‘Yes. You going to ask me in?’

Audrey swallowed and held the door wider.

Dolly walked past her, straight into the sitting room. The first thing she saw was the big eight-by-ten coloured photograph of Shirley. She reached out, touched it, and laid it face down on the sideboard. Then she spotted the passport and aeroplane tickets. ‘Going away?’

Audrey could hardly breathe, she was so nervous. She gestured to the half-packed suitcases in her bedroom. ‘Just to Brighton, see a friend for the weekend.’

‘Taking a lot of gear for just a weekend, aren’t you?’ Audrey flushed as Dolly held up her passport. ‘Won’t be needing this then, will you?’

Audrey’s eyes almost popped out of her head as Dolly slipped it into her pocket. ‘Why did you do that?’

Dolly sat down on the settee, unbuttoning her coat. ‘Because, Audrey, we’ve got to talk. Sit down.’

Audrey moved to a hard-backed chair and perched on the edge of the seat.

‘How long have you been out?’

Dolly gave an icy cold smile. ‘I bet you know the exact minute. Come on, Audrey, how much did you get for the diamonds?’

She knew it was pointless to deny she’d taken them. ‘It’s not the way it looks.’

‘I’m all ears.’

Audrey gulped. ‘Well, when I read that Jimmy Donaldson had been arrested—’

Dolly interrupted, ‘You went round and collected. But you never thought to contact me, did you?’

‘Well, it was too risky, wasn’t it?’

‘How much did you get?’

‘Not a lot.’ Audrey cleared her throat.

‘How much?’

‘Four hundred and fifty thousand.’

Dolly leaned back and gave a short barking laugh, without humour. ‘Don’t mess me around. How much?’

Audrey began to blubber, swearing on her life that was all she got, and said Dolly could even check it out with Frank Richmond.

‘Frank Richmond? You fenced them through him, that cheap bastard? Why didn’t you fence them with Tommy?’

‘I didn’t think, I was scared, I mean, they were here in the flat.’

Dolly leaned back and closed her eyes. ‘Eight years I waited, Audrey, eight years...’

‘Shirley’s been dead eight years.’ Audrey became even more scared as Dolly went rigid, her eyes shut tight, hands clenched. ‘I only got a few thousand cash I can give you. I put the bulk of it in Spain.’

‘Spain?’

‘I bought a villa and... it was all done in such a hurry because I was terrified I’d be nicked.’

‘I was, Audrey. I did almost nine years and right now I’d do ten for you. You get me my share and I want it by tomorrow.’

‘But I haven’t got it.’

‘Get it! And when you have, call me. This is my number.’ Dolly opened her bag and scrawled her phone number. She stood up to pass it to her, leaning in close, her face almost touching Audrey’s. ‘Until I get it, I’ll hold your passport. You call me by tomorrow or, like I said, I’ll shop you, go down for you and don’t think for a second I don’t mean it.’

Mike listened in stunned silence as Audrey told him about Dolly’s visit. ‘I got to get money, Mike, or she’ll shop me.’

Mike could feel that treacle forming like cement round his ankles now. ‘Does she know about me?’

‘She thinks it was just me. I got to get money, Mike. She wants me to call her, I got until tomorrow.’

‘What the fuck do you want me to do?’

‘Can I come round and see you? I’ll need the money I put in the kids’ building society savings accounts.’

‘What? Are you telling me some of that cash is in my kids’ accounts?’ Audrey sobbed. He couldn’t make any sense of what she was saying. ‘Mum, get in a cab and come round. Now.’

Mike slapped down the phone. He then ran up the stairs and began searching through drawers for his kids’ account books.

Mr Crow looked out of the window as he drove up the manor house driveway. Mrs Tilly sat in the back seat with Mr Simms, another member of the board.

There’s a lot of land, wonderful place for kids.’ They drove slowly up to the front door, where workmen’s tools were lying around.

‘Looks like a lot of work has started,’ mused Mr Crow, looking up at the scaffolding.

They all got out and looked over the grounds again before heading towards the front door. Mrs Tilly had wanted to warn Dolly of their arrival. They had been to visit another foster family and decided to make an on-site visit to the manor afterwards.

As the door was open they all entered the house. Mrs Tilly called Dolly and, receiving no reply, peered into the lounge. ‘It’s huge. I had no idea it was such a big property,’ she said, impressed.

‘Hello? Anyone at home?’ Mr Crow called, as he looked towards the kitchen. They all followed him and stood in the kitchen doorway, again impressed by the size of the vast old-fashioned kitchen. They were about to leave the leaflets and documents they had brought on the hall table when they heard the screams and laughter from the cellar.

Kathleen tried the first shower and could hear nothing but a low rumbling from the pipes. No water seemed to be connected to the showers and she banged the pipes with a shoe as Gloria came out of the sauna. ‘Showers aren’t working,’ Kathleen said, grinning when she saw the hosepipe. ‘How about bein’ hosed down, shall we try that?’ Gloria pulled a face. ‘Forget it. I’m gonna have a bath in me own room.’

Gloria hitched a towel round her and wandered out, heading up the cellar stairs. Mr Crow and his party were just coming out of the dining room when she appeared. She took one look, shrieked and dived back down to the cellar.

‘Was that Mrs Rawlins?’ Mr Crow asked.

Mrs Tilly shook her head on her way towards the cellar door. She called again for Dolly but could hear only shrieks from below.

Kathleen had turned on the hosepipe. Connie, stark naked, had her hands up as Kathleen turned it on her full blast. Gloria yelled for her to switch it off but Kathleen pointed the hose at her just as the three visitors appeared in the doorway. They were sprayed with water as the women screamed and yelled like schoolgirls. There was a lot of fumbling for towels as Gloria shot out past them. But Connie, still naked, bent over to pick up her towel.

Mrs Tilly was red-faced with embarrassment as she opened the sauna door. She gasped and slammed it shut.

‘I think we should leave.’ She hurried out, appalled at what she had just seen: Ester and Julia in an embrace, both naked, locked in each other’s arms.

Ester grabbed her towel and ran out after them as they disappeared up the cellar stairs. ‘Just a minute! Wait! Wait a minute.’

But they couldn’t get out fast enough even when Mr Crow suggested that perhaps they should apologize.

‘Apologize? We should just leave. You didn’t see what I did and this is the last place I would recommend a child be sent to. It’s disgusting.’

Mr Crow turned as Ester, draped in a towel, followed. He stared and then hurried out. She looked down the stairs to Julia. ‘I think they were from the social services. We’d better not mention this to Dolly.’

It was getting dark when Angela appeared. When they saw her alone the women downed tools and called to her. ‘Where’s Dolly?’

‘I don’t know, she sent me home.’

‘Shit!’ Ester marched over to Angela. Where did she go? She’s coming back, isn’t she?’ she demanded, her heart sinking. Would Dolly just up, take the cash and leave them all here? She went into Dolly’s room. All her belongings were there, including the deeds of the house, so she felt a little easier, reckoned she would be back.

By the time Dolly did come back, a few hours later, the women were all having supper. When she walked in, they started talking at once about how much work they had been doing, how they loved the house, but slowly their conversation petered out as Dolly chucked the pouch bag on to the table.

‘Take a look. They’re worthless, glass, all of them.’

They gaped, fingering the glittering stones, before looking at Dolly in confusion.

‘There’s no money, no cuts, nothing.’

Kathleen picked up one of the biggest stones, held it in her pudgy hand, then rested it against her cheek. It felt cold but it soon warmed up. She hurled it against the side of the Aga where it shattered into tiny fragments. ‘Fucking glass, all right.’

Each one of them would have liked to smash something, anything, as their initial confusion turned to anger, their dreams smashed like the fake diamond. And the realization of the lengths to which they had gone to get the fakes made the atmosphere explosive. Eyes met eyes, hands clenched, hidden beneath the table, but no one voiced their innermost feelings. Gradually their anger subsided and left them almost bereft. Depression hung in the air. Dolly slowly sat down and picked up a piece of bread, picking bits off it as she looked from one crestfallen face to another. ‘So, will you be staying on, Ester?’

‘Well, I’ve got to admit it, Dolly, I’ve never been one for kids so I guess I’m out of here.’

‘What about you, Julia?’

Julia shrugged her shoulders, then looked at Ester. ‘I guess I’ll leave with Ester. That’s not to say I don’t love this place because I do but—’

Dolly interrupted, looking at Connie. ‘What about you?’

Connie flushed. ‘Well, to be honest, I know I’ve got this problem with Lennie and I need a place to lie low for a while but as a long-term thing, I want to start off my career proper, you know, get an agent and...’ She trailed off, head bent, not able to meet Dolly’s eyes.

Kathleen coughed. ‘I’ll stay put with you, love. I need a place, I got nowhere else.’

Angela reached out and touched Dolly’s hand. ‘I’ll stay too. We’ll maybe be able to make it work — you’ll apply for grants and things.’

Dolly held Angela’s hand tightly, as Gloria pushed back her chair. ‘I’ll be here for a few weeks.’ Dolly looked up at her, surprised. ‘You got Eddie’s gear some place and we’ll have to sort something out about that.’

‘I see,’ Dolly said quietly. ‘Well, at least I know where I stand. So, those that are going, pack up and leave. It’ll save on food bills. Goodnight.’

They waited until they heard her footsteps going up the stairs before discussing it, each one examining the fake stones.

‘That’s it, then,’ Ester said flatly. She poured a glass of wine. ‘Well, I’m out of here.’

They knew they all were. None of them cared about the house or Dolly or her dreams, but they had all just lost theirs.

Dolly stared at her reflection in the dressing-table mirror. She calculated that with the money from Audrey she might still be able to pull off something. It might even be better that it had worked out this way — at least she knew who she could trust, now that she’d found out it was Audrey, poor Shirley Miller’s mother, who’d grassed her.