Widows

Chapter 8

Dolly had been driving around for ages, to West London and back, trying to lose the plain-clothes officers in their unmarked car, but they were still on her tail. ‘Damn you!’ she shouted out loud as she looked again in her rearview mirror. No matter how many turns or side roads she took, she just couldn’t lose them. When she’d called a couple of days after the spa, both Linda and Shirley had agreed to meet up and hear more. And now all three of them had planned to get together. Dolly didn’t want to be late — but what could she do? Unless she was 100 percent certain that she wasn’t being followed, she simply couldn’t risk meeting or contacting the other widows in any way.

Dolly remembered a film she’d once seen and smiled to herself wondering if maybe, just maybe, the same ruse would work for her. She started to accelerate and sped round Shepherd’s Bush roundabout, then headed along Notting Hill Gate, straight down Bayswater Road toward Marble Arch. They were still there, still behind her. She zipped in and out of the line of traffic, then took a right turn toward Hyde Park, keeping in the inside lane. Glancing in her rearview mirror, she could see the police tail about four cars behind. She overtook a heavy goods vehicle that was on her inside, then nipped in front of it and turned sharply into the drop-off entrance of the Dorchester Hotel. She was out of her car in seconds with Wolf under her arm. She handed the doorman the keys and a £10 note.

‘Park it, darlin’. Be back in an hour or so after dinner.’ And she whisked into the Dorchester.

The doorman went over to the Merc, got into the driver’s seat and was about to start the engine when he saw a blue flashing light in the front grill of the car behind him. DC Andrews jumped out of the still-moving police car, ran over to the Merc, pulled open the door and grabbed the doorman by his lapel. ‘Where did she go? Which way?’ Terrified, the doorman just pointed to the hotel entrance.

Andrews ran inside the lobby and began frantically looking around for Dolly, but she was nowhere to be seen. And no one, even the receptionist, had noticed her. He was in for another bollocking from Resnick, who was still pissed off about the hamburger incident.

Andrews got back in his car, slammed the door and found a parking spot. He was hoping beyond hope that Dolly was simply in the hotel somewhere, so he decided to stay with her car. It’s all he could do.

Linda had arrived at the Liverpool Street railway arches fifteen minutes early. It was bitterly cold and she was freezing. She hadn’t realized the area would be so dark, and hadn’t brought a torch, so was having difficulty in finding lock-up number fifteen. She’d not been surprised when Dolly called; agreeing to meet up with her and Shirley again was an easy decision. What else did she have to get her heart racing these days? Since Joe’s death, Linda’s life had been horrible, truly horrible. The half-empty bed was impossible to get used to, the people who came into her arcade disgusted her and the police treated her like shit on their shoe. Above all, life was boring as hell — and Linda hated boring. Whatever Dolly thought she was doing, Linda was happy to tag along, catch up with Shirl every now and then, and maybe make a bit of money out of Dolly along the way.

She approached one of the premises and, peering through the crack between the large wooden doors, nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a huge Alsatian pounce toward her, snarling and barking. She quickly scurried one door along, raised her fist to knock and—

‘You’re early,’ Dolly said from behind her.

‘I wasn’t sure where it was and I don’t like being late.’

The cold had put Linda in a grumpy mood, which Dolly sensed immediately. Fortunately, Dolly was feeling cheerful after losing Andrews and her comfy cab ride over. She smiled at Linda as she unlocked the door. ‘It’s a good way to be.’

Inside the lock-up, Dolly calmly lit a cigarette as Linda stepped from foot to foot trying to warm up. She could murder a cuppa, but Dolly just sat on a packing case, got out her black leather diary and reviewed her notes while they waited for Shirley. Linda was no good at being silently irritated and, eventually, her under-the-breath mumblings made Dolly speak.

‘Kettle’s in the back, darlin’. Mine’s black coffee, no sugar. Keep yourself warm, eh.’

Linda pulled a face and went into the annex, where three brand-new mugs, a new kettle and a packet of unopened custard creams were waiting for her. ‘Come on then, tell me the plan,’ she called.

‘We wait for Shirl,’ Dolly said without looking up. ‘It’s her Miss Paddington thing tonight so she’ll be another twenty minutes.’

‘You might have told me!’ Linda shouted from her tea duties.

‘Why, what were you doing?’ This was hurtful. Dolly knew full well that Linda would have been doing nothing of any interest. ‘We’re a team, Linda. We wait for Shirley.’

Shirley could feel one of her false eyelashes coming loose as she sat in the taxi with her mum, but she didn’t have the strength to fix it. She was wearing a stunning black glittery evening gown, high heels, fake tan and enough hairspray to sink a ship. She also still wore her Miss Paddington number stuck to her shoulder. She looked a million dollars — apart from the make-up running down her tear-streaked face.

There was an awkward silence. Eventually Audrey decided to speak first.

‘I didn’t mean to imply you were turning tricks, darlin’,’ she whispered, hoping the cabbie wouldn’t hear. ‘I just wanted to know where you got the money for that dress.’ Shirley stared out of the side window of the taxi, trying not to cry again.

Shirley hadn’t been able to concentrate at all during the pageant, even though she was by far the most beautiful girl there and should easily have won. Audrey was so incredibly proud and just knew it was in the bag, but then, when Shirl took off her coat and revealed her brand-new dress, Audrey had made the clumsy comment about her daughter being a prostitute and things had gone downhill from there. Audrey had tried to redeem herself by giving Shirley a great big hug just as she was lining up to go on stage. ‘You go out there and steal the show, my girl. You’re beautiful and you’re lovely and you’re a winner.’ Then she said the second stupid thing of the night. ‘Terry and me will be front row center.’ She’d meant to say ‘Greg,’ but it had come out as ‘Terry.’ Audrey could have kicked herself as she watched Shirley’s eyes widen and her lower lip tremble. She’d wanted to apologize to her daughter, but didn’t have the opportunity as Freddie, the master of ceremonies, called Shirley’s name and the floor manager shoved her on stage.

As Shirley had stepped out into the spotlight her mind was so far away that, when Freddie asked her what her hobbies were, she’d mumbled something about liking vegetables and books.

Audrey had taken full responsibility for the whole fiasco. Shirley had let her, but in fact other things had been on Shirley’s mind. As the cab dropped Audrey off and continued on to Liverpool Street Station, Shirley began to pull herself together and thought back to a week ago.

She had been waiting in the ladies’ toilet in Regent’s Park for over half an hour when Dolly had eventually breezed down the steps and calmly started to touch-up her make-up in the cracked and peeling wall mirror.

‘You give them the slip?’ Shirley had asked, referring to Dolly’s constant police escort.

‘No,’ Dolly replied through her stretched lips as she reapplied her lipstick. ‘DC Andrews is outside, looking after Wolf.’

Dolly put her make-up away and handed a stuffed envelope to Shirley, who was still trying to figure out whether or not Dolly was pulling her leg. ‘There’s enough in there to cover your mortgage for a few months and more besides. You’ll get that every month. We’ll meet again next Thursday after Miss Paddington; details are in the envelope.’

‘Dolly, I...’ Shirley started, ‘I’m not sure I can handle it. There’ll be shooters, won’t there?’

‘It’s all right. Listen, if you don’t come, we’ll know you’re not up for it, OK?’

Shirley squeezed the envelope and could feel the wad of money inside.

‘You’ll just have to pay me that back, no harm done, all right, darlin’?’ Dolly said with a knowing smile. Then she walked out.

When Shirley had finally dared to pop her head out of the ladies’ loo, she’d just managed to catch a glimpse of a man in the distance walking to his car, glaring back at Dolly walking off in the opposite direction with Wolf by her side. Balls of steel, Shirley had thought to herself. Bet he doesn’t put that in his daily report!

Linda was on her second tea when she and Dolly heard the banging on the main garage doors. Shirley bundled in, clip-clopping across the uneven floor in her stilettos, banging her suitcase into everything and apologizing for being late.

‘Bleedin’ ’ell, what you come as?’ said Linda. ‘Look at her, Dolly, all dressed up like a dog’s dinner. You wearing false eyelashes?’

Shirley dropped her suitcase on the floor straight into the oily puddle, which splashed all over her newly tanned legs. She jumped backward, snapped a heel, stumbled and ended up seated on the bonnet of the dirtiest car in the lock-up. Tears instantly welled in her eyes.

‘I come eighth! I made a right fool of myself and I was awful to me mum.’

Linda spoke again, but more kindly this time. ‘Eight’s not bad, Shirl. How many of you were there?’

‘Ten...’ Shirley mumbled pathetically, and Linda turned quickly away in order to hide a smile.

Shirley stood up straight and brushed her backside down. When she looked at her hand, it was covered in oil and she could only imagine what her tan coat looked like from behind. The final straw was when she noticed that she’d broken a nail. The tears came and she said, ‘I wasn’t going to come.’

‘Did anyone see you?’ Dolly asked, secretly very relieved to see her. She needed to get things back on track.

‘No, I got off at the station, like you instructed.’

‘Did you see anyone?’

‘Well, course I did! It’s a bloody station at kicking-out time!’ Shirley snapped, then immediately checked herself.

Dolly settled Shirley down, patting and stroking her head like she did Wolf’s. She ordered Linda to make some more coffee.

‘I’ve been here half the night and all I’ve done so far is to act as a bloody waitress,’ Linda muttered, stomping off in a huff.

Ten minutes later, the three women were seated round a large crate, stocked up with tea, coffee and biscuits, looking at the maps and drawings Dolly had laid out for them. Linda was nibbling the top off a Custard Cream, Shirley was nibbling her broken nail into some sort of acceptable shape while wafting Dolly’s cigarette smoke away from her face, and Dolly was hunched over the plans, writing copious notes in her diary — things they needed to buy, to do, to learn.

‘Our main problem is going to be the weight we got to carry on our backs from here—’ Dolly added a neat line to her drawing of the Strand underpass — ‘right up to here. That’s where we’ll have the getaway car parked. It’s a run of about fifty yards.’

Dolly looked up to see Linda scraping the custard out of her biscuit with her bottom teeth. ‘You listening?’ Dolly demanded.

Linda confidently recapped everything Dolly had been saying. ‘Nicked van up front to stop the security wagon in the underpass. Nicked van behind to block it in. Shooter keeping cars in check. Shooter getting the guards to open up. Rucksacks full of money.’

‘Very heavy money,’ Shirley corrected.

‘Very heavy money.’ Linda repeated. ‘Fifty yard run to nicked getaway car.’ Linda was clearly very pleased with herself.

Insubordinate bitch, Dolly thought. She’d have to tame her before the big day but, for now, she let it go. ‘One of us will have to learn how to use a chainsaw as well and that’s really heavy,’ Dolly continued.

‘I’ve got no strength in my arms,’ Shirley said. ‘My legs are OK so I’m not worried about the weight of the money.’

‘You’ve carried a third of a million in notes, have you?’ Dolly snapped.

Shirley fell silent. She was too tired to care how much this mythical third of a million weighed so she changed the subject. ‘What happens if we get trouble from anyone in the cars behind us?’

Linda butted in. ‘Weren’t you listening?! I just said: “shooter keeping cars in check” — that’s me. Don’t you worry your pretty little head. There’ll be no have-a-go heroes on my watch.’ Linda grabbed another Custard Cream. ‘What about explosives?’

Dolly glared at Linda — one long, cold stare that said it all. If looks could actually kill, Linda thought, I’d be dead on the floor.

‘Sorry, Dolly,’ she said and reached a comforting hand across the crate.

Dolly moved her hand away and changed the subject. ‘I’m arranging a meeting with the security contact soon. We know from the ledgers that the wagon always uses the underpass, but that the runs vary in the time and the exact route they take. Once a month there’s a big run with extra cash — we’ll go for that one about four months from now. The contact will confirm the exact date and give us the route map — and we’ll need every minute to prepare.’

As Dolly reached down to her bag, Linda and Shirley rolled their eyes at each other. Two months, four months, six months — did Dolly honestly believe they could pull off an armed robbery?

Dolly sat upright again, two large brown envelopes in her hand. ‘Get yourself wheels,’ she instructed, handing them over. ‘Pay cash and make sure they’re taxed and registered, then, after the job’s done, we’ll ditch ’em.’

Linda opened her envelope and swallowed hard, eyes glinting. She tingled all over — there had to be two grand inside! She was grinning like the Cheshire cat as Dolly handed her a set of keys to the lock-up and brought the meeting to a close.

‘From now on, this’ll be headquarters. Be careful how you come and go.’ Dolly held up another set of keys for Shirley. ‘Now’s your chance, love,’ Dolly said. ‘You in or out?’

Shirley squeezed the envelope full of cash, looked at Linda who eagerly nodded — and she took the keys.

Dolly stood up, pleased with how well the evening had gone. ‘That’s it for tonight,’ she said. ‘Golden rule is you two never call me at home, I’ll get in touch with you as and when I need to. Inside your envelopes is a list of details of what each of you have to do. We take this in stages. Stage one is to get the motors sorted, and for you Shirley, to get all the clothing gear I’ve put on your list.’

Dolly didn’t wait for confirmation; she didn’t need it. They’d taken her money and they’d taken her keys. As far as she was concerned, they were now a team and she was in charge. They’d do as she said, just as Joe and Terry had always done what Harry said. ‘You two can lock up. Don’t leave together, just like at the spa.’ And she was gone, with Wolf quick on her heels.

Linda and Shirley still sat at the crate, their envelopes of money in front of them. They listened to Dolly’s footsteps echo out of the lock-up, heard the Alsatian barking like a lunatic, then nothing.

It was Shirley who broke the silence.

‘You scared, Linda?’

‘If I believed that this was for real I’d be shitting myself, darlin’,’ Linda laughed, taking her money out of the envelope to count it.

Shirley agreed, but she was genuinely concerned for Dolly. ‘She’s not right, is she?’

‘Not even close! Look, I dunno why she’s doing this, Shirl, but it seems to be helping her. Making her feel better. And I have to admit, talkin’ about it makes me feel alive, like I’m tingling all over.’

‘So you’re just going to go along with it?’

‘I’m not proud. I need the cash. Joe left me broke and I know your Terry did the same to you. Dolly’ll come to her senses eventually and we’ll all just go back to our lives but, for now, I’m going to keep on taking the money and Dolly can live in her little fantasy world with us for company.’ Linda could see that the decision to play along with Dolly was nowhere near as easy for Shirley. ‘We’re actually doing her a favor, Shirl. We’re looking after her, giving her something to aim for... making sure she doesn’t end up naked in Trafalgar Square with a traffic cone on her head.’ Linda reached across the crate and put her hand on Shirley’s.

Shirley looked down at Linda’s comforting hand and noticed that she no longer wore her wedding ring. Then she looked at her own long, slender fingers. They were shaking and her gold wedding ring glistened. She didn’t feel elated, or as Linda had put it, ‘tingling all over.’ If this was all just part of Dolly’s grieving process, then Shirley felt terribly, terribly guilty. And if this was really about three widows getting together to commit their dead husbands’ armed robbery, then she felt petrified. But the envelope of money in her hand was lifesaving. Without it she’d lose the house and everything in it.

‘Come on.’ Linda said, helping Shirley to her feet. ‘Let’s go home.’

As Dolly walked along toward the Dorchester, she could see Andrews in his car outside. He was every bit as predictable as she’d thought he was; a foot soldier, nothing more. As she passed his window, she couldn’t resist giving him a small smile. She tipped the doorman when he returned with her Merc, and then drove off like a cat who’d got the cream.

Back home, Dolly locked the garage doors from outside, allowing Wolf to have a pee in the front garden before heading in for the night. Usually she would have entered the house through the connecting door in the garage to the kitchen, but she couldn’t resist toying with Andrews, who had parked up in his usual place outside her house. As she took out her front door key and let herself in, Dolly smiled to herself, thinking how adept she was becoming at losing her police tail. But when she opened her front door, her smile turned to shock, a chill ran through her body from her head to her toes, and her eyes stung with anger as she took in the mess before her. The hallway carpets had been lifted, vases and figurines were knocked over, the upholstery had been slit open, houseplants upturned and the soil tipped out.

Noticing the light coming from the open lounge door, she moved slowly and quietly forward, tiptoeing over the broken debris.

Dolly froze as she heard the click-click of a record dropping down onto the turntable, then the eerie silence was broken by the words of her song filling the room. ‘What is life to me without thee, what is life if thou art dead?’ She slowly pushed open the lounge door and held her hand to her mouth — the room was destroyed, the stuffing hung out of her beautiful sofa, pictures were smashed. She had only just straightened everything out after the cops had turned the house upside down — and now this! Anger flooded over her and she kicked the door, causing it to swing open and slam against the cabinet behind it.

Boxer Davis jumped, dropping the framed picture of Harry he held in his hands. His suit and hair were covered in the fluff from the sofa stuffing and he looked so ridiculous she was suddenly not afraid anymore. Without a word, she walked over and lifted off the needle from the record on the turntable. Wolf whimpered, not knowing what to do, running round the room, getting tangled up in the torn cushions.

‘It wasn’t me, Doll, honest,’ Boxer whined nervously.

Dolly turned on him and screamed, ‘Don’t you dare call me that!’

Boxer was nearly in tears as he begged Dolly to listen to him. ‘There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t stop him. If you’d been here, Dolly, he’d have done this to you. I’m so glad you was out! I really truly am glad you was out!’

‘Who?’ Dolly said through clenched teeth.

‘Tony, Tony Fisher. He thinks you know where Harry stashed those ledgers.’

‘You stood by and let him do this? Watched him do this to my home!’

Boxer hovered around her, almost crying with the shame of what had happened, repeating again and again that he had nothing to do with the damage. ‘I’m trying to do you a favor, gal. I’m worried for you. They’re not offering money anymore. They want those ledgers.’

Dolly sat on her torn velvet chair and Wolf jumped up beside her. ‘I’ve told you! I don’t know where the ledgers are. I’ve told you and I’ve told the law.’

‘But they don’t believe you. I do though, Dolly, I believe that you don’t know. But they still have to be somewhere, don’t they? So maybe you and me could take a little look round? And Tony Fisher wants to pay the other widows a visit an’ all.’

Dolly felt her insides tighten. ‘Why the bloody hell would he want to do that? If I don’t know anything, they’re not going to, are they?’

‘Tony doesn’t think like that, Dolly. He just wants to hurt someone till he gets what he needs.’

Dolly sat with her head in her hands, desperately trying to work out if Tony could possibly know about her meetings with Shirley and Linda. She was always so careful, but she worried nonetheless.

Boxer was now sitting on his haunches in front of her, patting her knee like a great ape, his eyes blinking repeatedly. She wanted to hit him. She couldn’t take on the Fishers without a plan and she had no one to turn to. She needed time and she needed to somehow keep the Fishers away from the other widows. Her head was spinning.

‘How did Tony get into my home?’ she demanded.

Boxer smiled and pulled an old plastic card from his jacket pocket, holding it up for her to see.

Dolly stared at him. ‘You do know the police are watching me, don’t you?’

‘You’re not going to get me into trouble are you, Doll?’ Boxer was clearly unnerved. He hadn’t known. Would Dolly have him arrested for breaking and entering?

‘Don’t call me Doll! And I think you’re in enough trouble without me adding to it, don’t you? Working for the Fishers is a dangerous move, Boxer. They’re not smart, see, not like my Harry was. I mean, if the Old Bill did my house over and couldn’t find the ledgers, what makes Tony Fisher think he’s going to do any better?’

Boxer sat there on his heels, looking at Dolly for guidance. His poor brain couldn’t work out how to speak at the same time as think.

‘Leave me alone now, Boxer. Come round in the morning, help me tidy up and we’ll see if we can find any hiding places that the coppers and Tony might have missed.’

Boxer’s eyes widened and his face lit up like a child who’d just been given the biggest ice cream in the world. ‘I will!’ He beamed as he stood up. ‘I’ll be here at nine, shall I?’

‘Seven.’

‘Seven’s better. Yes, I’ll be here at seven. I’m meant to report back to the Fishers this evening, so I’ll let them know you’re co-operating and tomorrow we’ll look properly and everything will be all right.’

Dolly couldn’t believe how gormless Boxer was. She watched him trot off out the front door, with a renewed bounce in his step. She then bolted and double locked every door in the house before tidying the kitchen a little. All her food from the freezer lay on the floor defrosting and her beautiful china and cutlery was smashed and strewn everywhere. She didn’t have the strength to tackle this tonight, so she made herself a coffee and sat back down in her ransacked living room, on her ruined sofa.

Dolly knew she had to start thinking the way Harry would have done, but it was hard as she looked around the room at the collection of Capodimonte figures Harry had bought her, smashed to bits. She looked at Wolf. ‘What would Harry do? Eh, darling? What would Daddy do?’

She thought about the police car outside and was tempted to call Resnick and tell him how his idiot men chose to follow her to the Dorchester instead of stopping Tony Fisher and Boxer Davis from breaking in and destroying her beautiful home. She went to her window and peered out through a rip in her thick velvet curtains. ‘Idiots!’ she seethed. ‘You’ve just watched Boxer Davis leave my home and it doesn’t even cross your mind how or when the hell he got in here in the first place.’

Dolly turned to survey her living room. Amid the horrific mess, the broken framed photograph of Harry dropped by Boxer stood out as clear as day. At first, she felt sad seeing Harry’s handsome face smiling up at her through the cracked glass, but then she felt he was trying to tell her something.

‘What is it, Harry? What should I do?’ Dolly said softly as she knelt on the floor and picked up the broken frame. She stared at his face and with her whole heart and soul whispered, ‘I loved you. I loved you so very much. Dear God, Harry, I still love you. You would never have let those Fisher bastards do this to us.’

Then, as if Harry was suddenly there standing by her side, she suddenly felt comforted. He would guide her through the next few months, through the robbery, she was certain. She was doing it for Harry, after all. She truly believed that he would watch over her now, and wouldn’t let anything go wrong.

That night, with little Wolf curled up on Harry’s pillow next to her, Dolly had her best night’s sleep since she’d heard the terrible news.