Widows

‘I’ve had enough of you effin’ lot! The sooner you ask your stupid questions, the sooner I can get home to me housework... you’d better be bringing me back an’ all.’

As Fuller opened the front door, he said, ‘Put the dog down, please. He’s not coming.’

Shirley had heard Fuller’s voice when he’d opened the door to the garage and, fearful of making the smallest sound, she had bit down hard on her hand, her teeth almost cutting through the skin. She lay there listening to the commotion, which had now moved outside onto the driveway.

Dolly was still shouting the odds. ‘If he’s pissed on the carpet by the time I get back, you’re getting the cleaning bill!’ she yelled. ‘And which nick we goin’ to this time?’

‘The big house,’ Fuller replied ‘Scotland Yard.’

Shirley edged out of the Merc, limped over to the garage door and peered through the tiny window, like Dolly had done not ten minutes ago. Dolly was pushed into the police car, and then they were gone. In the sudden silence, Shirley leaned against the car, her chest heaving up and down. It had been a very close call. If the officers had touched the bonnet of the Merc they would have known that Dolly had been out. Shirley’s mind raced as she replayed everything that had just happened and tried to work out what to do next. Dolly had just saved her neck by being so loud and angry and annoying with the police... in fact she might well have just sacrificed herself. What Shirley couldn’t work out was how on earth the police had got here so quickly. Why? Why had they arrested Dolly and taken her away?

Eddie Rawlins waited for the police car to leave before he inched back up into a sitting position. Bill had called earlier and told him to get his arse round to Dolly’s house and wait for her to come home. When Bill told Eddie that Dolly was doing Harry’s raid, he’d almost pissed himself laughing. ‘How the ’ell’s a bird gonna do a raid like that?’ But when Bill mentioned that she had Harry’s ledgers, with the plan all laid out for her, Eddie believed it.

As he watched the police car disappear round the corner, Eddie wondered what the hell was going on. How and why had the Old Bill turned up at Dolly’s house so quickly? What had gone wrong? Eddie scratched the stubble on his chin. He supposed it was possible that someone grassed her up, but the officers hadn’t stayed long and they certainly didn’t walk out with bags full of money. Could they possibly have missed it? Was it still in the house or somewhere else? Eddie thought hard about what to do next, but he wasn’t one for making big decisions. He could go and find a phone box and call Bill, or he could nip into Dolly’s house and see if she’d left a million quid lying round anywhere. Eddie went for the easiest option.

Shirley could hear Wolf howling for Dolly in the kitchen. As she limped inside to comfort the little dog, she heard a bubbling sound and, spinning round, saw the electric coffee percolator boiling over. God, she was jumpy! As she bent down to pick Wolf up, he turned his head sharply toward the closed kitchen door that led to the hallway and started to yap. Shirley tried to calm him, but he continued with his yap-yap-yapping at the kitchen door.

Eddie had decided to kill two birds with one stone — he’d break into Dolly’s house, take a brief look round and, whether he found anything or not, he could then call Bill from there. No need to find a phone box.

He slowly and quietly forced the French window in the living room with a jimmy and made his way straight to the kitchen in order to get to Dolly’s Merc in the garage. If Dolly had indeed just returned home from an early morning armed robbery, unless she’d dumped it somewhere on the way, this was the only place the money could be.

Eddie opened the kitchen door an inch or two to make sure Wolf knew it was him before opening it fully. Eddie knew that even the smallest dog, if frightened, could be a vicious bastard, but Wolf was yapping his welcome. Relieved, Eddie opened the door fully and was stunned to see a blonde standing over by the percolator. Panicked at being rumbled breaking into Dolly’s house, Eddie raised his hands and charged toward Shirley. She’d seen his face, and he didn’t like that.

For Shirley, it was like the moment when Tony Fisher had been about to attack her. Not this time, you bastard, she thought and, screaming like a banshee, she took an almighty swing at Eddie with her right hand.