‘From the very second Dolly saw me, she knew I needed her. She was this old woman — old to me back then — who could suss a person out as soon as look at them. I remember I said to her once about me and her being friends or something like that, and she said, “You don’t know me, darlin’. There’s lots to me no one ever knows. That’s how I survive.” But I did know her. And she certainly knew me. I miss her.’
‘Do you visit her grave?’
‘She’s a good listener,’ Angela said with a smile. ‘I take fresh flowers every Wednesday. I let her down, you see. I want her to know that I’m making up for it now.’
Jack enquired exactly how Angela had let Dolly down, but she didn’t give much detail away; instead she spoke about how it made her feel.
‘It was personal. I made a mistake... with a bloke. I lost a baby. And when everyone else turned their backs on me, Dolly looked me straight in the eye and told me what a stupid little bitch I’d been. She was right. And, just after she set me straight, she hugged me tighter than I’d ever been hugged in my life. That’s what I mean when I say she could suss a person out as soon as look at them — she knew what I needed.’
‘She sounds like an amazing woman.’
Angela wasn’t fooled by Jack’s kind words. If he’d already visited Ester, he’d know that Dolly was hated just as much as she was loved. It all depended whether or not she was on your side. As the evening drew in, Jack thanked Angela for the tea, scribbled down his mobile number in case she remembered anything else, and left her to her work. Once he’d gone, Angela went to her window and waited. Eventually, he appeared in the car park below and headed towards Kensal Green Underground.
Angela stepped up onto the arm of the sofa and took down the teddy bear and teething ring. She cried easily as she recalled the moment, twenty-four years ago, that she’d told Dolly she was pregnant. She was young and petrified and just to say the words out loud relieved so much pressure. Dolly took her to Mothercare, where she bought and paid for all of the essentials. Angela had subsequently lost the baby and, in a fit of unimaginable distress, she’d destroyed everything Dolly had bought. Except a small teddy bear and a bright yellow teething ring.
But tonight, Angela didn’t cry for the loss of her baby... she cried for the loss of Dolly.
Chapter 16
After Anik’s previous encounter with Susan Withey — when he mostly impressed Ridley with his approach and his questioning — he was perhaps a little too confident going into this notification of death.
Susan was in the middle of getting ready to go out, and so she didn’t play by the book at all. When Anik asked her to sit, she didn’t. When he asked her to listen, she continued multitasking. It was only when he started following her round the downstairs rooms that Ridley took over.
‘Susan.’ Ridley’s voice was an enviable mix of gentle and authoritative. He stood in Susan’s way, put a hand on her back and steered her into the lounge, talking as he moved. ‘I need to be certain that I have your full attention, please.’ He sat down on the sofa, subliminally suggesting she do exactly the same. ‘We’ve now made a DNA identification on the body found at Rose Cottage.’
And that was all Susan needed to hear, really — although Ridley went on to say the actual words, so there was no doubt in his mind that she’d fully understood.
‘I’m sorry to confirm that it is your husband. It is Mike.’ Susan’s head dipped a little, but her facial expression didn’t change that much. She didn’t cry. She didn’t speak. ‘We’re investigating and I’ll personally keep you informed about what we discover. Where are you getting ready to go to, Susan?’
Susan, quiet and in shock, said that she was meeting a friend at the gym.
‘Would you like me to ask that friend to come here instead?’
Susan nodded, found her friend’s name in ‘contacts’ and handed her mobile to Ridley. He, in turn, handed it to Anik.
‘Say that Susan’s had some bad news and would like her to come round, please. Then put the kettle on.’
Ridley reassured Susan that they’d stay with her until her friend arrived, to deal with any questions either of them might have. As Anik stepped into the kitchen to make the call, he could hear Susan ask if she could see Mike.
‘There’s no comfort to be found in seeing him,’ he replied gently. ‘You leave Mike to me. I’ll look after him... so that you can look after yourself and your children.’
Anik heard Susan start to cry, followed by the rustle of Ridley’s jacket as he put his arm around her. When Anik returned to the lounge with a mug of sweet tea, Susan was sitting alone on the sofa and Ridley was standing in front of the fake hearth. The shoulder of his pale green jacket now showed a small dark patch, which Anik assumed was from Susan’s tears. Horrible though it was, he yearned for the day that a murder victim’s next of kin trusted every word that he said and rested their head on his shoulder for comfort.
It was almost seven o’clock when the team was back together in the squad room. Jack, having completed his interviews of the women from The Grange, confirmed that, in his opinion, they were nothing more than witnesses to Dolly’s murder and knew nothing at all about the train robbery until after the fact. With this line of enquiry closed, Ridley focused his team on Mike Withey, Barry Cooper and, possibly, Norma Walker. These people were connected to Rose Cottage and the money and, possibly, the robbery.
‘Sir,’ Jack interjected. ‘As well as the train robbery, Mike is also connected to an earlier crime in which, again, none of the stolen property has been recovered. The diamond heist back in ’84.’
Ridley looked at the extensive evidence boards that had been building over the past weeks. All of the historic research Jack had insisted on including in them might just come to fruition now. The Witheys’ name came up again and again, and Mike wouldn’t be the first copper to get pissed off with earning ten times less than the average low-life he nicked. What if he’d changed sides? Ridley didn’t want his officers to get overexcited, so he kept things calm.
‘We start from today and we work backwards, connecting the dots as far back as we need to in order to get the full picture. But,’ he emphasised, ‘this is, first and foremost, a murder investigation. If we connect the train robbery and the diamond heist as well, that’s a bonus.’ Then he changed the subject. ‘Jack, you’re with me tomorrow morning. We’ll go and tell Audrey about her son.’
Anik buried his head in his work, trying not to look fazed by Ridley’s decision to take Jack and not him on the second notification of death. Laura, as his sarge, felt she had to say something.
‘Notifications are tough, Anik. Because not only are you the one who will knock them down with the news that you bring, you’re also the one who will pick them back up again. That takes control.’
Jack repeatedly kicked on the front door until Maggie finally turned on the hallway light.
‘Darling, there’s someone at the door!’ she shouted up the stairs.
This was closely followed by Jack laughing from the front doorstep. Maggie opened the door, to reveal Jack laden down by a mini fridge. He staggered in and set the fridge heavily down on the bottom stair. Maggie wasn’t amused.
‘When some fuckwit kicks on my front door in the middle of the bloody night, I’m bound to pretend that my massive cage-fighting husband is upstairs, aren’t I!’
Jack hugged Maggie and rocked her in his arms. He was so tired, he could have fallen asleep right there.
‘Why have you bought a fridge?’