Dolly Rawlins had been in deep shock. The husband she had worshipped for twenty years was gone, and the void in her life could not be filled, made worse by the pressure from villains trying to take over her husband’s manor. Her grief had turned to anger when they approached her at his graveside, but then to icy fury. When she found Harry’s detailed plans for the abortive robbery, Dolly Rawlins drew together the widows of the men who had died alongside him in the truck. She manipulated and cajoled them into repeating the raid that had taken their men. Always a strong-minded woman, Dolly grew more confident and arrogant each day. Her belief that they could handle it quelled their fears, and her constant encouragement and furious determination ensured that they not only succeeded in pulling off one of the most daring armed robberies ever, but she also made sure they got away with it. She had been doing it for Harry, using his carefully laid plans. Never for one moment had she believed or even contemplated his betrayal.
Harry Rawlins was alive. He had been the only one to escape from the nightmare raid that killed his men. Rawlins had arranged that when the raid was over, he would never return to his wife, and would leave Dolly for his mistress, a twenty-five-year-old girl. To his stunned amazement, Harry Rawlins had watched as Dolly went ahead with the raid, and laughed because he knew that if she succeeded he would take the money. Her audacity amused him. Safe in his girlfriend’s apartment, he had watched and waited, had played with his baby girl, the child Dolly had craved to give him. But Harry Rawlins had underestimated his wife.
Dolly succeeded in the raid and she also found out the terrible truth. She never confronted him — it would have been too dangerous, not for herself but for the other women concerned. Instead she planned their escape from England, leaving him penniless and desperate.
For a while the widows had lived high but the bulk of the money became a monster they could not control. Dolly returned to England where she knew Harry would come after her. And she waited, while planning another robbery: the diamond raid. She used the same women, the widows, but this time not everything had gone according to plan. One of them, Linda Pirellie, was killed in an automobile accident; a second, the young, beautiful Shirley Miller, was shot during the robbery. Dolly got away with the diamonds but the police net was drawing in. Yet again she reacted as her husband would have. She knew Jimmy Donaldson could be trusted; small-time he might be but he had done a lot of work for Harry in the past and had never been charged so she used that as a lever to ensure that he would keep the diamonds safe. She could have got away with it but something was more important than the diamonds: her guilt about little Shirley had pushed her to Audrey, Shirley’s mother, because she felt she owed her a debt. She was the only other person she felt she could trust, because Dolly had used Audrey in the first raid when they had escaped from England. Audrey would be unlikely to go to the police and she was broke, so the promise of a cut of the diamonds would atone for the shock and grief of Shirley’s death. All Dolly had asked Audrey to do was wait and in time she would get her share. She had not said how long the wait would be as she didn’t know herself. Because even though she might just get away with murder, in truth she hadn’t cared. All she had wanted, more than any millions, had been to get revenge. So Audrey had wept but had agreed to take the diamonds to Jimmy and had delivered them that same night, as Dolly had instructed. The agreement had been that they would have no further contact until Dolly gave the word. Neither Jimmy nor Audrey knew that, as they met, Dolly was waiting for Harry with a .22.
Harry had been relieved, the hiding-out over. He had known as soon as she saw him that he would be able to talk her round, make her believe that he’d had to lie low because he would have been arrested. He had allowed her to go through the charade of a funeral because if he hadn’t, the filth would have known he was still alive. So he had waited, confident he could manipulate her. Never had he considered the pain he had caused her, the terrible grief he had put her through, the wife who had stood by him for twenty years.
Harry had smiled when Dolly approached and had taken a few steps towards her. He had still been smiling when she fired at point-blank range into his heart.
Dolly Rawlins was arrested and charged with manslaughter, a nine-year sentence to be served at Holloway Prison. She had never stopped loving him and the pain never did go away, but the years eased it. In prison she embraced the hurt inside her, like the child she was never able to conceive.
Jimmy Donaldson hadn’t found out the truth — nobody had — but his fear of Harry Rawlins remained. He hid the diamonds and stuck to his story throughout the lengthy question-and-answer session following his removal from prison by DCI Craigh. He never mentioned Audrey’s name. All he admitted to was having received a package from Dolly Rawlins. Even after his subsequent arrest for fencing, he remained silent about the diamonds. In reality, he had been too scared to fence them or mention them to anyone else. Now he began to talk.
‘She’s a tough bitch, you know, hard as nails. Everyone knew how much her old man depended on her — gave him more alibis than you had hot dinners, mate.’
Donaldson became quite cocky as he told them how Dolly had promised he’d get a nice reward for keeping her property safe.
‘So where are they, Jimmy?’ asked Craigh.
Donaldson pursed his lips. Well, that would be telling. I mean, you gonna let me see my wife?’
Craigh became tougher, prodding him with his finger. We make the deals, Jimmy, not you. You’re lucky we’re not gonna slap more years on for not coming out with this at your trial.’
‘Fuckin’ hell, you bastards, you just been stringing me along. Well, no more, no way, I retract everythin’ I said, I dunno anythin’.’
The truth was that Craigh was in no position to offer a deal until he had spoken to the prison authorities and to Donaldson’s parole officer to see if they could get him moved. Mike was eager for them to make any promise and he was the one who asked Donaldson if Dolly Rawlins had contacted him since she had been in Holloway.
‘No, never — she’s not stupid. But a few times I sort of felt a finger on the back of the neck, so to speak.’
Donaldson never divulged that Dolly Rawlins had quite a hold over him because of all the other times he had fenced stolen gear for her husband. Donaldson would have been put away for a lot longer than five years. Dolly had known about his background and his work for Harry and she had virtually blackmailed him into holding on to the diamonds. Now he felt almost relief because they seemed to want to put her away again and it would mean he was free of her.
‘How is she going to collect the diamonds?’
‘Well, she’ll call me. She was never arrested or charged for that gig, was she? I mean, nobody knows she’s got them, do they?’ Mike Withey was also relieved. At no point had Donaldson mentioned the part his own mother, Audrey, had played.
Still not knowing the location of the diamonds, Craigh and Palmer talked it over with the Super and decided to take Donaldson to his home and give it a few days to see if Rawlins made contact.
When Donaldson knew he was going home, would see his wife — even if a police officer was to be with him at all times — he told them where the stones were hidden. His wife still ran his junk and antique shop and the main wall had a four-brick hideaway; if they removed the bricks, they would find the gems.
Craigh and Palmer thumped each other; it had worked like a little jewel up to now and there was, or had been, a whopper of a reward out for the return of the stones. They congratulated Mike, who was well chuffed because if it did pan out, if Dolly Rawlins contacted Donaldson, if they got the diamonds and had Donaldson handed them over to her, they could arrest her and have her sent right back to prison. Rest in peace, Shirley Miller.