The candles threw shadows on the wall and she raised her hand to make a silhouette of a bird flying, flapping its wings. Dolly Rawlins’s first day of freedom in eight years. Julia watched the shadow bird flutter and then broke the shadow as she moved her hands away from the candle. Ester had planned this evening carefully, each one of them chosen because they were desperate, herself included. She was desperate not to lose Ester, desperate to safeguard the lies she had told her ailing elderly mother, lies she had spun round her arrest and prison sentence. Julia’s mother never knew her daughter the doctor was an ex-drug addict, that she had been struck off and that for the last four years she had been in prison. She had arranged an elaborate charade via friends who passed Julia’s letters written in Holloway to look as if they were sent from around the world. Julia’s mother never suspected, never knew her daughter’s double life, just as she had no notion that her daughter could or would be deeply in love with another woman. It was beyond her comprehension, and Julia was determined her mother would never know. Keeping up the pretence had taken money, and still took every penny she could lay hands on, as she paid all her mother’s bills. Julia, too, although she hated to admit it, needed those diamonds but, unlike the others, she was ashamed to acknowledge the awful con they were all about to begin on Dolly Rawlins.
Chapter 3
Jimmy Donaldon’s wife had been informed that her husband was returning home on a ‘special leave’ from prison. She was asked not to mention the visit to anyone and to remain in the house until he was brought home. When he did arrive, in the company of two plainclothes officers, they had only one or two moments alone before he was taken into their sitting room. One officer placed a tape recorder and bugging device on their telephone in the hope that Dolly Rawlins would make contact. The small antique shop was already being searched. DCI Craigh arranged for a rota of officers to remain in the house and to keep an eye on Jimmy. Mike Withey was to take the following morning shift: he couldn’t wait to see his mother and tell her of the developments that had moved faster than he could have anticipated.
At the same time Dolly Rawlins was about to arrive at Grange Manor House. The women had all changed into cocktail dresses. Ester had laid out one of her own dresses for Dolly to change into and as she saw the headlamps of the Corniche turning into the driveway, she gave hurried orders for the women to remain in the dining room and stay silent. Next she briefed Angela that when the doorbell rang she was to open the front door and welcome Dolly into the house. Ester would then make her appearance.
Dolly stepped out of the car. She looked around in confusion and felt unsure, even more so than she’d been when driving down the dark, potholed lane leading to the house. The massive manor looked daunting but in the shadows it was difficult to detect its run-down, neglected grounds. The chauffeur guided her towards the front steps. She stopped.
‘Are you staying?’
‘If you would like me to, Mrs Rawlins. It’s entirely up to you.’ He rang the bell. Some of the stained glass was broken in the panels but the steps had been swept and Dolly wasn’t paying much attention; she was feeling edgy.
Angela opened the door, wearing a neat black dress and white apron.
‘Good evening, Mrs Rawlins. Welcome to the Grange.’
Dolly hesitated and then saw the elegant Ester standing with her arms wide. ‘Dolly. Come on in.’
She walked into the hall.
‘What’s going on?’
‘It’s a welcome out party for you.’
‘Is he going?’ She was almost prepared to walk after the chauffeur.
‘Oh, he’ll be back, and we’ve all got our cars round the back.’
‘All?’
‘Your old mates, Dolly, from Holloway.’
She watched as Angela closed the door, taking Dolly’s small case from the chauffeur, and then Ester embraced her warmly, kissing her on both cheeks.
‘Come, let me show you around. You’ll want a bath, won’t you?’
Dolly looked at the banks of flickering candles, still nonplussed as Ester guided her up the stairs. She stopped. ‘Why are you doing this?’
Ester continued up the stairs. ‘We’ve come out to nothing and no one, Dolly. We all know what it feels like. We wanted to make sure you got a special party, to sort of kick you off in the right direction.’
Dolly followed Ester up the stairs, impressed by the house, then the clean room with the black lace dress laid out on the bed. There were stockings and clean underwear, even a couple of pairs of high-heeled shoes.
‘You did all this for me?’ Dolly said, still nonplussed.
‘It’s not a new dress but it is a Valentino. Would you like me to run a bath for you? Wash your hair?’
Angela slipped in with Dolly’s suitcase and placed it by the bed. She was out again before Dolly could say a word. ‘Who’s that?’
‘Oh, she’s just a kid that used to work for me.’
‘A tart, is she?’
‘No, she’s just here to serve us so we don’t have to do anything but enjoy ourselves.’
Dolly wandered around the room. ‘Who else is here?’
Ester turned on the taps, felt the hot water — it wasn’t what you’d call hot hot — and poured in bath salts.
‘Kathleen O’Reilly, you remember her?’ Ester listed the other names.
Dolly sat on the bed. ‘Well, I wouldn’t call any of them friends, Ester. They all here, are they?’
‘Yes, well, I tried to get as many women as I thought you knew so it’d be a bit of a knees-up.’
‘I’m not sure what to say.’
Ester smiled. ‘Just have a nice bath. I’ll go and tell them you’ll be down soon, okay?’
Dolly slowly took off her coat, and then smiled. ‘Yeah, why not? I could do with a drink.’
They all looked towards the double doors as Ester came into the dining room. ‘She’s getting ready, won’t be long.’
‘I hope not, I’m starving,’ Gloria muttered.
Julia lolled in her chair. ‘She knows who’s down here?’
‘Yes, she does, and don’t drink any more, Kathleen. We’ve got to work her over and if you get pissed you’ll open that yapping mouth. That goes for you too, Gloria.’
She glanced over the table and then went to the kitchen. Angela had her feet up, reading a magazine. ‘We’ll have the first course, then I’ll ring for you.’
‘Yeah, you told me that before.’
‘When she’s ready to come down, I want you to bring her in. Go up to her room when I tell you. I don’t want her wandering around.’
‘You told me that as well.’
‘Fine, I’m just making sure everything’s ready.’
Ester walked out. Angela waited a moment, then followed. As soon as she saw her heading up the stairs she crept to the phone, eased it off the hook, and dialled. She waited, eyes to the dark, candlelit hallway.
Mike answered the phone. Susan was dishing up dinner. He spoke softly and then replaced the receiver. He was smiling like he’d just been given good news.
‘Who was that?’
‘Mum. I said I’d go over later after dinner.’
‘Oh, I’d like to have come with you. Why didn’t you tell me? I could ask the girl next door to babysit.’
‘I’m only going for a few minutes.’
Mike sat down as Susan passed him a plate of stew. She was a pretty girl, with long blonde hair, similar to Mike’s sister Shirley. She was almost as pretty. Both their sons had already been put to bed and she’d half-hoped they could have an evening together.
‘Is your mum still planning to go to Spain?’
Mike nodded, his mouth full. ‘Yeah, that’s why I said I’d drop in, see if she needed me to do anything.’