Julia tried to keep her breathing regular but she was panting. The voices continued, but she could not make out what they were saying. She went back upstairs and to the kitchen window. Norma was smiling as she headed away from the barn with the police officers. Her hand shook as she poured the coffee and she spun round when Norma breezed in through the back door. ‘You want a biscuit?’ she asked brightly.
‘Nope, I’ve not got much time. I’ve got to get back, help out, the builders are provin’ a bit expensive so we’re doing a lot ourselves and you know what it’s like. Moan, moan, who’s doing their fair share becomes the high point of every meal.’
Norma poured more coffee. I’m not good at lying, Julia thought, it’s written all over my face. ‘What are you doing to me, Norma? Shopping me to your friends?’
Norma gave a big false laugh. ‘No, they just asked if they could look over the barn.’
‘Oh, Christ,’ Julia said, and Norma looked up sharply. ‘I feel awful. You’ve got a whole barnful of Mother’s things, but I’ve sold the house and... you did say I could use the barn.’
The back door opened and one of the officers stood leaning on the doorframe. ‘Thanks, Norma, we’re on our way.’
Norma jumped up and hurried to the door. ‘Any problems?’ The officer shook his head and went down the path to where his mates were waiting.
Julia pushed back her chair noisily. ‘Thanks for the coffee. Maybe we can have dinner one night?’
Norma flushed. ‘Sure. I’m back in London for the next part of the week but maybe after, when I come back.’
‘Scared of being seen with me in front of your pals, are you?’
Norma flushed even deeper. ‘No, of course not, but right now this place is like Scotland Yard. The world and its mother is down here and they keep on dropping in.’
Julia walked down the narrow hallway. ‘Yeah. They’re dropping in a lot at our place, too, but they don’t get quite so warm a welcome. See you, then.’
Norma wanted to say something — she did feel guilty — but Julia had already walked out, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her old hacking jacket, and she didn’t turn back, smile or even wave. ‘Two-faced cow,’ she muttered as she turned into the lane. But then she stopped. This was dumb — they needed that bitch. She smiled at Norma as she stood at her door and walked back over to her, cupping her face in her hands. ‘Stay cool, darlin’, nobody really gives a fuck who you screw. If it’s me, so what? I like you, Norma, don’t turn away from me. Don’t make me not trust you.’
Norma leaned against her a moment, and whispered that she was sorry. ‘Please see me when I come back next week. Please?’
Julia was smiling as she backed down the path. ‘Can’t wait until then. You take care now.’ She wanted to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand. She hated the touch of Norma now, and the sooner they got their cash and left the district the better. But at least the money was still safe, for a while anyway.
They were all lulled into a false sense of security as the days passed and even the newspapers no longer screamed out headlines about the robbery. It was now slipping back to pages five and six. They all remained at the manor, waiting. Dolly continued to make them work around the grounds and the house, continually on show.
Gloria took more and more interest in the children. She was wonderful at making up games and puzzles. She had unending patience with them but, like all the others, the waiting was getting to her.
Julia rode every day and sometimes encouraged one of the others to take Helen out, but Dolly was wary of letting the police see that they could all ride so even that created arguments. Julia had started drinking heavily in the evenings because she had sold her mother’s house and still had a few hundred left over after paying the bills at the nursing home. She was generous and gave them all a few quid but spent most on vodka and always had a half-bottle close at hand.
Ester was the moodiest. She stayed in bed until midday, refusing to help out as she felt it was all a waste of time. Connie began to work out for hours in their gym. She kept well away from John and even further away from Jim. She painted her nails, bleached her hair, content to spend the time daydreaming of a successful career in the movies. She was planning to go to Hollywood with her share of the money, and the dressing-table mirror became the cameras. This amused Connie but annoyed everyone else as she swanned around.
Jim had been questioned so many times his nerves were in shreds but he never at any time disclosed to the police that Connie had spent time with him in the signal box. He did this not to protect her but his job. In the end he had to take two weeks’ leave as his nerves were so bad, and was given sedatives and sleeping tablets by his doctor.
Evenings were spent watching television and videos. The days and nights dragged on but Dolly would never mention the robbery. She continued to impress Julia. She was like a rock: calm and always pleasant, trying to keep their nerves from fraying.
One evening Ester freaked and started yelling that she wanted her cut, she wanted to leave, and if the others wanted to stay then they could.
‘You stay here, Ester, we all stay here until the cops clear the place. If it’s weeks or months, we stay on, and we divide it up when I say so and not before.’ Dolly was icy calm, her eyes flicking from one woman to the other. ‘Let it all out now because nothing will change my mind. You knew this was going to be the way it went down. Just wait.’
Angela loved the house. She didn’t mind working in it or the gardens and she adored the little girls, who were filling out, rosy-cheeked and boisterous, the only people unaware of the growing tension and the reason for it.
DCI Craigh and his men had read the reports on the robbery in the papers and heard about it from mates connected to the Robbery Squad at Scotland Yard. They had early on given the tip-off regarding the women, especially their interaction with Dolly Rawlins. DI Palmer had actually roared with laughter as Craigh had read out the details of the scam and wondered if Rawlins could possibly have any connection with it.
‘Oh, yeah! she’s a real Annie Get Your Gun, Gov. I mean, can you see that frosty-faced bitch riding a horse? That’s how they reckon it was done, you know. Rawlins’s got to be over fifty, near sixty.’
Craigh pulled a face but he had sent in a report. He received no feedback so presumed she must have been questioned and dismissed as a suspect. Still, he wondered whether if she had not played a part in it, maybe she knew who had, but this was not his department and he had other, more pressing things to worry about. One in particular. George Fuller, Dolly Rawlins’s lawyer, having received no reply to his original letter regarding the damage to Rawlins’s property, now sent in a reminder, requesting an update. Craigh was confronted by his irate chief as he, too, had received a memo from his superior. The ten-thousand-pound claim was ludicrous, and Craigh insisted that no way had they created anywhere near that amount of damage. He had hoped it would simply be forgotten, though it obviously hadn’t. He was told to discuss it further with Mrs Rawlins, and if necessary get an estimate of their own before any money was paid out. Craigh and Palmer reckoned that if they confronted Rawlins, she would probably back down. They could offer her a deal, perhaps a quarter of the estimated damages.