‘I agree with you. Looking ahead, it might be better not to put Rachel through the experience of giving evidence in court against men like them. I’ll park here in Willan Road; it’s only a short walk to Tangmere House.’
‘Kingston was very quiet at the meeting,’ Jane remarked as they got out of the car.
‘According to the Colonel he had a massive bust-up with his wife last night.’
‘I hope it wasn’t too serious,’ she said, hoping he’d say more.
‘Keep it to yourself, but apparently when she got home last night, Katie decided to tell her boyfriend she was having an affair with Kingston. He then phoned Kingston’s wife while we were all in the pub, so no surprise all hell broke loose when he got home.’
‘Bloody hell,’ Jane said, wondering what else Katie had said.
‘Kingston’s a good detective and a decent bloke — but he’s only got himself to blame when it comes to his home life. His wife is a lovely, attractive woman. For the life of me I can’t understand why he goes out looking for a burger when he’s got steak at home.’
Jane didn’t much like what the analogy implied about her, so she quickly changed the subject.
‘I know Murphy wanted you there when I speak to the twins about their family, but I was thinking it might be best if I spoke to Emma alone.’
‘That’s fine by me. I could go through the cars section in Exchange & Mart with Rachel while you do that,’ he said. ‘What a surprise — looks like the lift’s working.’
A young couple stepped out of it as they entered the foyer. Jane winced at the thought.
‘I’d rather walk up the stairs.’
Teflon smiled, turning away from the lifts. ‘You might be right.’
When they got to the right floor, Jane knocked on the door of flat 68 and it was quickly opened by Emma.
‘Hello, Jane, please come in.’
‘Thanks. This is my colleague Lloyd Johnson.’
Emma shook hands with him.
‘How’s your investigation going? Were the men in the cafe involved in the robbery?’
‘The investigation is progressing well, and thanks to Rachel’s information we have some interesting leads.’
Emma looked pleased. ‘That’s good news. She’s in the living room doing some drawings and will be eager to know what’s happened. I’ve been sewing and stitching a little present for you.’
‘You didn’t need to do that.’
‘It’s not much, just a way of thanking you for offering to help us with the council.’
‘Get out of that one,’ Teflon whispered.
Rachel was sitting in an armchair with her back to the living room door and wasn’t aware anyone had entered the room. She was drawing in an A4 sketchbook. Emma walked in front of Rachel and signed that Jane and her colleague had come to see them. Rachel jumped up with a smile as she signed ‘hello,’ then gestured to them to sit down on the sofa. As they sat down, she showed them her drawing of a man’s face. Jane was astonished by how lifelike it was, and her eyes were instantly drawn to the pair of boxing gloves on a chain around the man’s neck.
‘Is that M2?’
Rachel nodded and turned back a page, revealing another drawing, then wrote M2 next to it with a pencil.
‘They’re brilliant, Rachel, and they’ll be very useful to us,’ Jane said.
‘Definitely better than most police artists’ impressions,’ Teflon remarked.
‘She has a photographic memory,’ Jane said.
Rachel flicked back another page, which had a drawing of a young man with hair down to his shoulders.
‘I take it that’s the good-looking man who wears the polo shirts with a crocodile on them?’ Jane asked.
Rachel had a twinkle in her eyes as she smiled, and nodded her head repeatedly with a childlike innocence.
Emma looked at Teflon. ‘She likes him... a lot.’
Rachel frowned at her sister and handed Jane the sketchbook.
Jane opened her shoulder bag and took out the Exchange & Mart paper Kingston had given her. As Jane spoke Emma signed to her sister.
‘I’d like you to go through the cars for sale section with my colleague Lloyd and see if you can identify the car the man in the camel hair coat was driving.’
Rachel nodded and signed to Emma.
‘She said she can try and draw it if you want.’
‘Look through the magazine first, then if you don’t see the car do the drawing. Meanwhile I’ll help Emma make a nice cup of tea for us all.’
‘Can I have a coffee with milk and sugar please?’ Teflon asked.
Jane followed Emma to the kitchen.
‘Is something wrong, Jane?’ a worried-looking Emma asked.
‘What makes you think that?’
‘You didn’t say anything about your investigation to Rachel and seemed eager to be alone with me.’
Jane realized Emma was more perceptive than she thought.
‘Actually, there is something I need to speak to you in private about.’
‘Do those men know it was Rachel who told you about them?’ she asked, with a genuine look of concern.
Jane shook her head emphatically. ‘We haven’t spoken to them and only my team know about you and Rachel.’
‘Was it them that committed the robbery and shot the police officers?’
‘We don’t know for certain, and even with what Rachel told us we haven’t enough to arrest them — so there’s nothing for you to worry about.’
‘That’s a relief. Can I tell Rachel?’
‘Of course. What I want to speak to you about concerns yours and Rachel’s childhood.’
‘There’s not much to tell, really. As you know, our parents died in a car crash and we were raised in a children’s home.’
‘Was it St. Cuthbert’s in Tottenham?’
‘Yes, why do you ask?’
‘A colleague of mine spoke to a nun at St. Cuthbert’s. She told him about twin girls called Emira and Rasheda Osman, who were sent there in 1958 after a car crash.’
‘I’ve never heard those names before.’ Emma looked away nervously.
‘The nun said one girl was deaf and the other had a deformed left hand as a result of the crash. To me, there can be no doubt she was talking about you and Rachel.’
Emma sighed and looked at Jane. ‘After the crash we were both in hospital for some time, then our uncle looked after us for a week while he finalized the arrangements for us to go to St. Cuthbert’s. The Mother Superior decided to change our names to Emma and Rachel Wilson. Rachel was withdrawn and isolated in a world of deafness, she needed me to support her, but after a year and a half I was sent to live with a family and Rachel remained at the home.’
Jane was stunned. ‘They split you up? Why on earth did they do that?’
‘They liked to foster children out whenever they could, though some siblings were kept together.’
‘After what you and Rachel had been through, I would have thought it crucial you were kept together.’
‘I still remember one of the nuns at the home telling me no one wanted a deaf and dumb girl to look after. Even though I was eight by then, I knew she was expressing her own feelings as well. I missed Rachel terribly and asked my foster parents if they would take me to the care home, but they told me it wasn’t a good idea as it would make me miss her more, and the same for her.’
‘You obviously kept looking for her, though.’
‘Of course... I eventually found out she’d been moved from St. Cuthbert’s, but no one would tell me where. I was beginning to feel there was nothing else I could do. When I was twenty-one I worked as a seamstress at a dressmaker’s in Hackney and rented a single room in a bedsit. One day, out of the blue, a girl came up to me while I was in Woolworths shopping and started waving her hands at me. I hadn’t a clue what she was doing, until an older woman with her said she was using sign language.’