5

The next day, Molly looked out of Jane’s lounge window, aware that behind her Georgina was anxiously pacing the room.

‘Any sign of them?’ her friend asked.

‘No, nothing,’ Molly answered.

‘Something’s not right. She’s been gone too long.’

‘It’s not been an hour yet. I’m sure she’ll be back soon.’

‘I should never have let her go alone. Christ, Molly, what was I thinking?’

‘Jane will be perfectly fine. She’s Billy’s mum so they’re not gonna bat an eyelid at her calling in to see Knuckles.’

‘We don’t know that. They could suspect that she had something to do with the robbery last night. Shit, Molly, if anything happens to her it’ll be my fault and I’ll never forgive myself.’

‘Here she is, and Knuckles is with her. See, panic over so calm down.’ Molly offered a reassuring smile. For all of Georgina’s hard-faced bravado, Molly knew her friend cared deeply for those around her.

‘Do you want to go upstairs with Edward?’

‘No,’ Molly answered, ‘I’ll stay. I’m as much a part of this as you and Jane. It’s about time I toughened up a bit and stopped hiding away.’

Molly stood next to Georgina in the bay window, waiting for Jane and Knuckles to enter the lounge. Her heart pounded and the room was so quiet that she was sure Georgina would hear it. Her friend was several inches taller than her and it was all Molly could do to stop herself from hiding behind her.

They heard the front door close and then Jane walked in, looking as glamorous and self-assured as she had before Billy’s death. Knuckles followed and when he saw Georgina, his ruddy face broke into a broad grin.

He shook his head in disbelief as he spoke. ‘I can’t believe you pulled that off, Miss Garrett. I don’t know how you did it, but they’re gone. I take my hat off to you.’ He removed his flat cap and offered his large hand for Georgina to shake.

She ignored his gesture but gave him a friendly smile. ‘Sit down, Knuckles, and Mrs Wilcox will get you a drink. You can fill me in on what happened.’

Molly went to step forward but Jane left the room.

Knuckles threw himself down on the sofa. He was such a large man, Molly thought the sofa might break under his weight. Then he gabbled, ‘Well, it’s all over. Mickey shot Malc and then Sid did Mickey in. I told Sid to do a runner, and he didn’t need telling twice.’

Georgina crossed one long leg over the other, then said to Knuckles, ‘Slow down and give me the details. Start from the beginning and don’t leave anything out.’

As Knuckles began to relay the events of the morning at the brothel in Queenstown Road, Molly took the armchair opposite Georgina’s and listened, intrigued at Knuckles’ every word.

‘Mickey had us all in the office as usual and I saw him pick up a glove. He must have recognised it as Malc’s and asked him what it was doing under his desk. Malc just shrugged. He weren’t taking any notice ’cos he was busy talking to Sid. I didn’t give it a second thought ’til Mickey’s brother went for the cash and said it was gone.’

Knuckles paused, smiling, and impatiently Georgina said, ‘Go on.’

‘Yeah, well, that’s when I knew. I thought to meself, Miss Garrett’s got something to do with this. Anyway, Mickey went mental and started tearing the room apart. He couldn’t believe someone had nicked his money. He kept saying nobody would have the bollocks to rob him, but I knew you would. I knew you’d done it.’

‘So then what happened?’ Georgina asked.

‘Mickey got the tarts downstairs and slapped ’em about a bit. They were snivelling and saying they didn’t know nothing about it. He had me search their rooms but I knew I wouldn’t find nothing. When I told him the rooms were clean, he went quiet. Then he started screaming at Malc, accusing him. Malc laughed in his face and Mickey had me look in Malc’s car. That’s when I found the money.’

Jane came back into the room and Knuckles paused whilst she handed round cups of coffee. Molly had been hanging on Knuckles every word and was silently willing the man to continue.

‘I took the money to Mickey and by now him and Malc were having a full-blown row. When Mickey saw the cash, he asked me if it had been in Malc’s car, so I told him yes. That was it, he didn’t ask no more questions. Malc was denying knowing anything about it but then Mickey just shot him. I couldn’t fucking believe it! He and Malc go back years; they’ve been mates since they were nippers.’

Georgina sipped on the hot drink, then asked, ‘You said Mickey’s dead too. How did that happen?’

‘The next thing I knew, Sid started doing his nut. He went for Mickey and the gun went off but Mickey missed and Sid managed to get him on the floor. Mickey tried to fight him off but Sid grabbed this big, onyx ashtray from Mickey’s desk and whacked him over the head with it. There was blood everywhere and Mickey weren’t moving. Next thing I know, Mickey’s on all fours trying to get up but Sid had the gun and fired it. He shot Mickey in the back.’

‘What did you do then?’

‘If you must know, I panicked. I thought how the fuck am I gonna explain away two dead bodies. Nobody would have called the Old Bill, but Cunningham calls in every day. He’s the local bobby on Mickey’s pay, but now Mickey’s laid on the floor with his skull caved in and a hole in his back. Someone’s going to the gallows, so I told Sid to help me carry Malc to the car. I said he had to get rid of Malc’s body then have it away on his toes. I told him I’d cover for him… that I’d lie to Cunningham and say I found Mickey like that.’

‘So Sid has gone for good?’

‘Yeah, he couldn’t get away quick enough. I reckon he was shitting himself without Malc to back him up. He’ll be long gone now.’

‘What about Mickey’s brother?’

‘He disappeared. I didn’t see him leave but I know him – he’ll be hiding behind his mother’s apron.’

‘So, Mickey – where’s his body?’

Molly glanced at Jane and held her breath. She hoped Knuckles wouldn’t say that Mickey was in the cellar. She wasn’t sure how Jane would react to knowing Mickey was with her husband.

‘He ain’t dead. I went to drag him to the stairs and he made a strange noise. Frightened the fucking life out of me at first,’ Knuckles said and laughed. ‘I got the girls to clean up a bit then sent one of them for an ambulance. They carted Mickey off just as Cunningham turned up.’

‘Mickey’s alive?’

‘Only just. Judging by the state of him, he ain’t gonna be back.’

‘What did Cunningham say, is he investigating?’

‘Nah. He seemed more bothered about getting to the hospital to check on Mickey. He won’t do nothing about it and said he’ll put it down to Mickey having an accident.’

‘Good. You did well, Knuckles.’

‘Looks like you’re the guv now, Miss Garrett, so what do you want me to do next?’

‘I’d like you to return to Queenstown Road and carry on as normal for now. I’ll be there to take over soon. Do you think you can do that?’

‘Yes, Miss Garrett. I’ll keep an eye on things for you.’

‘Off you go then,’ Georgina told him.

Jane saw Knuckles out, and once the front door was closed behind him, Molly felt she could finally breathe again. ‘Is that it, Georgina? Is the business ours now?’

‘Yes, and rightly so. Mickey had no right to take it over. It’s always belonged to the Wilcox family.’

‘You’re not a Wilcox,’ Jane snapped at Georgina, which shocked Molly.

‘No, I’m not, thank goodness.’

‘So really, Molly should be running it and you should be working for her,’ Jane added haughtily.

‘Oh, no… no… I couldn’t… I don’t want to be running it,’ Molly said as she shook her head fervently in protest.

‘What’s your problem, Jane?’ Georgina asked and stood up. She looked like she was ready to fight Jane, and Molly could feel herself cowering.

‘I’m just pointing out the facts,’ Jane answered.

‘You heard Molly. She doesn’t want to run it and someone has to or there’ll be another Mickey the Matchstick waiting to jump in and take over. Is that what you want? Or perhaps you’d like to be in charge yourself?’

Molly sucked in her breath again and held it whilst she waited for Jane to answer.

‘I was merely saying that as Billy’s widow, the business is Molly’s.’

Molly didn’t like the atmosphere that was building between Georgina and Jane and they were referring to her as if she wasn’t in the room. ‘I don’t want the business,’ she blurted, and hoped that would be an end to the heated discussion. ‘I – don’t – want – the – business,’ she repeated slowly. ‘In fact, I’m handing over all rights to Georgina. There, job done. I’ll be happy to sign any paperwork but as far as I’m concerned, any interests in the Wilcox business that belonged to me now officially belong to Georgina.’

‘You can’t do that!’ Jane said and glared at her.

‘I can do what I like. I had enough of Billy telling me what I could and couldn’t do and I won’t stand by and allow you to do the same.’ Molly sounded firm but inside, she was trembling.

‘Norman made the business what it is today, and if Billy hadn’t killed him it would be mine. You’ve no right to be giving it away.’

‘If it wasn’t for Georgina, I’d have nothing to give away,’ Molly answered swiftly.

‘Fine, have it your way, but you’ll come to regret this. Do you really believe that Georgina is going to look after us? What makes you think she won’t take everything for herself?’

‘Whoa, let’s calm down, shall we,’ Georgina said and came to stand in between Jane and Molly. She then addressed Jane: ‘As I am to take charge, I’ll make sure that you and Molly get a cut of the profits, twenty-five per cent each. Ten per cent to Fanny and forty to me. Is that fair?’

‘I’m happy with that,’ Molly said, thinking how money really brought out the ugliness in people.

‘I suppose I’ll have to be too,’ Jane answered but Molly thought the woman looked like she had a bad smell under her nose.

‘Good. I’ll have papers drawn up but in the meantime, I’ve got work to do. If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to my office. Molly, would you mind popping to mine and letting my gran know what’s happened?’

‘I’d be happy to,’ Molly answered and smiled at her friend.

Georgina left and Molly was suddenly filled with dread. She didn’t want to be alone with Jane. The woman was obviously in a foul mood and the Wilcox temper unnerved her. ‘I’d better wrap Edward up nice and warm,’ she said as an excuse to leave the room.

As she walked into the hallway, she heard Jane mutter, ‘Yes, you do that. And while you’re there, you can tell him how you willy-nilly handed over his father’s business.’

Molly chose to ignore Jane’s snide remark. She didn’t understand why Jane was suddenly being difficult. After all, Jane had arranged the meetings with Knuckles and she’d been happy for Georgina to take control from Mickey. Mind you, Jane’s moods were becoming more erratic lately and her strange behaviour seemed to be escalating. Molly was becoming increasingly concerned that Jane was delusional and believed Edward was her son. She’d referred to the baby as Billy on more than one occasion.

Molly lifted him from his cot. ‘Don’t worry, little one,’ she cooed in a hushed voice as she held him protectively to her chest, ‘we’ll soon be out of here and away from your demented grandma.’

*

Georgina’s mind raced. She felt hugely relieved that her audacious plan had worked, because if the truth had been known, she didn’t have a back-up one. Now there was so much to do and she knew exactly where to start – Ezzy, her old friend who owned a jewellery shop near Clapham Junction railway station.

Her father had worked for Ezzy’s father; the two families went back years. Ezzy was a good man, one she knew she could trust and he wasn’t averse to being on the wrong side of the law. He was a fence of top quality jewellery and paid fairly for the things she and her dad nicked. Ezzy also had a group of young lads, dippers, working for him. They would bring him their stolen goods and he would exchange the merchandise with his cousin, Seth, who owned a jewellery shop in Manchester. In fact, she and her father had often done the London to Manchester runs on the steam trains. The income had kept the rent man happy on many occasions.

Ezzy let Georgina in through his new-fangled security system and greeted her with genuine affection. ‘My goodness, is that really you, George?’ he asked, holding her at arm’s length and eyeing her up and down.

‘Yes, Ezzy, it’s really me, only I’m Georgina now. George is in a trunk under my bed. Anyway, you’ve seen me dressed like this before.’

Ezzy beckoned her out towards the back of his shop. ‘Yes, but I forgot how beautiful you are. You look incredible – your father must be a proud man.’

‘Thank you,’ Georgina answered, and could feel herself blush. She wasn’t used to receiving compliments.

‘How have you been? I haven’t seen you in such a very long time. Can I get you some tea?’

‘Yes, thanks. I’m all right and I’m sorry it’s been so long but I’ve had a lot of stuff going on,’ she answered.

‘It’s fine, it’s fine, I know how busy you young people are. How is your father? I heard he’s, erm… not very well?’

‘He’s drunk, all the time. It’s not good but my friend is going to make him better.’

‘I’m sorry, George, I mean Georgina. It’s a shame. You know I think highly of your father. I hope your friend can help him. Now, what can I do for you? Have you brought me some quality pocket watches?’

‘No, don’t be daft, Ezzy. It’s been yonks since I did any pickpocketing,’ Georgina replied with a small chuckle.

‘You was the best dipper I’ve known. Your father taught you well. So to what do I owe this pleasure?’

‘Actually, can you shut up shop for the afternoon? I’ve got a proposition for you.’

Ezzy raised his dark bushy eyebrows as he spoke. ‘Shut up shop? But, Georgina, you know I’m a Jewish man. We never close for business unless we have to. My father used to tell me: Money will buy you everything but good sense.’

‘Trust me, Ezzy, you won’t lose any money.’

Ezzy wobbled his head from side to side as if weighing up his options, then went to the front door and locked it before returning to the back of the shop to sit in a worn leather chair. He offered Georgina a wooden slatted seat opposite his, and once she was sat, he said, ‘I’d like to hear your proposal.’

‘I’ve taken over the Wilcox business,’ Georgina replied and paused, waiting to gauge his reaction.

‘How? Mickey took over after Billy’s death.’

‘It doesn’t matter how, but it’s done. Malc and Sid won’t be visiting you again. You won’t have to give them any more money.’

‘You know about that?’

‘Yes, Dad let it slip to my gran and she told me. Malc’s dead and you won’t be seeing anything of Sid.’

‘Dead? Are you sure?’

‘Yep, it’s true.’

‘But what about Mickey? He’ll soon have another of his ruffians round here and smashing up my shop if I refuse to pay.’

‘No, Ezzy, he won’t. Mickey’s out of action. You’ve seen the last of him.’

‘How do you know all this, Georgina?’

‘Because I orchestrated it. I told you, I’m in charge now.’

‘You’re just a girl, you couldn’t possibly…’

Georgina politely cut in, ‘With respect, I think you’re underestimating me.’

‘Um, I think you might be right,’ Ezzy said thoughtfully, then added, ‘and that would be a mistake for anyone to do. Now then, what do you want from me?’

‘I’m glad you’ve asked. I need someone who understands the books. I don’t know the first thing about accounts but you do.’

‘I’m not an accountant, Georgina.’

‘I know but you run this place. I just need you to come to the office with me and look at the accounts. I need to know what sort of financial situation the business is in.’

‘I’m not the right person for this,’ Ezzy said and then snapped his fingers. ‘But I know a man who is.’

‘I’m not sure about asking anyone else. How do I know I can trust him?’

‘Because I trust him. He’s my son, Benjamin.’

‘You have a son? I didn’t realise.’

‘That’s because I never spoke of him. His mother died when he was very young. I couldn’t care for him so he went to live with my sister. Now, he is a young man and has moved back with me.’

‘Oh, great, but can he do the job?’

‘Yes, of course, it would be easy for him. He’s an accountant. He was working for a shipping company in Victoria, but against his advice they put a lot of money into a mining project and for whatever reasons, lost their investment. The company went bust and Benjamin lost his job. I think he would be happy for any work right now.’

‘I need him today, right now, is that possible?’

‘Yes, I’ll call him,’ Ezzy answered and went to the telephone.

Georgina wouldn’t normally have trusted someone she didn’t know, but she had every faith in Ezzy.

‘He’s coming immediately,’ Ezzy told her when he returned to the back room.

‘Good, thanks. Does he understand the sensitivity of what he’ll be doing?’

‘Yes, I briefly explained. He said it’s exciting for him, a change from his usual boring jobs.’

‘I can guarantee there won’t be anything boring about this.’

‘He’ll be here in ten minutes. Now, if it is agreeable with you, I’ll open my shop again,’ Ezzy said and laughed as he went to the front door. Then he sounded more serious when he added, ‘I’m very impressed with you, Georgina. I don’t think I know of any woman who could have taken control of the Wilcox business. I hope you won’t be expecting me to continue paying extortion money?’

Georgina followed Ezzy into the shop. ‘No, of course I won’t,’ she answered, ‘and it’s not extortion, it’s insurance.’

‘Call it what you like but it’s still taking money from people under duress.’

‘Well, things are going to be different from now on.’

‘I hope so, young lady. You can do better than the likes of Billy Wilcox or Mickey whatever his name is.’

Ezzy had a point that Georgina hadn’t considered before now. Extortion or protection rackets or insurance as Jane preferred to call it – it wasn’t a very nice business. Did she really want to be involved in using threats and violence to extract money from hard-working, innocent people?

It was something she’d have to give some serious thought to.