The Girl from the Corner Shop

by Alrene Hughes

  She waited in the kitchen for them to come and directed them upstairs. Not long after, a policeman arrived and she answered all his questions.

  ‘No, I’m not his wife. No, this is not my house. No, I wasn’t here when he died. My relationship with this man? I was his mistress.’

  The policeman spoke to the ambulance men as they removed the body and he returned to tell her that it looked like a burst ulcer.

  When they had gone, she put the bedding in the bath with some bleach and left them to steep. Then she went back to the office, sent everyone home early and locked up the premises. She said nothing about the death of their employer. She’d tell them tomorrow, when she had decided what to say.

  Back home, she got a good fire going and ate the herrings she had bought for Harold’s tea. Waste not want not, she told herself. Then she settled down to consider what she should do next. She’d make sure the business kept going to keep their staff in work. She thought maybe his son might take it on. She could ask Dorothy to come back, now that she had sacked Rita. Then there was this house. Harold had said, right from the beginning, that he would leave it to her in his will. Tomorrow, she would check the death notices in the Manchester Evening News to find out where the funeral would be held; as his chief clerk, people would expect to see her there.

  By the third day she was concerned that there still hadn’t been an announcement, so she nipped out of the office to get the lunchtime edition, and there it was. She stood in the street and read it, ‘Private family funeral, family flowers only.’ That was strange. Harold was a well-known businessman in Manchester: he had hundreds of acquaintances; clients; friends from the supper club. And what about her, denied the chance to pay her respects?

  She came back into the building to find half a dozen men wandering in and out of the rooms.

  ‘Who are you? What are you doing here?’

  A man in a pinstripe suit answered. ‘We’re from Smith and Hunt and this business has been declared bankrupt. All assets are being seized, including property and bank accounts.’

  ‘There must be some mistake,’ she told him. ‘I’m the chief clerk and I’m sure the company is in the black.’

  ‘You are probably not aware of other debts. Now you and all other employees must vacate the premises.’

  They stood around outside as if in denial, reluctant to move away in case there had been some mistake. She tried to suppress the panic rising in her chest. ‘I’m sorry,’ she told them. ‘There’s nothing we can do. Go home now and if I hear anything, I’ll let you know.’ She watched them go – bewildered faces, angry faces. Then she ran all the way to the bus stop, hoping against hope that she could get home before the bailiffs arrived. Too late, the locks had already been changed. Everything she owned was inside the house, leaving her only the clothes she stood up in and the thirty shillings in her purse.

  A private funeral indeed! Aye, to spare the disgrace of a man dying in the arms of a young lover at his mistress’s house, and a once thriving business run into the ground.

  She would have to get a move on if she was to find somewhere to sleep. It was a cruel thought to stand in the cold and contemplate whether there was anyone who would give her a bed for the night, never mind until she found work. She thought of Helen. They had never been close, but at least they were on better terms now. She would go to Newton Heath and hope that her goddaughter would take pity on her.

  She almost missed the house in the gathering gloom, walking straight past it, then realising she had gone too far. She knocked at the door. No answer. Knocked again. Maybe Helen was still at work.

  ‘Hello there.’ It was the woman from next door. Had she been watching from her window? ‘Are you looking for Mrs Harrison?’

  ‘Ah, yes, she’s probably still at work. I’ll wait for her.’

  ‘You’ll have a long wait. She’s gone already, on duty, night shift. Happen she won’t be home till after three in the morning. Leastways, that’s how it’s been these last few weeks.’

  Pearl’s heart sank. Where could she go in this cold?

  ‘What’s your name? I’ll tell her you called.’

  ‘No, it doesn’t matter.’

  She set off walking and got as far as the chippy on the corner. Inside, she queued in the warm to buy a meat pie and ate it outside, sheltering behind a wall. She was deciding what to do next when a bus came towards her. She squinted to see the number then ran towards it. Maybe it was a mistake, but it was the only option she had.

  The bell rang as she came into the shop. She had rehearsed what she would say, along the lines of, ‘We’ve never got on, but I’m desperate and I hope—’

  The sight before her stopped her in her tracks. The bustling shop she knew had gone and in its place were half-empty shelves and a floor that hadn’t been mopped in weeks. There were no customers, just a girl sitting behind the counter smoking a cigarette and reading a comic.

  ‘Where’s Elsie?’ she asked.

  ‘You what?’

  ‘Elsie, the owner.’

  ‘Upstairs, of course. Who are you anyway?’

  Pearl headed straight to the curtain at the back of the shop.

  ‘Hey, where you going?’ the girl shouted.

  Pearl turned and walked back to her. ‘I’m Elsie’s cousin. Now, where are the shop keys?’ The girl pointed at a set of keys hung on a nail.

  She took them and told the girl, ‘You’d better leave right now and don’t bother coming back.’ The girl protested, but Pearl would have none of it. When the door was locked, she went in search of Elsie and found her asleep in bed. She switched on the light and shook her. ‘Wake up, Elsie, what’s the matter with you?’

  There was a moan and Elsie blinked at the light. ‘Pearl, is that you?’

  ‘It is.’

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I’ve come to see if you’re all right.’

  ‘I’m far from right, I’m proper poorly.’ She certainly looked thinner and she could do with a bath and her hair washed.

  ‘Elsie, I want you to get dressed and come down to the kitchen. I’ll make you something to eat and you can tell me what’s the matter.’

  Chapter 37

  A few days later, Helen arrived for work to find Anna waiting for her outside the club. ‘What’s to do?’ she asked.

  ‘Let’s take a walk down the road before we have to start work,’ and she linked Helen’s arm. Away from the premises she explained, ‘Carter telephoned Gerry just now. You know how he said you were to have a new job greeting the punters?’ Helen nodded. ‘Well, Gerry called me into the office and I had to speak to Carter on the phone. He said he wanted the two of us to go out and buy your new uniform and you’re to wear it on Saturday. Black dress, high heels, all the underwear, and I’m to do your hair and make-up. What do you think about that?’

  ‘Why is he making a big thing about me saying hello to men coming into the club?’

  ‘If you ask me it’s not about the men, it’s about you, Helen. He’s got you in his sights.’

  ‘Well, with a bit of luck, I won’t be here for much longer.’

  ‘And that’s what else I have to tell you.’ Anna lowered her voice even though no one was near enough to hear. ‘When I left the office, I pulled the handle close to the door, but I didn’t close it. I listened to the rest of their conversation. Gerry said, “All right, same as before. I’ll get everyone waiting in the warehouse from midnight Saturday and the lorries will get there sometime after that. I’ll contact the buyers on Friday to make sure they’re clear about collecting the stuff and that it’s cash only.”’

  Helen’s eyes widened. ‘We’ve got them, Anna! The gambling, the brothel, the black-market goods.’

  The next day, Thursday, Helen was in the Hidden Gem giving all the details to Sergeant Duffy.

  ‘Thank goodness, I wasn’t sure the chief constable would wait much longer. It’s a big operation, they have the plans ready and now we’ve got the day and time.’
r />   ‘It’s nearly over, thank God.’

  ‘Yes, it is, Harrison, but this is the most dangerous time. You think you’re there and you focus on the ending, but that’s when you can get careless. Keep your wits about you.’

  *

  The following day Helen and Anna were once again shopping in Kendal Milne. ‘I can’t believe there’s a whole department just for cocktail dresses and accessories,’ said Helen. ‘This is going to take a while.’

  ‘At least we can narrow it down to black.’

  ‘But everything is so expensive.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Gerry gave me plenty of money and coupons.’

  ‘I’m guessing they’re stolen.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Anna laughed. ‘I’m hardly going to be arrested for having a few dodgy coupons on me when all of this is over.’

  They went through the dresses first, discussing the designs. ‘I think something slim-fitting like this,’ said Anna, and she held it up. Helen nodded and Anna passed the dress to the assistant following behind them.

  ‘What about this off-the-shoulder style?’ said Helen.

  ‘Very striking, madam,’ and the assistant hung it over her arm.

  A few others were added and they went to the fitting room. The assistant hovered, but Anna sent her to fetch the highest black court shoes they had.

  Each dress seemed to suit Helen in different ways. ‘That’s why you should still be modelling,’ Anna told her.

  In the end they decided on a figure-hugging dress with a vent at the back and a neckline that hinted at her breasts, without giving anything away. The high heels were enough to give anyone a nosebleed, but Carter had been clear – she should be tall enough to look down on the short men and into the eyes of the tallest.

  The underwear was beautiful: the softest silk against her skin, a brassiere padded to enhance her figure. No one would see it, of course, but wearing it made her feel so feminine.

  Back on the ground floor, they bought make-up, perfume and pearl earrings, then swept out of the store laden with bags and boxes.

  Once outside, Helen’s excitement at spending so much money on beautiful things seemed to vanish.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Anna asked.

  ‘I don’t know. It was lovely to shop like that, without a care in the world, but it’s suddenly hit me… what I’m about to do… and, to be honest, I’m frightened. Really frightened. I’m not even a proper policewoman, Anna, I’m a nobody. And everything that’s going to happen depends on me.’

  Anna put her arm around her shoulder. ‘Hey, you’ve done everything right. Now it’s up to the powers that be. They have to bring this whole thing to an end.’

  ‘I don’t know if I can do this any more.’ Her voice rose in a panic. ‘What if we didn’t go back to the club? The raid could still go on.’

  ‘No, Helen, we have to carry on as normal, otherwise Carter will smell a rat.’ Anna gripped her arm. ‘We went into this together and we’ll see it through together.’

  Anna was right, of course, but she couldn’t help worrying. Then there was Charles Brownlow. She had a niggling feeling that he hadn’t believed her when she told him she didn’t join the police. What if he were to mention it to Carter? But why would he? He wasn’t part of a London black-market gang, all he wanted was to bed her. Besides, if Charles had given the game away, Carter would have called off the whole operation and she’d probably have ended up in the canal. No, she couldn’t walk away now, she had to brazen it out.

  ‘You’re right, Anna, we have to do it.’

  ‘That’s the spirit, we’ll get these bastards. Come on now, let’s have our lunch at Lyons’ Corner House.’ She laughed. ‘We’ll stuff our faces – Carter’s paying!’

  They came out of the restaurant into Albert Square and were about to go their separate ways – Anna to the club, Helen to meet with Sergeant Duffy – when she caught the sound of a newspaper vendor shouting the news. ‘I can’t believe it. They’ve caught him!’ She bought a paper and read the headline:

  ‘Suspect Arrested in Shelter Murders’

  ‘Thank God they’ve got him. They’ll be cock-a-hoop at the station.’

  Helen couldn’t wait to find out more and the first question she asked Sergeant Duffy was, ‘How did they catch him?’

  ‘After all the hours CID put in, and with not a single lead to show for it, it came down to a bobby on the beat,’ said Sergeant Duffy. ‘He heard a scream coming from the shelter in Spring Gardens. He ran to investigate and found a man grappling with a woman. He had a knife in his tweed overcoat. Not from around here, he was a commercial traveller.’

  ‘Let’s hope the women will feel safer now that we’ve caught him,’ said Helen.

  ‘I hope so too, it’s a good omen Right then, let’s get on with the Calico Club,’ she said. ‘So, there’s no change to what we know, is there? The goods will arrive at the warehouse in the early hours of Sunday morning. This’ll be a big operation if we’re to catch everyone in the net. You’ve done really well with this, Harrison.’

  ‘It was Anna, really. She took all the risks giving me the lead and now we’ve got the date thanks to her eavesdropping on the telephone call. She could so easily have been caught.’

  ‘I know, and we’ll be careful to keep you, Anna and the other girls safe. Make sure you’re all inside the club. You said you’d be in the entrance hall?’

  ‘Yes, I’ll be dressed in black.’

  ‘That’s good, I’ll tell them to get you out immediately.’

  It was time to part company, but both of them seemed reluctant to break the link between them. Eventually Helen said, ‘I’ll have to go now to get ready for my shift.’

  Sergeant Duffy stood up. ‘Helen, please don’t take any risks, keep your cover and act like any other young woman would under the circumstances. Good luck to you.’

  *

  When Helen arrived at the club it seemed busier than usual. Anna was waiting for her. ‘Carter’s here,’ she whispered. ‘It’s starting already. He’s in his office, getting everything sorted, I think. It’s my guess the men have come to do a deal in advance for the goods and, by the bulkiness of their jackets, they’re paying up front.’

  ‘So, am I supposed to start now in the entrance hall? Should I go and change into the black dress?’

  ‘No, he took everything from me, said he’d speak to you later about it and your duties.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Word is, it’s going to be a hell of a night tomorrow.’

  It was well after midnight when Gerry told Helen that the boss wanted to see her in his office. Her heart was thumping. What if he’d got wind of the raid? All the careful planning by CID would have been wasted; she’d be ridiculed. And worse, she still had an awful feeling that Carter could have found out that she worked for the police. Don’t be stupid – if that was the case, she’d definitely be in the canal!

  She knocked on the door and seconds later it opened and there he was. His dark suit, pristine white shirt, old school tie, all spoke of impeccable breeding. Could she have made a terrible mistake? And when he spoke…

  ‘Ah, the lovely Helen, come in. You’ve been shopping, I hear.’ The bags were by his desk. ‘I’d like to see what my new hostess will look like tomorrow.’ He handed her the bags.

  Inwardly, she sighed with relief. He didn’t know who she really was. She took the bags and managed a smile. ‘I won’t be long.’

  ‘No, Helen, you put them on here.’

  Was he serious? She wasn’t going to do that. ‘I’d rather—’

  ‘Do it now, Helen.’

  She had pretended to be a working girl, like all the others in the club. They did this and worse to make a living. He waited, expecting her to do as she was told. She met his eye and didn’t move, seconds ticked by…

  ‘No, I’m not going to do that.’

  A smile hovered on his lips. ‘Ah, Helen, you’re a challenge, but I don’t mind. The anticipation is sweet and I’ll soon have you to mys
elf.’

  Chapter 38

  Helen had a long lie-in on the Saturday morning. She had come home from the club at three and couldn’t sleep, going over and over the plans for the raid and her part in it. Around six in the morning she fell into an unsettled sleep, flooded with half-remembered dreams. She was in the warehouse, but this time it was stacked with boxes piled high with spirits and cigarettes. Lost amid the maze and desperate to get away, she heard someone call her name. It couldn’t be, could it? There was Jim, in his uniform, holding out his arms for her. Thank God, he wasn’t dead! She tilted her head for him to kiss her and found herself looking into the face of Henry Carter. She recoiled in horror as she realised she was naked in his arms.

  The knocking on the door took a while to rouse her. She sat up in bed and the full force of what she had to achieve in the course of this day hit her. More knocking. There must be something wrong. Had the raid been called off? Was there a change of plan? She was out of bed and running to the door, expecting to see Sergeant Duffy standing there with some urgent news.

  It was Ada with a bacon butty. ‘I know you were in awful late last night. Thought I’d bring you this. I’ll put the kettle on,’ and without another word she marched through to the kitchen. Helen sank into the fireside chair and tried to focus. Ada thrust the butty into her hand. ‘Best smoked-back, don’t ask where it came from, you’d have to arrest me,’ and then she was laughing. ‘Now you’re eating the evidence.’

  She chatted on while she made the tea, and Helen concentrated on the delicious bacon, only half listening. But something caught her ear. ‘What did you say, Ada?’

  ‘The fella who came asking about you. I couldn’t place him at first.’

  ‘Stop, Ada, and go back to the beginning. A man came to your door to ask about me?’

  ‘That’s what I’m trying to tell you. He said he were an old friend of yours and he’d called round hoping to find you at home. He let it slip that he was going to offer you a job. Said he needed to see you right away and could I tell him where you worked.’