by Joan Jonker
‘I’m sure I’ll never guess, Mrs McDonough, but you’ve made me very curious now, for you tell a fine tale. Where is this box? And what was in it?’
Nellie delved into her deep coat pocket and produced the box, which she set on the table. ‘I nearly died when I saw it, inspector. I thought I was going soft in the head.’ She pushed it towards him. ‘Have a look for yerself, then tell me what I should do.’
Steve Willard’s eyebrows nearly touched his hairline when he saw the watch, with the heavy gold chain set around it. ‘Is this the fob watch that was stolen from Mrs Parker?’
Nellie and Molly both shook their heads. And Molly thought it was about time she spoke, instead of sitting like a stuffed dummy. ‘We never saw or knew about the watch until after the burglary.’
‘What did she say when you gave it to her? Does she know how it came to be on her front step?’
‘Flora doesn’t know about it,’ Nellie said. ‘I didn’t tell her I’d found it on her step. Yer must agree that it sounds far-fetched. I was frightened that she might think I’d pinched it in the first place, so I put it in me pocket and said nowt. Then, when we left, I told Molly, and we both agreed it would be wise to ask you what to do. We don’t know from Adam who stole the watch in the first place. But if it is Flora’s husband’s watch, she’ll be delighted to get it back. It’s the most precious thing in the world to her. She’ll probably faint with shock, but it’ll be worth the shock to hold it in her hands again. But how can I tell her I found it on the step? She’ll never believe that. I can hardly believe it meself. Why would someone do a thing like that?’
‘Could be a guilty conscience.’ Steve Willard was admiring the watch in his hand. Then he opened up the back and saw the faded photograph of the young man. ‘I imagine it was on his mind and he decided to return it without being found out. Or someone found out what a dreadful thing he’d done, and threatened to report him if he didn’t give it back.’
‘You never found out who broke into Mrs Parker’s, did yer, inspector?’
‘Unfortunately not. Whoever it was left no clues. But if this is Mrs Parker’s watch, then I’m pleased she’s got it back. Or will be, when you give it to her.’
‘That takes us back to me being worried about finding it on her step. If I was in her shoes, I wouldn’t believe it, ’cos it sounds too far-fetched. Couldn’t you do it for us? Say it was handed in, or any excuse yer like,’ Nellie coaxed. ‘I didn’t pinch the thing, but I want her to have it back. And she’d be really pleased if you handed it over. She’d believe what you choose to tell her, and be happy. Someone finding it on her doorstep could frighten her, for then she’d believe the thief remembers where she lives and could come back again.’
The inspector nodded. ‘There is that to it, Mrs McDonough, you have a point. The main thing is that Mrs Parker gets her watch back, intact, with her late husband’s photograph. And it will be my pleasure to be the one to return it. I’ll tell her it was found and handed in at the desk here.’
‘I hope yer don’t think I’m daft for not giving it to her as soon as I found it?’ Nellie said. ‘I’m not usually stuck for words or actions, but when I lifted the lid on that box, me blood ran cold. I didn’t know which way to turn, or what to do for the best. So I stuck it in me pocket until we were out of the house, then I told Molly. And the first words out of her mouth were, “Go to the police, tell them what’s happened, and take their advice.”’
This pleased the inspector. ‘And very sound advice it was. That’s what the police are here for, to help people.’
‘Oh, my mate is very clever, lad. She doesn’t talk much, but she’s all there on top. Yer should hear some of the big words she comes out with.’
‘I leave the talking to you, sunshine.’ Molly was determined to show she wasn’t as shy as a mouse. ‘You’re far more eloquent than I am. You have a wonderful way with words.’
Nellie’s face was contorted as she gave some thought to what her mate had said. Then she peered out of narrowed eyes. ‘Inspector, what did my mate say I was? No, don’t bother explaining, just tell me whether it was a compliment or an insult?’
‘Oh, it was a compliment, Mrs McDonough, without doubt.’
‘That’s all right then,’ Nellie told him. ‘If it was an insult. I’d have belted her one, and yer’d have had to put me in one of those cells, where they serve yer a cup of tea. It was nice in there, except yer don’t have no custard creams to go with the tea.’
‘Oh, we’ll have to remedy that. Next time you come in, I’ll make it my business to see there are custard creams in the canteen.’
‘We’ll call in tomorrow, then,’ Nellie said happily. ‘Just to see how yer got on with Flora.’
Molly grabbed her mate’s arm. ‘We will not be disturbing the inspector ever again. Unless of course something drastic happens. We’ll see Flora tomorrow, and find out for ourselves how things have progressed. Good day to you, inspector, and thank you.’
As she was being pulled towards the door that led to the street, Nellie called over her shoulder, ‘I told yer she was good with words, didn’t I, lad? Some of them even have twelve letters in.’
Chapter Twenty Three
‘Well, that went off very well, girl, don’t yer think?’ The mates had just settled themselves on the seat of a tram taking them into the city centre, and while Molly’s nerves were still highly strung, Nellie was as happy and chirpy as a lovely spring day. ‘He’s a nice man, that inspector, easy to get on with and talk to.’
‘I’ll probably agree with yer when I’ve calmed down a bit, sunshine, but right now I’m just glad to be out of that police station without handcuffs on me wrists. Me heart was pounding like mad all the time I was sitting there, knowing we were telling lies. And you calling the inspector “lad”, well, that didn’t help. He’s a high-ranking officer, and you were talking to him as though he was one of yer mates.’
‘No matter what he is, he’s no better than we are.’ Nellie waited a second for her chins to catch up with her nodding head. ‘God made us all the same, and a street cleaner, or bin man, is every bit as good as the toffs who talk far back and walk with their heads in the air as though there’s a nasty smell under their noses. In other words, girl, you and me are as good as anyone.’
The lurching of the tram was soothing to Molly, and she let her body go with the movement. ‘My ma has always told me the same thing, Nellie, but I don’t think she would have agreed with us telling so many lies to a police inspector.’
Nellie folded her arms and they immediately disappeared under her bosom. But she’d forgotten she had her handbag on her knee, and without a hand supporting it, it fell to the floor. ‘Oh, blast the bloody thing, me bits and pieces will be all over the ruddy place now. And I can’t bend down while the tram’s going. I’ll have to wait until it stops.’
‘It’s no good waiting until we get to a stop, sunshine, yer won’t have time. The driver won’t wait for you to get on yer hands and knees to pick up yer belongings. And that’s what yer get for having a bad temper. Yer were going to come out with a mouthful, I could tell by yer face. Yer don’t like me mentioning the word lies, even though I’m right. When I was a kid, me ma told me yer always get paid back if yer tell a lie.’
‘I’m going to have words with your ma when I see her. There’s lies and there’s lies. When yer tell a fib to help someone, that’s only a white lie, and it doesn’t count.’
‘We’ll discuss the merits of telling lies another time, sunshine. Let’s deal with the matter in hand first. If you’ll get up and stand in the aisle, I’ll get down and pick yer bag up. And anything that may have dropped out. Was yer purse in the bag?’
‘No, girl, it’s in me pocket. Yer know I always keep it there for safety.’
Molly was beginning to have doubts, for Nellie had that look on her face which said there was laughter behind it. ‘What was in yer handbag, then, Nellie?’
The little woman put a hand to her forehead. ‘Ooh
, I can’t think off the top of me head, girl. I honestly don’t know.’
Molly was now certain she was being taken for a ride. But she was prepared to go along with it. ‘Did yer have a handkerchief or a comb in it?’
At the mention of handkerchief and comb, Nellie knew she’d been rumbled. For she never carried a hankie, having no need of one when she could use the back of a hand. And her comb was only used once a day, and that was in the morning. So it would be a waste of time carting one around with her all day. ‘No, girl, I don’t think so. I’ve been racking me brains, and I honestly don’t think there’s anything in me bag.’
‘Nellie, you and the word “honestly” make strange bedfellows. But if yer move yer legs round to the aisle, I’ll pick yer handbag up. We’re nearing Blackler’s now, so the next stop is where we get off.’
Nellie’s eyes were like slits as she turned her body and legs to the aisle. What did her mate mean by ‘strange bedfellows’? She’d never heard that before, but anything to do with bed was always of interest to her. In fact it was just up her street, her pet subject. But after Molly had retrieved her handbag, and discarded the crumbs and bits of fluff that had fallen from it, the conductor was calling out that theirs was the next stop.
‘Are we going into Woolies first?’ Molly asked. ‘Or crossing over to Reece’s?’
‘We’ll go to Woolies first, girl, and we can relax once we’ve got the birthday presents for the girls.’
‘I’m not getting presents for the girls today, sunshine. I’ll be seeing Mary about them. We’re buying Ruthie and Bella exactly the same presents. Silver dancing shoes and dresses. But the dresses won’t be the same; we’ll have to get different colours and styles.’
Nellie linked her arm. ‘I’ll get the necklaces, then we’ll go for a nice pot of tea and whatever else we fancy on the menu what we can afford.’
The mates walked through the large door of Woolworth’s, and were surprised to find it very busy. ‘And they say there’s no money about. There’s no shortage by the looks of this crowd. They’re all well dressed, and they don’t look as though they’re starving.’
‘Most of these people probably work in the city centre, sunshine. They look like office workers to me. And this will be their dinner hour.’ Molly pulled her friend to one side so two women could get past. ‘Let’s look for the jewellery counter and get you sorted out. And I’ve been thinking that while we’re in town, we could get Sadie’s wedding present.’
‘What are we getting for her, girl? Have yer thought what she would like?’
They were keeping an eye out for the jewellery counter as they talked. ‘I’m a bit pushed for money, sunshine, so it’ll have to be something cheap. But I was thinking of something for the home, which would come in useful. Like a tablecloth or towels.’
Now Nellie didn’t like being pushed, and she didn’t care whether the other shoppers were in a hurry because it was their dinner hour or not. No one was going to push her aside and get away with it. So her elbow became a battering ram, and Molly found herself being pulled along much faster, leaving people rubbing their ribs behind them.
‘Nellie, watch what ye’re doing! Yer can’t just barge past people and nearly knock them over. They’re in a hurry, we’re not!’
Nellie’s face did contortions at the injustice of that last remark. ‘It’s not our fault they’re working, girl, is it? I mean, like, they get paid for working. But that doesn’t give them the right to expect us to move out of the way for them. They don’t own the bleeding shop.’
‘Oh, stop getting yerself in a huff,’ Molly told her as she practically dragged Nellie over to a counter. ‘There yer are, just look at all those necklaces yer’ve got to choose from. Yer’ll be spoiled for choice.’
Nellie’s eyes opened as wide as possible. ‘Ooh, ay, girl, get a load of them! Yer wouldn’t know where to start. Which do you like? The glass beads, or those with different coloured stones?’
‘I’ll tell yer what, sunshine. You have a good look at them, then tell me which ones yer like best. And I’ll do the same.’
Nellie made her way along the counter, pushing every other customer out of the way as she did so. And when she’d walked the full length, she worked her way back again. This time she had the counter to herself, for the unfortunate women whose feet had been trodden on had learned their lesson. She met up with Molly, and asked. ‘Have yer seen any the girls would like?’
Molly nodded. ‘The silver ones. They’d love those, and they’d match the silver dance shoes they’re getting.’
‘Where are they, girl? I haven’t seen no silver ones.’
‘They’re not real silver, sunshine, yer can’t expect anything that good for sixpence. But I think they’re very attractive, and I’m sure the girls would love them.’ Molly pointed to the back of the counter. ‘There they are. And for sixpence, they’re a bargain.’
Nellie’s bosom got in the way of her leaning forward, so she hoisted it up. ‘Ooh, I like the look of them, girl, I wouldn’t mind one meself. George gave me the money to buy meself one.’
‘You didn’t take a shilling off him, did yer?’ The smile on her mate’s face told her she was right. ‘I don’t know how you can lie to George. I couldn’t lie to my husband. I can’t understand how yer can say Saint Peter is a friend of yours, and in the next breath ye’re lying through yer teeth.’
‘There’s method in me madness, girl, and half of the lie was told on your behalf.’
Molly gave her a look to kill. ‘Don’t you dare involve me in any of your lies, Nellie McDonough. I had a problem over lying about Flora’s watch, but I feel we’d be forgiven for that because of the circumstances. There’s a heck of a difference between telling fibs to help Flora, and telling fibs to help yerself. You could easily buy yerself anything yer want out of the wages yer get off George and Paul. Yer don’t need to tell lies.’
‘I know I don’t, girl, but I can’t help meself. They should refuse to give in to me, but the silly buggers hand the money over without a word. If they’re so daft with money, why shouldn’t I take advantage of their stupidity? I don’t steal it off them, they hand it over without even a moan.’
‘Your Paul is supposed to be saving up to get married. If you didn’t take money off him, he’d be able to get married a lot sooner.’
‘You know, girl, yer don’t half carry on. And all over a bleeding tanner! It wouldn’t even pay for a buttonhole, never mind a ruddy wedding. Anyone listening to you would think I was cadging money off George and Paul every day. It’s only every blue moon, for crying out loud, not every day or week.’
Molly knew what was wrong with her, and admitted it. ‘I know I’ve been a pain in the neck today, sunshine, but I worry about things more than you do. Fiddling little things that are nothing at all to worry about. But I’d got meself all worked up about going to the police station. While you can talk yerself out of any situation, I can’t. I wasn’t even any help to yer with Inspector Willard. That shows how bad I felt, ’cos I wouldn’t have left it all to you if I hadn’t been a nervous wreck.’
‘Well, it’s all over now, girl, and what’s done is done, we can’t change it.’ Nellie smiled at a sales assistant behind the counter, then muttered under her breath, ‘We’re being watched, girl, the woman behind the counter is watching us like a hawk. She looks as though she’s expecting us to rob something off the display. So pull yerself together, or we’ll be back in a police station before yer know it.’
Molly’s head turned quickly, and sure enough there was a stern-faced assistant watching them. She had both hands on the counter, as though ready to pounce. ‘I don’t think we can blame her, sunshine, ’cos we’ve been standing here for ages and haven’t bought anything. This is turning out to be a fine day of cops and robbers. Let’s go and look at the necklaces before the hand of the law falls on our shoulders.’
The assistant stood to attention as they approached the counter. ‘May I help you?’
Nellie
nodded, and put on her posh accent. ‘My friend hand I have been making up our minds which necklaces we like best. We need two, for birthday presents. The girls will be sixteen, hand my friend his of the hopinion that the silver ones would be most happreciated. Would you hallow us to have a closer look, please?’
For the first time that day, Molly felt the urge to laugh out loud. The sea could run dry, the sky could fall, but Nellie McDonough wouldn’t bat an eye. Here she was now, standing at a counter in Woolworth’s, where nothing in the shop cost over sixpence, and she was trying to talk far back to impress the assistant. Oh, how dull life would be if Nellie wasn’t her best mate. It didn’t bear thinking about.
‘What d’yer think, girl?’ Nellie held a silver necklace in her chubby hand. ‘Would they like them?’
‘They certainly would, sunshine, they’d be over the moon. And they’d love you for ever more.’
That did it for Nellie, who wanted to be loved. ‘I’ll take two of them, please.’ While the assistant was taking a bag from a hook behind the counter, Nellie told her, ‘I’d like two bags, if you please. I can’t give one in a bag and not the other.’
‘Are yer buying one for yerself, sunshine?’ Molly asked. ‘Yer said yer were.’
‘Have yer seen the size of them, girl? I might get one to go round me wrist, but never round me throat.’ Nellie’s head shook so vigorously that her chins were so alarmed they spread out in several directions. ‘No, the shilling will buy us a teacake to go with the pot of tea. That will do me more good than buying a necklace that I can’t ruddy well wear. So come on, girl, let’s go over the road for a nice sit down, and be waited on.’
‘Ay, this is the life, isn’t it, girl?’ Nellie looked round the large airy restaurant, where nearly every table was occupied. It was one of several eating-places in Reece’s, the others serving meals rather than snacks, and a lot more expensive. But to Molly and Nellie this was luxury indeed. They’d ordered a pot of tea for two, and two toasted teacakes, from the waitress wearing the standard uniform of black dress, white lace-trimmed pinny and headdress. ‘It’s fit for the King and Queen, this is. I bet they eat like this every day, and get waited on. It would suit me down to the ground, just ordering anything I fancied and having it put before me without having to cook it, or wash up after. And being able to eat to me heart’s content. What a life, eh, girl?’