by Pam Howes
‘Leave it to us, sir. You’re very upset and I think it best if we take you both home now – there’s nothing you can do here and the young gentleman looks as though he’s all in. If you leave your address with me we’ll be around as soon as we have any news on his wife. One of our officers will bring your bike home later.’
Joe nodded and pulled Frank to his feet. They were taken to a waiting police car and helped inside. The vehicle pulled away as Joe took a last look at the burning remains of Palmer’s factory. He said a silent prayer for Joanie and slung his arm around Frank as they were driven back to his home and Dora. How was he going to tell her?
Dora she heard an engine pull up outside and felt her blood run cold. She hurried to open the front door. Her heart almost stopped at the sight of the black police car and the two uniformed officers who were helping Frank and Joe from the back seats. They accompanied them indoors and she led them all into the sitting room.
‘This is my wife, Dora,’ Joe introduced her. ‘Come on, love. Let’s sit down.’ He led her to the sofa and sat down beside her, holding her shaking hand.
‘Has Joanie turned up here?’ Frank’s bloodshot eyes implored her to say yes as he flopped wearily onto one of the armchairs.
She shook her head and her eyes filled with tears. ‘Was she not at the factory?’ she whispered, knowing the answer already, but not wanting to hear it.
Joe’s voice trembled as he said, ‘I’m sorry, love. There was no sign of her. They couldn’t get in, the fire was too fierce.’
One of the two officers spoke gently. ‘Dora, is there anywhere at all you can think of where she might have gone tonight after she left the factory?’
A sob caught in Dora’s throat as she replied, ‘She was staying behind to do a bit of private work. We have a little dressmaking business on the side, you see, and we needed something finishing. She was going to do the job on the over-locker. Then she was coming here for tea with Frank. But he said she wasn’t there, or at our mam’s place where her and Frank live.’
The officer blew out his cheeks. ‘So there’s only one place she could be? Okay, thank you. We’re going to leave you now, but we’ll be back as soon as we have any news, and as promised, someone will bring your motorbike back later, Mr Rodgers. I suggest you all try and get a bit of rest. It could be a long night.’
Joe saw them out as Dora flung herself at her brother and cried heartbrokenly against his shoulder. Frank cried too, and held her tight.
‘I don’t believe this,’ she sobbed. ‘It’s a horrible dream, isn’t it? I’ll wake up tomorrow and it’ll all be over.’
Jack Carter stared at the remains of his beloved place of work, tears tumbling down his cheeks, his legs ready to buckle beneath him. He’d tried not to show his emotions, but as the policeman led Dora’s husband away to join Joanie’s devastated husband, the horror of his actions hit home. That faint noise he’d heard as he stood briefly on the landing before making his escape came back to him. The motor of an over-locking machine. He could hear it now and easily identify it, so why hadn’t he recognised it back then and checked before locking up? He should have looked upstairs; he usually did – but no one had been up there during the day so he knew lights wouldn’t have been left on and there’d seemed no point in chasing off what he’d thought was a pigeon intruder. He’d just needed to get out, what with the fire already spreading rapidly across the first floor. He couldn’t bear to think of that poor pregnant girl trapped on her own with flames raging all around her. She must have been terrified.
‘You okay, sir?’ A police officer gently touched his arm. ‘Would you like to sit down over there?’ He pointed to the ambulance and led Jack across the yard.
‘Can we find a drink for Mr Carter, please?’
Jack sat down on the back steps of the ambulance that Frank had recently vacated and put his head in his hands. His hurriedly eaten tea would be vomited up if he didn’t take a few deep breaths and try to get his scrambled thoughts into some sort of order. Bloody Kane should be here to deal with this, it was his mess. Getting rid of the factory was one thing, but he’d ended the life of one of his workers – not intentionally, but that wouldn’t count for anything once the scuffers started to investigate. She was a lovely young girl too. Been working for him since leaving school along with Dora. Never a minute’s trouble. He looked up as a lady handed him a cup of tea.
‘Extra sugar in it,’ she announced, patting his shoulder. ‘I’m afraid I’ve run out of brandy.’
He smiled his thanks and sipped the hot, sweet liquid.
The police officer who’d accompanied him to the ambulance excused himself as another officer called him over.
‘Take Mr Carter home, but tell him to present himself at the station at ten in the morning to make a statement,’ the officer was told. He relayed the message to Jack, who nodded and finished his tea, resigned to the fact that he’d be facing a prison sentence in the not too distant future – if they didn’t hang him for murder. He’d given them the contact details for Kane, who would no doubt be after his blood too, for messing up a simple instruction.
He looked again at the remains of Palmer’s. The fire seemed to be under some sort of control now and, once safe enough, the men would be entering the building to look for Joanie’s body. Would they also find the cans from the lighter fuel, or would they now be a molten mess? Without proof they couldn’t pin the fire on him, but he’d been the last person in the building and they’d know that a fire from a discarded fag end wouldn’t spread so quickly in such a short space of time without help. Should he just confess and have done with it? He might get a lighter sentence. He shook his head. Why was he thinking like this? He’d killed someone. He deserved everything they threw at him, and so did bloody Kane.
Joe helped Dora to shuffle upright and she sat back against the pillows as Doctor Owens examined her. Joe had insisted on calling him out as she had been crying for hours and he’d had no idea what to do.
Dora was now staring ahead of her, looking completely lost. Joe looked at the doctor in despair.
He beckoned Joe to follow him into the hall. ‘I’ll give her a very mild sedative and I want you to make sure she gets all the rest she possibly can. I’m sure she’ll be fine, given time, but in view of her earlier bout of depression after losing your daughter, I’m taking no chances.’ He wrote out a prescription and handed it to Joe. ‘Any further problems, just ring the surgery. I’ll call and see Dora again in the next couple of days. Please accept my condolences. I’ve known Joanie since she was a little girl too. That pair have always been inseparable.’ He shook Joe by the hand and left the house.
Joe made himself a mug of Camp coffee and a cup of tea for Dora. He took hers through and sat on the edge of the bed while she drank it. She’d cried all night and most of the morning, great shuddering sobs that racked her slender body. Frank had been up all night too, shocked into staring at the ceiling for most of it, mainly silent but occasionally asking, ‘Why?’ Joe had no answers. He just felt numb. How could life go on as normal now? What would they do without Joanie? Dora had lost her best friend in the world and Frank had lost the love of his life and his unborn baby. How would any of them begin to pick up the pieces and start again? Dora handed him her empty cup and lay back, closing her eyes. He prayed she’d fall asleep and then he could nip out to the chemist and get her sedatives while Carol was having her morning nap.
He took her cup back into the kitchen and went to answer a knock at the front door. It was Dora’s mam and dad. He stepped back to let them in.
‘How is she?’ Mrs Evans asked, removing her coat and hat and hanging them on the hall pegs.
‘Heartbroken,’ Joe replied. ‘I’ve just had the doctor out. He’s prescribed mild sedatives to keep her calm. I was worried in case she slipped back into that awful depression,’ he finished, his eyes filling with tears. ‘Did Frank get back okay?’ Frank had insisted on riding home at about six in the morning; no amount of persuading would
change his mind.
‘He’s in shock,’ Mr Evans said, ‘but he won’t stay in. He’s gone down to Palmer’s. He wouldn’t let me go with him.’
‘I’ll make you some tea, and then will you stay with Dora while I go to the chemist for her prescription? Carol’s asleep in her cot. Do you think I should go after Frank? See if I can persuade him to come back here.’
‘You could try,’ Mrs Evans said, sitting herself down on the sofa. ‘We just called in to see Joanie’s mam and brothers to ask if there’s anything we can do to help. They’re in a shocking state. There’s a young police officer with them. The boys were all in tears. It’s a terrible tragedy.’ She wiped away the tears that were trickling down her cheeks. ‘We’ve known Joanie since she was a baby. Me and her mam worked together at the hall and had our baby girls almost at the same time. She and Dora were as close as sisters. It’s going to take some coming to terms with, for all of us.’ She patted the seat next to her and Dora’s dad sat down and took her hand.
Joe brought tea through for them both and peeped in at Dora, who was sleeping. ‘She’s out for the count,’ he told them. ‘I’ll be as quick as I can. I’ll drop her medicine off here first in case she wakes up and you can give it to her, and then I’ll go and look for Frank. If she asks for me, tell her I won’t be too long.’
Frank stared at the burnt-out shell of Palmer’s. He lit a cigarette and sat down on the perimeter wall, tears rolling unashamedly down his cheeks. The fire brigade were still here and smoke still rose from the ruins as they dampened down flames that insisted on trying to regain a foothold on anything that was left to burn. The police officer on duty, stopping people from going beyond the temporary safety barriers the fire brigade had erected, he recognised from last night. The man nodded and came over to talk to him.
‘Are you okay, sir?’
Frank shook his head. ‘I’ll never be okay again. We’ve only been married a few months. We were expecting our first baby. She was the love of my life.’
‘I’m sorry.’ The officer patted his shoulder.
‘My sister, her best friend, she’s the wife of my pal that was with me yesterday, she’s heartbroken. I just don’t know what we’re going to do.’ To his embarrassment he began to sob and couldn’t stop. A bus pulled up opposite and two young women jumped off and ran across the road towards him. He looked up through his tears and recognised them as Joanie and Dora’s workmates, Peggy and Maude, eyes like saucers in their pale faces.
‘So it’s true then?’ Peggy gasped her hand across her mouth. ‘Our neighbour knocked on and told me. Oh my lord, look at the state of the place.’ Then she looked at Frank and frowned. ‘’Ere, aren’t you Joanie’s ’usband? Dora’s brother? What’s up? Why are you crying?’
Maude shook Peggy’s arm in an attempt to stop her asking any more questions. ‘What’s wrong, Frank?’ she asked gently.
‘Joanie was in there,’ he sobbed, taking great gulps of air. ‘She still is.’
Peggy let out a yell. ‘She can’t be. She was getting ready to go home as we left. Said she wasn’t getting the bus with us ’cos you was picking her up. She told us she was waiting for you near the doors.’
Frank shook his head. ‘She was on the top floor, working. The place was well and truly alight when I got here. The fire brigade couldn’t get in.’
Peggy sat down beside him and put her arm around his shoulders as Maude burst into tears and asked, ‘Is she…?’
‘She can’t be, I tell you, that’s not right,’ Peggy cried as Joe’s bike pulled up nearby.
‘Joe,’ she called, ‘Joanie can’t be in there. Where’s your Dora?’
‘She’s at home. She’s in a bad way.’
The police officer nodded at Joe. ‘Times like this I feel helpless.’
‘You and me both,’ Joe said. ‘Thanks for taking us home last night and bringing my bike back. I really appreciate it.’
‘It’s the least we could do.’ The officer turned to Peggy. ‘I expect you ladies will be out of a job now?’
Peggy sniffed back her tears. ‘We was out of a job anyway. Palmer’s went bust. It should have been our last day today. And I bet we won’t get bloody paid now either. Me mam’ll go mad.’
‘Last day. Really?’ The officer scratched his chin thoughtfully as both Peggy and Maude nodded. He took out his notebook. ‘Just in case we need a statement from you, can you give me your addresses, please?’
While he wrote down the girls’ addresses, Joe spoke to Frank. ‘Your mam and dad are at ours looking after Dora. Will you come back with me?’
Frank gazed straight ahead at the factory shell. ‘I want to be here when they find her.’
‘Frank, no mate, they won’t want you around. It’s not a good idea.’
Frank stared at him. ‘If it was Dora, what would you do?’
Joe shook his head wearily. ‘Probably the same as you.’
‘Well then.’
Joe waited with Frank for over two hours, torn between his anxiety to get back to Dora and wanting to offer support to her brother. The firemen were in the building, but so far there seemed to be no evidence of them finding Joanie’s body.
‘Do you think she got out, but was injured and wandered off over the farmland at the back?’ Frank asked tearfully, hope in his voice. ‘She might have been lying out there all night and we wouldn’t have known.’
Joe sighed and patted his shoulder. ‘Someone would have seen her if that was the case. The farmer or one of his hands, maybe. I wish I could say yes, it’s a possibility.’
As he spoke a shout went up from somewhere within the burnt-out building and several people rushed forward. One of them waved to the ambulance that was still on standby near the wall and the attendants rushed over with a stretcher.
Frank made to run towards the building but was held back by a couple of police officers as the ambulance crew lifted something onto the stretcher and quickly placed a cover over. They carefully carried their load to the ambulance and closed the doors.
‘Was that my Joanie?’ Frank yelled as the ambulance left the site, no bells ringing.
Joe took his arm. ‘Come on, Frank. Let’s go home. I’m sure someone will come and see us later,’ he finished, feeling helpless.
‘We’ll be round in a while, Mr Rodgers,’ an officer confirmed. ‘If you take Mr Evans home with you, we’ll see him there. Leave his bike, we’ll bring it.’
Joe dug in Frank’s jacket pocket and handed the officer the bike keys. He led Frank away and helped him onto the motorbike, instructing him to hang on tight.
Joe could hardly see for the tears that blinded him on the short ride home. He felt overwhelmed with sadness and hoped that Dora was still sleeping. Her brother’s grief would set her off again and he was terrified she’d get into such a state that she’d go back into the depression.
On Monday morning Dora felt like a zombie as she sat next to Joe on the sofa. The two visiting police officers were trying to put together an idea of Joanie’s last few hours. The weekend had passed by in a haze of tears and visitors, calling to pay their respects. She’d slept most of the time and cried when she’d been awake; she’d felt mainly out of it as the sedatives did their work. She’d hardly eaten a thing but this morning Joe had made her a slice of toast with her tea and she’d forced it down.
The tears fell again as the awful realisation hit her that her dear sister-in-law had been locked in Palmer’s, all alone, with a fire raging and no way out. She must have been terrified. But if the fire had been already burning when Jack Carter left, surely he’d have seen it? She voiced her thoughts to the officer, her voice wobbling as she choked on her tears.
‘We’ll be making a complete investigation into the cause of the fire,’ one of the officers said. ‘You’ve been very helpful, Mrs Rodgers. This isn’t an easy time for you and we do appreciate that. Make sure you get plenty of rest. We’ll be in touch again soon.’
CHAPTER 24
DECEMBER 1947
For one thing, in quiet moments of reflection she wanted her head clear to think about Joanie and remember everything she could about her lovely lost friend, their happy times, when they were little girls, playing in the garden with their dollies and sharing their sweets before rations came into force, picking bluebells in the nearby copse on Sugar Lane; playing hopscotch on the flagged pavement outside school, lying on the lawn in the back garden with sugar sarnies for a picnic, and making each other daisy chains. How Joanie had been so thrilled for her when she and Joe had gone on their first date, wanting to know every detail the following day, leaving school together, starting work on their first day at Palmer’s, right up to sharing her baby secret.
Seeing the joy on Joanie’s face when she’d announced her own baby news. They’d all had a wonderful future to look forward to, and now Joanie’s was gone. How was she going to manage without her? There had been times when she didn’t feel she could go on and just wanted to close her eyes and never wake up again, but there wasn’t a choice. She had to, for everybody’s sake.
Even the funeral had seemed surreal. She vaguely remembered being in church and people speaking to her, but the rest had gone by in a blur with hazy recollections of Joe getting her dressed in a black outfit, and helping her in and out of a big black car. Joanie’s mam and her four brothers, looking lost.
The police came again after the funeral to tell them that Jack Carter had been charged with arson and involuntary manslaughter. George Kane had been arrested too; something to do with fraud and being an accessory. She couldn’t remember all of the conversation as Joe had taken charge again, while she’d been in and out of her own little world. But Jack had presented himself to the police with a full confession, according to Joe. Nothing would bring Joanie back though and life would never be the same for any of them.