East End 02-East End Diamond

by DS as Dani Oakley Butler

  It wouldn’t be so bad if they had Gary with them, but when they’d gone to pick him up earlier, the silly sod was high. There was no way Charlie was going to risk letting him come along and screw everything up. Years ago, Gary’s coked-up reactions had got Charlie Williams sent down, and he had never forgotten it. Charlie had sworn never to work with Gary when he was high ever again.

  The pub doors opened, and both men leaned forward eagerly, but it was just old Bob, looking the worse for wear as he began to stagger home.

  “Are you sure he’s in there?” Charlie asked.

  “Relax,” Brian said. “I saw him. He is definitely in there.”

  Charlie huffed and sat back in the passenger seat. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t like doing jobs like this, but he hated waiting around. His mother would have chucked his dinner in the bin by now, and he would have no end of nagging from her when he got home. No matter how old Charlie Williams got, his mother always read him the riot act if he wasn’t home for dinner.

  “There he is,” Brian hissed and nodded at the pub entrance.

  Charlie turned and saw Geoff Blum step out of the pub. He looked drunk and even larger than Charlie remembered. He sighed. They may as well get it over with.

  This wasn’t going to be easy. Geoff would recognise both Charlie and Brian and would put up a fight if he realised what was going on.

  As Charlie and Brian walked across the street, Brian called out, “Geoff, wait up. Dave needs a word.”

  Geoff turned to face them, his forehead crinkling up as he struggled to focus on them. “What does he want?”

  “Just get in the van,” Charlie said irritably. “I’m not a mind reader. I don’t know what he wants.”

  Geoff swayed a little as he stared at both of the men suspiciously. “It’s not a good time. I’ll speak to him tomorrow.”

  Brian chuckled. “That’s not how it works, Geoff. If Dave asks you to jump, you ask how high. He wants to speak to you now.”

  Geoff’s eyes darted up the street, and for one horrible moment, Charlie thought they might have a chase on their hands. But then he thought better of it and nodded as he followed Charlie and Brian to the van.

  “You’ll have to get in the back,” Brian said. “There’s not enough room upfront.”

  Geoff’s eyes widened, and he seemed to sense the danger as Brian opened the large back doors on the van. “I can’t get in there. I don’t like enclosed spaces.”

  Charlie rolled his eyes. “Don’t be daft. It’s not that bad in there. Take a look.”

  As Geoff nervously peered into the back of the van, Charlie picked up a tyre iron and clobbered him over the head with it. Geoff flopped forward onto the floor of the van, unconscious.

  “What are you doing?” Brian demanded. “We weren’t supposed to use any weapons.”

  “He won’t give us any trouble now,” Charlie said as he reached down for Geoff’s legs and pulled them up, trying to force the rest of Geoff’s body into the van. “Give us a hand, won’t you?”

  With an impatient huff, Brian helped Charlie and then they locked the back doors of the van and walked around to the front.

  * * *

  With Brian Moore at the wheel, they drove out of Poplar and headed to North London. Geoff was quiet in the back, and Charlie thought he must still be unconscious. He had given him quite a whack with that tyre iron, but there was worse to come, and after they had finished with Geoff, he doubted anyone would notice the wound on the back of his head.

  They drove in silence for a little while. Brian stared straight ahead at the road. The traffic was light as they travelled through London in the dusk. It would be dark by the time they got to their destination.

  “What plans do you think the boss has in store for Big Tim?” Brian asked Charlie, turning away from the road momentarily with a scowl on his face.

  Charlie hesitated before answering, he didn’t like to talk about business when they could be overheard, but Geoff wasn’t going to be spilling any of their secrets so he decided to reply, “No idea. I was surprised as you were when he told me Big Tim had started working for him.”

  Brian grunted. “Well, something is going on.”

  Charlie chuckled. “There’s always something going on. That’s what makes it exciting.”

  Brian gave another grunt. “Maybe for you. For me, it just makes it stressful.”

  Charlie grinned. He knew Brian thrived on this sort of thing just as much as he did. They stopped talking for a little while as Brian wasn’t as familiar with the roads in North London and had to pay attention to the street signs.

  When they got to their destination, Brian pulled up onto the pavement. Charlie looked around nervously as a stream of other cars went past them. He hadn’t realised it would be so busy. They’d taken precautions such as swapping out the number plates, and as long as the Old Bill didn’t come along, or a member of the public, they should be safe.

  “How the bleeding hell are we going to get him over there,” Brian said with an exasperated look on his face.

  They were on Hornsey Lane Bridge, nicknamed suicide bridge. The plan was to tip Geoff over the edge and make it look like a suicide. That was why Dave had been so insistent on no weapons, and also why Charlie had thought the injury from the tyre iron wouldn’t be a problem. When Geoff was lying crushed and broken under the bridge, no one would notice one extra head wound.

  The trouble was Charlie hit him pretty hard, and when they opened the back doors, Geoff was still sprawled unconscious on the floor of the van.

  “Oh, for Gawd’s sake, Charlie. Why did you hit him so hard?”

  “Stop complaining and help me pull him out.”

  Both men froze as a car went past, illuminating them with its headlights.

  Charlie looked over his shoulder and saw that the car was gone, and the road was empty. “All right. The coast is clear. Let’s get this over with quickly.”

  Between them, they struggled to pull Geoff from the van and then held him upright, walking him over to the edge of the bridge. “Jesus, he is heavier than he looks.”

  When they got him to the edge, they leaned on the railings, breathing heavily, and Brian muttered under his breath, “Don’t look now, Charlie, but we’ve got a visitor.”

  Of course, Charlie ignored Brian and looked straight away. At the other end of the bridge, a woman was walking towards them. She was dressed in navy blue and wore a smart jacket with a long skirt and matching navy blue hat.

  “What the hell do we do now?” Charlie said as the woman got closer and closer.

  “Leave the talking to me,” Brian grunted wrapping one of Geoff’s floppy arms around his shoulders so he could prop him up.

  “Good evening, gentlemen,” the woman said and handed Charlie a leaflet, which he took with his free hand.

  Charlie took a quick glance at it. It was full of religious stuff. Salvation Army. Bloody typical.

  “Thanks,” Charlie said stuffing the leaflet into his pocket and trying not to be crushed under Geoff’s weight.

  “Is he all right?” The nosy woman said, looking at Geoff.

  “He’s fine. Had a bit too much to drink and needed some air,” Brian said quickly.

  The woman nodded slowly, but she didn’t move away. “It’s probably not the best place to stop,” she said. Her eyes flickered towards the van and then back to the three men. “What are you doing out here at this time of night?”

  Charlie was really straining to keep Geoff from toppling over. Why didn’t this annoying woman just go away? “What are you doing out here at this time of night? It’s not really the place for a woman,” Charlie snapped.

  The woman seemed a little taken aback, but she answered Charlie’s question, “There’s a group of us at the Salvation Army who take it in turns to come here. Unfortunately, this bridge is a notorious suicide spot, and we come to offer help and guidance to those who are feeling desperate.”

  Charlie groaned. This was all they needed. A flipping
do-gooder.

  How long were they going to have to stand there with Geoff before the woman went away? He looked over his shoulder to the van. Perhaps they would have to rethink their plan and take Geoff somewhere else. Perhaps they could dump him in the Thames. They really hadn’t thought this through. Another car rushed past them, and its headlights shone on the woman’s face. She was older than Charlie had first thought and had a very serious expression.

  “It’s very kind of you to offer help to those in need,” Brian said.

  The woman smiled. “I was actually about to head home when I saw you. I thought you might be having difficulties, but when I saw that there were three of you, I realised you weren’t likely to be suicide jumpers.”

  Brian laughed loudly, too loudly. “No, you’re right about that. None of us are going to jump.”

  Charlie gave him a nudge. “Don’t let us hold you up then. We’ll be on our way soon.”

  Geoff’s head lolled forward so his chin was resting on his chest. Charlie smiled at the woman as if it was perfectly normal and hoped she didn’t see the blood on Geoff’s collar.

  “Very well. Goodnight.”

  As the woman walked away, both Charlie and Brian breathed out a sigh of relief. “That was a close one,” Brian muttered as he gripped the railing.

  They waited until the woman had disappeared before turning to each other and nodding. It was time. All they had to do was heave Geoff over the side of the bridge. It should have been easy.

  They rested Geoff against the side of the railings, and then both men took hold of a leg to heave up. Geoff was halfway over the edge when all of a sudden his body jerked, and he kicked out, sending Charlie sprawling to the floor.

  He had woken up.

  Charlie scrambled to his feet and tried to help Brian restrain Geoff who was struggling as if his life depended on it, which of course, it did.

  They pushed and shoved, Geoff’s fingers were vice-like as they gripped the side of the railings.

  “What are you doing?” Geoff screeched as Charlie tried to peel his fingers back.

  “We’re getting rid of you. You’ve been blabbing your mouth off about Dave’s business, and he doesn’t like that.”

  “I haven’t. I swear!”

  Charlie managed to release one of Geoff’s hands, but then he gripped the railing tightly with his other hand. Charlie cursed in frustration.

  As Charlie set to work again, pushing Geoff’s fingers back, Geoff tried to clobber him around the head, and as his fist made contact, it made Charlie’s ears ring.

  “Ow,” Charlie said rubbing his temple. He turned to Brian. “Why don’t they ever go easily?”

  But Brian had had enough of this. He punched Geoff hard, full in the face, and that was enough to loosen Geoff’s grip.

  The scream Geoff made as he plummeted over the bridge made Charlie’s stomach churn. He shuddered when he heard the dull thump.

  Brian peered over the edge of the bridge to check the outcome and grimaced. “He’s finished. Our work here is done.”

  Charlie felt a little bit sick as they returned to the van. Sometimes, this was a horrible job. He glanced over at Brian’s stoic face as he drove away from the bridge and wondered if he felt the same way. It was true, you did get used to it to some extent, but Charlie would never enjoy this side of the job.

  CHAPTER 35

  L inda tightened the cord on her dressing gown and frowned. Geoff still wasn’t home, and she didn’t like to go to bed until she had bolted the door. Jimmy was already tucked up in the spare room, and Linda had been drinking endless cups of tea as she waited for Geoff to come home. He usually kicked up a fuss if she went to bed first. She walked into the front room and glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. The pubs had closed nearly an hour ago. She couldn’t think where Geoff had got to. He was usually home hours before now, criticising Linda’s choice of evening meal.

  But Linda didn’t feel unduly concerned. She thought perhaps one of the pubs might have a lock-in, which meant Geoff would be home in the early hours, even worse for wear than usual.

  She reminded herself she wouldn’t have to put up with this for much longer. Just as soon as Mary Diamond was out of hospital, Linda would make sure she had her own flat, and she would leave Geoff behind and start a new life.

  She yawned, stretched and rubbed her tired eyes. It had been a long day.

  Her thoughts briefly drifted to Valerie and hoped that the girl would have better luck than Linda herself had had in marriage.

  She walked out into the kitchen to rinse up her teacup and do a last tidy round of the kitchen before she went to bed. She had been keeping Geoff’s dinner warm in the oven, but it was almost completely dried out now, and the mashed potato had turned hard. She scraped it into the bin and washed up the plate. There was bread and cheese in the larder. He would have to put up with that.

  She switched off the kitchen light and was walking towards the stairs when there was a knock at the door. It made Linda jump before she guessed it must be Geoff. He had probably forgotten his key.

  When she opened the door, Linda was shocked to see a policeman, who had removed his hat and tucked it under his arm.

  “Mrs. Blum?” the policeman asked. He had light grey hair and a pair of kind brown eyes.

  Despite the kindly expression on the policeman’s face, Linda felt sick. Memories of the night she had been with Mary Diamond when a policeman had come to tell them that Kathleen’s body had been found in the canal taunted Linda.

  She knew that policemen didn’t knock on the door in the middle of the night unless it was bad news.

  Linda couldn’t reply past the lump in her throat, but she managed to nod.

  “Perhaps I could come in?”

  Linda stood aside to let the policeman enter and shut the front door with a shaking hand. She pulled her dressing gown around her body tightly as she led the policeman into the front room.

  “I think it’s best if you take a seat, Mrs. Blum.”

  Linda couldn’t take anymore. She had to know what had happened. Had Geoff got into a fight? Had he been arrested?

  “Is it about my husband?” Linda asked anxiously.

  “I’m afraid so,” the policeman said gravely. “I’m very sorry to tell you that your husband’s body was discovered on Hornsey Lane. We have reason to believe he took his own life.”

  Linda gasped, horrified. She stared at the policeman for a moment, unable to process what he was saying. “Are you sure it was Geoff?” she asked as she slumped down onto the settee.

  The policeman sat down next to her. “He had some identification on him, and we asked his doctor to confirm his identity. I’m afraid he jumped from a bridge.”

  Linda didn’t know why the stupid man kept saying he was afraid. What a stupid turn of phrase. She tried to massage her temples to get rid of the headache that was building around her eyes. “I don’t understand.”

  “It must be a terrible shock,” the policeman said. “Is there anyone who could come and stay with you, perhaps a neighbour or a family member?”

  Linda shook her head. She didn’t want anyone there right now. “My mother lives nearby. I don’t want to bother her now, though.”

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind given the circumstances.”

  Linda shook her head rapidly. “No,” she snapped. “I’ll tell her tomorrow. I’ll be fine tonight.”

  The policeman looked at her doubtfully, but he nodded. “If you have any questions, you can speak to me tomorrow. My name is PC Smith. I won’t be on duty in the morning, but you can speak to any of my colleagues, and they will help you.”

  Linda nodded numbly as she realised she would now have to arrange the funeral. She felt dizzy at the turn of events and very guilty. She didn’t want anybody here, least of all her mother, who would certainly pick up on the fact that Linda wasn’t upset that Geoff had gone. She felt ashamed that all she felt on hearing Geoff was dead was a sense of relief. She was quite sure nobody else
would understand, and they would judge her.

  “I’m not sure I should leave you alone,” the policeman said.

  “I’m not alone,” Linda said, getting to her feet. “I have someone staying with me at the moment. A friend’s grandson. He is in the spare room.”

  The policeman’s eyes flickered to the stairs, and then he said, “Well, if you are absolutely sure you are all right…”

  Linda nodded firmly as she led the policeman to the front door. “Yes, thank you. It’s been a shock obviously, but I would prefer to be alone now.”

  * * *

  Linda spent the following day in a daze. She’d sat Jimmy down at breakfast time and explained to him as best she could what had happened to Geoff.

  She didn’t know how he would react to the news. Clearly his time with Geoff had been turbulent, to say the least, and although she wouldn’t have been shocked to find Jimmy was relieved, she was surprised to see horror and what looked like guilt in the boy’s dark blue eyes when she told him Geoff had died.

  She told him Geoff had jumped off a bridge because she didn’t see any point in lying. Rumours would soon spread around the East End, so there was no point in trying to keep it a secret.

  She didn’t read too much into Jimmy’s reaction, though. After all, people reacted to death in all sorts of different ways.

  Jimmy went to school as usual, and Linda spent the rest of the day feeling numb. After she told her family the news, her mother had accompanied her home and had spent the entire day watching Linda closely for signs of grief.

  Of course, that just made Linda feel even more on edge because she wasn’t really grieving for Geoff and had to try to stop her relief from showing. People were in and out all day, offering condolences and bringing food and flowers. By three o’clock, Linda couldn’t wait to get the house back to herself.

  Jimmy was due home from school at three thirty, and Linda was determined to take him to the hospital herself to see Mary. Unfortunately, Linda’s mother thought this was a very bad idea.