The nurse still looked startled. ‘I’ll talk to the ward sister,’ she said. ‘And the police when they come back. They said they’d be back.’
‘It’s serious,’ Barnard said. ‘Believe me.’
Harry Barnard shepherded Kate back to Highgate, took her into the kitchen and made coffee.
‘Do you think Jimmy Earnshaw is safe enough where he is for the moment?’ he asked.
‘He’s getting very bored and fed up but yes, I think so. He’ll be all right if he gets all this over fairly soon.’
Barnard nodded. ‘And you?’ he said. ‘You seem to have been a bit devious in all this. Where exactly are the negatives of these wretched pictures. I thought you said you didn’t have them, that Price took everything.’
Kate flushed slightly. ‘He took all the prints but I kept the negs,’ she said. ‘They’re somewhere safe.’
Barnard groaned. ‘That’s the most reckless thing I ever heard,’ he said. ‘If these bastards really want to find them how long do you think you’d stand up to them? Five minutes? Ten minutes? And then when you’d told them they’d kill you. You’d end up buried on a building site or in a back alley. Carter Price was lucky, very lucky, to survive. You can’t count on that sort of luck twice. Smith is a formidable operator and completely ruthless.’
‘Maybe I should have stayed in the country,’ she said. ‘It was you who persuaded me to come back to London.’
‘I didn’t know you were sitting on information Reg Smith would obviously give an arm and a leg for,’ Barnard said. He sighed and sipped his coffee. ‘I think we need to talk to Ray Robertson,’ he said. ‘He’s the only person who might know what Smith is up to. You’d better come with me. Copeland’s been following me around and may still be for all I know, though he’s obviously well on the way to getting what he wanted.’
‘Getting you out, you mean?’ Kate asked gloomily.
‘In jail, if he can,’ Barnard said. ‘If he’s found out you’re in London he might try to find you to pick your brains again.’
‘Maybe I should go home to Liverpool for a bit,’ Kate suggested. ‘If you think it’s that serious.’
‘Is that where the negatives are?’
Kate shook her head. ‘They’re safe,’ she said. ‘You don’t need to know.’
‘You’re probably right,’ he said. ‘And maybe you should get right out of London until all this has blown over. Sooner or later either Smith’s mob or Vic Copeland may work out that you’re with me and come breaking the door down.’
Kate sighed. ‘I don’t know how I got into this situation,’ she said. ‘It looked like a fairly harmless assignment.’
‘Price and your boss should have foreseen they might be putting you in a dodgy situation. Crooks don’t like having their pictures taken.’
‘I suppose not,’ Kate said.
‘Will you come with me to see Ray, before we decide where you should go next?’ Barnard asked. ‘We’ll go on the underground. Less chance of being followed that way.’
But before Kate could answer Barnard’s phone rang and she could see immediately that whatever the message being imparted it was not a good one.
‘Do you know when?’ he asked and looked even more anxious when he heard the reply. ‘Thanks for letting me know,’ he said before he hung up and flung himself back into his chair with an expression of total disbelief.
‘That was Ruth Michelmore,’ he said. ‘The case against Georgie Robertson is being dropped for lack of evidence. AC Amis apparently admits now that two witnesses have disappeared – that’s Hamish and Jimmy I suppose – and the arresting officer, that’s me, is under suspension and he thinks the defence briefs will run rings round the prosecution in court. Georgie’s getting out and she doesn’t know when. Just very soon, she says. I don’t bloody believe it.’
‘Well, at least that’s one villain who won’t be looking for me any more,’ Kate said faintly.
‘Maybe,’ Barnard said. ‘God knows who he’ll be looking for. I wonder if Ray even knows,’ Barnard said. ‘I think we’d better pay him that visit, don’t you?’
They arrived at Robertson’s gym in Whitechapel to find Ray closeted in his tiny office with the phone clamped to his ear, looking red-faced and furious. The door was closed but he saw them through the window coming past the almost deserted rings and equipment. He slammed the phone down and waved them in.
‘Flash,’ he said. ‘Glad to see you. Perhaps you can tell me what the hell’s going on.’
‘You heard then?’
‘My ma rang just now, said Georgie’s getting out. No case to bloody answer. What sort of nonsense is that?’
Barnard shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea,’ he said. ‘I’ve got my own problems. I’m suspended pro tem. They seem more interested in banging me up than a nutter like Georgie.’
‘Yeah, I got a whisper about that,’ Robertson said. ‘Sorry to hear it, Harry. But Georgie? Who the hell wants him on the streets again? Except my ma of course. She’s ecstatic, isn’t she?’
‘Do you think she could have pulled some strings?’
‘Bears looking at, I suppose,’ Robertson said. He was beginning to look defeated, Kate thought and she felt almost sorry for him. ‘I do know Reg Smith went round to see her. She told me. She thought I was still thinking about linking up with him.’
‘And you’re really not?’ Barnard asked, not able to disguise his continuing suspicions.
‘No I’m bloody not. It looks as if he’s cost me Fred Bettany already, just because I had a few discussions with him over a few drinks. No way am I getting in deep with that bastard. No chance whatsoever, however juicy his plans are, and he says he’s talking Great Train Robbery juicy. But if I linked up with him he’d have me running bloody errands for him round Soho within a month. He’s bad news.’
‘Do you know what the juicy plans are?’ Barnard asked.
‘Nah,’ Robertson said. ‘He wasn’t stupid enough to tell me that before I’d said I was in. But he was promising big money for what he said would be an easy ride. I was lucky to be asked, he said. As if I’d bloody believe him.’
‘OK,’ Barnard said. ‘We’ll just have to keep following that up. He’s half killed Kate’s reporter mate from the Globe and I’m worried now about her safety. He’s a ruthless bastard.’
‘Oh yes,’ Ray said. ‘And I should watch out for Georgie when he gets out too. I’ve no doubt he’ll think he has a few scores to settle and you and your lovely lady friend might be top of his list. And the young lad. Is he safe?’
‘Jimmy’s safe for the time being,’ Barnard said. ‘And Kate’s planning to get out of London. I’ll take my chances. Do you have any idea how Georgie swung this? The case seemed cast iron to me. Even if one of the witnesses was missing there were plenty more to put him away for life.’
‘Funny thing,’ Robertson said. ‘Reg Smith was asking me about Georgie. Seemed to think he must have been a useful man to have around. I told him he was a nutter and now they’d got him locked up they should throw away the key.’
‘Well, someone’s decided different,’ Barnard said. ‘And I’d really like to know how that happened.’
‘Now what?’ Kate said as they made their way from Robertson’s gym back towards Whitechapel Road. Barnard glanced back towards the gym and then scanned the heavy traffic grinding east. He could see no sign that they had been followed and was beginning to think that DS Vic Copeland had been called off his tail.
‘We’ll go back to my place and pick up the car,’ he said, turning towards the underground station. ‘And then I think we might pay Ma Robertson a visit. I’m sure she’ll be so excited she won’t mind telling us how Georgie’s case got dropped.’
‘Are you sure?’ Kate asked as they headed below ground again, running the last few yards as a train rumbled into the station.
‘The sight of you might soften the old biddy’s heart,’ Barnard said lightly as the carriage doors slammed shut behind them. ‘I’m not sure she’ll
want Georgie anywhere near us. She always seemed quite fond of me when we were kids. Though not as fond as she was of her precious baby Georgie, of course.’
Kate wondered why Barnard was so sentimental about his East End childhood. She had been brought up herself surrounded by the same sort of slum poverty and her community had been as heavily bombed – although few Londoners seemed to know about that – but she had left Lime Street station with no regrets and more grim than fond memories. It was time, she thought, she moved on.
‘Let’s do it then,’ she said resignedly. ‘Though I can’t see that she’s very likely to tell us anything.’
They drove across London this time at a speed Kate felt happier with than usual, guessing that Barnard did not want to draw any attention to themselves as he threaded his way through busy streets to Bethnal Green. This time there were no cars parked in Alma Street. The only sign of life was an elderly woman standing on her doorstep chatting to the postman. Barnard parked outside Ma Robertson’s house.
‘It might be a good idea if you stayed in the car,’ he said. ‘If anyone we don’t want to see turns up hit the horn. We can’t be too careful.’
Kate nodded and then watched as he knocked on the door which was opened quickly by a white-haired woman in a blue patterned dress and baggy cardigan with a slash of red lipstick across a wizened face. Ma Robertson seemed surprised to see Harry, she thought, and looked up and down the street before waving Barnard inside.
‘You’ve got a nerve coming here now,’ she said to him as he stepped into the cramped living room. ‘What do you want anyway? You’d best keep out of my Georgie’s way. He won’t be best pleased to see you.’
‘I don’t suppose he will,’ Barnard said. ‘I was surprised he got the result he did.’
‘I don’t see why,’ Dolly Robertson said. ‘Everyone knows you lot set him up.’ Her face contorted with rage. ‘And Georgie’s lawyer reckons his brother had a hand in it too. But you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?’
Barnard took a deep breath at the sheer unexpectedness of the allegation. ‘You have to be joking,’ he said faintly. ‘Why would he do that?’
‘He wanted to keep Georgie out of the family business, didn’t he? He knew Georgie would make a better fist of it than he’s been doing lately, with his galas and social climbing nonsense. Their father would be turning in his grave.’
‘Ray might not want to work with Georgie, but he wouldn’t shop him,’ Barnard objected.
‘You ask his brief,’ Dolly said, her mouth snapping shut like a trap.
‘Who is?’
‘Mr Godfrey QC. As if you didn’t know. He was very interested when I told him Ray had gone soft and wanted Georgie out of the way. Very interested indeed.’
Barnard could believe it. He knew Lancelot Godfrey as a lawyer who was making a lucrative life for himself working mainly for London’s gangsters. He had no doubt that if he had been instrumental in getting the case against Georgie Robertson thrown out he would be very well rewarded indeed.
‘Now get out of my house,’ Dolly said. ‘You were always a sneaky little sod when the boys were kids. It didn’t surprise me when you chose to be an effing copper.’
At that moment Barnard heard his car horn sound twice and he turned to the door. When he opened it he saw a green Jaguar approaching down the narrow street and although he could not see clearly who was in it he knew without a shadow of a doubt it meant big trouble. Without a word he strode across the pavement, dropped into the driving seat of his Capri and made a racing start in the opposite direction, cutting back into the main road before the Jag had drawn to a stop outside Dolly Robertson’s house. As he turned the corner he could see in his mirror Dolly coming out to greet her younger son Georgie with his arms open wide ready for a fierce embrace.
Kate, who was also looking back, said, ‘That’s Reg Smith he’s with.’
Barnard put his foot down and accelerated away, turning the corner into Whitechapel Road on two wheels.
EIGHTEEN
They went back to Barnard’s flat and sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen drinking strong coffee.
‘We need to tell Ray Robertson what his mother said,’ Barnard said at length, picking up his phone, but after dialling twice he slammed it down again. ‘No reply, either at the gym or the Delilah. I don’t have a number for his house and I’m sure it’ll be ex-directory anyway. I don’t think he spends much time there.’
‘Surely his mother wasn’t serious,’ Kate said. ‘You don’t really think Georgie will try to get at Ray, do you?’
‘I think Georgie is capable of anything,’ Barnard said. ‘And his mother seems to have turned into a malevolent old bat. I guess we’re on their little list too. I wasn’t kidding when I said you should get out of London. I mean it. You’re not safe at your flat and you’re probably not safe here either. I’m sure you can square some time off with Ken Fellows, in the circumstances. Ring your mother and tell her you’re coming home for a while. Ring her now.’
‘She’s not on the phone, la,’ Kate said, laughing. ‘Where I come from we use the call box at the end of the street. People like my ma don’t have phones.’
Barnard did not smile. ‘Find out the train times, then, and just turn up. I’m sure she’ll be pleased to see you.’
Kate looked at him for a minute, her expression serious. ‘I’m not sure I want to leave you on your own,’ she said quietly. ‘We’re in this together, aren’t we? I’ll stay here tonight at least and then we’ll see.’
Barnard put his arm round her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. ‘You’re very sweet,’ he said. ‘But I don’t want you to get hurt.’
‘And I don’t want you to end up in jail,’ she said. ‘It seems to me that if you can find out what’s really going on with Georgie and Reg Smith you’ll do yourself a lot of good. With what Carter Price and I discovered and what we’ve found out since Carter was attacked we’ve got a good chance of stopping something big. So let’s do it.’
‘You are amazing,’ Barnard said. ‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m sure,’ Kate said.
‘OK, let’s take a spin round to the Globe and see what we can dig up about Mitch Graveney,’ he said. ‘He’s the odd one out in all this. And then we’ll go and see Ray and warn him he may be in danger. I’m quite sure Georgie is capable of killing Ray if the mood takes him. And it’s quite possible Ray has a pretty good idea of what’s really going on. He may not have wanted to tell me before, but if he thinks Georgie’s on the rampage he may be more forthcoming.’
Kate nodded. ‘Let’s do it,’ she said again.
The Globe building turned a glassy face towards Fleet Street but its business end was at the back, where huge doors opened on to a back street usually packed with delivery vans during the day, ready to carry off the various editions of its sister evening paper The Star. When Barnard drove south from Holborn he found it difficult to park close to the building and they ended up walking towards the print shop entrance, which Barnard reckoned was a better approach than the front doors where they would be lucky to get past reception. He felt the loss of his warrant card acutely.
The huge delivery doors were fully open and dozens of men in blue overalls were milling about inside. They could see the mighty presses inside linked by roller belts to the point where the papers were tied into bundles by hand and the vans backed up, filling the air with fumes. No one seemed to even notice their arrival or, if they did, they were regarded as interested spectators rather than significant visitors.
‘We’re looking for Mitch Graveney,’ Barnard said to one of the printers. ‘I’ve got a message for him.’
The man glanced inside and waved in the direction of a man wearing earmuffs. ‘That’s Mitch,’ he said. ‘But he’s very busy. We’re about to roll.’ Kate nodded, recognizing the man whose photograph she had taken several times. But before they could approach him, Graveney turned away and moved towards a separate loading bay where another van with securi
ty marking was manoeuvring into the narrow parking space.
Barnard put a hand on Kate’s arm. ‘Watch,’ he said, as Graveney himself seemed to be watching the back doors of the van being opened and various metal boxes being unloaded. Inside the van it was possible to see more of the same. A security guard positioned by the entrance was taking a close interest in Barnard and Kate and Harry pulled her away round the corner out of sight.
‘Looks like cash, for wages probably,’ he said.
But before Kate could reply a klaxon sounded followed by an enormous roar which shook the building around them and even the ground beneath their feet. The presses had begun to print the next edition of the Star.
‘Let’s go and see your mate Carter Price again,’ Barnard said. ‘He’ll know what goes on with the wages deliveries.’
‘He did tell me he was paid in cash,’ Kate said. ‘It seemed a bit odd for someone in his position but he said because so many of the workforce were always paid that way they lumped the journalists in as well. A lot of the newspapers do it he said.’
‘So a hell of a lot of cash must go in and out every week.’
‘I guess so,’ Kate said.
They picked up the car and drove to Ludgate Circus and cut through to Holborn and Bart’s where they found Carter Price still confined to bed, but looking considerably more cheerful than the last time they had seen him.
‘You’re looking better,’ Kate said. ‘Are you feeling it?’
Price nodded, though without great certainty. ‘A bit,’ he said. ‘I’ll be here for a while though, they reckon. A fractured skull’s not to be taken lightly.’
‘We want to pick your brains again, in spite of the cracks,’ Barnard said, slightly impatiently. ‘We went down to the Globe this morning to see if we could get close to Mitch Graveney, but they were printing the Star and we couldn’t get close. But what we did see was a security van pulling into the back of the building close to the print shop and we wondered how often that happened. We wondered if that was the link between Graveney and Reg Smith.’
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