Classic Bestsellers from Josephine Cox: Bumper Collection

Or was it because, in the goodness of her heart and with only moments before they went over that cliff-edge, she saw Lilian as the friend she had been. Did her instincts – the goodness in her – make her hold back?

Or was she merely silenced by the shock of it all?

These were only more questions to be added to the ones already troubling him.

‘There’s only one way to find out!’ He would have to go and speak with her, ask her what she meant just now.

With his heart in his mouth, he made for the door, but as he was about to open it and leave, the ringing of the telephone startled him. Going back, he snatched up the receiver. ‘Yes?’

A moment, then, ‘Oh, it’s you, Inspector. Any news?’

‘Yes, finally,’ the inspector said. ‘We think we’ve had a bit of a breakthrough!’ The inspector cautioned, ‘Nothing is certain yet; I need to see for myself … ask a few questions before I get too carried away. But it sounds hopeful. My sergeant had a hunch and it seems to have paid off. Look, I’m on my way to him now. Stay where you are. I’ll pick you up as I go.’

At the station Lilian was signed in as being drunk and disorderly on a public highway.

The doctor was sent for and she was made to wait in the cubicle. Dougie had stayed with her throughout it all.

It wasn’t long before the doctor arrived. Grey-haired and grey-faced, he looked as if the world weighed heavy on his shoulders. ‘And what have you been up to, young lady?’ He had one of those soothing voices that made a body feel calm. ‘Apart from the gash on your arm, is there anything else I should check out? Have you broken anything, do you think?’

‘No, I don’t think I’ve broken anything.’

‘Well, we had better give you a thorough check all the same. We don’t want to send you away with a broken leg or a dislocated vertebra or goodness knows what else, or we’d have to answer for it afterwards, wouldn’t we, eh?’ He frowned. ‘Now then, young lady. From what I’ve been told, you’ve been on quite an adventure.’

First rolling up her sleeve so the doctor could get to the gash on her arm, Lilian asked Dougie, ‘Could you give me a minute, please, Dougie?’ Calm and rational now, she smiled appreciatively. ‘I’m glad you’re here though.’

Satisfied to leave her in safe hands, Dougie agreed. ‘I’ll see if I can scrounge a drink of sorts,’ he said. ‘But I won’t be far away if you need me.’

As he made his way along the corridor, he was amazed at his own feelings. ‘You’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?’ He gave a soft, cynical laugh. ‘You promised yourself you’d never get trapped again, and now here you are … caught, hook, line and sinker!’

Finding a friendly young officer who brought him a ‘nice cup of tea’, he sat on the bench by the window and watched the traffic go by. ‘Who would have thought it?’ he wondered with a smile. ‘Me and Lilian.’ He supped his tea and settled back. Life wasn’t so bad after all.

Behind him, with the curtains closed and the two of them alone in the cubicle, Lilian beckoned the doctor closer. ‘Is everything all right?’

‘What? Apart from the wound, you mean?’

‘Yes.’

‘Everything’s fine,’ he said. ‘You should be on your way home quite soon now, especially when I tell them you are not “drunk”, as they claim, and that, as far as I can see, you are certainly not “disorderly” .’

He bustled off to disclose his findings to the officer-in-charge.

Some time later, in view of the circumstances, Lilian was allowed to leave, with all charges dropped. But not without a stern warning. ‘You caused havoc on the street and attacked a police officer in the execution of his duty. However, on the doctor’s recommendation, we’ll waive any charges this time. But if ever I hear your name or see you in this station again, I’ll throw the book at you. Am I making myself clear?’

Calmer of mind now, Lilian nodded acknowledgement. She then apologised to the police officer who had been on the receiving end of her feet and fists, and hurried out of there while the going was good.

‘Come on, I’ll take you home.’ Putting an arm round her, Dougie urged her towards a waiting taxi.

Lilian paused. ‘I don’t want to go home.’ Afraid of what awaited her there, she urged, ‘Can we go to your place instead? Just for a while?’

‘I’ve got a better idea.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Are you hungry?’

She hadn’t thought about it before but declared, ‘I’m starving!’

‘Right! Then let’s find some quiet little café.’

Lilian wasn’t sure. ‘I’m not dressed for going out. Besides, I look a mess.’ Lately she had not bothered about her appearance so much. Everything had been a chore. Her life had been empty and it hadn’t seemed to matter, but now she was beginning to realise how wrong she had been. ‘Do you know a restaurant where they might not take too close a look at their customers?’

Having heard the conversation, the driver’s ears pricked up. ‘I know a place where it won’t matter what you look like,’ he interrupted. ‘Italian … best food in London, and I should know, because it’s my mamma who owns it.’

Unbeknown to Dougie and Lilian, this was the same driver who had recommended the place to Tom.

‘You’re on!’ For Lilian’s sake, Dougie took him at his word.

When they got there, the Italian mamma came running out. ‘Oh, look! Come on inside … we have the special pasta today … pizza … everything you want!’ Small and round, her teeth flashing brilliant in her smooth dark skin, she ushered them inside. ‘You get away and find me the more customers!’ she told her grinning son. ‘Hurry! Go! Go!’ And, as always, he did as he was told.

As they were shown to their table, Dougie told Lilian, ‘I’d best ring the boss and tell him I’ll be in later,’ and that Lilian had calmed down, he mentally added. He slid an arm round her shoulders. ‘There’s no rush though. I want you and me to talk … I need to know what made you flip your lid like that.’

Lilian smiled as though in agreement. But she wouldn’t tell him.

She couldn’t!

Not without telling him the truth, and she was too nervous to do that.

Chapter 20 (#ulink_0efe3173-50db-5445-bdcf-743fcf1f54f3)

IN THE CAR with Inspector Lawson, Tom was impatient for details. ‘So, what’s happened? You said you’d made a breakthrough.’

‘I hope so, yes, but I can’t tell for certain until I get there.’

‘What exactly is it … this “breakthrough”?’

‘Well, you recall, along with everything else, we checked every breaker’s yard in the vicinity of the accident and your home.’

‘So?’

‘So, one of the yards up here belonged to a Jimmy Rollinson.’ Overtaking a bus, he paused for a minute, continuing when he slid back into the flow of traffic.

‘We turned his place upside down like all the others, looking for a blue Hillman Minx, but at the time we were satisfied the car had not been taken in. Well, this morning, we had a call from Jimmy Rollinson. He said he’d found something, and that we should go and take a look.’

Arriving at the scrapyard in question, the inspector drew the car to a halt; there, only a few feet away, was his sergeant and with him – a long, slim beanpole of a man.

As Tom and the inspector climbed out of the car, the sergeant came rushing forward. ‘I think we’re onto something!’ he said excitedly. ‘Take a look at this.’

Leading the way, he and Jimmy Rollinson took them to the back of the yard, where work was underway to clear a huge area. ‘I’m selling up,’ Rollinson informed them. ‘After thirty years at this little lot, I’ve had enough. It’s time I put my feet up and took things a bit easier. So, as you can see, I’m clearing the whole site and putting it up for development.’