Eve of the Isle (41 page)

‘Was Charlie there?'

She nodded. ‘He was on duty.'

‘Did he drive you in the police car again?'

‘No, another young policeman did.' She chose her words carefully, as she didn't want to alarm them.

Albert yawned. ‘Is it time to go to school yet?'

‘No, it's early. You can lay in bed for another half hour. Don't forget to put on your hats and scarves for school, it's cold outside.' She pulled the covers over them. ‘Did Peg and Aunty Joan say how Joseph is?'

They nodded. ‘We went up to see him. He's better now.'

‘Good.' She smiled. ‘Tell Peg and Joan I'll see them later.'

All morning Eve thought about what had happened the day before. She wanted to talk it over with Charlie, but what had happened to him after he had been dismissed? When the young constable was ordered to drive her home, she'd looked out for him, but he was nowhere to be seen.

‘Me mum liked those flowers I bought yesterday,' said a familiar voice and Eve turned to see the two girls from the factory. Like her they wore their heavy coats, but their white turbans and clogs were already stained from the vinegar they used in the pickling process. ‘Have
you got a cheap buttonhole for me brother? Don't want anything special but it's his birthday t'morra.'

Eve smiled. ‘You can have one for sixpence.'

She was just about to bend down and pick a small red rose twirled in dark green leaves and twisted in paper when she saw a figure on the other side of the road. It was the same man she had seen before in a cap and long coat. Eve felt her pulse race as he stood there. This time there was no mistaking that he was watching her.

The girl pulled a sixpence from her pocket but as she had gloves on, it fell into one of the baskets. By the time Eve had searched for it and found it at the bottom, the figure had disappeared.

‘Thanks, he'll be made up with that.' The two girls walked off, laughing and shouting goodbye. Eve wasn't listening. She was looking up and down the street. But he had disappeared.

It was late in the afternoon when a van drew into the kerb. Eve rushed forward and looked in the open window. ‘Charlie, are you all right?' She was relieved to see him, but he looked tired and unshaven.

‘Yes. Have you much left to sell?' he asked as he got out of the van and came round to stand beside her.

‘Just a few bunches, that's all.'

‘Let's go somewhere and talk. I'll put your baskets in the back and we'll drop them off.'

Once the baskets were deposited at the house in Westferry Road, Charlie drove them away from the
island and up to Mile End. He parked outside a small café.

Once inside they sat at a window table, where they could see the busy trade flowing by: heavily laden horses and carts, bulging market barrows and warmly dressed pedestrians making their way either to the Bow Road or Whitechapel. The lorries, vans and buses that passed were hampered by the big carthorses that slowed down the stream of traffic as their dung was shovelled into a sack by an enterprising young street urchin.

Eve sat watching the movement while Charlie brought her a steaming mug of tea from the counter. The wooden table was grimy with the pease pudding, mash and jellied eels that had been served during the day, while the windows were steamed from the hot breath of the customers. But it was cosy and quiet and added to the reviving drink, Charlie bought them hot buttered buns that were toasted so perfectly they looked almost too good to eat.

Eve undid the buttons of her coat as did Charlie and for a few moments they savoured the warmth of the café. There was only one other table taken and other than the hissing from the big, steaming kettle and the clatter from the kitchen at the back, it was peaceful.

‘I felt powerless to help you yesterday,' he said quietly as they drank. ‘What more did Moody want when I'd gone?'

‘He just asked the same questions over and over again
as if he was trying to trip me up. I'd told him the truth, but look what happened. He blamed you.'

‘Some of it was deserved,' Charlie muttered, ‘but not when he insulted you.'

‘You shouldn't have got yourself suspended, Charlie. Not for me.'

‘He was out of order, Eve.'

‘Charlie, it doesn't matter now.'

‘But it does. However will we close the gap between the public and the Force if that kind of attitude continues?'

Eve smiled, touched at the sentiment. ‘Now you know why East Enders don't care for authority and why, when we first met, I didn't trust the law. I'm a flower-seller, Charlie and I dared to marry a lascar. Me and Raj . . . we knew what we'd done when we got married. It wasn't easy then and it ain't easy now. But none of it is your fault, so please don't get into any more trouble.'

‘Eve, are you sure the dead man was Singh?'

‘I couldn't forget a face like that. And he had brass buttons down his jacket.'

‘So Singh is dead,' Charlie murmured pensively. ‘And he goes to his grave with his secrets.'

Eve looked into Charlie's concerned face. ‘If he was found yesterday, the
Tarkay
must be in.'

‘No, it's been delayed.'

‘How do you know that?'

‘I went to the shipping offices before Christmas to find out when it would arrive. And there's something
else. I found out that there was a fire at the Drunken Sailor. The landlord died trying to put it out.'

‘He's dead?' Eve exclaimed in alarm.

Charlie nodded. ‘Now there are four unexplained deaths: your husband's, Dilip Bal's, Somar Singh's and the landlord. And other than your husband's, they occurred here in the East End.'

‘Charlie, what does all this mean?'

‘It means that Singh, who we were convinced was responsible for attacking you, has been silenced. If his death wasn't an accident, I believe that someone, somewhere, is behind the deaths of two lascars and your husband.'

‘But why would anyone want to kill Raj? He was just an ordinary sailor, and never got into no trouble; his job meant the world to him. Even when we got married, he didn't take no time off as he couldn't be sure of a passage back on another ship. It was three months before I saw him again.'

‘But Eve, someone tried to kill you too. And why would anyone want to do that? It can only be because you walked into that tavern and said who you were, Raj Kumar's wife.'

Eve frowned, trying to reason out her thoughts. ‘Charlie, I've been thinking. I can't believe the men who blindfolded and tied me were really bad. I didn't understand what they said, but I knew they was arguing. Think about it, if they wanted to kill me they could have just thrown me in the water.'

Charlie agreed. ‘That thought crossed my mind too. It was as if they were carrying out someone else's orders and got cold feet at the last moment.' He took her hand and squeezed it. ‘Eve, I don't want you to be on your own.'

‘What?' She laughed. ‘Why?'

‘Surely you can take a few days off? They will do a post-mortem on Singh to discover how he died. For my peace of mind, stay with Joan and Peg until then.'

Eve sat up. ‘Sergeant Moody said you wasn't to do any more investigating—'

‘Moody said a lot of things,' Charlie nodded, an icy tone to his voice. ‘But I doubt if he'll lift a finger to help us. Eve, promise me you'll do as I ask?'

Eve knew Charlie was worried, so she reluctantly agreed. ‘I'll tell Percy to let Queenie know that I don't want no more flowers this week.'

‘Thanks, Eve.'

‘What are you going to do now?'

‘I'm going to revisit the place where I began my enquiries, the Overseas Sailors' Home on West India Dock Road. That's where I found the lascar who told me about Somar Singh.'

‘Don't do anything dangerous.'

He grinned, looking into her eyes. ‘So you really do care?'

Eve smiled sadly. ‘If you hadn't met me, you might be driving one of them big police cars by now. You might be like you always wanted to be, a proper detective.'

‘There's plenty of time for all that. Now, eat up and I'll take you home.'

As they drove, Eve reflected on her promise. She had agreed to do as Charlie asked, but she couldn't lose business for long. Her customers would go elsewhere. And besides, what could happen to her standing on the corner of Westferry Road with the world and his wife passing by?

But that night when Eve told Peg and Joan what had happened they were in full agreement with Charlie.

‘You don't want to worry about the money,' Peg said immediately. ‘Jimmy's paying his rent on Friday. We can manage on that.'

‘It will only be for a few days,' said Eve feeling guilty already.

‘Fancy that jumped-up old sod of a copper keeping you in the nick all that time,' Peg exclaimed angrily as she puffed on her roll-up. ‘You would think you was a criminal.'

‘He should try going after someone like my old man!' Joan exclaimed. ‘Where was the law when he kicked me out and got a sour-faced old cow to replace me?'

‘They ain't interested in Harold, Joan,' Peg said with a dismissive wave. ‘He's a randy old sod but he's not Jack the Ripper.'

The conversation continued in the same vein until Eve went to bed. It was then she remembered the man in a long coat and cap. Had he really been watching her or was it a figment of her imagination? After all,
Somar Singh was dead and a dead man couldn't harm her.

Eve thought of the questions that Sergeant Moody had asked over and over again. But at the end of the interrogation he had not seemed to suspect anything underhand. His opinion was that it had been foolhardy of her to go into the Drunken Sailor on her own and she had brought trouble on her own head, and that she had been robbed by the men who had later dumped her at the jetty.

Could that be all there was to it? Was Charlie trying too hard to be the perfect policeman?

The next day Eve told Percy that she wouldn't be working for the next few days.

‘You wanna watch it, gel, you might get some young whippersnapper steal yer pitch now you've worked it up.'

‘It won't be for long.'

Percy jumped up on his cart. ‘S'pose yer knows what yer doing.'

Eve watched him clatter noisily back the way he had come. She was beginning to wish she hadn't made her promise to Charlie. There were no strangers about, no one to alarm her.

When business was over, she looked up and down the road but other than a steady stream of horses and carts and a few motor vehicles making their way to the docks, there was nothing unusual. At the top of Isle
Street, she met Maude Higgins who was shouting at three very small and disobedient children.

‘Just taking our Stanley's kids up the park,' Maude said breathlessly as she yanked one back from the road by his collar. ‘The beak sent him down last week for six months.'

‘Oh dear,' said Eve in concern.

‘He'll do it standing on his head,' Maude shrugged. ‘It ain't as if he's never coming back like our Tommy. He's only on his 'olidays.'

Nothing seemed to worry Maude much after the loss of Tommy and she took her sons' frequent absences in her stride. ‘By the way, I saw Joseph this morning and he looked a bit peaky.'

Eve nodded. ‘He couldn't get up the hill the other day.'

‘Carryin' a bag he was. Looks like a stick, he's got so thin.'

‘I'll go and see him tomorrow.'

‘You're back early, ducks,' Maude frowned.

‘Thought I'd take a few days off,' Eve said as she rubbed her hands together in the cold. ‘It's bitter on the pitch.'

‘You're not wrong there,' agreed Maude, ‘it's parky enough to freeze the drip on yer nose. Oh, well, better get on. Come here, you little sod, or Gran will clip yer ear.' She waved goodbye, still yelling orders despite the racket the children were making.

When Eve got in the boys were home. Peg had made tea and they wanted to go to the park.

‘Be back before dark,' Eve told them. ‘Put on your coats and caps, it's cold outside.'

They were dressed in no time at all, leaving Eve alone with her thoughts. Tomorrow she would call on Joseph and offer to do his shopping. After all, she had the entire day to please herself!

The next day Eve knocked twice on Joseph's front door but received no reply. Crossing the road she saw Maude and her grandchildren. Maude was trying to whiten her doorstep as the kids jumped over it.

‘Want to get this done before the rain starts,' said Maude shooing off the tiny children. ‘You won't find Joseph in. I tried earlier and got no reply.'

‘He must have gone out early again.'

‘Must have.'

‘Do you think he's all right?'

‘I looked through the chink in the curtain. Couldn't see nothing untoward.'

‘I'll send the boys up after school.'

‘They can come in if they like and have tea with these nippers. Play out in the yard till dark.'

Eve smiled and left Maude to finish her step, but she was concerned. It was not like Joseph to be gone like this.

Eve filled the day with cleaning, washing and ironing. Joan and Peg went shopping and she had the house to herself. She felt at a loose end. So this was what it was like not to work?

At half past three she left for school. The boys were full of mischief when she met them, laughing about Sister Mary whose wimple had been stained by a big bird that had flown over the playground. When they arrived home, Eve told them to call on Joseph.

‘Then go to Maude's. She asked you to tea with her grandchildren.'

The boys looked disappointed. They felt too grown up to play with small children, but they went all the same.

Ten minutes later, the twins, Maude and her three grandchildren stood on Eve's doorstep. They all looked very worried.

‘Joseph ain't in,' said Maude anxiously. ‘I don't like the look of it, Eve.'