The Fight for Lizzie Flowers (32 page)

Lizzie bit her lip. She decided not to say anything about Syd. She didn’t want to make things worse for Flo, who seemed to be getting it in the neck right now.

‘I expect it’s just the baby,’ Lizzie said diplomatically. ‘Flo’s all at twos and threes and Syd wants to do the best he can. He’s a good soul at heart. And
when the baby’s here, as their best friend and neighbour, you’ll be the first person they’ll call on.’

Lizzie was relieved to see that she had done the right thing by keeping what she knew about Syd to herself as Lil nodded slowly.

‘It’ll be nice to hold a baby in my arms again,’ Lil agreed on a wistful sigh. ‘Especially a boy.’

Lizzie’s heart melted. She knew Lil, in her maudlin state, was thinking of her dead sons, Greg and Neil.

It was late afternoon by the time Lizzie thought about leaving. Lil had insisted they all stay for a cheese and pickle late luncheon, washed down by another round of drinks.
Lizzie noticed who was doing the best of the drinking; Lil, she realized, must be worried about Ethel’s future.

‘You ain’t leaving, are you?’ Flo asked as she walked into the kitchen. She looked at Lizzie who was about to call Polly and Tom. ‘Syd’s just parking the car. Or
have you got to go back to the shop?’

Lizzie smiled. Perhaps this was the opportunity she had been waiting for to get Syd on his own. ‘There’s no rush.’

‘Don’t your patient need looking after?’ Flo asked in a sarcastic voice.

‘If you mean Frank, he’s up on his feet and helping in the shop.’

‘Helping to fiddle the till, you mean.’

‘Now, now, you two,’ Lil warned, pushing Flo towards the front room. ‘We’re toasting the dead here today. Not slagging off the living. Go in, both of you, with the men
and I’ll bring the refreshment.’

Lizzie followed Flo into the parlour and made herself comfortable on the settee beside Danny, who was in conversation with Doug. Flo sat with Bert at the draw-leaf table that still held the
remaining bottles of ale and a saucer of pickles. When Lil brought in a plate of cheese sandwiches and an unopened bottle of port wine, they all helped themselves.

A few minutes later, Syd appeared. The only available seat was next to Lizzie and he took it. Lizzie smiled as he sat beside her, enquiring, ‘What did the doctor say about Flo’s
ankles?’

Without pouring his ale into his glass, Syd drank from the bottle Lil gave him. ‘She’s doing too much as usual. That’s why they swell up.’

‘It’s not long to go though, now.’

‘Just over two months, if she’s on her dates.’

‘The baby’s room looks lovely,’ Lizzie said, wondering how she could approach the subject of the watch without offending him. ‘Painted in all them lovely
colours.’

‘It was a quick job. I’m very busy at work, you know.’

‘Yes, Flo said. I’m glad it’s going well.’ Lizzie looked across at Flo who was still talking to Bert as she ate a cheese sandwich. She could hear Danny talking to Doug
and Lil was out in the kitchen. ‘Syd, do you mind if I ask you a question?’

‘Depends what it is,’ Syd muttered and gave her a suspicious frown.

‘I hope this doesn’t offend you as we haven’t seen eye to eye of late.’

‘You could say that.’

Lizzie gathered her courage. She didn’t know what she’d done to offend Syd. But it was clear by his answer that somehow she had. ‘Syd, on the day you were married, I saw Walter
wearing Frank’s watch. I wondered where he got it from.’

Syd’s face went a beetroot red. ‘Are you accusing my brother of stealing?’

‘No, course not, but—’

‘It sounds like it.’

‘Syd, I recognized the watch. It had a big face with large numbers and it went missing when—’

Syd stood up, spilling his beer over his suit and some over Lizzie. ‘Now look what’s happened!’ He brushed the froth from his jacket. ‘If I ruin this suit it will be down
to you,’ he muttered under his breath, and charging from the room he made a swift exit.

Lizzie sat with her mouth open. When she turned round, the conversation had stopped. Everyone was staring at her.

‘Everything all right?’ Danny asked.

She nodded.

‘What was that all about?’ Flo said, struggling to her feet. ‘What made him storm off like that?’

‘Don’t know.’ Lizzie felt embarrassed. She couldn’t repeat the conversation she’d just had with Syd.

‘You must have said something to upset him.’

Lizzie fell silent as Lil came rushing in.

‘What the bleeding hell is going on with your husband?’ she demanded of Flo. ‘Syd just pushed past me, went out the back and slammed the door in my face.’

Flo hurried past Lil. A second later, there was another thump from the back door.

No one commented but, when Lil attempted to refill the glasses, everyone shook their heads.

Now it really was time to leave, Lizzie decided. ‘I think it’s time me and Pol went.’

‘I’ll run you back,’ Danny said, collecting his jacket from the chair. As he put it on, there was a knock at the front door. He went to answer it.

When he returned he was with Cal. Cal’s face and hands were smeared with dirt. His smelled of smoke and his overalls were black. ‘It ain’t good news,’ Danny said.
‘The garage has been torched.’

Danny looked at Cal. ‘What happened?’

‘I was in the workshop when I heard an explosion. I downed tools and ran up to the garage. The stink of petrol was everywhere. Next the staircase was on fire. I had to think quick, so I
chucked the boards back over the cellar. But then the van you brought in for sale – the one we was about to do up, caught light. I had to make a run for it. Before I got a few yards I was
blown off me feet.’

‘Are you all right, son?’ Doug asked in concern. ‘Are you hurt?’

‘No, just fuming, Doug, that I couldn’t get my hands on Savage.’

‘How do you know he did it?’ Danny asked.

‘Robert and Phil, two of the river men, dragged me out of the garage. If it hadn’t been for them I wouldn’t be here now. They told me they saw Savage parked in his Daimler
while his men did the dirty work.’

‘Would they swear to that?’

‘To you they would. But not the cops.’

‘What about the Nissen hut and all our spares?’

Cal just shook his head. ‘I left the firemen hosing it down.’

‘So what’s left?’

‘Of the garage? Just a load of muck and mangled iron.’

‘And the workshop?’

‘It’s anyone’s guess. We won’t know till the firemen have finished.’

‘What about your motor?’ Doug asked.

Cal shrugged. ‘It was parked on the forecourt and I managed to drive it onto the road before it got—’ He stopped and began to cough. Lil dragged him into the parlour and pushed
him down onto the settee. She went to the kitchen and brought back a glass of water. Cal drank thirstily, looking up at everyone with white-rimmed eyes under the smudges of black.
‘We’ve lost the warehouse, Danny. Savage made sure he did a good job this time.’

Lizzie saw Danny’s face fill with anger. He strode towards the door but Doug jumped up and barred his way. ‘Danny, where are you going?’

‘Over to Aldgate and his so-called office.’

‘Don’t lose your rag. This is what he wants.’

‘Out of me way, Doug.’

‘Think, boy! Think!’ Doug exclaimed, refusing to let him pass. ‘You’re walking straight into trouble.’

‘You and I know, Doug, I have to settle this once and for all. He’s stolen my livelihood. All I worked for in Aussie. And it won’t stop with me, will it? He’ll move in on
all the traders. Someone’s got to make a stand.’

‘I’m with Danny.’ Bert spoke for the first time, standing up and going to Danny’s side. ‘We can’t let him push us around.’

‘He needs sorting,’ Cal agreed with Bert. ‘There’s three of us and we can take them if we’re canny.’

‘Just hold on!’ Lizzie poked Bert in the chest. ‘Didn’t you listen to what Doug had to say? Leonard Savage is streets ahead of your thinking. He knows you’ll go
after him. That’s just what he’s waiting for. What can three of you do, unarmed, against his men?’

Danny smiled without humour. ‘I should have done what Frank did, not had a go at him for using Dad’s shooter. After today I see he was bang within his rights. The East End is being
carved up and us with it if we can’t defend ourselves.’

‘It’s a bit late in the day to side with your brother,’ Lizzie retorted angrily. ‘Use your brains instead and ask yourself why he torched the garage.’

‘Obvious, ain’t it, he wanted my gaff.’

‘Well, then, why burn it?’ Lizzie demanded. ‘The truth is he didn’t want the garage. If he did he’d never have burned down a place that was of use to him. He lied
blatantly to you. The garage isn’t the issue. It’s the land.’

Danny’s frown deepened. ‘But it’s wasteland. In winter it floods, in summer it’s just baked gravel, dust and weeds.’

‘Lizzie’s right, Danny,’ Doug agreed quickly. ‘The land must have a value to Savage. He never wanted the garage in the first place.’

‘He still torched my property,’ Danny said angrily. ‘I can’t let him get away with that.’

‘Playing into his hands won’t help.’

‘So what’s your suggestion?’ Danny couldn’t hide the contempt in his voice. ‘Go back to working a barrow?’

‘Course not,’ Doug broke in before Lizzie could respond. ‘You’ll set up again, like Lizzie did. Put your grievance aside for the moment. Go to the garage and suss out the
damage. It might not be as bad as you think.’

Lizzie slipped her bag over her shoulder and turned to Lil. ‘Can you look after Tom and Polly, till we get back?’

‘Where are you off to?’

‘I’m going with Danny.’

‘I don’t need a nursemaid,’ Danny said bitterly.

‘This ain’t just about you, Danny. Like you said, it could be any of us traders next time.’

A fact which, Lizzie knew, no one would argue with.

‘No insurance?’ the chief repeated as he looped one of the long hoses over his shoulder and paused. ‘Then you’ve got a problem, chum.’

‘I ran it as a garage, not a warehouse,’ Danny replied as he stared at the remains: heaps of twisted debris lit up every now and then by bursts of flames, to be swiftly doused with
water by the firemen.

‘You should have thought more seriously about where to open your business.’

‘This was my only option.’ Danny stared at the blackened steel girders of the warehouse and the empty space where once his office had been. ‘The warehouse had height and space
enough to service the bigger lorries. Plus a small cellar we used as the workshop.’ His gaze travelled slowly to the ash-covered pile under which the cellar was buried. ‘Do you know if
there’s anything salvageable down there?’

‘No idea. You can see for yourself there’s a mountain of rubbish on top of it.’

‘When can I get in there to clear it?’

‘Not till tomorrow at the earliest.’ The fireman tipped back his helmet. ‘Got any idea how it started?’

‘That’s what I’d like to know.’

‘Petrol’s lethal. So’s rubber. A single match or spark could’ve done this. Or a dog-end. Your mate didn’t seem to have much to say for himself He nodded at Cal.

‘I can tell you for certain my mechanic’s not careless enough to start a fire.’

‘He was lucky he wasn’t fried down in that cellar.’

Danny was silent, considering his response. Doug and Lizzie had talked some sense into him, but this was hard to swallow. He knew very well it was Savage, but what proof did he have? The river
people wouldn’t back him. And even if they did, they wouldn’t be believed by the coppers who had as much respect for the homeless contingent and their plight as the ex-bargees had for
them. But, all the same, this was the time to make his point, if he was going to make it at all.

‘Don’t go anywhere near the area today,’ the fireman warned. ‘There’s no beams left to fall as the wood went up first with the stairs. But the metals are as hot as
a furnace. And one thing more, the Poplar Constabulary was here but another copper came along. Plain-clothes. He’s over there.’ He nodded to the wharf wall. ‘You could take it as
a bit of luck you aren’t insured and not claiming. Else it all might look a bit iffy to him.’

Danny watched the fireman return to his large red vehicle with its extendable ladders and hoses threaded out through the wet ash. Slowly he turned and fixed his gaze on Detective Inspector
Bray.

‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded as he walked over, noting the detective’s smug expression. ‘Come to gloat?’

‘Couldn’t help but notice you had a bit of trouble,’ Bray said easily. ‘I saw the smoke and wondered if it was you.’

‘So now you know.’

‘You had a little accident?’ Bray said softly, pulling down the brim of his trilby.

‘Don’t know how it happened,’ Danny said shortly.

‘Curiouser and curiouser.’

‘Sod off, Bray.’

‘I can see you have full confidence in the arm of the law.’ Bray laughed with genuine amusement. He stood up, squaring his shoulders under his grubby raincoat. ‘You’ve
got to admit, it’s been busy around here, lately. A hit and run – or an accident – or was it something else? A burning building – a case of arson – or could it be
more? Like, how much was you insured for?’

Danny stared into Bray’s eyes and smiled. ‘I wasn’t.’

Bray looked surprised. ‘So you’re not collecting?’

‘No. Sorry to disappoint you.’

Bray’s eyes narrowed. ‘Oh, you never do that, Flowers. You always come up with a Brahma.’

Danny watched the policeman turn and walk slowly through a small crowd of onlookers. The acrid smell of rubber from the burning tyres hung heavily in the air while a thin plume of smoke twisted
above their heads. The heat still radiated from the wreckage and he stared at the firemen hauling in the long hoses that had emptied thousands of gallons of water over the burning warehouse. A lake
of evil-smelling grey muck squelched against the firemen’s boots. Some still wore their breathing apparatus as they worked to douse the glowing metal remains of the van. Was there anything to
be salvaged under that lot? It didn’t seem likely.

The only thing he could draw comfort from was that he’d had no Port of London Authority lorries in for repair. The last ten-tonner had been returned yesterday. And his own wheels, the
roadster, might well have been incinerated too, if he hadn’t stopped by Lil’s.