Tiger Ragtime (36 page)

‘As long as it takes, boy.’

‘Have you sent for …’ David couldn’t remember what Aiden had called himself but he did recall that the police hadn’t been impressed by the American word. ‘Mr Aiden Collins?’

‘We’ve sent for him.’ The constable pointed to the mess David had made. ‘When you’ve finished, knock on the door. I’ll bring you a bowl of water so you can wash your face,’ he added, not unkindly.

David set about mopping the bench, which wasn’t easy. The mop had a long handle and it proved difficult to wield without hitting the walls. And the whole time he mopped, he felt faint and was forced to lean against the wall simply to remain upright.

His fellow cell mate finished using the bucket and replaced the lid. David wasn’t sure whether it was his imagination or if the stench really lingered in the air. His second companion had returned to his seat on the bunk and retreated back into his self-contained, uncommunicative state. The constable returned with a bowl of water. He dumped it on the bench David had finished cleaning.

‘No soap and towels, but the water’s cold.’

David plunged his head into it and ran his fingers through his dark curls, pushing them away from his face.

Another officer loomed in the doorway. He pointed to the man sitting on the bunk. ‘You, follow me.’

David went to the door.

‘Not you, boy.’ The constable who had given him the water pushed him back. ‘Your turn will come.’

‘Can I stand out here, just for a minute?’ David begged as he gulped in mouthfuls of air. The corridor stank of institution disinfectant but compared to the cell it was a rose garden.

‘Not even for a minute, boy.’ The officer placed the palm of his hand on David’s chest and pushed him back into the cell. David winced when he heard the key turn and the ratchet drop home again.

‘The worst sound in the world.’

David looked to his remaining companion.

‘The last time they caught me running a book I got six months’ hard labour.’

‘Six months!’ David didn’t even want to try to imagine being locked up for that long. ‘Mr James told me no runner of his had ever gone to gaol.’

‘Very probably that’s true.’ The man then made the same observation Judy had. ‘But then Aled James has never run a book in the jurisdiction of the Maria Street police station in Tiger Bay before.’

Swathed in the massive towel, Judy left the bathroom to find Aled still in his bathrobe, talking on the telephone. He saw her standing in the bedroom and closed the living-room door. Ten minutes later he walked into the bedroom and, oblivious to her embarrassment, stripped off his robe, and opened the wardrobe door.

‘I have to go out and I need the car. I’ll ask the desk clerk to order a taxi to take you back to Edyth Slater’s.’

‘I can walk,’ Judy protested.

‘You’ll take the taxi.’ He climbed into a clean set of underclothes and lifted out a linen shirt and her fur cape. ‘You’ll be wearing this.’ He tossed the cape on top of her clothes on the chair. ‘And it was you who told me that a pawnbroker would advance enough money on it to keep a family for six months. The last thing I need is for you to get attacked on your way home.’

‘People know me in the Bay. It’s the middle of the afternoon. My uncles –’

‘Taxi, or I’ll lock you in here,’ he threatened.

‘I’ll take the taxi.’

He sat on the bed and slipped his sock suspenders over his feet. ‘I like a woman who takes orders.’

‘That isn’t me,’ she began irritably, then she saw him frown. ‘Has something happened?’

He buttoned his shirt. ‘David Ellis has been arrested.’

‘David –’ Judy’s eyes rounded in horror. ‘For running a book?’

‘Yes.’

‘I begged him not to take the job.’

‘And you blame me for offering it to him?’ He flicked through his suits and chose a sober, dark grey pinstripe. Judy wanted to say no, but in all conscience couldn’t.

‘He’s only a boy …’

‘He’s the same age as you. When I was nineteen I was doing a lot worse than running a book. He wanted to make real money. I gave him the chance to earn it.’

‘Outside of the law,’ she reminded him bitterly.

‘The law’s an ass. No one can make the kind of money I’ve earned legally. And that goes for all our so-called “betters” from the local Welsh crache, to the kings, queens, lords, and ladies who put on airs and graces courtesy of their bulging bank accounts, wallets, castles, and great houses. All their wealth proves is that their ancestors were bigger and more successful thieves than our great-grandfathers were.’

She knew it might make Aled angry but she still had to ask the question uppermost in her mind. ‘Have you ever gone to gaol?’

‘No, but I would have if I’d stayed in America.’

‘What did you do?’

‘Stopped short of murder. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had to leave.’ He flicked through his ties and pulled down a plain grey silk from the rack.

Judy was shocked at Aled’s frank admission, but she summoned the courage to ask one more question. ‘Will David go to gaol?’

‘Not if I can help it.’ He sat on the bed, pulled up his socks, clipped them on to his sock suspenders and began lacing his shoes. ‘Aiden said the police picked up David and two other runners who were working for him.’

‘Don’t you mean for you?’

‘The turf’s Aiden’s sideline. I bankroll it and take a cut, but he runs it.’ He stepped into his trousers and buttoned his braces on to the waistband.

‘If you put up the money, the business is yours.’

‘I have no intention of arguing the point with you. But I will say this much: David and the others should never have been arrested. I paid the man at the top a great deal of money to make sure the local bobbies turned a blind eye to their activities.’ He looked at her keenly. ‘Who ran the book before I arrived?’

When she didn’t answer him, he said, ‘You must know. Your Uncle Tony likes a gamble even if your other two uncles don’t. There must have been times when he asked you kids to put money on a horse for him.’

‘He always used to send us to John or Tom Smith. They’re both Charlie Moore’s men.’

‘You really think Charlie was behind the runners?’ He shrugged on his waistcoat and buttoned it.

‘That’s what everyone on the Bay says.’

‘I’m not so sure, I’ve met the man and he’s an idiot.’ He picked up his wallet, lighter and cigar case from the dresser.

‘He’s hateful.’ Judy shuddered.

‘You’ve met him?’ he asked in surprise.

‘He attacked me once, in a cloakroom when the band was playing at a private party. If Edyth hadn’t come along when she had, he would have raped me.’

He reached out and stroked the side of her face. ‘I’m glad he didn’t, because violence would have changed you. And we might never have been able to enjoy this afternoon.’

She laid her hand on top of his. ‘Aled …’

He shattered the moment of intimacy by pulling his hand out from under hers. He moved in front of the mirror and busied himself, pushing collar studs into his shirt and cuff links into his sleeves. ‘You’ve just given me one more reason to teach Charlie Moore a lesson.’

‘Don’t, he’s influential …’

‘So am I,’ he said flatly.

‘Did he have David arrested?’

‘Not so anyone can accuse him outright. One of Anna Hughes’s girls pointed David out to a rookie cop. David’s been messing around with her ever since he came down to the Bay. She’s young and pretty, if you like the painted floozy look.’

‘Gertie?’

He looked back at her from the mirror. ‘I didn’t think respectable young ladies had anything to do with the Anna Hugheses of this world.’

‘I only know Gertie by sight, but I know Anna well. Everyone on the Bay does.’

Aled recalled Anna saying that Judy had bought dresses from her. ‘Don’t worry about David; I’ll get him out of gaol.’

‘Are you sure?’ Judy asked in concern.

‘I’m sure,’ Aled reiterated forcefully. ‘Even if the police insist on taking him and the others to trial they can’t refuse to set bail. Do you fancy dinner here tonight? And I mean in this suite,’ he added so there would be no mistake.

‘What would I tell my family – and Edyth?’

‘That you’re dining with me in the Windsor Hotel. Eating isn’t a crime – everyone has to do it.’

‘But they’d know that we didn’t eat in the dining room.’

‘How?’

‘Waiters talk.’

‘I’ll have their jobs.’

‘Please don’t make trouble for anyone.’

‘Then tell your family and Edyth the truth,’ he said irritably.

‘That we’re carrying on?’

He smiled at the old-fashioned expression. ‘Is that what we’re doing?’

‘It sounds better than you’ve taken me to be your mistress.’

He fell serious. ‘I didn’t think that I’d “taken” you anywhere you didn’t want to go, Judy.’

‘You didn’t,’ she admitted.

‘Tell them whatever you want,’ he said carelessly, ‘that’s if you want to have dinner with me here. But I wouldn’t be too worried about Edyth Slater, if I were you. As she’s “carrying on”, as you so quaintly put it, with Micah Holsten, she can hardly say anything about us.’

‘You know everything there is to know about everyone on the Bay, don’t you?’

‘I make it my business to find out.’ He put the finishing touches to the knot on his tie, picked up his jacket, looked at his panama, and settled on a more serviceable trilby. ‘I’ll send Freddie to pick you up at the baker’s around seven. If you feel the need to use an excuse, say we’re working on the repertoire for your broadcast.’ He kissed her lips. Pulling down her towel, he stroked her breasts and murmured, ‘That’s to keep me going until dinner.’ Then he left.

Judy sank on the bed and looked at the door. The unthinkable had happened. She had promised her grandmother that she would never make love to a man until she was married and now – now – she was living in sin. No, she wasn’t. Living in sin implied that two people were living under the same roof, which she and Aled certainly weren’t. She had become Aled James’s mistress and if Pearl King had still been alive she knew that her grandmother would regard her as a fallen woman.

She had allowed – no, not allowed, that suggested some kind of pressure – she had willingly made love to a man who hadn’t as much as hinted that he loved her or might at some time in the future consider marrying her.

Ignoring the lift, Aled ran down the stairs into the foyer. Freddie was waiting for him in the car outside the entrance.

‘I’ve sent a solicitor to the Maria Street police station to meet Aiden and told him to post whatever bail the police set.’ Aled climbed into the back seat.

‘They won’t bail until the morning, boss.’

Unused to having his plans thwarted, Aled’s face darkened. ‘How do you know?’

‘A copper was waiting for us in the foyer when we left your suite. He was looking for Aiden. He said that David will have to go to the magistrates’ court and they won’t be meeting until tomorrow morning. They’ll set his bail, and until then he’ll have to stay in the cells.’

‘There has to be some way to get him out.’

‘Not before morning, boss. A rookie constable arrested David in the Mount Stuart in front of everyone in the Gentlemen Only. There’s no way it can be kept quiet. And the copper hadn’t just been sent there to look for Aiden. He’d been told to warn you to stay away from Maria Street for your own sake as well as David’s and the other two boys.’

‘After you’ve dropped me off, go to the station and see Aiden. Talk to him yourself and don’t take no for an answer, whatever excuse the police try to give you, understand?’

‘Yes, boss.’

‘Tell Aiden to get anything David wants and make sure he has a cell to himself and a decent meal tonight. After you’ve done all you can for David, drive Aiden to Anna Hughes’s. Tell him to walk straight in and meet me in her kitchen.’

‘I will, boss.’ Freddie pressed the ignition. The engine roared into life. He leaned back in his seat. ‘I take it you still want to go to Anna Hughes’s place?’

‘As quick as you can make it, Freddie.’

‘Micah, I wondered when you were going to turn up.’ Inspector Cummings wandered out of his office, a cup of tea in one hand and a Chelsea bun in the other. ‘Want one? Constable Murphy’s wife just sent down a batch from upstairs.’

‘No thanks. I’ve heard that you’re holding David Ellis.’

‘Popular young lad, that one. His solicitor and Aiden Collins are with him and the arresting officer and the sergeant in the interview room now.’

‘You got him for running a book?’

‘You a betting man?’

‘You know I haven’t two halfpennies to rub together,’ Micah answered.

‘That’s never stopped a man from gambling. If he hasn’t the money he gambles with thin air. The trouble starts when the bookie won’t take thin air as payment.’

‘Are you or are you not holding David Ellis?’ Micah questioned impatiently.

‘He’s being charged now and he’ll be held overnight for the magistrates in the morning.’

‘Release him into my custody.’

‘Give me one good reason why I should do that, Micah?’ the inspector asked.

‘As a personal favour to me. I’ve done enough for you over the years – patching up the drunks in the cells and coming out at all hours to act as an interpreter whenever you’ve needed one.’

‘It’s been useful having a pastor who speaks ten languages on the Bay. The only thing is, I’m not too sure you’ve always translated what I’ve said correctly or, come to that, whatever the people we were questioning said to you.’

‘Have you ever been left with a mess to clear up as a result of my translations?’

‘No, but there is such a thing as the letter of the law. And we have just told the fancy solicitor Aled James hired to represent David Ellis that we’re keeping Mr Ellis in the cells overnight.’

‘Since when has anyone in this station liked fancy solicitors, or listened to what they have to say?’ Micah asked. ‘Please …’

‘Tell you what I’ll do,’ Inspector Cummings beckoned Micah forward and lowered his voice to a whisper, ‘if you disappear for a couple of hours and come back at eight o’clock after the senior officers go off duty I’ll release him into your custody on two conditions.’

‘What are they?’ Micah asked suspiciously.