A Promise Between Friends (27 page)

‘I’m gonna buy an HMV telly too,’ he said with a grin.

She looked impressed. ‘A telly?’

‘Yeah, and one of them record players hidden in a cabinet like you see on the films.’

‘You’ll be charging to walk in the door soon.’ She gave him a nervous smile. ‘So what is it you want to tell me?’

He sat beside her, knowing this wasn’t going to be easy. ‘Last week, I was up in me cabin,’ he began awkwardly, ‘and there I was, minding my own business as usual, when I
see this motor drive along the wharf. It stopped and a bloke I recognized got out. He walked up to this old rust-bucket and boarded her. But what struck me was that this foreign lump was sitting
low in the water, you couldn’t even see her Plimsoll line. From where I was sitting it was obvious she was listing.’

‘So what’s this got to do with me?’ Ruby asked with a frown.

‘It was Brandon who boarded the vessel.’

She gave a bewildered frown. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Positive. I had a gander along the wharf. The Buick had gone when along come the dock rozzers. They swarm all over the wharf and board the old girl. My gaffer told me she was heading
north when an old Navy mine hit her bows, holed her below the waterline and forced her to limp back to port.’

‘So what are you saying?’ Ruby said in a whisper.

‘There was cargo found aboard, Ruby. Crates of fur pelts. She was a smuggler. Caught in the act in British waters.’

Ruby jumped to her feet. ‘Are you accusing Nick of smuggling?’

‘Sit down.’ He pulled her beside him. ‘Listen, I ain’t accusing anyone. But the cargo was contraband. In view of the Cold War going on between Britain and the Soviet
Union it’s a dangerous game someone’s playing. Added to which there’s always the risk of anthrax. The docks was on red alert after that. But I saw Brandon on board that vessel
before the law arrived. He must have gone down to have a butcher’s, see if there was anything or anyone that linked the smuggler to him.’

With a choked gasp, she whispered, ‘Is Nick in trouble?’

‘I’d say there’s a good chance.’

She didn’t say another word and neither did he. After all, it was as plain as a pimple on a pig’s arse.

Brandon was up to his eyeballs.

Ruby sat very still, trying to understand what Bernie had told her. Her thoughts went round and round. Where had Nick been today? He had a gun. Why would he keep one in the
safe? After all, he’d hired Wally to patrol the warehouse. And why had he been so angry that she’d let McBride in?

‘This could be serious,’ Bernie said quietly. ‘The coppers will tug someone’s collar. You don’t want to be involved.’

‘I’m not.’

‘I know that but they don’t.’

‘Nick loves me,’ she sobbed. ‘He wouldn’t do that to me!’ Ruby felt her head swim. She saw McBride’s ugly face with its flat bruiser’s nose and thick
lips. She felt him shaking her and knew that he was about to strike her. This image floated in front of her eyes as she passed out.

‘Ruby!’ A hand was patting her cheek.

She opened her eyes and everything flooded back. McBride, his gang, the broken crates and, worst of all, the memory of how, when they had arrived at the prefab, Nick had carelessly bundled her
out of his car. He hadn’t even given her a kiss goodbye. It felt as if he just wanted to get rid of her.

‘Sit up,’ Bernie said, easing her gently forward. ‘And when you feel up to it, you’d better tell me what’s going on.’

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. ‘Nick left me all alone today. I told him I didn’t like it there without him, but he said I had nothing to worry about. Then, just as it got dark . . .’ Ruby shivered at the memory, ‘there was a knock at the door. It was a customer who said he had money to give Nick. So I let him in.’

‘Oh Christ,’ Bernie said beside her.

‘I know it was stupid. Nick thought so too. But I wasn’t to know that he’d turn nasty and break open the crates.’

‘Did they touch you?’ Bernie asked in concern.

Ruby swallowed as she remembered McBride’s raised fist. ‘No, but I think he would have if Wally, the night watchman, hadn’t turned up and frightened them off. He blew his
whistle which must have made McBride think it was the police.’

‘Garry McBride from across the water?’ Bernie said in surprise.

‘Do you know him?’

‘Who doesn’t?’ Bernie replied shortly. ‘He’s a notorious villain who’s spent as much time in the jug as out. Whoever gets involved with him can only be up to
no good.’

Ruby felt sick. The more she was finding out, the deeper Nick seemed to be implicated.

Slowly she told Bernie about the case full of money and the trade with the man from the Soviet Union. But it was when she added that she had seen Nick take a gun from the safe that
Bernie’s eyebrows shot up.

‘A shooter?’ Bernie repeated. ‘Ruby, that’s bad news.’

‘I know. Oh Bernie, I can’t believe what happened.’

Bernie sighed heavily. ‘Look, I know your heart’s set on him. But you gotta live in the real world. The more you tell me, the more it turns out he’s a wrong ’un.
Whichever way you look at it, he’s trading dodgy goods with dodgy punters.’

‘But why does he need me to do that?’

‘Appearances, doll. You’re easy on the eye and can put a punter in a good frame of mind while he does them up like a kipper.’

Ruby wanted to scream it wasn’t true. There was no proof, only what Bernie had seen at the docks. But that could be coincidence, couldn’t it? Even as she thought it, she knew she was
lying to herself. She wanted to believe that Nick loved her and would never put her in danger. But events today had proved otherwise.

‘Look, I know you think I’m out of order,’ Bernie continued. ‘But who carries around that kind of money? Only the bank and major villains. The Russian fell into a trap.
The money was just window-dressing. Canadian wolverine is a quality skin with a high value. What was found in the hull of the ship looked like wolverine, but was wolf. And wolves are as common as
muck.’

Ruby stared at Bernie. ‘You mean Nick swindled him too?’

Bernie nodded. ‘This old vessel I saw is about as legit as Al Capone’s distillery. Brandon gets wind of it being towed into Tilbury, probably a porter or casual on his payroll. He
boards it, knowing he’s for the high-jump if there’s anything to link him to the pelts.’

‘Do you think there was?’

‘Dunno, but it’s likely.’

‘So what happens now?’

‘In my opinion, Brandon will do a runner.’

Ruby felt her lungs tighten. ‘What, leave London, you mean?’

‘Leave the bloody country, I should think. You don’t mess around with the dock authorities or the Soviets.’

Ruby felt a piercing pain in her chest. She loved Nick. And he loved her. Or she thought he did. Would he really run away from her?

She fought back the tears. ‘But why did Garry McBride rip open those crates? What was he looking for?’

‘Dope,’ Bernie said without hesitation. ‘Drugs are what McBride did his time for. He must have had a deal with Brandon and got short-changed. You was dead lucky the nightshift
clocked on when they did.’

For a while they sat in silence, and Ruby tried to think of a reason why all this could be wrong. Perhaps somehow they had miscalculated and put the blame on Nick when in reality there was
another explanation. But as the minutes ticked by, she was left with the empty desolate feeling that she knew came with the truth. Nick was a criminal and he had used her. She had been blind to
this because she loved him. The truth that he didn’t love her was a very hard pill to swallow.

Bernie got out his cigarettes and lit one. Taking in a deep breath, he said softly, ‘You remember that day me and Kath stayed with your mum till your dad got home?’

Ruby nodded.

‘I went into Pete’s room and found a clue to Joanie.’

‘What?’

‘I saw the picture on the wall. The dog with the black top hat. As I reached out to touch it, it fell into me hands.’

‘How did it do that?’

‘Dunno.’ He grinned. ‘P’raps Pete did it.’

‘Don’t be daft.’

‘Anyway, on the back, it says,
For Pete, my love, my world. Forever yours, J. 1951.
’

‘1951?’ she repeated. ‘The year Pete died.’

‘There was a label too.
Cuthbertson Studio. Fine Prints and Photography
.’

‘Cuthbertson? I know that name.’

‘Who is it?’

Ruby sat up. ‘I met a couple at Larry’s party. Marianne and Bruno Cuthbertson. They own a studio on Wardour Street.’

‘Do you reckon they’d remember selling the picture?’

‘We could ask.’

Bernie grinned. ‘Tomorrow morning, then?’

Ruby nodded. Suddenly she didn’t feel so desperate. She would put all thoughts of today behind her. After all, Nick had told her not to go to the warehouse. And, as much as she wanted to
confront him over what she now knew, her questions would have to wait.

‘Have you got the picture?’ Bernie asked early the next day as he drove them towards Piccadilly.

‘Yes, it’s safe in my bag.’ Ruby was as nervous as Bernie sounded. Added to her concerns about Nick, which she had tried to put to one side, she was hoping they would discover
who Joanie was. This girl was the one in whom Pete had confided his true feelings.

It was a mild October day and the sun trickled through the white clouds above Wardour Street as they walked past the famous Pathé Building and the smells from the Italian restaurant
reminded Ruby of Angelo’s. Her heart gave a sudden jerk. They had shared so much together. She needed to hear the truth. He owed her that much, at least.

On the other side of the road was a block of small shops with striped awnings, a butcher’s, a barber’s and an old-fashioned-looking tavern with a small group of men standing
outside.

The delivery boys on their bicycles swerved in and out and music drifted from the small windows, framed by grubby curtains, above.

Bernie pointed to a sign next to a cabaret club. Her tummy tightened as she read the gold-and-black lettering.
Cuthbertson Studio. Fine Prints and Photography
.

‘Looks like we’ve found it,’ Bernie said and Ruby’s heart lifted. Perhaps now they would solve the mystery of Joanie.

Marianne Cuthbertson slipped from behind the counter of the shop. ‘Why, it’s Larry friend, Ruby!’

Ruby was surprised to be recognized. ‘Yes. This is my friend, Bernie Rigler.’

‘Charmed.’ Marianne said coolly.

‘Is Bruno here?’

‘Unfortunately not. He’s working on a particularly difficult commission. Twins of aristocrats. Babies can be most unhelpful. The photos he took yesterday were useless, I’m
afraid. But there we are! Spilt milk and all that. Now tell me, what are you doing in these parts? Have you come to call on Larry?’

‘No, we came to see you. It’s about a picture you framed.’

‘Really? Which artist?’

Ruby felt embarrassed. All around them were glamorous photos of people and places. The walls were lined with black-and-white portraits, and looked very sophisticated. The long, narrow studio had
two heavy drapes crossed over one another at one end, with a modern, black-leather bucket chair underneath.

‘We want to know if you recognize this,’ Bernie said, jogging Ruby’s arm.

She opened her shoulder bag and took out the picture. ‘We was hoping you’d remember it.’

Marianne took the picture and frowned. ‘As it happens, I do recall this picture. It isn’t one of ours of course, and I remember it because we were asked to frame it, not a task we
would usually perform on cheap cartoons. But—’ Marianne stopped and frowning suspiciously said, ‘Before I provide any more information, may I ask what this is all
about?’

‘The picture belongs to my late brother, Pete.’

‘I see. So this is a personal enquiry?’ Marianne pressed.

‘Yes. You see, Pete took his own life.’ Ruby paused, composing herself as she spoke. ‘No one can guess why. He was happy and had everything to live for. The only clue we have
is this “J” who was his girlfriend Joanie. We’re hoping she’s the one who came here and that you can remember her.’

Marianne smiled wistfully. ‘How sad. Clearly a matter of the heart. But I’m sorry to disappoint you. The person who brought this in wasn’t your Joanie. It was a man. A tall,
very good-looking young man, dressed impeccably in an expensively tailored suit.’

‘Pete!’ Ruby said excitedly. ‘He was always the height of fashion.’

‘Yes, he was quite memorable,’ Marianne agreed. ‘And so was this cheap picture, as I identified it immediately as a piece of cheap wartime propaganda. I wouldn’t have
thought it was his style at all. A rather vulgar pastiche of the country’s leader Winston Churchill. Two a penny in their day.’

‘That fits perfectly,’ Ruby agreed excitedly. ‘Pete hero-worshipped Winnie.’

‘You’re lucky,’ Marianne added with a click of her tongue. ‘At first, Bruno turned down the commission. Look around you. We don’t deal in cartoons or frame any
photograph or picture that won’t add to our hard-won reputation.’

‘So what changed his mind?’ Bernie said in an offended tone.

Marianne stared coolly at him. ‘I did.’ With a slow, intimate smile she handed the picture back to Ruby. ‘This young man, your brother, was a very appealing personality. I
enjoyed and responded to his flirtation. He knew exactly how to conduct himself in the presence of an older lady. But Bruno, dear that he is, can be a little pompous at times about the work he
takes on.’

‘And Pete was the one who collected the picture?’ Ruby asked.

‘He returned a week later to approve the framing. He liked it, of course. And settled the account directly. Which added to his credibility and to my opportunity to flirt outrageously once
more.’ Marianne laughed girlishly.

‘Then you’d have a copy of the receipt?’ Bernie said.

‘Yes, of course,’ Marianne answered disdainfully, looking down her nose. ‘Our books are all in good order.’

‘Could you look it up for us?’ Ruby asked. ‘You see, Pete and Joanie, the girl who gave him this, were very much in love. Perhaps we can find her and she will have something to
tell us that no one else can.’