‘Ha, I see. You want to be her knight in shining armour. Buy me a pint later and I’ll tell you exactly where she lives. In fact, I can do even better than that. Ron Lyons works at Battersea Bridge nick, he’s a desk sergeant,’ Roger said and playfully punched George on the arm.

‘Great. I’ll buy you two, cheers.’

George walked back to Sarah with the information he had gleaned from Roger, hoping it would earn him some extra brownie points.

‘Well … do you know where I can find him?’ Sarah asked eagerly.

‘Yep, and even more than that, I can tell you where he works,’ George said, feeling rather smug.

‘Oh, that’s great, George, thank you. I wouldn’t want to cause him any embarrassment with his family, so if I can find him at work that’ll be so much better.’

‘You ain’t got far to go from where you live. Turns out he works at the police station.’

‘What, Battersea Bridge station?’

‘That’s the one.’

‘My dad’s a copper?’

‘I think so. By all accounts he’s a desk sergeant, so you shouldn’t have any problems finding him.’

‘George, I can’t believe it! All this time, when I’ve been scavenging down on them banks, I’ve been right under my dad’s nose and didn’t know it.’

‘It’s a small world, love,’ George said. ‘So, what are you going to do now?’

‘I’m going to go and see him.’

‘What, just like that? You’re going to march in off the street and announce that you’re his daughter?’

‘Pretty much, unless you’ve got any better ideas?’ Sarah said.

‘No, not really. Do you want me to come with you?’

Sarah was quick to reply, ‘No, but thanks, George, and that’s really good of you to offer. I’ll be off now, but I’ll see you tomorrow evening.’

‘Not so fast, missy,’ George said, then took a pencil from his money bag and scribbled down his address on a brown paper bag. ‘You’ll be needing this. Mum’s expecting you about half six.’

Sarah took the bag and smiled at George before walking off. ‘Wish me luck,’ she called over her shoulder.

George wished her all the luck in the world and thought she was going to need it. Ron Lyons was in for the shock of his life, and George hoped the man would be welcoming. Even before Sarah had been born, her father had abandoned both her and her mother, and now she could be facing the hurt of being rejected again.

Chapter 20