CHAPTER 24

ALTHOUGH HE HADN’T GONE TO bed until after two that morning, Ross was up again by five, as he had an appointment with Jimmy the dip. Not that the dip was aware that a police inspector from Scotland Yard would be joining him for breakfast.

Ross took a long, cold shower, washed his hair and, with the help of a razor, removed four days of non-designer stubble. He checked his watch, confident he could be at the Putney Bridge Café long before Jimmy turned up. Once he’d completed his business with the old lag, he would make his way back across the bridge to keep an even more important appointment in Chelsea.

The one thing Ross knew about the dip, other than that he was unrivalled in his profession, was that he didn’t like to go to work on an empty stomach. Jimmy had served a couple of terms in the nick, but had managed to charm more than one jury into believing he was a victim of a deprived upbringing who, if given a chance, would mend his ways and lead a new life. He would have spent far longer in prison had those same juries been made aware of his past criminal record, but the British have always believed in fair play, and giving a chap the benefit of the doubt.

Ross turned up at the café just before seven, ordered a black coffee and sat on a stool at the far end of the counter. The dip arrived just after seven thirty, took his usual place by the window and began to read the Sun.

Ross didn’t make his presence known until the waitress appeared carrying Jimmy’s daily plate of two fried eggs, bacon, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and hash browns. It was clear that Jimmy would have agreed with Somerset Maugham’s observation that ‘To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day.’ Not that Jimmy had ever heard of Somerset Maugham.

‘To what do I owe this honour, Inspector?’ asked Jimmy nervously, when Ross sat down opposite him. ‘You’re not going to find anything incriminating on me at this time in the morning.’

‘I need your help, Jimmy.’

‘I’m not an informer. Never have been, never will be. Not my style.’

‘I’m no longer in the force,’ said Ross. ‘I’ve quit.’

Jimmy still looked doubtful, until Ross took a roll of banknotes out of his pocket and placed them in the middle of the table.

‘What would I have to do to earn that much dosh?’ said the dip, looking at the notes longingly.

‘I need you to put something back for a change,’ said Ross, before explaining exactly what he had in mind.

By the time Jimmy had finished his breakfast, the two hundred pounds had also disappeared.

‘You’ll get another two hundred, but not before you’ve completed the job.’

‘Then all I need to know is when and where.’

‘I’ll be in touch,’ said Ross, ‘now I know where to find you.’ He got up, and was about to check the time to make sure he wouldn’t be late for his next appointment, only to find he no longer had a watch. He stretched out his hand and waited.