‘No. I left her by the snooker club.’

‘Well, if Bonnie does open her trap, you’re just gonna have to deny it. I’ll back you up.’

Vinny grinned. ‘Cheers, Mum. Serves her right. She shouldn’t have dressed like a whore,’ he said brazenly.

Appalled by his lack of empathy, Queenie walloped Vinny hard around his head. ‘You never force yourself on any female again, no matter how she dresses or acts. Do you hear me, boy? It’s wrong. Very wrong.’

‘All right. Sorry, Mum.’

Queenie looked into her son’s eyes. He wasn’t sorry at all, she was sure of that. But it wasn’t entirely his fault. His involvement with Marnie, Macca and then Yvonne, had obviously damaged him in some way, left him with issues. ‘I think it’s best you stay away from girls for the time being, Vinny, until you’re older and wiser. Little tarts like Yvonne and Bonnie will only bring you down, son. You’re going places. Girls aren’t worth the grief of ruining your future.’

‘Yeah. You’re right, Mum. I’m gonna give girls a wide berth and concentrate solely on earning money from now on.’

‘Good boy. You know it makes sense. Actually, I’ve got a proposition for you. You swear to me you will never again do what you did to Bonnie, and I’ll give you the details of a job that could set us up good and proper.’

Vinny’s eyes lit up. ‘I swear on my life, Mum, I’ll never do it to another girl. What’s the job?’ he asked excitedly.

Queenie explained about the Huntingdon-Browns’ imminent holiday and all the gold, diamonds and cash she presumed they kept in their safe. ‘I can draw you a plan of the easiest way to get into the house, but you’ll have to break a window and bash the safe up afterwards. The safe needs to look like it’s been jemmied open, rather than opened with the code, otherwise they’ll suspect me. The whole thing needs to look like a robbery, boy. There’s been burglaries round that area recently, so if you do it right, nobody will think I had any involvement. Upturn some drawers, that kind of thing.’

Vinny beamed from ear to ear. ‘Don’t worry, Mum. I know exactly what to do. A piece of piss, this sounds. I’ll take Roy with me as my lookout.’

Queenie smiled. ‘Perfect.’

Vinny wrapped his arms around his mother. This was exactly the break he needed. ‘You know what, you’re the best mum in the whole wide world.’

The following lunchtime, Queenie met June Tarbuck in Old Jack’s cafe. ‘Hello, love. How’s Bonnie today? Feeling better, I hope. I got you a mug of tea. Is that OK?’

‘Yes. Thanks. No. Bonnie’s no better. She wouldn’t go to work again today. I had to ring in sick for her, lie she’d been up all night with a bad tummy bug. I’m at my wits’ end, Queenie. Did you talk to Vinny?’

Queenie and Vinny had spoken some more about Bonnie last night, come up with a concrete story. ‘Yes, I did. Vinny says he took Bonnie to a posh restaurant on Saturday night in Stratford and he wasn’t too happy because Bonnie got a bit tipsy. Vinny isn’t a drinker, you see. He’s too young for all that lark, and seeing my Albie roll home drunk over the years has left a mark on him. Apparently, after they left the restaurant, Bonnie was staggering and fell over a couple of times. That’s probably why her dress was ruined. She acted up on the train also, was sick, and Vinny was embarrassed by her behaviour. They had a few cross words and Vinny packed her up after they got off the train at Whitechapel. Bonnie got upset, cried, and refused to let him walk her home. She went off in the opposite direction. What time did Bonnie get home, June?’