‘They’re over in the drawer. That large drawer under the television.’

Alfie walked across to the far side of the room and bent down to open the drawer. He frowned and looked at Sally. ‘Is this some kind of fucked-up joke?’

‘No, that’s what you need to take. That’s your ticket to get in. That will get you into the auction.’

A wave of nausea rushed over Alfie as he bent down, taking a blue dummy with a blue ribbon tied to it out of the drawer.

39

Having called the police anonymously from outside the flat, and having waited and watched them arrive, Franny and Alfie drove back to London in silence, both of them traumatised and wishing they could turn back the clock and un-hear what they’d been told in Sally and Anthony’s flat. But both of them realised what they’d heard would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

By the time they arrived in Soho Square, it was the early hours of the morning and tiredness hit them.

Outside the house, Alfie turned off the engine and just sat and stared ahead, and it was a number of minutes before he spoke his first words in over two hours. ‘We need to sort this.’

‘I know, but how?’

‘It’s too risky to leave it for the police; by the time they’ve done their investigation, Barry will be long gone, so I’m going to go to that auction. We’re going to go.’

Rubbing her temples and taking a quick sip of her warm can of Coke, Franny, feeling exhausted, asked, ‘But what about Sally and Anthony? What if he hears something?’

‘If Barry does hear anything about Sally and Anthony being arrested, he certainly won’t think it’s anything to do with him. He’ll probably just be pleased he took Taylor out of there before there was a raid. Though I expect word won’t get out for a few days, if not more, and by that time Barry would’ve taken Taylor to the auction.’

‘So, what next?’

‘We’re going to go and bid for him. However much it takes. Whatever it takes, we’re going to make sure we get Taylor back. And once we’ve got him, I’ll take him to my friend Claire. She fosters kids and stuff, you know through social services, so she’ll know exactly what to do with him. If we do that he’ll be safe, but we’ll be able to keep our names out of it. She won’t say anything about us.’

Worried, Franny stared at Alfie. ‘That’s all fine, but ain’t you jumping the gun a bit? The auction’s tomorrow night – you won’t be able to lay your hands on enough money that quickly. Things have been difficult.’