‘The others are getting jumpy now.’

‘I’m not surprised.’

‘So I got a job for you. Your folks live in the same road as Dora O’Brien’s lot, don’t they? You know her. Grew up alongside her?’

Donny sat there, saying nothing. He hadn’t told any of his colleagues about the link between Wills’s horrible lonely death, his mum’s suicide and that bitch Dora. He nodded.

‘She was there that day. With Cole. I want you to pull her in. If she’s willing to talk, we’ll get her on the witness protection programme. That leaves four other people who could have seen what happened that day. Which is where you come in.’

‘You’re not talking protective custody?’

‘You bet your arse I am. We want to question every one of them. Guv’nor’s been looking to pin Frank Pargeter down for a long time. We all had our doubts about Dickie Cole doing a thing like that. Cold-blooded murder?’ Crompton took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled two plumes of smoke, shaking his head. ‘I told you. Dickie’s a lightweight. A little fiddler, nicking things and thinking it clever. A fucking little scrote, a bloody nuisance, but he was never in Frank’s league. He was on the edges of the real criminal fraternity with ideas about getting further in. Poor stupid bastard. I think Dickie was a patsy. Frank’s one of the big boys. And Frank getting nervous like this? Maybe getting a bit careless? Could be the ideal opportunity to nail his arse once and for all. Now, Donny – I got other people pulling in the three men. But you know Dora.’

Donny nodded cautiously. ‘Yeah, I do.’ William knew her too. To his cost.

‘Bring her in then, Detective Sergeant. Nice little twist to this tale? After Dora dated Dickie Cole, she moved on to Frank.’

‘Yeah. I know that.’

‘But then they had a falling-out, I’m told. She might have had some cover, while she was with him, but now I’m guessing she’s in as much trouble as all the others. Frank ain’t the sentimental type. An old girlfriend? He wouldn’t think twice. So I’d like to speak to Dora if we still can, before Frank gets restless and does her too. Get all the details. Let’s see if we can make Frank squeak.’

Donny thought about it and found he liked the idea. This was poetic justice. He was going to pull Dora in. And by Christ he was going to enjoy it.

He was going to make that bitch sweat.

And after that? Maybe he’d let Frank get her anyway. Just for the hell of it.

Or maybe he would dream up something even better.

38

Lil’s husband Alec got sacked from the bank but got a new job down the foundry, because someone put in a good word for him with the bosses. Alec was a jittery type, his nerves shattered, but he applied himself, he was a solid worker.

‘Just don’t let off any champagne corks around him,’ his friend had joked to his boss. ‘Or he’ll dive under that bloody desk and never come out.’