Lil opened her mouth to speak and then clamped it shut again. Her mother hadn’t troubled herself to come and visit her in Clacton, despite several invitations, each of them met with feeble excuses – but she’d make the effort for the sainted Dora. Of course. That was how it had always been, how it would always be.

‘You can see how she’s fixed,’ said Freda pleadingly. ‘She’s fell out with Min. Well, that ain’t difficult, Min’s a cow at the best of times with all that God-bothering and poncing around she does. Thinks herself a cut above cos she’s got Joe and all that land. It could work out, Dora living at yours. You know it could.’

‘Work out how, exactly?’ asked Lil. ‘I know you think the sun shines out of her arse, our mum, but the fact is, Dora is trouble with a capital T. I don’t want her at mine. You know the types she mixes with. I don’t want Alec getting hassled by Dora’s “boyfriends”. Or any of those dodgy bastards. He’s not up to it. I won’t have it.’

‘Well I . . .’ Freda’s face was a picture of outrage.

Lil got to her feet. ‘It ain’t happening, Mum. Not over my dead body. So put it right out of your mind.’ She snatched up the letter. ‘And I’ll take this, so you don’t go doing nothing daft. Dora’s all right. She could fall in a vat of shit and come out smelling of violets, you know she could. So just leave it.’

56

Bruno Graves watched the oldest O’Brien girl come out of the mother’s house and stroll off along the street. He fell into step behind her, thinking that he’d struck out on the bloke who worked in the invoicing department at the foundry, but one of the O’Briens had to have some sort of contact with Dora, and if they did, then he was just the man to get it out of them.

Lil walked quickly away, passing along by the canal and then under the railway bridge. The perfect place. This one he’d noticed was the wife of the bloke from the foundry. Bruno walked faster, getting closer and closer to her. Her footsteps echoed under

here, ghostly. And then his. He saw her become aware of his footsteps, moving up faster, closer behind her, and he saw her nervous half-glance over her shoulder.

Yeah, bitch. Here it comes for you.

Closer, closer.

Now she was hurrying. Glancing back, picking up her pace, anxious to get out into the daylight again.

He was eight strides behind her, closing fast.

The light under here was greenish, the dirty canal waters lapping, the footsteps now filling the place. Bruno saw her almost start to trot. But she wasn’t going to get away.

Lil ran out from under the railway arch and straight into Donny Maguire. He staggered back a pace in surprise and caught her upper arms. She was wide-eyed, breathless.