His eyes met hers. ‘What do you think’s going to happen next?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know. It’s bloody hard to tell, with you.’

‘Don’t worry, Dora.’ He gave his thin, mirthless smile. ‘I won’t murder you before you have the chance to testify.’

Dora sat up a little straighter. ‘What d’you mean, testify?’ she asked, her voice cracking with nerves.

‘You’re our star witness,’ said Donny. ‘The Crown versus Frank Pargeter. For the murder of Tony Dillon. That’s why he sent Bruno Graves after you, Dora. To shut you up before we could get you into court to give evidence against him.’

Dora clutched the baby tighter to her and stared at Donny like he was mad. Angel stirred and gave a tiny cry.

‘I’m . . . I’m not going to stand up in court and shop Frank,’ she said.

‘Yes you are.’

‘No. Please don’t make me.’

‘Why not, Dora? Man’s a bastard. He deserves to go down.’

‘That’s as may be,’ said Dora, panicking at the very idea. ‘But I don’t deserve a lifetime of looking over my shoulder. Because inside or outside, Frank would get me in the end. I know that. He got Dickie Cole. And he’d get me too, you can depend on it. Please, Donny. I’ve got this baby to think about now. I can’t leave her without a mother.’

‘You’ll do it,’ said Donny, starting the engine.

‘No,’ said Dora, wide-eyed with terror. ‘Please, no.’

‘Look, we got Frank Pargeter sitting on remand in Brixton. We know he’s been into all sorts. We know he’s behind the death of Tony Dillon and Kim Merton and the other party people. Now we have a witness to events and we’re going to bung that bastard away for a long, long time.’

‘No,’ said Dora, clutching the baby tighter. If she did that, she’d be a marked woman. Frank would never let it go.

‘Yes,’ he said flatly, putting the car in gear. ‘You will. You know what I’m capable of, Dora. You’ll do it, or by fuck I’ll throttle the life out of you myself. And that’ – his black eyes met hers in the driver’s mirror and she saw the truth of his words reflected there – ‘is a promise.’

63

The trial of Frank Pargeter for the murder of gang boss Tony Dillon and for inciting the murders of Kim Merton and others, was a circus. It kicked off in a blaze of sensationalist publicity. There were press people, TV people, everyone was shoving and pushing their way into the courtroom of the Old Bailey and the judge was hoarse from calling for order, banging his gavel and threatening to close the court for a week if the people in the public gallery didn’t settle down this minute.

Twice a day the sirens wailed louder and louder as Frank was escorted out of the A-wing maximum security block of Brixton Prison and taken down Brixton Hill to the Old Bailey. There had to be the whole farce of a jury. There were over a hundred people standing by in readiness to be called for it. And Frank had leave to object to any of the jury members he didn’t like the look of. The Crown versus Frank Pargeter was to be a fair trial. Frank didn’t like the look of fifty of the jurors. The rest, he allowed to be left on the roll call.