Page 8

chapter eight

Gabriella felt like a coward, but before she left work she took the staircase at headquarters to the floor above, and looked down on the road outside from the upstairs ladies’ loo—the only room on that floor that she had access to.

There was no green Jaguar parked there, but she decided to go out the back anyway.

As she ran down the steps, Liz was waiting for her at the bottom.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I wanted to see if someone was lurking outside.” Gabriella waved toward the back exit and lifted her brows, and Liz gave a nod of acknowledgement that she was going that way, too.

“You avoiding your copper?” Liz asked, buttoning up her shiny, bright red vinyl coat as they headed for the exit.

Gabriella admired the color, but wondered if the coat would be warm enough. She had on a tweed wool one she’d found in a charity shop, and while it had a few moth holes—hopefully where no one would notice them—it was wonderfully cozy.

The weather looked like it was going to chuck down at any minute, and the sky was so dark and low, it gave her a sense of impending doom.

“I think I’ve got someone following me. I fined him a while back, and he was waiting outside yesterday. When I tried to approach the car, just to check it was him, he raced off.” She felt a quick surge of satisfaction at how quickly he’d sped off. Like he was scared of her.

It made her feel better about the situation.

But what she actually needed was a look at James’s notes from the incident. She had meant to mention it to him last night, but it had slipped her mind. She thought he might have written down the address of the row house Mr. Jaguar had come out of, and she could no longer be sure which one it was. Too much time had passed.

She wanted that information, just in case.

She had made a note of the registration number on the car yesterday as it drove away, and this morning she’d checked it against the one she’d written down in her ticket book from all those months ago. They weren’t the same, although the driver definitely was.

He had changed the plates.

“Did you tell me about him at the time?” Liz asked, pulling the back door open for them both.

“It was so long ago, I can’t remember.” She waited on the back porch for Liz to step out, and they both headed for the bus stop a few streets over. “I was working in Chelsea, and a green Jag was parked on double yellows near a corner. This toff comes boiling out of a townhouse, shouting, red-faced. He must have seen me sticking the fine on the windscreen from inside, and when I started walking away, he really went for me.”

They shared a quick look, because while there was often a lot of shouting, it rarely ever got to the point where they were afraid of physical harm.

“How’d you get away?” Liz asked.

“I started to run, I’m afraid to say. I really thought he was going to hurt me, but James was driving past and he switched on his siren and pulled up.”

“Let me guess,” Liz said, voice dry. “It was suddenly all a misunderstanding, mainly on your part.”

Gabriella laughed. “You must have been there.”

“In a way.” Liz tucked a hand through Gabriella’s arm. “Let’s go get some tea somewhere. I could murder a cuppa that isn’t that strange, iron-flavored stuff they have at HQ.”

Gabriella usually never treated herself, because money was always so tight, but she felt like sitting somewhere warm and cozy for a bit, in a brightly lit place to ward off the encroaching darkness. She ran across the road with Liz, laughing and joking until they found a teashop with fresh-looking buns, and settled into a table in the back corner.

“You haven’t been over to Dance-A-Go-Go for a while,” Liz said, rubbing her hands together to warm them, and then taking a sip from her mug of tea. She let out a sigh of satisfaction.

“I’m trying to save money,” Gabriella said. “And after what happened there . . .”

Liz nodded. “I understand. You’re friends with Melvin, right? The bouncer? I’ve gotten to know him a bit, these last few months.”

She knew Melvin through Solomon, but not well. “I see him at the Calypso Club when I take Mr. Rodney there for dinner.” She eyed her friend. “You’re interested in him?”

“Maybe.” Liz sent her a quick, saucy smile. “Maybe I think he looks fine the way he stretches out those jackets with those big shoulders.”

Gabriella grinned back. “Next time you see him, tell him I say hello.”

Liz winked. “Thank you. That’s as good a conversation opener as any.”

They ate sticky buns and drank tea, and then parted ways at the bus stop. Gabriella’s bus came first, and she waved at Liz from the top deck as it shuddered off into the afternoon traffic, the rain just beginning to spit against the roof of the bus and the windows.

The bus route home stopped close by Ruby Everett’s house, and the thought of going back to her tiny, dark flat in the gloom suddenly didn’t appeal. The warm lights of Ruby’s neighborhood sparkled through the rain on the window, and on a whim she got off and ran down the street, jacket pulled up over her head.

She reached the little porch over Ruby’s front door moments before the rain started in earnest, and realized with a sudden drop of her stomach that there were no lights on in the house.

Ruby wasn’t here.

She would have to go back to the bus stop and wait for the next bus to get home.

It was aggravating.

Except . . .

She ran down the steps, then stuck close to the eaves of the house to avoid the worst of the rain as she headed around the side, to the back garden.

There was a light coming from what had once been the shed, and was now the home of Teddy Roe, Ruby’s gardener.

The lawn mower and other garden equipment, which had once resided in Teddy Roe’s home, were now housed in a neat little lean-to on the side, and she saw that they had put in a little path from the shed to the kitchen door since she was last here.

She made a dash for the shed door, and gave a quick, light knock.

“Who is it?” Teddy Roe’s voice trembled with suspicion.

“It’s me, Mr. Roe. Gabriella.”

“Gabriella!” The exclamation fortunately sounded enthusiastic, and with a rattle of keys, the door swung open.

“Sorry to barge in on you,” Gabriella said, leaning in a little way to get out of the rain. “I thought I’d look in on Ruby, but it doesn’t seem like she’s here.”

“She’s gone to pick up a parcel at the post office, is all,” Teddy Roe said. “She’ll be back for tea, and I’m having it with her. You can join us.”

“Thank you. Is it all right if I wait here with you? It’s coming down cats and dogs.” She eyed the little room he and Ruby had worked on to turn it into a livable space.

“Come in, of course. Come in.” He beamed, stepping back and waving an arm. “Looking good, eh?”

“It’s looking fantastic, Mr. Roe.” She wasn’t just saying that, either. Ruby had made curtains for the windows, and they’d painted the interior as well as the exterior. The old wooden floor boards had obviously been sanded and sealed, and there were a few rugs on the floor.

They and the furniture were the only things that looked dodgy.

“Mrs. Everett paid for the paint and to have it all sanded and cleaned,” Teddy Roe said, patting the wall. “But I found the rugs and furniture myself.” He pointed to a moth-eaten old Turkish rug lying just inside the door. “Found it. Out on someone’s bins. Amazing what people’ll throw out. Amazing.”

She grinned at him. She couldn’t talk, what with the moth holes in the coat she was wearing that very moment. “Takes all kinds, Mr. Roe. I love the colors in it.” They were a rust red and a dusty blue, and she actually did love them.

“Got me a kettle, to make myself tea whenever I like,” he said, showing her. “And a bit o’ bread and fruit in a bowl.” He lifted the bowl up. “Mrs. Everett gave it to me as a housewarming present.”

“It looks so good.” She remembered how he’d been sleeping in an old, broken-down car when she’d met him. And when she and Ruby had been in serious trouble, Teddy Roe had come through for them.

“Hello?” A call came from outside, and Gabriella turned to the house and saw the kitchen door was open, and Ruby was silhouetted against the light.

“Hello,” she called back.

“It’s Gabriella, come to visit us.” Teddy Roe had to shout over the rain.

“I’ll come and fetch you both with an umbrella,” Ruby called back, and then she ran across, a huge umbrella over her, and handed a second one to Teddy Roe. “Gabriella can fit under this one with me.”

They made it back to the kitchen with wet shoes but otherwise dry, and Gabriella made toast while Ruby heated the soup she’d made earlier and Teddy Roe fried up some eggs.

Teddy Roe fell on the food like he was never going to see another meal, and Gabriella guessed that might have once been true.

“Heard there were a body,” he said, after he’d cleaned his plate and was leaning back in his chair, hands folded over his stomach. “On your patch somewhere, wasn’t it?”

He was very connected to what happened on the street. It shouldn’t surprise her, it had been his home for years.

“Some boys found a woman in the rubble in that lane off the Kings Road,” she said.

“The old Billick building?” Ruby asked.

“I think that’s what Mr. Greenberg called it.” Gabriella lifted her shoulders. “It was bombed in the war, and they haven’t cleared the site yet.”

“The old Billick building,” Teddy Roe confirmed. “I had to clear it out of people. When it fell.”

She’d forgotten he had worked the night crew during the war, pulling bodies out of bombed buildings during the Blitz.

“Was it bad?” she asked, and then felt a fool, because of course it had been bad.

He looked up at her, eyes rheumy but bright blue under his white, bushy eyebrows. “I found a murdered woman in there. Weren’t the Germans what got her. Someone much more local.”

“That’s shocking,” Ruby said, leaning forward. “What did the authorities do?”

Teddy Roe gave a snort of derision. “Had their hands full, didn’t they? No one wanted to hear me say it weren’t from the bomb. Not a soul wanted to listen. So they told me I was mistaken. And when I found another one, they told me I was doolally.”

“You found another?” Gabriella asked. “Where?”

He shrugged. “Don’t matter. No one believed me.” He stood, carefully pushing his chair back in place. “Thanks for the tea, Mrs. E. I’m off to bed.” He gave them both a sort of bow, and took the umbrella with him to run back to the shed.

“You made a strange face when he said that.” Ruby rose and began to stack the plates, and Gabriella got to her feet to help her, running the hot water into the sink to wash up.

“There’s another body been found close to the one I got involved in. It’s probably coincidence, but I don’t like it.” Gabriella shrugged.

“It’s been more than twenty years since Teddy worked with the night crew. The chances of a connection are slim,” Ruby pointed out.

“True.” Gabriella began scraping egg off the plates.

“I was going to leave you a note tomorrow, as it happens.” Ruby picked up the drying cloth. “I’ve found something for you about your father.”

Gabriella stopped, turned to her. “Something concrete?” Because she had been looking for months, and every single lead, no matter how promising, had evaporated like mist.

“Something concrete.” Ruby didn’t look particularly excited or happy.

Which meant the news was bad and she didn’t think Gabriella would like hearing it.

“Just tell me,” she said, and realized with surprise she felt the need to brace herself. She thought she didn’t care about the outcome.

“If my source is right, your father did arrive back in England on the ship your mother says he boarded,” Ruby said.

“What’s the bad news?” Gabriella asked.

“He wasn’t using a fake name.” Ruby’s lips gave a twist. “Either in Australia, or on the ship.”

Gabriella blinked. At first, she’d thought he’d used a fake name to book his fare, because no one named Jonathan Farnsworth had been on that ship. Then she’d considered that the fake name was the one he’d used when he was living with her mother. The one on her birth certificate. “What do you mean?”

“I mean there was someone on that ship, a viscount called Lord Granger, and it turns out his surname is Farnsworth. And his first name is Jonathan.” Ruby paused. “You said your father received word that his own father was dead. That he returned to England to deal with his father’s estate. That means that when he signed on to the ship’s manifest, he quite correctly gave his new title. He’d just become Lord Granger, and that’s who he identified himself as.”

Gabriella stared at Ruby, aware her mouth was open. “A viscount?” she almost squeaked the words. She’d seen that entry. Had simply let her eye pass over it.

“Gabriella, if this is correct, your father is Lord Granger, and he’s living on his family’s estate in West Sussex, near Chichester. He appears to be married.”

Gabriella had expected that if she found her father alive that he would be married. That he would be a bigamist. He’d done enough to hide his whereabouts, after all. But she had never suspected he had a title. Never suspected he came from wealth.

She had been very young when he’d left, and couldn’t remember if he’d ever said anything about his upbringing, but her mother had worked long, hard hours every day in the bakery, and she couldn’t really recall what her father had done.

He must have worked somewhere. She would write to her mother and ask her.

“You’re shocked,” Ruby said.

Gabriella nodded. “Can we somehow confirm this Lord Granger is my father? Find out if he lived in Melbourne during the war?”

“I’ve already asked my contact at the Home Office to do that.” Ruby patted her arm gently. “But we know for sure he spent some time there, as he got on the ship in Melbourne and got off in Southhampton.”

“Ruby.” Gabriella grabbed her friend’s hands and squeezed. “I don’t know how to thank you. I’ve been here six months, and I hadn’t gotten anywhere in my search. You’ve helped me so much.”

Ruby smiled. “It’s been my pleasure. It feels a bit like the old days.”

Gabriella knew Ruby would never reveal what she’d done during the war, but she suspected it involved the intelligence services.

Hence her very good connections in the Home Office.

As she used Ruby’s umbrella to make a run for the bus stop, she had to give it to her father. It had taken an old WWII operative to find him.

He thought he was safe and untouchable.

And she was about to reach out and rip back the curtain.

She didn’t fool herself that it wouldn’t be painful. For them both.