The Toff And The Stolen Tresses

“We told you—” one of the youths said roughly, yet he didn’t touch Rollison.

“Yes, I’ll have a word with Tiny,” Rollison said, and got out. “I’d like to find out how he fooled the beak.” He shouldered one of the youths aside, and went straight towards the house. When he reached it, Wallis was standing in the hall and staring into the front room.

Rollison heard him say:

“What the hell are you doing here?”

It was his wife who said, gasping: “They said you’d sent for them!”

Rollison called from the front door: “No, Stella, I did. I thought it time we all had a little chat.”

He went in.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The Power Behind Wallis

Behind Rollison, crowding the street and the porch, were the youths on whom Wallis depended. In front was Wallis himself, so huge and powerful, and with his eyes glittering—not only furious, but puzzled; like a bewildered bull. His wife was puzzled, too, and neither liked nor understood what was happening. Into the doorway of the front room came Ada Jepson looking tiny and quite adorable, her eyes bright as if touched by a kind of fear.

Then Donny appeared.

And all of these people stared at Rollison.

“So they let you come away, did they,” said Rollison, as if that was the last thing he had expected. There was an edge to his voice: it would be easy for them to believe that he was acutely disappointed. “I thought you were certain—”

The puzzled look and the fury died from Wallis’s eyes, and he grinned with a kind of savage triumph.

“So you thought they’d remand me for eight days and you could go on playing your little game,” he said in a rough voice. The words carried to the gang outside, and won a ragged cheer. “It isn’t the first time you’ve got things wrong with me, Mr. Bloody Toff, but it’ll be the last.”

Rollison glanced quickly over his shoulder, as if he was suddenly scared. He dodged into the front room, as if to get away from the door—and bumped against the switch controlling the recorder.

Wallis grabbed his shoulder, and drew him back into the hall.

The youths hooted with laughter.

“Don’t you try any rough stuff,” Rollison said, and no one could doubt the note of fear in his voice. “The police know I’m here.”

“Hear that, boys?” Wallis roared, and his voice reverberated through the narrow hall. “The police know he’s here. Tell that to your wives and children, the so-called So-and-so Hero Toff is so scared he wants police protection! The police pulled him out of trouble last night, too. How about that for a caveman hero?”

The youths roared.

“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” Wallis bellowed. “I’ll send him out for you to look after, be careful with him, he might get hurt.” There was a lilt of savage gloating in his voice. “Go on, Rollison, go and explain your mistake to my pals outside. See what happens to you.” He dropped his voice, and the savage note rasped. “They’ll tear you to bits, that’s what they’re there for.”

Ada exclaimed: “Rolly, be careful!”

“Being careful won’t help him,” Wallis sneered, and added: “Anyone round the back?”

“A dozen of us!” came a roar.

“These boys are well-trained,” Wallis said gloating. “They know all the tricks, which is more than you do, Rollison.” He put his arm round his wife’s shoulders, and squeezed, while she looked at Rollison as if she couldn’t quite believe that everything was as it seemed. “He thought I was tucked away for eight days and was going to try to work on you. What were you hoping to do, you pretty hero? Hoping to make Stella and Miss Jepson and Mr. Sampson break down and tell you all about it? That the idea? Well, it didn’t work, did it? And now the world knows that you were so scared of me that you tried to get me put inside while you got to work on my wife. You know what I’m going to do?” His voice was a rasping sound in Rollison’s ear again. “I’m going to say I came back and found you trying to fool around with my wife, and my friends got so mad they tore you to bits. Now get out.”

His wife said: “Tiny, do you think—”

“I think we’ve finished this smooth Mayfair type for good and all,” rasped Wallis, “and I shan’t go into mourning.”

Rollison was backing away a little, as if still scared. Twice he darted swift glances over his shoulder, and twice the sea of faces seemed to split in two, and derisive laughter erupted.

“Donny,” Rollison muttered, “you heard what he said. It’s incitement to murder.”

“Our Donny won’t lift a finger to help you even if he could, and he won’t say a word afterwards,” Wallis sneered, “And Little Ada won’t, either.”

Rollison almost gasped: “They’ve got to! They’re witnesses, you wouldn’t dare—”

“They won’t dare,” Wallis said, and laughed triumphantly. “I’ve got them just where I want them. Haven’t I, Ada?” He put out a hand and caught Ada’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, and thrust her back, so that her little heart-shaped face was imprisoned. “You’ll keep your pretty little trap shut because of what I can do to poor Reggie, won’t you? Like to know where her kid brother is, Rollison?” He lowered his voice so that it could not carry outside; but the tape recorder was only a few feet away from him, and the door of the room was wide open. “Little Reggie didn’t think he was getting enough from the Jepson business, so do you know what