‘Nearly two thousand pounds. The dock board don’t even know it’s here. They have a separate account for the rents and trust me to look after it – I just haven’t banked it for a while.’
‘That’s no heart-at-all-felt,’ mouthed Jerry to Tommy.
‘What are you going to do with your share?’ Frank’s voice again.
‘Same as you, matey. I’m going to hold my nerve and tough it out. You can settle your Margaret in once the bailiffs have done their job on Nelson Street and I can help the police with their enquiries. Christ, the return of Tommy Doherty is a godsend, he’s a sitting duck. We were obviously meant to have this and when the coast is clear, I’m off to New Zealand. I’ll wave to you in Australia.’
The two men laughed. ‘How are you going to get it out, Frank? It’s a bit obvious, walking along the dock with a bag that size full of one-pound and ten-shilling notes.’
‘I’m going to drop it out here at the back on the dock. Don’t want to be seen walking out of the front door with it over my shoulder like a bag of swag.’ Frank the Skank began to chuckle. ‘There’s a trolley tucked at the side and I’m going to wheel it to the cutting. Anyone who notices me from on top will think it’s a dead dog from the dock. And when I get there, I have the police car waiting which I got for the week. I said to them, if there’s only me on two docks, I can’t police them properly on foot and they fell for it. I’m going to drive it to our house and store it in the coalhouse. Margaret doesn’t like to get her hands dirty so she never goes down there. But first I’ll plant a small bundle of notes down the back of the Dohertys’ boiler and I’ll find them there myself tomorrow, once the alarm is raised. They didn’t get him for the murder of the priest, but they’ll have him for this.’
Heartfelt let out a long whistle and Jerry and Tommy looked at each other, eyes wide. They heard the sound of wood on wood as a sash window slid open above them and then, as if an angel had appeared and delivered them a heavenly gift, a sack landed in their laps. Both men looked to the left and saw the trolley Frank had talked about. ‘That’ll do nicely, thanks, Frank,’ whispered Tommy with a grin. Their eyes met as the window closed above them. They heard the front door on the street side of the administration building open and close and the sound of footsteps which they assumed to be Heartfelt retreating.
*
When Frank the Skank turned the corner, he visibly jumped as his torch lit up the two men with his sack at their feet. He looked down at the sack then up at the men and licked his thin, tight lips as his hand went to his truncheon.
‘Don’t even try it,’ said Jerry. ‘We know everything. We know you were in the Doherty kitchen and you were heard. It’s the end of the road, Skank.’
Tommy felt his blood boil with anger. ‘You scumbag! You were going to try and nail me, put me down, separate me from my family because of your thieving ways.’
Jerry looked sideways at Tommy; the thought that they were up to no good themselves was lost on his friend. Then he spoke. ‘You can take your money – we are better off without the likes of you two around here, but take this message to Heartfelt…’
Tommy swallowed; he couldn’t believe Jerry was going to let the Skank walk and with the money too.
‘Tell Heartfelt I’ve taken five hundred pounds. You two can have the rest. I’ll be using this to help the people up there who, due to Heartfelt’s mismanagement of the docks, are on half-pay most of the time. There are families who are suffering, kids who aren’t being fed properly because of him, men who do a day’s work on near-empty bellies. You can also tell him that if there are any rent arrears on the four streets, he’s to wipe the slate clean from today – have you got that?’
Frank the Skank didn’t speak.
‘Oh, and tell your wife, never to walk down the four streets again telling us what we can and cannot do, and that goes for you too. Watch my back,’ he said to Tommy as he bent to untie the sack. Then he counted notes until he had what he wanted and handed the money to Tommy. Jerry tied the sack up again and threw it at Frank’s feet. ‘There you go, there’s enough left to do your runner to Australia, but you had better be quick, before one of us pops in to see your Margaret and tell her what you were up to’ – Frank’s mouth dropped and even in the torchlight, Jerry saw the blood leave his face – ‘Oh, aye, we know everything, don’t we Tommy? And just in case you were thinking of bluffing this one out and think you can still blame us…’ He let out a long whistle and looked up the steps. ‘See that there?’ he said.
Frank looked over to the steps and along the ridge. One by one fifty orange flames illuminated the steps and the ridge along the top at the all-clear to light up. ‘They are all our witnesses – they’ve seen everything.’
Frank the Skank looked as though he were in shock. A rat ran along the dock and stopped, sniffing his boot. ‘See, you even smell like shite! Go – go now,’ said Jerry and, picking up the sack, Frank shuffled off and didn’t look over his shoulder once.
Chapter Thirty
The operation ran for three hours by the time they had finished and almost everything was stored neatly and filled Maura’s wash house and backyard. The rest, despite Malcolm’s protestations,
