Private Sorrow, A (27 page)

On their way home, they joked about what their mothers would say when they saw the state of them but one of the lads said, ‘That fire was started deliberately. If that woman hadn’t had another door to escape from, she would be dead by now.’

That stopped all the jokes, as they had to agree with their pal.

Molly couldn’t stop coughing and her chest felt as if it was on fire. The doctor at the infirmary gave her oxygen to help her breathing and although she was wrapped up in a warm blanket, she was still shivering. ‘I’m going to keep you in here overnight and check you’re all right. Maybe you’ll get home tomorrow but we’ll see how you get on,’ the doctor said.

He was a tall, thin man with a shock of red hair. He turned to the nurse who was in attendance at the casualty. ‘Take Miss McQueen to the ward, please, nurse.’

Molly tried to protest but by now she was exhausted and the tears weren’t far away. Another spasm of coughing shook her body and she ached all over. She was worried about the agency but she trusted the policeman to make sure it was all locked up. During all this time, never once did she think the fire had been started deliberately.

She didn’t get much sleep that night, as she was aware that the doctor and a few of the nurses checked on her regularly, so she was glad when she heard the ward start to wake up. When breakfast arrived, she gulped down the tea and then noticed the jug of water on the bedside locker. She drained that and felt a bit better. She didn’t eat anything, as she was sure her throat would be raw with the smoke and the coughing, but she managed to get a nurse to bring her more water. The cold water helped her and she fell into a deep sleep.

It was almost dinner time when she awoke and she was surprised to see Charlie sitting beside the bed. He looked grim. She held out her hand. ‘Charlie, what are you doing here?’

‘I got the report of the fire this morning.’ He leaned over her so he wouldn’t be overheard. ‘I want you out of that flat, Molly. That fire was started deliberately and it was a nasty and dangerous one. Whoever started it had put a small bicycle tyre on top and that made the smoke even more noxious. You were lucky you weren’t killed by it and if those lads hadn’t managed to put it out then the whole flat and office could have gone up in flames.’

Molly was so shocked she couldn’t speak.

‘Can you go home to your parents’ house where Marigold can keep an eye on you? I have to find out who is doing all this before someone is killed.’

Her throat felt like sandpaper. ‘Charlie, I can’t think straight at the moment. I don’t know what to do. Is the flat badly damaged?’

‘There’s a lot of smoke damage and you’ll need a new door. It was badly burned, but because it was so strong it saved your life.’

‘The doctor said I could go home today. Did he tell you that?’

‘Yes, he did, but as I said, I don’t want you going back to the flat. The fire didn’t reach the inside but everything will have to be cleaned and repainted.’ He saw the tears in her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Molly, but at least you are all right.’

She suddenly remembered she had been wearing her nightdress when she was admitted last night. ‘I haven’t any clothes to go home in. Can you go to Edna’s house in Paradise Road and get her to bring me up something to wear?’

He stood up. ‘I’ll be about an hour and that will give the doctor time to check you over to see if you can go home.’

He had no sooner left the ward than the doctor appeared. It was a different one from the Casualty. ‘How are you feeling now, Miss McQueen?’ he asked, glancing at his notes.

Molly tried hard not to sound so croaky, just in case he kept her in another night. ‘I feel a lot better, doctor. I’ve sent my friend to get my clothes for getting out.’

The doctor peered at her over the rim of his glasses and Molly’s heart sank. He glanced at the notes again, then went to see the ward sister who was busy at the bottom of the ward. She saw them having a talk and then he came back. ‘We’ll let you go home but you must stay somewhere else, as I believe your house is still smoke damaged.’

Molly would have agreed to go and live on the moon just to get out and she said, ‘I’m going to my parents’ house in Newport, doctor.’

‘That’s good. Well, as soon as your clothes arrive, you can go.’

Charlie hurried to see Edna. He wasn’t sure which house was hers but Molly had told him the number. It was Edna’s mother Irene who opened the door and she looked surprised to see a strange man on the doorstep. He showed her his warrant card and her hand suddenly flew to her mouth. ‘It’s all right, Mrs McGill; I’ve come to see Edna.’

He quickly explained the situation to her. ‘Is Molly going to be all right?’

‘Yes, she is. She inhaled a lot of noxious smoke but she’s a lot better today.’

‘Edna is away out with Billy but she should be back very soon. She’s taken him to the ice cream shop for some sweeties.’

It wasn’t long before the pair returned and Edna’s eyes opened in surprise when she saw Charlie sitting by the fire. Irene burst out, ‘There’s been a fire at the agency and Molly is in hospital. This is DS Johns and he wants to speak to you.’

While this conversation was going on, Billy stood with wide eyes at the drama unfolding before him. Edna said, ‘Billy, do you want to go and play with your friend downstairs?’

‘Can I take my garage and cars with me and my Meccano set?’

‘No, just the Meccano set.’

When he departed quite happily to play with his pal, Charlie told the two women about the fire and how it was started deliberately. They were both shocked. ‘Miss McQueen is getting home today but she needs her clothes. She told me to come and ask you if you could bring her up something to wear.’

Edna still had her coat on, so they left to go to the flat. Charlie opened the door with the key that the constable had given him. The stench of smoke was so strong that it caught their breath.

Charlie led the way up the stairs and Edna almost burst into tears when she saw the damage. The walls and ceiling were streaked by black smoke and the bedding was covered with pieces of soot. Edna went to the wardrobe but all the clothes had absorbed the smoke and were very smelly. ‘Molly can’t wear anything from here. I’ll give her some of my clothes to get her home,’ she said, going over to the chest of drawers. She didn’t think Molly would want to wear her underwear so she raked about in the drawer and found some that didn’t smell too badly.

Charlie said, ‘I want to go and question the young lads who helped last night. Can you go to the infirmary and take Miss McQueen back to your house? I’ll come there after I’ve seen the boys.’

The lads all lived in Nelson Street and Charlie went to the address he was given. They were all neighbours of one another and lived at the top of Nelson Street in a three-storey tenement. When he went to the first house, he found three of them playing cards and he asked if the other two could join them. The cards were put away and the small pile of money was quietly secreted into one boy’s pocket.

When they were all together, he asked them about the fire the night before. They all looked at one another but the boy who had taken the money and who seemed to be the spokesman of this small group said, ‘We were walking home when this woman almost fell at our feet.’ He turned to his pals. ‘That’s right, isn’t it?’

They all nodded and said, ‘That’s right, Ben.’

He continued, ‘We could see smoke coming out of the door but she said there was a fire and pointed along Baltic Street, so Johnny, Bob and myself hurried to the close. There was quite a large pile of rubbish at the door with terrible thick black smoke pouring from it, but the flames weren’t terribly high, so we put our handkerchiefs over our mouths and kicked the burning embers out into the street.’

‘That’s when we saw the burning tyre,’ said one lad, whose name was Jeff.

‘We went back to the woman,’ Ben said, ‘and I put my jacket over her because she was in her nightdress and it was raining and the pavement was wet. She was shivering, so I asked Jeff to go and phone for the doctor and an ambulance because she looked as if she needed a doctor.’ He stopped. ‘Is she all right?’

Charlie said she was.

‘I ran up the Wellgate steps,’ said Jeff. ‘I didn’t know where the nearest phone box was and, as I was busy looking for one, this policeman stopped me because he thought I looked suspicious and was having him on about the fire. But when he saw I wasn’t joking, he was the one who got help for her.’

Charlie looked serious. ‘Now think hard, lads. Did you see anyone other than the police constable?’

They all shook their heads. Ben said, ‘There were some people in the Murraygate but we passed them and I think we were on our own at that time. When the fire brigade came, a lot of the people who live in the close opposite put their lights on and were looking out of the windows, but the street was deserted when we reached that building.’

‘Where had you all been?’

Again, it was Ben who answered. ‘We were at the Palais and we had met a group of girls. We walked with them to catch the last bus and then headed home.’

Then, one boy who had remained silent throughout this story spoke softly. ‘I saw someone. I’ve just remembered it.’

His pals all looked at him. ‘You never said anything, Ian.’

He looked embarrassed. ‘I’ve just remembered it. When you went up the steps to the phone box, Jeff, I followed because I thought we could maybe look in different directions. But you were ahead of me and as I was coming back, I bumped into an old woman who came from the direction of Meadowside. At least, she was passing McGill’s shop when I saw her. I said sorry but she was really nasty and said to get out of her way.’

Charlie said, ‘Now this is important, Ian, which way was she heading?’

‘She was going towards Victoria Road and she looked like she was in a hurry.’

‘Can you describe her?’

‘Well, it was dark and rainy but she was plump and she had a hat on her head. I didn’t see her face, but she was really grumpy.’

Charlie turned to Jeff. ‘You didn’t see her, Jeff?’

‘No, but I came back to the building with the policeman before he left to go to the police box, so she must have passed when I was with him.’

This was another sighting of the elderly woman and if she was the one responsible for the fire, then she was taking risks at being found out. If it had been the police constable who saw her, then he might have questioned her as a witness. He thanked the lads for their help and said that Molly sent her sincere thanks to them all and that she would be writing to them when she felt better.

Before going back to Edna’s house, he stopped at the ice cream shop on Victoria Road and bought five small tubs. Molly was sitting at the fire and didn’t look too bad but when she saw the ice cream, she said, ‘It’s just what I need for this rawness in my throat.’

Irene was cooking the tea but Molly said she didn’t want anything to eat.

Billy was eating his ice cream and Irene said, ‘I think we’ll have our pudding before our scrambled eggs.’

Molly wanted to go to the flat. ‘I have to take my clothes to the dry cleaners tomorrow and all the bedding to the laundry, and after that I’ll go and catch the Fifie.’

Charlie didn’t want her to go alone. He wasn’t off duty till eight o’clock but Edna said she would go to the flat with her and they would sort out all that needed doing. She said she would get her tea after helping Molly, so they set off to the office and Charlie stopped when they reached the police box. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss McQueen, and remember what I’ve told you. Be very careful.’

She promised and was amused by his formality. But he probably didn’t want the staff to know they were on first name terms.

Molly was appalled when she saw the smoke damage to the flat but she said she would contact the painter in the morning and get everything back to normal. Thankfully, because the flat door had been closed, the office wasn’t too bad, which meant that business would be able to go on as usual. The metal filing cabinet had protected all the paperwork so there was no problem with that, but as they took all her clothes out of the wardrobe and the drawers to put into a large suitcase, the smoky smell was obnoxious. It was the same with the bedding but they tied this up in large bundle and Molly said she would contact the laundry and they would pick it up. They also took down the curtains and Molly was dismayed to see Marigold’s lovely wallpaper all streaked with black. ‘Maybe it’ll wash off,’ said Edna.

‘I hope so,’ Molly replied but she wasn’t confident. Whoever had done this had either wanted her dead or put under great financial and personal pressure.

An hour later, Edna went home. She had tried to persuade Molly to stay with them but Molly had said that she would have to go to her parents’ house to get spare clothes anyway. ‘I’ll stay there until this place is cleaned up and then I’ll be back.’

‘Then let me walk you to the ferry.’

‘No, honestly, Edna, but thank you. It’s only six o’clock, so no one is going to attack me and by the by, good luck with John tomorrow.’

Edna gave a huge grin but watched with a worried look as Molly made her way to Craig Pier. Molly wasn’t feeling as chirpy as she portrayed as she walked through the wet streets. She felt strange wearing Edna’s clothes and she would be glad to have a hot bath when she reached the house. The Fifie would be quiet at this time on a Sunday evening and she wasn’t looking forward to crossing the river in the dark. She made up her mind that she would sit in the saloon where hopefully there would be other passengers. She didn’t relish the thought of being on the deck, in case the person who was causing all this havoc had maybe followed her and was now waiting to push her overboard.

At Craig Pier, she bought a return ticket and went to wait for the ferry. Then, much to her surprise, Charlie came in. His raincoat was wet with the rain, which meant he had walked from the station. ‘I can’t stay long but I want you to stay with Marigold. Whoever is doing this must be watching. First Vera and Peter, then you. Try to think hard about the people you interviewed, Molly. You’ve opened a can of worms somewhere along the line and we have to find this person.’