Free Bible John's Secret Daughter by David Leslie

GODFATHER
    As the killer of the three women was becoming a much-talked-about figure, so was another individual whose name was frequently being linked to matters where violence was involved. Arthur Thompson was born in Springburn, Glasgow, in September 1931 to decent hard-working parents, Catherine and Edward. By yet another of the bizarre coincidences that would become such a part of Hannah Martin’s life, her mother Jessie was a distant relative of the Thompsons. Hannah and Thompson would never meet, but in different ways both would be influenced by Bible John.
    As a teenager, it was obvious Thompson was bigger and broader than most of his contemporaries – something he was well aware of. He enjoyed the profits such a physical advantage brought and one of his first jobs was humping boxes of fruit and sacks of potatoes at Glasgow fruit market, building up muscles that soon had him a night job as a doorman. Among the spots where he planted his feet firmly apart and stared down would-be troublemakers was at the Barrowland. City businessman Morris Mendel had taken a shine to the young heavy and used him to guard his clubs and bars. He also had another task for young Thompson: to help in the disposal of stolen property, mainly clothing. Thompson, though, wanted to be his own man.
    First, he had to overcome problems with the law. Officers must have thought him an easy touch when he dropped his keys outside a bank he had robbed in the north of Scotland, a spot of carelessness that earned him a three-year stretch behind bars and a reputation as a bungler – although those who held these views made sure they were aired out of his earshot. Free at last, his liberty was short-lived, as he found himself going down for 18 months in 1955 for extortion. Still, Thompson was a coming man, although it would be a while before he was given the title of ‘the Godfather’.
    Back in the outside world, he took over a scrap-and-demolition business, using bribery to win contracts and find out which properties were listed to be knocked down. He then branched into security, employing strong-arm tactics to take over at least one thriving shop in Glasgow. He had connections among firearm suppliers and he was one of the first to recognise the fortunes that could be made through dealing in drugs.
    Arthur, it was said, used to visit London from time to time to carry out contracts on behalf of the much-feared Kray Twins, Ronnie and Reggie. The story goes that he used some of the money the Londoners paid him to buy a gaming club on Glasgow’s North Hanover Street and started up a prospering and totally illegal money-lending racket, charging extortionate sums to customers, many of them businessmen who needed another hundred pounds or so to continue playing at his tables. They invariably lost and found themselves being charged 50 per cent interest a week. Failing to pay was unthinkable. It brought visits from brainless thugs who threatened dire consequences or, worse still, Thompson himself. One man who omitted to pay his debt to Thompson was crucified, nailed to a door as a lesson to others. Among his customers were young housewives married to errant or spendthrift husbands who left them with nothing to feed and clothe their children. To Thompson these women would go, begging for a few pounds to tide them over. Mostly he would take pity on them and pull out his wallet, reminding them when repayment had to be made and how much it would be. The more attractive he would order to call on him ‘personally’, as he would say, ‘so we can sort something out’. This would involve a visit a week later to his club, or to the shed he called his office at his demolition business – the venue was irrelevant. What mattered was that they would be offered the chance to dispense with the interest on the debt by performing a sex act on Thompson or, if he saw them as especially attractive, having full sex with him. But no matter how energetic their performance, when