Free The Garden Party by Peter Turnbull Page A

Payne. Anyway, that pleased his old lady because she didn’t want no council workman for a husband, she wanted someone she could visit in prison and that was Des . . . or Ralph, keeping Pearl happy by being a blagger. It gave Pearl street cred and made her family like her and her husband. It was just that sort of clan. Later though, Desmond . . . or Ralph . . . but later he wanted to make honest money, just honest money, so he did that; went against his wife and family and became Desmond Holst, honest Des Holst. Don’t know what else I can tell you about him, poor old soul.’
    â€˜You are known to us as a criminal associate,’ Tom Ainsclough explained, ‘so anything you can tell us about him will be of interest. Where did you meet?’
    â€˜In the Scrubs; we met when we were in Wormwood Scrubs together. We were cell mates and we just clicked. You know how it can happen that two people meet and they just like each other from the outset?’
    â€˜Yes,’ Ainsclough replied, ‘I know exactly what you mean.’
    â€˜Well, that was me and Desmond. He called himself Desmond from the start, only later did I learn of his other handle. He just wasn’t up to being a blagger, his heart wasn’t in it, just did it to please Pearl, but he did it anyway. We kept in touch and did jobs together, got banged up together. Then, he went on a Government-sponsored bricklaying course and learned the trade, got work and got himself a reputation as a steady hand. Wanted to do it all the time but with a ball and chain like Pearl it wasn’t easy for him, not easy at all. Pearl of the Harley crew . . . well, she didn’t want no brickie for a husband, not if she was going to walk her manor like she wanted to walk it. So he kept going out on missions with some heavy boys, but no one can walk two paths forever and so one day he was a bricklayer and nothing else . . . and Pearl, well she wasn’t happy with that but by then she was well past her sell-by date. Desmond told me she tried to be a cougar, but she was even too old for that so her old horizons came rushing in . . . Sorry I can’t ask you to sit down,’ Claude Bonner added, ‘there’s only two chairs.’
    â€˜Don’t worry,’ Ainsclough replied with a brief smile.
    â€˜Suppose there is one thing that might interest you. Me and Des went out for a beer one evening, early doors, when all the old gaffers go for a drink before the youth take over the pubs for the night and you can’t get a seat or hear yourself think. Anyway, he was full of guilt; he had a wad of fivers and tens in his old sky rocket, but was full of guilt about where he had got it from.’
    â€˜Another job?’
    â€˜Something like that, but something different as well. He was calling himself Desmond full-time by then and had stopped crooking . . . but it was something that upset him badly . . . something that happened when Arnie Rainbird got out after a ten stretch.’
    â€˜Arnie Rainbird?’ Penny Yewdall reached for her notebook.
    â€˜You’ll have records on him even if you haven’t heard of him yourself. Haven’t heard of him myself for a while and I like to keep in touch, so he must be keeping his head well down, but that doesn’t mean he’s tending his racing pigeons.’
    â€˜We’ll look him up when we get back.’ Yewdall scribbled on her notepad. ‘So what did happen when Arnie Rainbird got out of prison?’
    â€˜This is off the record . . .’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜It didn’t come from me,’ Claude Bonner began to sound agitated, ‘I won’t be signing any statement.’
    â€˜All off the record,’ Tom Ainsclough spoke in a calm, reassuring voice, ‘it didn’t come from you, Claude.’
    â€˜OK. Well they threw a party for him, didn’t they?’
    â€˜Nothing unusual in that.’ Yewdall looked puzzled. ‘So why was Desmond