Free Bringing Down the Krays by Bobby Teale

was something he had to do, but insisted he had to do it with David. Never mind the fact that Christine and the kids would be there too. He told David, ‘I have to get away from the Firm.’
    Knowing Ronnie’s moods, David was terrified. But there was nothing he could do but let him stay. Christine wasn’t happy about it, of course, and neither was David. But what could he do? Was this guy his friend? Was he his boss?
    The flat was just one room. Ronnie slept on the end of the bed with David’s two children in cots either side of the bed. For the first day he was perfectly well-behaved, calm and reasonable. By the second he was starting to get twitchy, becoming very easily irritated. It was clear he was struggling without his medication and by the third day he’d had enough. Looking pale and sweating heavily he told David: ‘Take me back to Vallance Road.’
    David later told me Ron seemed edgy, neurotic and constantly thirsty. He knew then his nerves had gone. Ronnie was very dependent on his pills. He had about six private doctors, all of them crooked, who he paid to give him whatever he felt he needed at the time. Paradoxically, these were the only people Ronnie ever actually paid. Everyone else, including his barrister, was always told: ‘I’ll sort it out later.’
    Dropping Ronnie off outside, David went to park the car. By the time he got back to the house, Ronnie was having to restrain Reggie from going for him. ‘I’m going to kill him,’ was all he kept saying. Ronnie had effectively disappeared for three days – and Reggie blamed David for it.
    Luckily Reggie calmed down and David got back into his good books, continuing to run errands and drive cars for both twins. Reggie was still after Frances Shea at the time. She was the sister of a good friend of Alfie’s named Frank Shea. Frankie ran a used-car business on Pentonville Road where Reggie used to take his cars. Frances was a beautiful girl – stunning, according to Alfie. She looked like the young Brigitte Bardot. But once she was with Reggie, she seemed petrified all the time.
    While Reggie was after Frances, David used to drive round and collect her for him, so he got to know her quite well. David thought she seemed quiet and bookish. She very rarely smiled, always had a long face and it was as if she was weighing you up when she looked at you. She was probably frightened to speak for fear of saying something she shouldn’t.
    Her father and mother couldn’t stand the twins. When David dropped Reggie round to see her, Reg had to wait outside for her because her father hated him so much. He wouldn’t let him into the house even after the wedding.
    Reggie used to tell David to put her in the back of the car when he was picking her up, but sometimes she’d try and sit in the front with my brother. If she did, David would get it from Reggie afterwards: ‘I’m going to fucking kill you!’ He may not have been quite as volatile as his twin but Reggie’s moods could still turn on a sixpence.
    Relations were also strained between Frances and Ronnie. Whenever they got to Cedra Court she would ask David: ‘Is that pig there?’ She meant Ronnie.
    In spite of Frances’s view of Ronnie, the twins weren’t about to say goodbye to one another. They were on a roll after the Boothby business. The police – the straight ones, that is – seemed to just give up. It seemed like nothing could touch them – not the law, the politicians, the media, anything.
    After the 66 Club got too small, the Krays found a new home for the Firm. They set up at a place called the Glenrae Hotel, a Victorian mansion in Finsbury Park. It was at 380 Seven Sisters Road, not far from Cedra Court, and had adrinking club in the basement. They’d sent in the Firm as ‘staff’. Billy Exley, an old boxer, became the Glenrae’s barman. The real owners didn’t have a chance. All the regulars cleared off. The twins were back in the club business.
    Most of all, though, they wanted