Read Online Blood Brothers by Patricia Hall - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Patricia Hall
Tags: British Detectives
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dumped on a building site,’ Kate said with a shudder, thinking of the body Harry Barnard was investigating.
‘Yeah,’ Price agreed. ‘According to the Yard they haven’t identified that poor beggar yet. You haven’t heard anything different from your buddy Sergeant Barnard have you?’ Kate shook her head. She knew that Harry would not thank her for passing anything on to Carter Price, especially fears that witnesses in a major case were being interfered with. And the same went for telling Harry what Price was up to. She was going to have to be very careful juggling these two men and she wondered whether this assignment had been a good idea.
Price took a right turn at a major junction and eventually crossed a bridge above multiple tracks where the rackety commuter trains which ran south of the river to the Kent suburbs were speeding in both directions. He then took a left, past a park and street after street of small brick houses, some of them still lying derelict as an obvious result of bombing.
‘East London took a hammering during the blitz, both banks of the Thames,’ Price said. ‘The Surrey docks are over that way.’ He waved a hand vaguely to the right. ‘And on the other bank is Wapping and the Isle of Dogs. I was in my teens and I can remember the fires burning day after day. But the docks are in big trouble these days. Shipping is moving out further down the river and the dockers are a bolshie lot. It’ll all be dead and gone soon.’
‘I know about dockers,’ Kate said, hackles rising. ‘Don’t forget I come from Liverpool. We got hammered by the Germans too, you know. It wasn’t just you lot in London.’ The car was stuffy and Kate opened a window. ‘What’s that awful smell?’ she asked.
Price sniffed. ‘Tannery,’ he said. ‘This was the leather district for years. They used to put the dirty stuff down here south of the river, away from the posher areas. But it’s all dying out now, just like the docks. There’s not much going on in that trade. I think there’s only one tannery left but it still makes a dreadful pong. There’s a biscuit factory down here too. You sometimes get a nicer class of whiff from that. But with the docks in trouble this whole area’s going to fall apart soon. Shipping will move to Tilbury and no one will know what to do with all the redundant water round here. It’s no wonder they put up with gangsters like Smith. If there’s not much else going on crime might look like a good bet.’
‘My grandfather came over from Ireland and worked in the docks,’ Kate said. ‘It doesn’t seem possible they could close.’
‘It’s more than possible, it’s highly likely,’ Price said dismissively. ‘Just look at this area and the things that have gone, and not just because of the Blitz.’ He waved at a substantial Victorian building on the right. ‘The Leather and Hide Exchange. How’s that for a Victorian relic. Dickens had Bill Sykes meet a nasty end round here, too. It was a notorious slum in his time.’
‘You know a lot about it,’ Kate said.
‘I was brought up not far away in Deptford. I’ve always been interested in local history.’
He turned into a short street at the end of which Kate could glimpse the river.
‘Here we are, the Angel,’ Price said, pulling into the kerb at a T junction and opposite a solid four-square London pub which appeared to back on to the river bank itself. ‘If we sit quietly here for a bit no one will notice us and we can see who comes and goes. Is the light good enough for you to take some snaps?’
‘I doubt it,’ Kate said, peering through the deepening evening gloom. ‘If you want good shots I need daylight. If I use flash someone will certainly notice.’
‘Of course they bloody will,’ Price said. ‘I should have thought of that. I tell you what. We’ll just wait a while to see who’s coming and going. Then you can have a wander round with your unobtrusive little camera. At least you’re
‘Yeah,’ Price agreed. ‘According to the Yard they haven’t identified that poor beggar yet. You haven’t heard anything different from your buddy Sergeant Barnard have you?’ Kate shook her head. She knew that Harry would not thank her for passing anything on to Carter Price, especially fears that witnesses in a major case were being interfered with. And the same went for telling Harry what Price was up to. She was going to have to be very careful juggling these two men and she wondered whether this assignment had been a good idea.
Price took a right turn at a major junction and eventually crossed a bridge above multiple tracks where the rackety commuter trains which ran south of the river to the Kent suburbs were speeding in both directions. He then took a left, past a park and street after street of small brick houses, some of them still lying derelict as an obvious result of bombing.
‘East London took a hammering during the blitz, both banks of the Thames,’ Price said. ‘The Surrey docks are over that way.’ He waved a hand vaguely to the right. ‘And on the other bank is Wapping and the Isle of Dogs. I was in my teens and I can remember the fires burning day after day. But the docks are in big trouble these days. Shipping is moving out further down the river and the dockers are a bolshie lot. It’ll all be dead and gone soon.’
‘I know about dockers,’ Kate said, hackles rising. ‘Don’t forget I come from Liverpool. We got hammered by the Germans too, you know. It wasn’t just you lot in London.’ The car was stuffy and Kate opened a window. ‘What’s that awful smell?’ she asked.
Price sniffed. ‘Tannery,’ he said. ‘This was the leather district for years. They used to put the dirty stuff down here south of the river, away from the posher areas. But it’s all dying out now, just like the docks. There’s not much going on in that trade. I think there’s only one tannery left but it still makes a dreadful pong. There’s a biscuit factory down here too. You sometimes get a nicer class of whiff from that. But with the docks in trouble this whole area’s going to fall apart soon. Shipping will move to Tilbury and no one will know what to do with all the redundant water round here. It’s no wonder they put up with gangsters like Smith. If there’s not much else going on crime might look like a good bet.’
‘My grandfather came over from Ireland and worked in the docks,’ Kate said. ‘It doesn’t seem possible they could close.’
‘It’s more than possible, it’s highly likely,’ Price said dismissively. ‘Just look at this area and the things that have gone, and not just because of the Blitz.’ He waved at a substantial Victorian building on the right. ‘The Leather and Hide Exchange. How’s that for a Victorian relic. Dickens had Bill Sykes meet a nasty end round here, too. It was a notorious slum in his time.’
‘You know a lot about it,’ Kate said.
‘I was brought up not far away in Deptford. I’ve always been interested in local history.’
He turned into a short street at the end of which Kate could glimpse the river.
‘Here we are, the Angel,’ Price said, pulling into the kerb at a T junction and opposite a solid four-square London pub which appeared to back on to the river bank itself. ‘If we sit quietly here for a bit no one will notice us and we can see who comes and goes. Is the light good enough for you to take some snaps?’
‘I doubt it,’ Kate said, peering through the deepening evening gloom. ‘If you want good shots I need daylight. If I use flash someone will certainly notice.’
‘Of course they bloody will,’ Price said. ‘I should have thought of that. I tell you what. We’ll just wait a while to see who’s coming and going. Then you can have a wander round with your unobtrusive little camera. At least you’re