Josephine Cox - Songbird

She quickly outlined how, though they were not directly involved, she and Maddy had been in the alley when the shootings took place, and now they were afraid the police might want to talk with them. Moreover, when Carter turned up looking for blood, Steve Drayton laid the blame firmly at Maddy’s door. Just before the police took him away, he had threatened Maddy’s life, vowing to find her wherever she might go.

“He means to have her done away with,” Ellen told Connie bluntly. “That’s why she can’t show her face at the hospital. But Alice is her closest friend and she’s desperately worried about her, won’t go anywhere until she knows what the score is. Please, Connie, we need you to find out anything you can. We thought, what with you being a cleaner and probably having access to the staffroom, you might be well-placed to hear things… nurses’ gossip, police talking to each other and all that.”

While she listened to Connie’s reply, Ellen glanced at Maddy, who was feverishly pacing the floor.

Another minute, and then a great sigh of relief. “Oh Connie, love, I knew I could count on you!” Swinging round, Ellen made a thumbs-up sign at Maddy. “Thank you so much. Listen, when can you call me back? Midday? Right, we’ll be waiting. Bye, now – and good luck.”

Replacing the handset, she crossed the room to where Maddy was now seated in the chair, looking pale and drawn. “It’s as we thought,” she told her. “There’s a police guard outside Alice’s door. But Connie is due to wash down that corridor this morning, so she’s hoping to pick up some news or actually get inside the room.”

“Has she seen Alice?”

“No, but she has overheard conversations. Apparently, when Alice was admitted, she’d already lost a lot of blood, and there was internal damage. They had no choice but to operate. She came out of that… had a blood transfusion, but although the doctors thought she was too badly hurt to survive, your Alice proved them wrong, and seems to be doing okay. Though she’s still under intensive care.”

Maddy wiped away a tear. “She’s a fighter. She’ll win through, I know she will.”

“We’ll know more by midday, when Connie rings,” Ellen said. “Meanwhile, I’ve another call to make. Because, once we’ve had news of Alice, we will need to get going on our own course of action.”

As she put the kettle on for another pot of tea, Maddy was too engrossed in thoughts of Alice to ask what call Ellen was about to make.

But she wasn’t too concerned; whatever it was, and whoever she was about to call, Maddy had no doubts about Ellen’s good intentions.

Because, against all her earlier instincts, she had come to trust the girl. With not only her own life, but also that of her unborn child.

A small, roundwoman of ample proportions, Connie had been surprised to hear from Ellen. “Time and again I told her never to get tangled up with Den Carter,” she muttered as she walked the hospital corridors. “I said he was a bad lot, and I was right. But would she listen? No, she would not!”

“Morning, Connie.” That was Molly, who helped to run the staff canteen. “Have you heard about the shootings?”

“I have, yes.”

“And that poor woman… they say she’s on her last legs.”

“Who says?”

“The porters and suchlike. They’re all talking about it.”

“Well, they’re talking out of their backsides, then, ’cos I’ve heard from the nurses that she’s pulling through all right.”

“Guarded night and day, isn’t she?” Molly sighed. “Fancy guarding somebody who’s been at death’s door. I mean, it’s not as if she’s gonna run off, is it, eh? And she’s a victim, not a culprit. Them Soho nightclubs… vice rings… it’ll all be in the News of the World , come Sunday.” She beamed excitedly.

“You’re right, gel.” Connie nodded sagely. “But I’d best get on. The police have given me clearance to go up there and do what I’m paid for.”

“Hmh! About time too, if you ask me. Germs will still gather in dirt and dust, whether there’s a guard outside the door or not. If you find out any extra details, don’t forget to pass them on, eh?”

“Will do. See you then, Molly.”

“See you, Connie. Take care now.”

Just a few more yards and Connie was outside the staffroom. Pausing for a second, she leaned her ear to the door and listened, falling in with a shock when the door quickly opened and there was the Ward Sister. Thankfully, being in full conversation with the nurse inside, she did not realize that Connie had been earwigging.

“So, I’ll leave you to it then. After the doctor’s been, she’ll be scheduled to come off the drip. Make sure she has a regular supply of fluids. She’s still very weak, so you’ll need to keep an eye; make sure she’s able to manage.”

As the Sister turned to leave, she almost fell over Connie, who had quickly stepped back. “Ah!” Pinning the cleaner with her beady eyes, the big woman instructed, “You know you’ve been cleared to enter the side ward up on Corridor Nine today?”

“Yes, Sister.”

“Do your usual rounds first. Doctor Myers will be with the patient from eleven o’clock. Then you must be in and out quickly. We don’t want to disturb her unnecessarily.”

“No, Sister. I mean, yes, Sister!” The big woman always managed to unnerve her.

“And do a proper, thorough job. I expect that room to be spotless. I shall be making my round later, and I intend examining every nook and cranny, you can depend on it.”

“Yes, Sister.”

Never sure whether Connie was sending her up, or being unduly servile, the big woman took a long moment to scrutinize her. “Go on, then. Get on with it!” With that she was away down the corridor, heels thumping and arms swinging.

“She should have been a sergeant in the Army,” the nurse told Connie, coming out of the office.

“Not bloody likely!” Connie retorted. “Then no one would ever enlist.”

It was eleven-thirty by the time Connie made her way toward Alice’s room.

Having done her usual round, she paused at the top of Corridor Nine, leaning on her broom and stretching her back. “I’m done in!” she grunted. “Rushing about, bending down, reaching up, fetching and carrying. Is it any wonder I ache from top to toe?” One of these fine days she would search out a man with means and grab him quick. But she’d been saying that ever since her old man deserted her six years back, and it hadn’t happened yet.

Pushing her trolley, with its fresh bucket of hot soapy water and clean mop, to where a portly policeman stood sentry outside Alice’s door, she asked, “Aren’t you allowed to sit down?” She noted how he was switching from one foot to the other, and rubbing his back as though in pain.

“Nobody ever said I couldn’t,” he answered thoughtfully, “so I don’t see why not.”

“Shall I get you a chair then?”

He glanced up and down the corridor, as though looking for his superior. “Sounds like magic to my ears,” he confessed.

“Mmm.” Exchanging smiles, she asked him to keep an eye on her trolley while she nipped into the empty sluice room opposite and brought out a small plastic chair. “There you go,” she said, beaming from ear to ear. “It’s not exactly an armchair, but the seat’s just about big enough for your bum.” She slid the chair toward him. “There you go.”

Another anxious glance up and down the corridor. “I’d best wait until the nurse comes out, eh?”

“Oh, so the nurse is inside, is she?” Connie’s first thought was how that made it impossible for her to talk with Alice.

The officer nodded. “The doctor’s been and gone, but the nurse has been in there a while,” he nodded. “Just doing her job, I expect.”