Vinny smiled as Karen returned from the toilet. ‘’Ere you go, babe. To us,’ he toasted, handing Karen another glass of bubbly.
Within ten minutes, Vinny saw Karen’s eyes begin to droop, and soon after she began to slur her words. Excusing himself from the table, Vinny walked up to the tiny bar and spoke to Nick. ‘I think Karen has taken something again, mate. She seemed fine until she went to the toilet, now look at the state of her.’
Just as Nick turned around, Karen’s forehead made contact with the table. ‘Jesus Christ. Do you want me to call you a cab?’ Nick asked.
‘It’s definitely smack she is taking, that’s why she keeps going all goofy on me. I spotted a couple of needle marks in her arm the other day and I reckon she has just injected herself in your khazi. Sick of it I am, Nick, fucking sick of it. I’ve done my utmost to help her and I find it so embarrassing,’ Vinny said, sincerely.
Nick patted his pal on the shoulder. There were only about twenty other people in the restaurant apart from the staff, and none were taking much notice of Karen so it was no big deal. ‘Don’t blame yourself, pal. I’ll call you a cab, shall I?’ Nick repeated.
‘Do you know what, Nicky-boy, my mate’s cousin is a cabbie so I’m gonna call him at home and get him to take Karen back to the club. I’m gonna stay here with you for a bit and have a beer, if that’s OK? When you lock up, why don’t you come back to the club with me? I quite fancy a game of cards.’
Nick had always been a big gambler and, as Vinny knew only too well, could never say no to a game that involved money. ‘Yeah, why not. Will Karen be all right travelling back with just the cabbie though?’
‘Yeah, I’ll ring the staff at the club and tell them to open the back door and help her up to bed. I can’t deal with her problems all the time, Nick. I need a break myself.’
‘I understand. Use my phone out the back, mate.’
Vinny followed Nick out the back of the restaurant. He then rang Ahmed’s cousin. ‘Hello, mate. Do you think you could come and pick Karen up in your cab for me? She is in a bit of a state, and I need you to take her back to the club and make sure she gets inside all right.’
Nick shut the door and left his pal to finish his conversation in peace. He felt sorry for Vinny having a junkie as the mother of his kid. What man wouldn’t?
Karen had no memory of the events that followed, or the squalid flat in Poplar she was taken to.
Injected in the left arm with an enormous amount of heroin, Karen died almost immediately.
Three hours later, her body was found dumped in a nearby street behind a row of stinking dustbins.
The day after he got engaged to Nancy, Michael surprised her by renting them a house of their own. The house belonged to a pal of his and was situated in a turning just off the East India Dock Road. Nancy had been thrilled by the gesture and since they’d moved in a few days ago, the in-timacy had more than returned to their relationship. The only fly in the ointment had been Karen’s unexpected death. Nancy had been terribly upset and had sworn blind that there was some kind of skulduggery involved.
On the morning of Karen’s funeral, Michael was awake at five a.m. He had driven up to Suffolk the previous day to visit his father. Albie seemed to be doing well living with his brother. He had cut down his booze intake, put on weight, smartened himself up a bit, and was beginning to resemble the handsome man that he had once been. He even had a twinkle in his eye once again.
Albie’s twinkle had unfortunately disappeared when Michael explained that Karen had been found dead in a back street in Poplar after an overdose of heroin. ‘Something not right there, boy. I spoke to Karen at your sister’s engagement party, and she was a lovely girl with a fun personality and a real zest for life. No way was she a smackhead. If you ask me this has your brother’s evilness stamped all over it. I bet Vinny wanted rid of the poor girl,’ was Albie’s take on matters.
Michael had already had similar thoughts himself, but wasn’t about to admit that.
Before leaving Ipswich, Michael had given his father another couple of hundred pounds’ pocket money, and his dad’s parting sentence was the reason he had been unable to sleep properly. ‘Michael, I know you said with Roy waking up that you haven’t felt it was the right time to burden your mum with my letter, but seeing what has happened to Karen, I now feel you should give it to her sooner rather than later. Like it or not, Vinny is a loose cannon, boy.’
Nancy leaning over and kissing him snapped Michael out of his morbid thoughts.
‘I didn’t wake you, did I? I’ve had a crap night’s sleep, couldn’t stop tossing and turning,’ Michael said.
‘I was the same. I’m dreading the funeral, Michael. I know I didn’t know Karen for long, but I really clicked with her. I didn’t tell you this, but I went out for lunch with her last week. I was so upset over the Denise escapade, and Karen was so supportive. She even stuck up for you. She said you was a lovely person and that I shouldn’t end it with you over something that happened before we even got together. She told me something else as well, but I promised I wouldn’t repeat it. It was about what happened to her at your Auntie Viv’s party.’
Intrigued, Michael propped himself up on his elbow. ‘Tell me, babe. It might be important.’
‘Only if you promise not to say anything? I don’t want to cause any trouble amongst your family.’
‘I swear I won’t say nothing.’
‘Karen said she got her drink spiked with LSD at your mum’s house. Vinny told her that it was Lenny that did it. He even got Lenny to apologize to her in person. Now, I don’t know about you, Michael, but seeing as what has happened to Karen since, I really don’t believe that story.’
Suddenly feeling nauseous, Michael’s blood ran cold.
Vinny gestured to Ahmed to follow him into his office, then shut the door and poured them both a large Scotch. The Old Bill had been sniffing around like there was no tomorrow since Karen’s death, making Vinny feel both anxious and cautious.
Vinny and Ahmed had foolproof alibis for the night of Karen’s death. Vinny had stayed at the restaurant until one a.m. and had then gone back to the club with Nick. As planned, Ahmed had been at the club all evening and he also stayed all night to participate in a card game with Vinny, Nick, and four other regulars. Two of the regulars were not only respected businessmen but also Freemasons, which was a bonus in Vinny’s eyes.
Ahmed’s cousin, Burak, had been the cab driver who had picked Karen up and driven her to Poplar on the night she had died. She had then been handed over to two pals of his who had been paid three thousand pounds between them to carry out her murder. Burak was actually a cab driver who was employed by a firm in Canning Town, so he had gone straight to work from Poplar, therefore also had a rock-solid alibi. The police had questioned Burak, and he insisted that Karen had woken up in his cab and demanded to be dropped off along the Westferry Road near the Anchor and Hope pub. Burak had also informed the police that Karen was abusive, and seemed to be either drunk or drugged up. Vinny knew Burak was to be trusted, as it had been he who had employed the men who had killed Terry Smart.
Ahmed knocked back his Scotch in one. ‘Well?’ he asked Vinny.
Paranoid that the Old Bill might have bugged his phone, Vinny would only discuss the situation with Ahmed in person now. Karen had told him when she had first come back on the scene that she’d made a statement to the police in case anything untoward happened to her. She’d admitted to Vinny a few weeks afterwards that she had only been bluffing, but Vinny didn’t want to take any chances. ‘Sniffing around again they were yesterday. I rang Geary last night and he rang me back this morning. Apparently, that nosy cunt of a neighbour of Karen’s has been making herself busy. She has been to the Old Bill and made a statement saying she suspects foul play.’
‘Look, we have a firm alibi, so no need to panic. What about the nosy neighbour? Shall I speak to Burak and make her disappear?’
‘No. We need to lay low, mate. What with Terry Smart going AWOL and now this, we definitely need to rein it in a bit. As much as I would like to see the nosy neighbour propping up a flyover somewhere, we are just going to have to let her do her very worst. As you said, our alibi is watertight so what can the pigs do? They have questioned Nick again as well, and he has vouched that Karen was fine in the restaurant until she disappeared into the toilets alone.’
Vinny jumped as he heard a knock on his office door. ‘Who is it?’ he shouted.
‘It’s me. The police are at the door, Vinny. They want to speak to you,’ Edna, the cleaner, informed him.
Cursing the fact that the bastards had turned up yet again, Vinny ordered Ahmed to stay in his office. He then composed himself and went to greet the boys in blue. ‘And what can I do for you today, gentlemen?’ he asked, half-politely, half-sarcastically.
One of the officers had been at the club the previous day, and it was he who answered Vinny’s question. ‘It’s about Karen’s funeral. Her mother has requested that under the unusual circumstances neither you nor your family attend. They agreed that if you want to pay your own respects, then you can do so after the service.’
Vinny knew that the nosy neighbour must have spoken to Karen’s mum. Maureen had been fine with him when he had rung her the other day. He also knew he had to put on an act to show his innocence. He smashed his fist against the wall, then turned back to the two police officers. ‘Karen was very dear to me and also the mother of my only child, as you well know. If you think that myself, my son, and my family will not be attending her funeral, then you have another think coming. What have we done wrong, eh? And what do you mean under the unusual circumstances? Karen had a drug problem and was found dead due to a heroin overdose. What the hell has that got to do with me or my family attending her funeral?’
The officer doing the talking immediately tried to pacify Vinny. Like most East End Old Bill, he hated Vinny Butler with a passion, would love to see him banged-up for life, but was also slightly wary of the man. Vinny was clever, too clever for his own good, and one day he would take an almighty tumble was the overall feeling down at the station. ‘As far as we are aware, you haven’t done anything wrong, Mr Butler, but Karen’s family are very upset over her death and would rather her service be kept small and personal.’
‘Well, I am very sorry, officers, but you can tell Karen’s family to go fuck themselves. My son has been in bits all week. He loved his mum very much and if I told him he couldn’t say goodbye to her, it would break his little heart even more. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. We are holding a small wake here afterwards, so we can toast Karen’s memory. Me and her may not have been properly together when she died, but I will always love her. She gave me the most wonderful son, so how could I not?’ Vinny explained, his eyes brimming with fake tears.
When the officers said they would also be attending the funeral to ensure that there was no unpleasantness, Vinny thanked them, shut the door, leant against it and smirked. He was far too clever for the likes of the Old Bill. Always had been and always would be.
As was to be expected, Karen’s funeral was a sad affair where plenty of tears were shed. Karen’s mum and aunt sobbed uncontrollably throughout the whole service, and when Karen’s Uncle Pete got up to say a few words, he got halfway through his speech, then broke down and was unable to continue.
Michael surreptitiously studied Vinny throughout. He genuinely looked as upset as anyone. If he was guilty of organizing Karen’s murder, Michael couldn’t help but think what a bloody good actor his brother was.
Michael put a comforting arm around Nancy, then handed her his handkerchief to dry her eyes. ‘Oh, Michael. It’s so sad. Karen was such a nice girl,’ Nancy whispered in his ear.
‘I know, babe,’ Michael whispered back, while clocking his nephew. Little Vinny’s face was devoid of any emotion. If anything he looked extremely bored. Perhaps he was too young to understand the finality of it all?
Knowing that the police were bound to have their beady eyes on him when the mourners left the church, Vinny made a beeline for Karen’s mum, Maureen. ‘I know you wasn’t particularly keen on my family attending the service, but we all thought the world of Karen and there was no way we could stay away. I just wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss. My son has been denied many happy years with his wonderful mum and I am as gutted about Karen’s death as anybody.’
‘You lying bastard. You killed her, I know you did,’ shouted Debbie Ryan, who happened to be standing just behind Maureen.
‘Don’t spout such rubbish. I wasn’t even with Karen when she died. I was playing cards at the club, and I have many witnesses to prove that,’ Vinny spat at the nosy neighbour.
‘How very convenient for you, Vinny. My brother is a known tea-leaf, so I do know a thing or two about having the perfect alibi,’ Debbie spat back.
When Maureen screamed at both Vinny and Debbie to stop arguing, the police stepped in and led Vinny away by the arm. ‘I think it would be better if you and your family left now rather than attend the actual burial,’ an officer urged Vinny.
‘My son has done sod all wrong, so why should we have to leave?’ Queenie yelled, waving her umbrella dangerously close to the policeman’s face.
When Vivian and Brenda both joined in the argument, Michael chucked his keys at Dean and ordered him and Nancy to go and sit in his car while he calmed the situation down.
‘Hold my arm in case you slip in those heels, Nance. I don’t want to have to scrape you up off the floor,’ Dean joked.
Nancy smiled and took his arm. ‘Never a dull moment being part of the Butler family, is there?’
‘Nope. Congratulations on your engagement by the way. Michael is a lucky guy,’ Dean said, sincerely.
‘Thanks. We are not looking to get married just yet though. What about you and Brenda? Have you arranged yours?’
‘Well, originally Bren wanted to get married before the baby was born, but she reckons she will be too fat now and wants to leave it until next summer. I’m easy, so I’ll just leave it up to her. Organizing weddings is definitely girlie stuff, so as long as Bren gives me the date and time, I’ll just make sure I’ve got a new suit and turn up,’ Dean chuckled.