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.
CHAPTER THIRTY
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 intimacy 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