Blue Moon (48 page)

‘Winnie, wait,’ she said. ‘You don’t need to do this.’

She turned and looked at Ruby, as if seeing her for the first time. Her expression was one of bewilderment and she put her hand to her head. Behind them Albert’s footsteps slowed and stopped, and Ruby heard that same sinister voice again: ‘Freddie, I’m here in the water, waiting for you.’

Winifred turned back and stared down at the heaving, inky waters below.

The hairs on Ruby’s neck stood up and everything fell into place. ‘Stop it, you bloody blighter,’ she shouted at Albert, and turning back to Winnie she said, ‘Don’t listen to him, Winnie. That’s not your Victor. Victor is dead.’

‘Too late, Ruby,’ said Albert in his normal voice.

Winnie put one hand on the rail. ‘No!’ cried Ruby. ‘Listen to me. He’s a fake. It’s not real.’

Winnie hesitated, so Albert began again: ‘Come, my love …’

Ruby went back and hit him on the shoulder. ‘This isn’t funny. Stop it, stop it.’ He caught her wrists as she pounded his chest. ‘You rat,’ she hissed. ‘I confided in you!’

She was relieved to hear the night-watchman puffing towards them, the light from his torch spilling all around them.

Caught between the two of them – the one she wanted to save and the one who was scaring her half to death – Ruby’s mouth was dry and her heart was beating wildly. ‘How could you do this to another human being?’

Albert suddenly bent her wrist painfully. ‘It could have all been so different,’ he said menacingly next to her ear. ‘If you had loved me, Ruby, I would have stopped. None of this would have happened.’

Now she was furious. ‘Don’t you dare blame me,’ she said angrily. ‘You’re sick, Albert Longman. Whatever you did was your own choice. You manipulated that poor woman to murder three men. Whatever did she do to you to deserve that?’

Even in the gloom she saw Albert’s expression darken. ‘What did she do to me?’ he said, with venom in his voice. ‘She never had time for me. I’m her son, but she rejected me. All she ever wanted was
him
– Victor. So when he died, she got rid of me. What do you think of that, eh? My own mother.’

It was a shock to hear what he was saying, but Ruby was still very aware of the broken wretch who stood
by the railings, waiting to end her own life. She tried to wrench her wrist away from Albert. ‘That’s no excuse,’ she said. ‘When your father died, she was most likely out of her mind with grief.’

‘You should have loved me, Ruby,’ he said. ‘All I wanted was you.’

His head came down and he tried to kiss her. She pushed him angrily away. ‘So much so that you even threatened my Jim!’ she cried. ‘You’re despicable, and I could never love a person like you, not in a million years.’

‘Come on, son,’ said the night-watchman, reaching out and grabbing Albert’s sleeve. ‘Get away from the edge. It’s not safe.’

With a roar of rage, Albert flung his arm back, sending the man sprawling. The watchman fell against a pile of scaffolding poles, which clanked together and then started to roll. As the man did his best to scramble out of the way, Albert was caught slightly off-balance, and Ruby was able to pull her wrist away and turn her attention to Winnie, who was still standing with one hand on the railings and the other on her head. Ruby grabbed Winnie’s arm to pull her away, as Albert, with his back to the poles, came towards them. In that moment Ruby could tell by his face that he intended to push them both over the edge. But as the night-watchman staggered to his feet, he set another pole on the move. It hit the back of Albert’s leg and he was propelled forward. Ruby and Winifred made a dive in the opposite direction, but the poles gathered velocity
until Albert was pinned against the railings. The night-watchman tried to stop them, but still the poles kept coming. Finally, Albert let out an ear-piercing yell and disappeared over the edge. The weight of steel had made the ornamental mesh covering the railings give way, and they heard his body smash against one of the girders and splash into the water below. Several more poles followed him.

The night-watchman leaned over the rail helplessly. ‘Good God! He’s gone.’

Ruby had her arms around Winnie, who seemed disorientated and confused. They could hear more footsteps running along the pier. The night-watchman was beside himself. ‘Get away,’ he shouted, waving his torch. ‘This is council property. You shouldn’t be here. I shall lose my job. Some bloke has already gone over the edge.’

People reached out for Winifred and Ruby, and they all began to walk back along the boards. As they approached the middle of the pier Ruby heard her name being called. Thank God – it was Percy.

‘You’d better come quickly, Ruby,’ he said breathlessly, as he finally caught up with her. ‘When all that lot fell down the steps, your Jim was underneath.’

CHAPTER 43

The new Southern Pavilion was well worth waiting for. Ruby had enjoyed the razzamatazz of the official opening and now, alongside hundreds of others, she was taking her first stroll with her mother, Rachel and May.

They reached an ice-cream kiosk part of the way down.

‘Can I have an ice cream, Mummy? May asked.

Bea reached for her handbag, but Ruby put her hand on her mother’s arm. ‘No, Mum. Let me, this is my treat. We’ll get one in the tea room.’

They walked up the steps and into the beautiful art deco restaurant. It was busy and there was a hum of conversation as people sat chatting at the tables. At one side, behind an array of large potted ferns, there was a grand piano and a pianist played softly. Ruby looked around and spotted one table that was free. It was in a prime position, next to the bay window overlooking the place where the sea-anglers cast their rods. The ‘Reserved’ sign in the middle of the table beckoned. As she pulled out a chair and sat down, it was hard to believe that this was the same place where Albert
Longman had gone to his watery grave less than a year ago. Despite her best intentions not to dwell on it, her thoughts went back to that dark night and all that had happened since.

Winifred Moore had been taken to hospital of course, but thankfully she had suffered no physical damage. The damage to her mind was a lot worse, however, and it seemed that she might never be fully well again. Because of her crimes, she had been placed in a secure unit and, although she wasn’t really sure she believed it, Ruby had been told that she would be well looked after. Winnie was utterly convinced that her dead husband had wanted her to dispatch the men who were responsible for his death.

‘No one knew my secret name,’ she would tell anyone who was willing to listen. ‘As soon as he called me “Freddie”, I knew it was him.’

No one knew her nickname, except a little boy who was eleven at the time of his father’s death. The police traced what had happened to Albert. He had been adopted (hence the different surname), but it hadn’t been a happy move. His new father was horribly strict, and this eventually fanned Albert’s hatred of his mother into flame.

When he fell on the pavilion steps, Colonel Blatchington had suffered no more than a puncture wound on his leg where the umbrella went in, and a few bruises. Albert’s plan had been for him to fall the length of the concrete steps, which would have resulted in serious injury. Fortunately for the colonel, he had fallen on top
of other people. He was a bit shaken up, but everyone agreed it could have been a lot worse. After the Worthing incident and the riotous behaviour that followed, Mosley and his cohorts were arrested. The case went as far as Lewes Assizes, where – after clever representation by slick London lawyers – it was eventually dismissed. It was all too much for the colonel, who retired soon afterwards.

As Ruby gazed out of the window, Rachel – now married to Percy and four months pregnant – slid into the chair opposite. The waitress arrived. ‘We’re all having afternoon tea,’ said Ruby. ‘I booked it. The name is Searle.’

‘Shall I bring it now?’

‘Give us five minutes, dear,’ said Bea. ‘There are a few more to come.’

The waitress turned to go.

‘When you come back,’ Ruby called after her, ‘can you bring an ice cream for the little girl?’

The waitress nodded and May beamed.

‘I’d better take you to the toilet,’ Bea told May.

‘I’m coming too,’ said Rachel.

Left on her own, Ruby took in the view from the window. Not only could she see the anglers, but if she turned her head slightly, the beautiful bow-window gave her a view of the coastline. The sea sparkled in the warm sunlight and people were bathing in the water. A Punch-and-Judy man had set up his booth on the beach, and children sat in front of it, patiently waiting for the show to start. She smiled to herself. How she loved this
place, with the Dome cinema staring out to sea and, a little further along the coast, the magnificent Warnes Hotel, where she’d once worked.

Her thoughts drifted back to Albert Longman, and she recalled the shock and horror she’d felt when the police told her what they had found at Albert’s house. He’d kept a meticulous wall chart, chronicling the demise of each of his victims. It gradually came to light that Albert had used his mother for each of the killings, with the exception of Uncle Jack Harris, whose death really was a tragic accident, thus making Winnie just as much a victim as those she had killed. In her fragile state of mind, Winnie was better than a gun or a knife to him. Her devotion to her husband had made her putty in her son’s hands, and as soon as Albert spoke in that imitation voice, she became like an automaton and did whatever he wanted. It was only as Winnie patted her hair in the hotel corridor that day when Ruby had met Colonel Blatchington that she had put two and two together. As she went down in the lift, Ruby remembered the person she had thought was Percy, in the darkened street the day Nelson died. He or she was patting his or her head in exactly the same way. She also remembered that lone woman she’d seen at Nelson’s funeral and realized that that person wasn’t Mrs Fosdyke but Winifred Moore, the first time on her way to the boat to murder Nelson and the second time to enjoy their grief.

Ruby explained all this to the police, telling them how cleverly Albert had thrown his voice to amuse the
children at High Salvington. Back then it had been a bit of fun. Who could have guessed that he was already putting his talents to a much more sinister use?

She looked around the restaurant. It was so tastefully done, and well worth the wait. Ruby loved the art deco gallery and the potted ferns dotted around the room. Her mother, her sister-in-law and May were coming back now. She smiled warmly. What a year this had been.

Jim had been in hospital for weeks, and his recovery was very slow. Both legs were broken and he’d suffered crush injuries. She remembered how she and Percy had run through the streets to get to the hospital on Lyndhurst Road that night. No chance of getting a bus or a taxi, with the rioters spilling out onto the street all around the pavilion and along Marine Parade.

When she arrived at the hospital, Ruby had waited anxiously while Jim was in theatre for an operation to fix his legs, only to be dragged away by the police to answer their questions. She’d returned the next day, exhausted, but relieved to know that her husband had survived the procedure.

The next few months were far from easy. As far as Jim’s health was concerned, there was the ever-present fear of infection. The operation on his legs had been so difficult that the doctors feared he would never walk again. Jim had been devastated and had had to battle depression as well.

Her mother and May had returned to Worthing to help, and Rex had sold up his practice by the sea and
come to join them. He now had a GP’s practice in Heene. He had been such a wonderful support and, because Jim was related to him, it was obvious that he was getting the very best of care.

Without Jim at the helm, the photography business had to be put on hold. Now Ruby was left with the problem of how to make a living. When the doctors said Jim might never walk again, Mabel did something rather wonderful; she gave Ruby Linton’s cottage, which, with a lot of hard work and plenty of help from friends and neighbours, Ruby turned into a guest house, with Mabel as a sleeping partner. That meant she could rent out the house in Newlands Road, to generate more income.

‘She’s nothing if not gutsy, that girl of yours,’ Mabel told Bea.

Ruby wasn’t afraid of hard work and, with the guest house now up and running, she was happy. She might never get to see those places Imogen had told her about, when she’d sent her postcards, but she wouldn’t swap what she had for anything in the world.

The pianist began to play Connie Boswell’s song ‘Blue Moon’ and Ruby found herself humming along.

Those postcards she’d received from Miss Russell were all in an old shoe box up in the loft, but she hadn’t heard from her for ages. She was probably married herself now, maybe with children of her own. Ruby hoped she was happy. Life moved on, and her dear friend Edith was now only a year away from the moment when she could marry Bernard from the bacon counter. Ruby smiled to herself. He was an under-manager now, but
somehow, to Ruby, he would always be ‘Bernard from the bacon counter’.

She hummed a little more. The past few months had been far from easy but Ruby was luckier than most. Like the words of the song, she really had found someone to care for.

The only loose end from all the events of the past year and a half was finding Charlie Downs. Everybody hoped he was safe. And then one night Ruby had woken with a start. She suddenly remembered the lift operator at Warnes. He was an old soldier. They’d always called him ‘Scotty’, but Ruby recalled that Colonel Blatchington had called him ‘Charles’. She’d had to wait a while, until she next saw Edith, to ask her if she could find out his name, and, sure enough, Scotty’s real name was Charles Downs. With Albert gone and Winifred in hospital, he was safe and sound, so Ruby decided there was no point in telling him everything. But it made her smile to think that he was there all the time, right under their noses, and they never knew.

She heard a slight commotion by the restaurant door and looked up, fearing the worst. The waitress was on her way down, but most likely they couldn’t get Jim’s wheelchair through the door. She rose to her feet and waved, so that they would know where the table was. Her wave died in mid-air. Rex and Percy were moving very slowly, because Jim stood between them. He had two sticks and he looked a bit wobbly, but he was walking … walking with his head held high. Ruby drew in her breath and put her hand to her mouth.