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job in the café.
    Pearl jumped as she heard a sudden knock on her door and opened it to see her landlord.
    ‘Your rent’s due, Miss Button,’ Nobby Clark said.
    ‘Yes, I’ll get it for you,’ she agreed, hiding her distaste. Her landlord was a greasy-looking young man, with dark, slicked-back hair and a small moustache. But it was his eyes that she hated most; button black and hard, they made her shiver.
    He marked the rent book, handed it back, and Pearl was glad to close the door on him. For the rest of the evening she sketched. She attempted Kevin Dolby, but couldn’t get his handsome face right. With a sigh she scrunched the paper into a ball before throwing it in the bin. God, Kevin was so good-looking. Despite knowing that he would never be interested in her, she still felt her heart skip a beat every time she saw him.
    At ten thirty Pearl climbed into bed and was just drifting off to sleep when she heard noises coming from the empty shop below. She sat up nervously. Men’s voices, the scraping of what sounded like chairs, a soft laugh. She strained her ears, but the voices were indistinct, muffled. Who was down there?
    Pearl wished there were other tenants, someone she could run to, but hers was the only room occupied.
    Laughter again, loud this time, and Pearl relaxed a little. Perhaps it was her landlord showing someone the premises, but at this time of night? Despite her trepidation, curiosity had Pearl rising to her feet and, slipping on a thin cotton dressing gown, she padded softly downstairs.
    The internal door creaked as she opened it a little, and for a moment she froze, but then the handle was snatched from her hand as it was flung wide by her landlord.
    Nobby Clark glared angrily, pushing her rapidly back into the hall and slamming the door shut behind him. ‘Have you heard the saying that curiosity killed the cat?’
    Wide-eyed, Pearl looked back at the man, but her throat was too constricted with nerves to answer.
    ‘What did you see? Answer me, you silly cow! I said, what did you see? ‘
    ‘N … nothing,’ she managed to gasp.
    ‘Are you sure about that?’
    ‘Y … yes,’ she stammered, finding her voice at last. ‘I … I heard noises and thought it might be burglars.’
    ‘What – in an empty shop?’
    ‘I … I didn’t think.’
    ‘That’s obvious. Now listen, and listen well. What goes on in my shop is none of your business and in future keep your nose out.’
    ‘Yes, Mr Clark.’
    He stepped back a pace, took a cigarette out of a packet and lit it, blowing smoke into the air as his shrewd eyes bored into hers. ‘Get back upstairs,’ he snapped.
    Pearl scampered away, her heart thumping. When she reached her bedsit she hurriedly shut the door, leaning against it as she drew in great gulps of air. She had seen something. Before Nobby Clark shut the door she’d had a brief glimpse of three men sitting around a table, and piled beside them were stacks of cartons. She had seen the markings. Cigarettes – they were cartons of cigarettes.
    ‘Did she see anything?’ Kevin Dolby asked anxiously.
    ‘Nah, she didn’t have a chance.’
    ‘Christ, you should’ve locked the internal door.’
    ‘I know that!’
    ‘Are you sure she didn’t see anything?’
    ‘I’ve told you, ain’t I? Now shut up and I’ll give Vince a ring. If you’d had the sense to buy a van we’d have a lot more stuff to offer him. I’m not sure he’ll be interested in this little hoard.’
    Kevin glared at Nobby. Bloody hell, they wouldn’t have any transport if it wasn’t for him, and there was no way he was going to be seen driving a flippin’ van. The Vauxhall gave him a bit of kudos and he enjoyed the envy he saw in his mates’ eyes.
    Nobby returned from making the call, a satisfied smile on his face. ‘Yeah, Vince is gonna take them, but he wants delivery now.’
    ‘Christ, it’ll take us over an hour to get to Streatham and back.’
    ‘Look, the sooner we get shot of the stuff, the