Widows

She got a trolley, placed the two cases on it and, entering the terminal, checked the illuminated notice board for the Rio flight check-in desk. Pushing her trolley over to the check-in queue, she took some deep breaths and got down to the job of looking over the passengers for an appropriate stooge. ‘Young bloke, very little luggage...’ she repeated to herself. The thought of flirting with a total stranger filled her with dread. She was surprisingly bad at flirting, except with judging panels at beauty competitions. She took a moment to get her head straight and then practiced fluttering her eyelashes.

After about twenty minutes, she began to feel scared. Everyone in the queue so far had big cases — and she hadn’t spotted Dolly anywhere. What if the plan failed at the first hurdle because she couldn’t find a single gullible man traveling light?

Shirley wheeled the trolley up and down, watching and waiting. Fifteen more minutes passed with no one suitable joining the queue. She began to get edgy: she might have to risk taking the case herself and paying for the excess luggage with the cash she’d put into her handbag. She didn’t want to do that as the serial numbers on bank notes could be traced.

Suddenly she saw a likely candidate. A scruffy-looking young man with only a rucksack had joined the end of the queue and was checking over his flight papers. Shirley grabbed her ticket and passport out of her handbag, quickly pushed her way in behind him and clipped his heel with the trolley.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to bump you. Is this the queue for the Rio flight?’ Pretending to be flustered, she dropped her ticket and passport. He bent to pick them up for her and handed them back. ‘I’ve been such a silly thing,’ Shirley continued, playing the dumb blonde beautifully. ‘I’m a model and I’m doing my very first foreign magazine shoot in Rio. I didn’t realize there was a weight restriction on the luggage and I’ve brought two cases filled with dresses and bikinis. Now I’m worried that I’m way over the allowance and I can’t think what on earth to do because I’ve got no money to pay for extra luggage. I really do need seventeen bikinis though and...’

She didn’t even have to finish her sentence. ‘Why don’t you let me help you out?’ the young man said, and moved to grab Shirley’s own case from the trolley. She put her hand on top of his.

‘The other one’s a little heavier,’ she said, ‘so if you don’t mind...?’

He clearly didn’t mind. He gave her a quick wink and picked up the money case as he shuffled forward.

Feeling very chuffed with herself, Shirley kept up the polite chat as they queued for check in. He smelt of body odor, looked unwashed and unkempt, but his voice suggested that he was well educated, although clearly not very streetwise. She was relieved to watch her new friend, who told her his name was Charles, check in and put the money case on the conveyor belt. The attendant placed a sticky luggage tag around the handle and Shirley watched her hundred grand head for the plane.

When it was Shirley’s turn to check in, she whispered to the lady at the desk, ‘Please can you make sure I’m not sitting near that man?’ The lady glanced at Charles, smiled her understanding and with female solidarity sat Shirley a good ten rows away from him.

Charles hovered around her through passport control and into the departure lounge. He rambled on about how he traveled to different destinations and how he had hitchhiked his way across countries, sightseeing and doing all sorts of jobs to pay his way. His parents were wealthy but he refused to sponge off them and always found the cheapest and most economical ways to travel. Oh, my God! Shirley thought to herself as she sipped the champagne Charles had bought her, he’s so boring! Eventually, she made her excuses and said that she had some important calls to make to her agent prior to boarding.

Shirley looked in every restaurant, burger bar, pub and wine bar — even the bathrooms — but she couldn’t see Dolly anywhere. It was as if Dolly wasn’t taking the flight to Rio at all. Shirley knew she couldn’t turn back, not now the money bag was on the plane: she’d have to go to Rio and tell Bella and Linda that they’d all been stiffed! She took deep breaths as she thought through her plan of action. They’d all have to return to London on the next flight and go to the convent and — oh, God, what if the rest of the money wasn’t there? What if it was never there? What if — Shirley’s head was about to explode when she suddenly saw the one area of the airport she hadn’t searched. And there, in the window of the first class lounge, was Dolly bloody Rawlins, eating her breakfast.

Bill Grant adjusted the mirror again and looked behind them. ‘It ain’t an Old Bill car, but he’s definitely keeping one vehicle in between us and him.’

‘Classic filth technique.’ Eddie sounded panicked.