Chapter 63
The phone box was dark. Ordinarily there’d be a light, so you could see what you were doing, but the bulb had been removed. Fine in daylight, but troublesome in the gloom of dusk, in a dark road surrounded by tall buildings.
The call went straight through, no operator. All very modern, compared to Cook’s experience making calls in Uckfield, where you had to announce your business to Mrs Filey at the telephone exchange.
‘Hello?’
The phone pipped urgently, and Cook forced his penny into the slot.
‘It’s Cook,’ he said, recognising Gracie’s voice on the other end.
‘I found out where she’s been spending her time,’ Cook said.
‘Where?’
‘The Empire.’
There was silence on the other end of the line. Cook had expected some kind of surprise. The silence was surprising, almost like this wasn’t new information, more like confirmation.
Silence. Then a sigh.
‘Reynolds,’ Gracie said.
More silence. The phone pipped again, hungry for more coins. Cook fed it, listening to the silence.
‘You’d better come with me,’ Gracie said. ‘Stop me from killing him.’
‘I’ll be with you in an hour,’ Cook said.
‘Meet me at the Tilbury Shelter.’
‘Where?’
‘Number nine bus, then follow your nose.’