‘Oh, let me come down for goodness’ sake, this is ridiculous.’
She hesitated. ‘But what would Jasper say?’
‘Oh, blow Jasper. He isn’t here, is he?’
Just then footsteps could be heard coming from the kitchen back door into the hall.
‘Actually, Fletcher, yes I am here.’ Jasper stood at the bottom of the stairs and folded his arms, staring up at Fletcher in exasperation.
‘Come on, lad, I’ve had enough bed rest. I’m coming downstairs.’
‘He does look to have a lot more colour in his cheeks,’ whispered Adira. Jasper gave in.
‘All right then, let me help you down.’ Jasper climbed up the stairs and hooked his arm through Fletcher’s. Together they slowly stepped down.
‘What are you doing?’ Fletcher asked him.
‘I was just going to look at some paperwork for the estate.’
‘I’ll come with you.’
Jasper eased him into the chair next to his desk in the study. Fletcher’s eyes darted round the room, glad for the change of scenery. Then they rested on Jessie’s wedding picture on the shelf behind Jasper’s desk. He pointed to it, remembering who the groom in the photograph reminded him of.
‘He doesn’t half look like Ronnie Taylor.’
Jasper frowned then looked at the photograph too.
‘Who’s Ronnie Taylor?’
Fletcher laughed. ‘He was the Midlands’ answer to the Kray brothers.’
‘What?’ Jasper laughed. He’d assumed Fletcher had known him personally and that Taylor had lived in Lilacwell.
‘Look him up. He was a gang leader in Birmingham, in the seventies.’
Jasper was inquisitive. He switched his laptop on and searched the name Ronnie Taylor. An image of him came up, making Jasper catch his breath. Sure enough, the exact profile of Jessie’s husband was staring up at him from his screen; the slicked-back hair, pencil moustache and self-assured smirk. Jasper read the blurb on the page.
Ronnie Taylor was the foremost perpetrator of organised crime in the mid-seventies. With his
gang, known as The Circle, he was involved in murder, armed robbery, protection rackets and
assaults. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1979 and remained in prison until his death
of a heart attack in 1985, leaving one daughter and widow.
Jasper’s eyes scanned more images of him; they widened when they saw a family portrait of him with his wife and daughter. He clicked on it to enlarge the photo shot. It was Jessie, she had the same identical birthmark at the side of her cheekbone.
‘Fletcher, you’re right. It is Ronnie Taylor.’
Fletcher’s head whipped up, he’d been browsing through the paperwork on Jasper’s desk.
‘Is it?’
‘Yes, look.’ Jasper turned the laptop to show him.
‘Well, I’ll be blowed!’
Both men looked at one another. Just then Adira came into the room.
