Hold Hands in the Dark Read Free Page B

trade.’
                  Nancy joined them at the table, setting down their drinks. ‘Aye, he was a hero to a lot of people, until someone put a bullet in his heid.’
                  ‘It was during the early eighties, wasn’t it?’ Dan sipped the coffee, finding it was very good.
                  ‘February 1982. Ferris and Brewer’s workers were out on strike against the layoffs. Dad visited the picket line to lend his support. There was a big crowd. A shot suddenly rang out and my father fell to the ground. The bullet had hit him square to the temple. He died almost immediately.’
                  ‘Did they find the gunman?’ Alice sat up straighter in her seat. This world was at one remove from her own experience. Her parents wouldn’t have dreamt of joining a union, not in a million years. They’d always taken the side of the authorities if there was ever a strike.
                  Nancy nodded sadly. ‘It was some poor idiot that the bosses had turned against his own kind, filling his head with bullshit about times changing and industries having to adapt. The man was desperate – his wife and kiddies were missing out on food due to the low levels of strike pay. Ferris and Brewer must have offered him some sort of pay rise if he broke the strike. In his muddled brain he blamed my father for the effects of the walkout. But we all knew who was really to blame.’
                  ‘The man served life for murder. I can’t recall his name now.’ Dan looked philosophical.
                  ‘Eddie Lambert. He did the bosses’ bidding and got a prison sentence for the privilege. His weans were left destitute. And my Ma just sat back and took it. She never fought to bring the real culprits to justice.’
                  Alice leant forward, trying to appear sympathetic. ‘And that’s what you want to do for Tony now?’
                  Nancy brought her palm down hard on the table, some of the brown liquid spilling out of the cups. ‘Don’t patronise me, sweetheart. I was being beaten to the ground by riot shields when you were still in nappies.’
                  Dan raised his hand. ‘Hold on, let’s start over again, shall we? We’ve come here to listen to your side of things, Mrs MacRae. We only want to know what happened to your husband.’
                  Nancy breathed deeply, apparently calming herself down. ‘Okay, fine.’ She turned to Dan. ‘But I’ll only speak with you, alright? I want little Miss Silver-Spoon to wait outside.’
                  Dan shot a pleading glance at the DS.
                  Alice rose slowly to her feet. ‘I’ll be in the living room, if you need me.’
     
    *
     
    Within seconds, Nancy MacRae was like a different woman. Her tensed up body visibly relaxed and the lines on her face seemed to miraculously disappear.
      ‘Can you talk me through your husband’s movements on Thursday of last week?’ Dan began gently.
                  ‘Tony was a foreman for the Hemingway Shipyard. They’re the last of their kind operating on the Clyde. All of their workers are on temporary contracts. If the yard hasn’t got any orders, the men don’t have a job.’
                  Dan nodded encouragingly, thinking he could do without the polemic.
                  ‘Right now, the yard has a major contract to fulfil. It’s like feast or famine with the management of that place. You’re either getting your hours cut, or you’re expected to work around the clock to meet some ridiculous deadline with no extra pay.’
                  ‘And on this occasion, Tony was working around the clock?’ Dan didn’t want to prompt, but he needed the bare facts, not a political sermon.
                  ‘Aye, that’s right. He’d already done a full day’s work on