(1938-09-06) To Catch a Thief: Rosie Lea
Details for To Catch a Thief: Rosie Lea
Summary: Using the information from his tip off Bannon tracks down the first of two possible witnesses.
Date: 6 September 1938
Location: East End
Related: To Catch a Thief, To Catch a Thief: The Contact
Characters
Bannon

The two addresses are within walking distance of the Dog and Duck. Both are in old tenement houses in need of demolition in order to make them habitable for rats let alone humans. The squalor in this part of London is hard to ignore and painful to see if you have any semblence of humanity. The cries of babies and whining of dogs are accompanied by tired looking people suffering from ill health and malnutrition. Britain before rationing during the war was a much worse off place to live if you were poor.

With slip of paper in hand, Bannon decides to walk to the address in order to let certain allowances set my Sylvan to make their way to his interviewees. He turns the corner, arriving at the first address and looking over the outside of the place. He settles a hard-nosed expression upon his face and proceeds into the tenament house to find the correct door. He knocks on the door with his free hand, waiting as he looks left and right to continue to ensure the safety of his surroundings.

A small woman with a face hardened by years of poverty and lack of opportunity swings the door open. Dressed in a threadbare dressing gown and stockings she looks Bannon over and then steps aside to let him into her small one-roomed bedsit. Off to one side is a bed, across from it is a sink and small table. There is a crib in the far corner, partially hidden behind a screen. At the moment the toddler inside is asleep. "Four shillings and don't wake me babe," she says by way of greeting.

Bannon steps into the bedsit, reaching up to remove his hat and carefully tuck it under his left arm as he continues to speak quietly, "You misunderstand why I am here, Madam. My name is Bannon Benjamin Bryson Bates, I am an investigator with experience in the type of occurrence you underwent a time ago. Mister Sylvan said I can ask you a few questions to begin my investigation. I can come back if this is not a good time."

The woman sighs out her nostrils and shuts the door. "Alright. Come in." She motions towards the dining table where there are two chairs and walks over to sit on one herself. From a bottle of gin she pours herself a drink. "If Sylvan sent you 'en you are safe." She has a thick Cockney accent and is incapable of making th sounds. "'is about 'at night at 'e Dog and Duck?"

Bannon walks towards the dining table, removing a seat and then sitting down quietly, "Perhaps so. Mister Sylvan said you came to somewhere down by the bells. Does that sound familiar?" He glances towards the bottle, tilting his head slightly to the side. He gestures to the bottle and asks, "May I see that, Madam?"

She nods and slides the gin bottle over to Bannon. "Its just some Gordon's, bit o' gin never hurt anyone." She sips some of her drink. "I don't want you 'inking I go out all wobbly when I'm workin for Mister Sylvan. I don't. Whats I do here and whats I do 'en is different 'ings." She sighs. "I'm Rosie, but I figured you knew 'at." She sets her glass aside. He can tell she is not far gone, this likely is her first drink of the day. "I went into 'e pub for me usual stint. We butter up blokes, get 'em to play some cards and the like. No hanky panky. I saw 'is fell and he was new like. I did my usual, havin' a drink wi' him and 'e next 'ing I know I was wakin' up out near the church, 'em bells ringing like mad."

Bannon smiles and nods his head, "Yes, I know your name, Madam." He listens to the story, his head tilted to the side before he continues, "Thank you. That fills in some information that Mister Sylvan was not able to provide me." He lifts the bottle of gin, tilting his head to peer towards the bottom of the liquid as he swirls the contents. He then sets it down with a smile, "This is a better gin than one would believe." Without another comment in regards to the alcohol, he sets it back down. He then asks, "I think I know the answer to this question, but I will ask you anyway. Do you remember anything particular about this fellow? What he was wearing, any interesting or peculiar jewelry?" He then continues, "Also, did the drink have an overly sweet taste by chance?"

Rosie sips her drink and thinks about the question, showing she took it seriously. "Sweet? Not 'at I remember. 'E barman he gives us watered down drinks or fake drinks, water 'at looks like gin." She sets her glass aside again. "He was ordinary, I remember 'at. He seemed a nice bloke and he was eager to play the cards. Got 'e sense he played cards a lot. I don't remember much else. Oh, he had a funny laugh."

Bannon nods his head, listening, "Well, that's surely something. You say he played cards and had a funny laugh. Most men I come across who are interested in cards have a game they favor most. Did the man in question favor any particular game, and can you describe this laugh for me?"

She tightens the belt on her dressing gown as she tries to remember more, but given her facial expressions it is hard to do. "I can't remember much about him, but I can remember 'at he lost and got upset. 'At's no'ing new, blokes do 'at a lot. Game's rigged in 'e pub, see." She reaches into the pocket of her dressing gown and pulls out a tin of rolled up cigarettes and gets up to use the gas cooker to light one. "He played at 'e back table. 'ats all I remember. Its a table for twenty one."

Bannon nods his head, "I see. Very well." He reaches to collect his hat, standing up once again and pushing the chair beneath the table, "Thank you for your time, Madam. You have given me a plethora of information to proceed from, for which you have my thanks. If there is any further information I need, may I come again?"

Rosie draws off her cigarette as she nods. "Sure. I don't like stuff like 'at happening to me. I try to be savvy, see, but 'at…" she shakes her head, "it scared me. If some'ing were to happen to me 'ere wouldn't be nobody to look after me Billy." Billy presumably is the sleeping child.

Bannon glances towards the crib, and for the first time, the hard-nosed facade cracks slightly as he replies, "Indeed." He then continues, "Rest assured that this is a certain class of criminal with access to resources not otherwise possessed. It carries no poor reflection upon you. I will inform Mister Sylvan when I have the man in custody. I am sure that will place you at ease. Until them, if you see him, do not approach him. Tell Mister Sylvan and he will inform me." He reaches up to tilt his red-banded bowler, "Good day, Madam."

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License