Little Ernie picked his nose. “I ’eard the fire engines going,” he said. “So you ’ad a fire, did you?”
Cora nodded.
“Burnt your ’ouse and ’ome, eh?”
“Everything went up in a gorgeous bonfire.”
“Hmm.”
There was a long pause.
“’Ow’s Syd?” Little Ernie asked, looking at Cora sharply. She looked away, her mouth tightening “Didn’t you see in the newspapers?”
Little Ernie’s eyes narrowed. “Was that ’im? I wondered. Gawd love me… what a death! ’Ere, Cora, I’m sorry. You know that, don’t you? I’m sorry. I liked Syd. ’E’d got guts.”
Cora moved restlessly. The wrap slipped, and both men caught a glimpse of her naked thigh. She adjusted the wrap impatiently.
“I didn’t identify him,” she said tonelessly. “They may as well bury him. I haven’t any money.”