Scrap 86

SCRAP 86
Frank and Scotty are enjoying an early morning cup of tea in the dockyard canteen when an unmarked police car pulls up outside. There is a sudden rush for the gents as the customers hasten to avoid contact with the Old Bill but it is clear that DC Staples and his colleague DC Bob Smart are in no hurry as they fetch brief cases from the car boot and enter the building. They approach the counter, where Ivy nervously asks if she can help.
‘Two teas please love,’ says Staples, ‘and we’d like to borrow one of your tables for a short time if you don’t mind.’ Ivy pours the tea and asks what the trouble is. ‘We wish to speak to anyone who knew a Mr Jarvis; he worked for Harry Tobin and was known as Ginger.’ Ivy raises her eyebrows and says that just about everybody knows Ginger Jarvis and what do the police want to know about him. Staples lowers his voice and puts on a serious look. ‘I’m afraid we have some bad news. Mr Jarvis was found dead in his camper van early yesterday morning. We believe he may have taken his own life and are trying to discover if he was troubled by anything in particular.’
Ivy is shocked to hear this news and sits on a high stool behind the counter, takes a paper napkin from the bar and dabs at her brow. ‘Oh my; that’s terrible,’ she murmurs, ‘his poor wife and kids. How did he do it?’ Staples says they are not at liberty to divulge any further details at this point but they need to speak to as many people as possible who knew him and could shed light on his state of mind.
The customers have drifted back into the café but before they can sneak out the door the officers turn and call out to them. On hearing the news there is a general feeling of shock and surprise. The men sit down and give their details to the detectives. Most of them only knew the man by sight and are deemed to be of no assistance so are allowed to go about their business but Frank and Scotty are known to have had some kind of friendship with the deceased so are asked to stay behind.
The pals are just as surprised as anyone to learn that Jarvis has topped himself. They knew that Beanpole Brett had been winding him up ever since he got out of prison after serving time for the job they did together and for which Jarvis’s name was never mentioned. It was also common knowledge that he had been drinking very heavily of late and often taking to sleeping in the camper when he got home late at night. There were rumours that Brett had rekindled his affair with Jarvis’s wife but he denied it. But neither Frank nor Scotty could believe that he was in such a disturbed state of mind he would take his own life. Of course they did not say any of this to the detectives in case it could damage any insurance claim his widow might try to make. They just said that he had seemed a little out of sorts of late but nothing drastic.
Eventually the pals are allowed to get back to their loading. They arrive at the loading bay to be met by a group of drivers and stevedores hungry for any news they can impart. Frank and Scotty say they didn’t know any more than the rest of them but John suggests that Ginger had it coming to him. ‘Everyone knew he was a grass,’ says John, ‘he wasn’t exactly spoilt for choice when it came to friends.’ Frank is puzzled by the whole affair. Ginger didn’t seem like the sort to blame himself for anything so why would he take such drastic action? It didn’t add up. Remembering that he had seen Brett hanging around Ginger’s lorry on the night the wheel came off, he wonders if he had anything to do with his sudden demise. But surely even Brett wasn’t capable of something like this?