Saturday 31 January 2015

Sowerbutt's Farm

Polly said: “The meat is from Arthur Fisher’s butcher’s shop in High Town, you know, the bloke who owns this hotel.” Sowerbutt nodded, trying to look intelligent. “I’m selling him some, shall we say, off-ration chickens from young Rimmer’s farm.  When we complete the negotiations with the farms, we’ll start talking about lamb and beef. Bit harder to hide them from the WarAg inspectors, but we can do it. Fisher is insistent on quality - no horsemeat. After all, he supplies most of the local gentry. Can’t let rationing interfere with their fat stomachs, can we?”
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Sowerbutt's Hospitality

Sowerbutt offered his hand to the newly-confirmed Inspector Le Clay. “Good to see you, Inspector. Congratulations, a well-deserved promotion. A glass to celebrate?” The bald-headed man beamed: “I always enjoy coming to see you, Mr Sorbay. Exceptional hospitality in these difficult times. I must thank you for the information which put me in the Commissioner’s good books. Nasty piece of work that McGaskie fellow. Keeps writing letters of complaint to the Governor at Wandsworth, claiming he was set up.” He did not mention the photographs of the King’s brother he had recovered which brought him to the attention of senior officials from the Prime Minister down.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Sowerbutt's School

Sowerbutt grinned: “I want to buy some books and I thought of you. You heard about South Hallsville School, terrible business. A few of the survivors are spread around in different schools, but the rest are running wild on the streets. What with the call-up and the general chaos, no-one has done anything about them. The curate at St Luke’s, Father Goose, is trying to open a sort of school for them in the church."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4 

Sowerbutt's Question

Sowerbutt sighed: “How's business? You’ve got plenty of books here.” “Changed since the start of the bombing,” the young man said. “Lots for sale with libraries and big houses being bombed. People are reading more - what else do you do in the bomb shelter at night?"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Sowerbutt's Books

The bell tinkled as Sowerbutt pushed the shabby door of Kibble & Hawks, Booksellers. It was a parallel universe to the bustle of Charing Cross Road outside. Deathly quiet save for the tick of a clock and the shop brimful of dusty books. Ceiling-high shelves jammed full and precarious piles escorting the customer inside from the doorway and lining the gangways. 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Monday 19 January 2015

Sowerbutt's Break-In

Spaghetti’s flick-knife clunked against metal as he slid it inside the window frame. A security bolt. He had already tried picking the lock on the back door, but could feel the bolts resisting. Sowerbutt pulled his scarf up in the cold and pointed to the lean-to structure at the back of the terrace which housed the bathroom. Within seconds, Spaghetti gave the thumbs-up and disappeared through a small window. Opening the back door, he mouthed: “All quiet.”
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Sowerbutt's Weapons

Sowerbutt said: “Ideally lads, we’ll cosh and rope them and bring the van round to take them to The River. Spaghetti and I will have shooters and you, Panda, bring your sawn-off. But last resort; attracts attention if we start using our triggers."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Sowerbutt's Ambush

“They fell for it, hook, line and sinker, ma’am,” the pasty-faced man said. “Just as we planned.” “Well done, Joe. Your friends in Baltimore said you were the man for the job.” Harriet Warfield, a dark-haired woman in her 30s, said in a soft East Coast accent. “They’ve agreed to ambush the army convoy and deliver the goods to the farm. Our people will be dancing in the streets of Derry when news spreads about the English soldiers being shot up,” Joe McCormack smiled.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Sowerbutt's Business

Polly jabbed Sowerbutt in the ribs. “Luton is booming, awash with government contracts. And the Ministry of Supply pays its cheques reasonably quickly with few questions asked. The bike factory is doing brilliantly with the help of your scrap-metal contacts. Our parts suppliers are falling over themselves."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4 

Sowerbutt's Routine

Polly sat on the desk. “What are you up to? I’m warning you, Sorbay, don’t keep anything from me.” Sowerbutt laughed. “Apart from the bombing, it’s very quiet here. Just the usual. Been emptying some warehouses on the Docks and just liberated a good stock of cigarettes. Oh, some Irish lads are being a nuisance, but we’ll deal with them this evening. I’ll get Sal to bring us a bottle of the new house champagne.”
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Sowerbutt's Cafe

“You should open a café, my friend,” Sowerbutt said. “This is the best coffee and Mandelbrot in the Smoke.”
Jack Shakes grunted: “You are as bad as my cousin’s daughter, the one your lady stole from me to run her shop in Grosvenor Square. She tells me to open a café; I ask her how many hands do I have?” Sowerbutt shook his head and laughed. It had been Jack’s idea to open the fashion and millinery shop near the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square - in premises he owned.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Sowerbutt's Shirts

“More shirts, you say? I need Egyptian cotton for your shirts and very hard to come by, Mr Sorbay. The ships from the Middle East are full of wounded soldiers and Egyptian wheat.” Jack Shakes shook his head. “Even if I could beg a little cloth from my hard-working neighbours, what do you do with your lovely shirts? You get blood all over them. My boys and I work all night, cutting and sewing and stitching works of art, beautiful shirts, and you splatter them in blood and gore. My better customers treasure their clothes. But you, Mr Sorbay, words fail me.” Sowerbutt burst out laughing. “Better customers, I’m your best customer. A dozen shirts every few months, trousers, jackets; I keep you in business.” Jack Shakes tut-tutted. “Does a great artist paint, so that his masterpieces are thrown away? Does an author write for his literary tomes to be torn up?”
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Sowerbutt's Nemesis

The pasty-faced man watched the Webley revolver being waved around in front of his face; his cold grey eyes showing no emotion. “How do we know you’re from Dublin, Mr Courier,” Tommy Cahill snapped. “You want to lead us into a trap for your Special Branch mates. Or are you from one of the factions, trying to score points with the blood of your comrades?” Turning to Pat and the Beanpole, Cahill said: “What do you think, boys? Shoot him and dump him on a bomb site. Nobody will be any the wiser, no English police around these days to investigate. Just another victim of the Blitz.”
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Sowerbutt's Informant

“So what’s on your mind, Harry?" Sowerbutt asked. "A couple of Irish lads have been to the Hospital Tavern, asking about the Family and me. Wanted to know how many men we had, what we get up to and where they could find us. They were buying drinks and got talking to a couple of the Reds who dumped on the Family."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4

Sowerbutt's Enemy

“Germany calling, Germany calling,” came the nasal voice of Lord Haw-Haw, aka William Joyce, a former Blackshirt leader who fled to Germany with his wife on the outbreak of war. “Keep the volume down, Elsa. We don’t want any suspicions after all this time,” Paul Longhurst said, sitting at the table in the comfortable flat. A careful man, he was meticulous about calling his wife “Elsie” in public. The staff downstairs in Dunn & Co, gentlemen’s outfitters, which looked out on the Guildhall in Rochester High Street, would have been horrified to learn that Elsa’s late father was a German wine merchant in Soho who married an English girl while Paul was a former Berlin actor who had perfected his English at a special party school in Hamburg.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Gold-A-Kings-Ransom-ebook/dp/B00HT7NUP4