Bucket Nut by Liza Cody

over the floor from where I’d slept and my first thought was to kick the wallets under there. But that reminded me of Ma and made me feel a bit sick. So I stuffed them in the back of the paraffin heater.
    The knocking came again.
    I should’ve sneaked a gander through the curtains but the knocking made me a bit narked and I did the wrong thing. I wrenched the door open and yelled, ‘What?’
    I shouldn’t have opened the door at all because I found myself face to face with the lady copper from last night.
    â€˜Afternoon,’ she said, and smiled – which really put me on my guard. If you want to survive in this life
never
trust the polizei when it smiles.
    â€˜Eva?’ she said. ‘Eva Wylie?’
    â€˜Wrong number,’ I said, and slammed the door.
    She knocked again. I ignored her.
    I squinted through the curtains. She was standing a little way off just waiting. She looked relaxed and cheerful.
    Keep it up a little longer, I thought, and I’ll wipe that smile off for you. I’m a very patient person, but I was getting a mood on.
    I daubed some margarine on a few slices of bread, and opened the jam pot. I hadn’t had any breakfast and my blood sugar was probably low. That makes me moody too. Harsh says that an athlete should keep her blood sugar at a constant level, and I do try. But when you live on your own, you sometimes forget.
    The lady copper knocked again. I ate three bits of bread and jam. I could wait her out, I thought, she wouldn’t hang around all day.
    Next time I looked through the curtains she was talking to a couple of yard men. They were having a laugh. That made me feel very narked.
    I pulled the door open and stood on the step with my arms folded.
    â€˜Yeah?’ I said, very cool. It would’ve looked better if I’d put thelast slice of bread and jam down, but you can’t remember everything in a crisis.
    â€˜Sorry to interrupt your tea,’ she said, coming over.
    â€˜What’s the time?’ I said.
    She looked a bit surprised but she said, ‘Twenty past four.’
    That brought me up short. I’d overslept. I thought it was only two-ish.
    â€˜I’m looking for Eleanor Crombie,’ she said.
    â€˜Who?’
    â€˜Eleanor Crombie. You left that club with her last night.’
    â€˜Oh,’ I said. So that was Goldie’s real name. It figured. She looked like an Eleanor.
    â€˜Well?’ the lady copper said.
    â€˜Well, what?’
    â€˜Where is she?’
    â€˜Who wants to know?’ I was going to put my fists on my hips and look threatening but the bread and jam got in the way. I decided to eat it.
    â€˜Me. I want to know,’ the lady copper said.
    â€˜Tough tiddles,’ I said with my mouth full.
    She flicked the crumbs off her shirt and began to look a bit impatient.
    I was so pleased about the crumbs, even though it was an accident, that I decided to let up.
    â€˜I don’t know where she went,’ I said. ‘I got her out of that mess, but that’s as far as it went.’
    â€˜I thought she passed out.’
    â€˜All she needed was a breath of fresh air.’
    â€˜You didn’t give her a lift anywhere?’
    â€˜No wheels,’ I said virtuously.
    â€˜Did anyone pick her up?’
    â€˜Dunno.’ I was getting fed up. I took another mouthful of bread, and she took another pace backwards. It’s really nice when you make the polizei walk backwards.
    â€˜Do you go there regularly?’ she asked.
    â€˜Where?’
    â€˜That club.’
    They think they have the right to ask you anything, the polizei. They ask, you answer. If
you
want to know anything, go to the library.
    â€˜See that sign,’ I said, pointing to the perimeter fence. ‘That there sign says Armour Protection. That’s me. I’m Armour Protection. There’s been bugger all thieving off this yard in the last six months. And you want to know for