When the Gangs Came to London

All this began on the day in 1929 when ‘Kerky’ Smith met his backer in the Beach View Café and put up a proposition. This was at the time when Big Bill was lording it in Chicago, and everything was wide open and the safe-deposit boxes were bursting with grands. But to cut into the history of these remarkable happenings the historian would probably choose the adventures of a lady in search of a job. The girl who walked up the two steps of 147 Berkeley Square and rang the bell with such assurance and decision was difficult to place. She was straight of back, so well proportioned that one did not notice how much taller she was than the average. She was at that stage of development when, if you looked to find a woman, you discovered a child or, if prepared for a child, found a woman.